Chapter 21
"Momma, hurry up we have to get to the airport!" Tayce called from the kitchen down the hallway the next morning, fastening her large silver hoop in her ear.
"Relax boss lady, we got plenty of time." Jon assured her, wearing a pair of nice tan khakis with a navy polo shirt, not wanting to look like a bum at Joe's wedding, not when this meant so much to everyone. "We've got an hour to get to the airport and the red-eye will only take about a half an hour, if that, to get to Pensacola."
"I know that." Tayce grumbled, wearing a halter styled white and yellow sundress that went just above the knee.
Her hair was pulled back by citrine clips on either side of her head, her golden auburn hair loosely curled hanging over her shoulders and down her back. Her makeup was all bronze besides the clear gloss that painted her lips and black eyeliner. She had the silver locket on that her mother gave her, a silver bracelet on her wrist and of course her citrine engagement ring. Yellow flats adorned her feet.
"I'm just trying to hurry her along so we can go."
Jon chuckled, sipping his pure black coffee and already had his 3 morning cigarettes along with more shower sex with Tayce. He was feeling pretty damn good at the moment. "Everything packed, boss lady?" They couldn't forget anything, so Jon had to ask to make sure.
"Yes, will you stop asking me that? You've asked me that 5 times this morning and I'm about ready to pour that coffee over your head." Tayce grumped, rolling her eyes when Jon moved to wrap his arms around her from behind, leaning her head back against his chest.
"Calm down, Tayce, I was just asking." He nuzzled her ear, pressing a soft kiss over her pulse point and smirked when she shivered involuntarily against him. "You look beautiful today, if it wasn't obvious."
Tayce smiled at his compliment and turned, softly kissing his lips. "You don't clean up so bad yourself." She tapped his nose gently with her finger and smiled at the sight of her mother finally emerging. "Oh Momma, you look amazing."
Marcie smiled widely, wearing a blue summer dress that was also a halter top style and went to her knees, looking like a southern bell. In a way she was since she'd been born and raised partially in Georgia. Her golden auburn hair was pulled up in a blue banana clip, her hair curled hanging down her back. It was extremely long and went to the middle of her back, so she needed the banana clip to hold it in place. She had on light natural makeup that consisted of blue eye shadow, foundation, blush and bronze lipstick. Blue diamond studs were in her ears along with a blue diamond necklace around her neck, blue flats on her feet.
"You look exquisite yourself, baby girl." Marcie replied, hugging her daughter and then kissed Jon's cheek, hugging him as well. "Handsome as ever, Jonathan."
Jon shrugged, knowing Marcie hadn't seen him this dressed up since she bought him new clothes for school when they were younger. "Thank you, Mom. We should get going, you two lovely ladies." He smirked, grabbing all 3 bags since they'd stay at Joe's in Pensacola for the rest of their days off.
"Did you grab everything, Momma?" Tayce asked, closing the door behind all of them while Jon headed to the car to put the bags in it.
"Yes, I got everythin'." Marcie replied, stopping Tayce from walking away after she locked the apartment door. "Did you talk to him about the weddin'?"
Tayce sighed heavily, shaking her head. "No and please don't bring that up today. It's not about us today, it's about Joe and Sophie. I promise I'll talk to him about everything, you just have to give me some time."
Marcie eyeballed her daughter skeptically and finally nodded, respecting her wishes. "Very well, let's just enjoy the beautiful day and you let me know when you want to have the weddin'." If there was one, Marcie added in thought, not wanting to say it aloud because it would upset Tayce.
"Thanks Mom."
The flight took 25 minutes and they left earlier than planned because all the passengers for the redeye flight had arrived. Jon went to get the rental vehicle for them to drive to the Anoa'i's along with their bags while Marcie and Tayce went through security to get out of the airport. A half an hour later, they were on their way to the Anoa'i's and Tayce began feeling nervous. She'd kept Joe's secret wedding from Sophie and it had been one of the hardest things for her to do. She just hoped Sophie was so happy and shocked by the festivities that she didn't think to accuse Tayce of knowing. Jon drove and kept messing with the collar of his polo, trying to get comfortable and stopped when Tayce slapped his hands away. She leaned over the center council and fixed it for him, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"I hope you're ready to meet a gang of people, Mom." Jon stated, after mouthing 'thank you' to Tayce since the collar was driving him crazy. "Because Joe's got a huge family and over half of them are wrestlers or have been in the wrestling business."
Marcie was calm as a cucumber, never letting anything get to her. "Looking forward to it, Jonathan." She said sweetly, a wide smile crossing her face. "I'm just so happy to see my two babies all grownup and finally admittin' how they feel about each other."
"Momma…" Tayce groaned in a warning, shaking her head as a blush crept into her cheeks. "Not now."
"Oh come now, Tayce, you've been head over heels for this boy since you were 14 years old. I remember you came to me and asked if it was alright that you start datin' him and I said of course. I've always loved Jonathan and now he's gonna be my son-in-law. Everythin' is workin' out how it should."
"Mother!"
"14 huh?"
Jon watched as Tayce's cheeks turned a deep crimson and couldn't stop the deep chuckle from resonating around the car. They pulled up to a large house on the corner in the street, not wanting to block anyone in that was in the driveway. He took Tayce's hand and kissed the back of it, smirking.
"You know she's right, stop trying to fight it." He chuckled harder when she smacked his shoulder lightly. "Thanks for filling me in, Mom. Now I've got some ammunition to work with when I need things to go my way."
"Not a problem, sugar plum." Marcie beamed, sliding out of the SUV and smoothed her dress down, looking up at the huge house. "This place is gigantic!"
"Yeah, it's even bigger once you walk inside." Jon assured her, slipping out of the car and walked around to open Tayce's door, dropping a soft kiss on her lips. "I still love you even if you did want to rape me at 14." He winked and laughed again when she swatted him a second time on his backside. "Hey! No foreplay while we're in Mom's presence."
"Can't rape the willing, Mox, and I don't care who sees." Tayce pulled his mouth down on hers again, this kiss a little deeper than his small peck.
"Tayce, your mother actually DOES care, so kindly refrain from attacking him until you're alone." Marcie requested, interrupting the heated moment between them and smiled. "Shall we go meet all these people?"
"Later." Jon promised in a low rasp, running his finger down her cheek gently. "I promise, boss lady."
Nodding, Tayce slid out of the SUV and took Jon's hand, smoothing her own dress out. Together, they headed up the long drive that linked to the Anoa'i family home. Instead of walking up to the front door, they headed to the backyard since the party was back there. They could hear hollering and laughing the closer they approached, finally arriving in the backyard. The first person Tayce spotted was Sophie, who looked extremely nervous standing next to a boisterous Joe.
"He hasn't told her yet." Tayce murmured quietly to Jon, feeling him squeeze her hand and smiled when Sophie came running over to her.
She was clad in a white spaghetti strapped dress that had soft lilac flower embroidery prints on it and a lilac ribbon around the waist, tying in the back in a perfect bow. The ribbon hung down her back for style, the dress short and went a little past mid-thigh. Her feet were encased in 3 inch open toed lilac heels that matched the dress perfectly and buckled around her ankles. She'd left her hair down with a simple lilac headband, but moussed her curls so they wouldn't frizz in the warm humidity. It was a crisp 75 degrees, sunny and it was supposed to stay that way for the rest of the day.
"Thank GOD you're here!" Sophie hugged Tayce tightly around the neck and then pulled back, breathing a little easier. "You look so beautiful." Then her blue eyes moved to the older woman standing on the other side of Jon. "Hi, you must be Tayce's Mom. I'm Sophie Martini, a good friend of your daughter's and Jon's."
Marcie smiled, taking the young woman's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's very nice to meet you, dear."
"You too, ma'am." Sophie replied, enjoying the warm southern accent to Marcie's voice. "Thank you for coming." She moved to Jon, hugging him around the waist in a purely friendly way.
"Hey Good! What are you doing with my woman?" Joe rumbled from behind, wearing a crisp white polo shirt with black shorts and black sandals on his feet.
"I'm hugging her, you gotta problem with that, Anoa'i?" Jon retorted, not releasing Sophie and kissed the top of her head, arching a brow.
Joe growled playfully, bumping fists with Jon and drew Sophie back into his arms, loving how she snuggled against his side. "So, is this the lovely Marcie?" He asked, eyeing the older woman with kind grey eyes.
"Yes. Mom, this is Joe Anoa'i and Joe, this is my wonderful mother, Marcie Stevens." Tayce introduced properly, feeling Jon's arm snake around her waist again.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Joe took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Thanks for coming. Both Tayce and Jon were excited when you agreed to come."
"Yes well, I can't let my babies down." Marcie grinned, winking back at Jon and Tayce lovingly. "My dear, would you mind pointin' me in the direction of the beverages? I'm dyin' of thirst."
"Hey little bro, what's going on?" Matt bounded up, who was Joe's older brother. "Did I hear someone say they're thirsty?"
Joe smiled at his older brother, who also agreed to be his Best Man and nodded. "This is Marcie Stevens, Tayce's Mom. Miss Stevens, this is my older brother, Matt. Would you mind introducing her to Mom and Dad while I talk to Sophie for a second?" He wanted to do this in front of Tayce and Jon, discreetly waving over Colby and Celeste.
"Sure man, no problem."
Matt knew what that meant and extended his arm to the lovely older woman, winking secretly back at Joe as he guided her away. Everyone knew what was going down that day, thanks to Patricia and Sika spreading the word with phone calls to the family they knew would be attending. Nobody minded, especially with how hectic Joe's schedule was with the WWE and they definitely didn't want to miss the youngest Anoa'i getting married. Now all Joe had to do was inform his bride-to-be on the festivities, hoping she didn't call off the wedding because of his impulsiveness.
Sophie was completely clueless and looked up into Joe's beautiful grey eyes as soon as she felt him take her hand, smiling. "What's up?" She asked, noticing Colby and Celeste had joined them and were standing in a half circle. "Joe?"
Joe reached out, caressing her face tenderly and softly kissed her lips. "I love you, please remember that." He took a deep breath, looking at each of the men he considered brothers in Jon and Colby, both of them nodding in silent approval. "Here goes nothing."
"What's going…?" Sophie couldn't get the question out fully and felt her blue eyes widen at the sight of Joe slowly lowering to one knee in front of her. "Oh my god…" She looked back at both Tayce and Celeste, seeing the big smiles on their faces and felt tears swell in her eyes, directing her attention back to Joe. "I-It was just an idea…"
"I know and a damn good one at that." Joe replied, kissing her hand with a smile and wondered if he even had to ask her at this point. "I've asked you once and you said yes to marry me. But now I'm asking you to marry me right here today in front of the people that care and love us most. I've already got a minister, who is an old family friend and my Mom took care of all the arrangements. All you have to do is say yes for a second time and you'll be my wife before this day ends. So, what do you say, Sophie Martini?"
A waterfall of tears slid down her face as Sophie stood there completely shocked, covering her open mouth with her hand. "Seriously?" She squeaked out, seeing through Joe's eyes he meant every word that came out of his mouth. "I'd be a fool to say no to you, Joe. Yes, I'll do it." A squeal escaped her as Joe lifted her up in his arms and spun her around in circles, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
Celeste was a crying mess and Tayce blinked her tears away, all four of them applauding their friends. Joe set Sophie down and she embraced Tayce tightly while Colby held Celeste, guiding her away to get something to drink after shaking Joe's hand, congratulating him. Tayce held her tightly, thankful Sophie wasn't mad at her for keeping the secret wedding from her and pulled back, wiping tears away from Sophie's cheeks.
"I want you to be my Maid of Honor." Sophie called her that because Tayce wasn't married to Jon yet, just engaged. "Please?"
Tayce blinked, swallowing hard because she honestly didn't expect to be asked something like this. "A-Are you sure? I mean, you've known Celeste longer. And then there's Trinity."
Trinity was Joe's cousin Jonathan's fiancée. He was one of the twins of Solofa Fatu JR and wrestled under the name Rikishi years prior in the WWE, back when it was the WWF. The other cousin was named Joshua and together the twins had formed a tag team called The Uso's in the WWE currently as Jimmy and Jey Uso. Trinity was a WWE Diva and part of a team called the Funkadactyls under the name Naomi. Her partner was Cameron, her real name being Ariane.
"No." Sophie shook her head, grabbing both of Tayce's hands tightly. "I don't care how short of time we've known each other or how long I've known the other girls. I want you to be my Maid of Honor. You're my best friend. Don't get me wrong, I love Celeste, but she can get on my nerves at times and Trinity is mostly with Jonny on their days off from work, so I rarely hang out with her. So just say yes, please?"
Tayce smiled, nodding. "Of course anything the bride wants, the bride gets." They laughed and embraced again just as Patricia came over to pull Sophie away, wanting to get her ready for her wedding.
It was a lovely ceremony with Tayce standing on one side and Matt standing on the other, standing up watching as two people swore their eternal devotion together. Sophie's Uncle, Roddy, had walked her down the aisle and gave her away proudly, both of them sharing a tearful embrace. The colors were lilac and silver with Joe and Sophie standing under a small white gazebo that was outlined in white lights. The sun had just set on the horizon when the minister pronounced them husband and wife, Joe taking Sophie into his arms passionately kissing her in front of their family and friends. A bonfire followed with tons of delicious food and a small wedding cake that Patricia made from scratch. Everyone drank and toasted the newlywed couple, wishing them nothing except the utmost happiness.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.