Chapter Twenty-Five: Wedding Bells
Rayleigh Copeland woke up the morning of her wedding day to the less than pleasant sound of her Maid of Honor, Natalya banging on her bedroom door, screaming at her that it was time for her to wake up. Rayleigh rolled onto her back and looked at the only thing that was keeping her slightly insane Maid of Honor out of her hair, for the moment at least.
Yawning quietly, Rayleigh's eyes looked up at the ceiling. Today was the day, the day that she was going to walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Mike Mizanin. A huge smile crept onto her face and for the first time since the relationship had started, Rayleigh felt nervous. She had butterflies the size of Mike's on-screen ego fluttering around in her stomach.
Rayleigh wanted so bad to call him, but Natalya had commandeered her cell phone after the rehearsal dinner two nights ago with the bogus idea that she and Mike were not allowed to have any contact until-
"Rayleigh," Natalya screamed, through the bedroom door causing Rayleigh to groan under her breath, "It is nearly seven o'clock, you need to get your bride-to-be butt out of bed and down in the kitchen, so you can start getting ready. Rayleigh? Are you listening to me?" Slowly getting up from her and Mike's new bed, Rayleigh grabbed her silk robe and walked toward the bedroom door. She could only put off being primped and plucked for so long.
"Oh, you are up," Nattie said, as soon as Rayleigh opened the door.
"Yeah," she responded, "Do you have to scream so much? Is Kevin not doing the job?" Natalya glared at the bride-to-be before smiling at her.
"No time to argue right now," she told her, "We have to get you something to eat and into that shower so we can start."
"Nat," Rayleigh started, "How about we just take things slow today? I have six and a half hours before we have to be at the church and the last thing I want to do is start rushing around, I'm already nervous enough as it is."
"Why would you be nervous? You and Mike are already basically married, I mean you act like it, the ceremony is just making it official and-"
"I'm just nervous, Nattie," Rayleigh confessed, "It's wedding day jitters…I'm afraid Mike will just up and leave."
"He's not your father, Ray," said a voice from behind them. Rayleigh turned to see her brother standing in the hallway looking slightly dishevelled. She could only imagine what her bridesmaids were putting him through seeing as he was one of the three men that had been allowed in the house.
"I know," she confessed, "But you know that old wives tale about how daughters marry their fathers? I'm scared; I don't want this little one to grow up in single parent family. I'm not strong enough to do it like Mom did."
"You won't have to," Adam told her, "Because Mike will be standing at the altar waiting for you and he won't ever leave you. He loves you too much to do that to you, and that man that is listed as your father, he's only the sperm donor, Mom was enough of a parent for both of us." Rayleigh looked up at her brother with tears in her eyes. Adam gathered his little sister in his arms and gave her one of his biggest hugs in recent memory.
"Now, let's get you ready," Nattie said, dabbing at the tears in her eyes from watching the scene in front of her.
Mike's morning had begun with waking up in the hotel room that his father had gotten him with the decision that he and Rayleigh would have no contact with one another in the thirty-six hours leading up to the ceremony. In the chair at the foot of his bed, was the tuxedo that he and Rayleigh had chosen together and beside that was his travel bag.
Rolling onto his side, Mike looked out on the balcony where the early morning sun was peeking through the curtains. He knew that he didn't have to be awake this early since it wouldn't take him long to get ready before the photographer got here, but he had become so accustom to Rayleigh's early morning schedule that it was hard to sleep in after eight.
"Mike," called his best friend from the hotel hallway, "Mike. Mike!"
He could only imagine what Rayleigh was going through at this time of morning. He was lucky that he had an entire hotel room to himself along with the only issued key to said suite. Rayleigh however had her entire wedding party sleeping at their new home and the only thing probably keeping her sane was the lock on their bedroom door and probably the Jacuzzi bathtub in their en-suite.
"Mike," called Morrison once more, "Mike, I know you're in there and I know that you're awake." Mike groaned and slowly made his way to the door.
"What do you want," he snapped at Morrison, as he opened the door.
"We have to start getting ready, we have-"
"Five hours before we need to be at the church," Mike finished for his best man and it was then that the pre-wedding jitters started, "Oh god, what if Rayleigh doesn't come? What if she decided that I'm not worth it? What if I never see her again? What if I never see our child? Oh my gods, John give me my cell phone." John looked at him and shook his head.
"You know the rules-"
"Screw the rules," Mike snapped.
"You and Rayleigh can't have ANY contact," John continued through Mike's interruption, "Plus, she won't be able to answer. Nattie took her cell phone from her the night of your Rehearsal Dinner and the home phone is being monitored by five bridesmaids, two mothers, one step-mother, three grandmothers, one brother, one godfather and I don't know how many friends. You're not talking to her."
"John," Mike sighed, "Let me talk to her. If I'm going crazy with worry, then she's gotta be going ballistic."
"She's not going ballistic," John assured the groom, "Kevin's already spoken to Nattie and word is they're keeping Adam on hand to deal with her pre-wedding jitters. Now, will you calm down and come have some breakfast? The last thing I need is a pregnant Rayleigh coming after me because you fainted at the altar."
With each believing the other to be
a giver of love,
a sharer of sorrow,
a bringer of joy
and a reason for life
Mr. Adam Copeland,
along with his mother, Ms. Judy Copeland
requests the honor of your presence at the marriage of his sister
Rayleigh Marie Copeland
to
Michael Gregory Mizanin
Son of Mr. George Mizanin & Mrs. Laura Parker
On the 23rd of July two thousand and eleven
at two o'clock in the afternoon
Hartford First Church
10 Campfield Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut
Reception to Follow
Rayleigh looked out the window as the limo pulled up in front of the church, all of the guests were waiting for her inside along with the man that she wanted to see the most. All of her bridesmaids Barbara, Beth, Denise, Stephanie and Mike's half-sister Erika were all giddy with joy, while Nattie sat beside her silently.
"You okay," Hunter asked from her opposite. Rayleigh looked back at him and smiled.
"Still nervous," she explained, "But, it's a good nervous. I just want to be married already and I can't wait to see him."
"Well," Hunter said, as the limo driver opened the door, "Why don't we get this shin-dig on the road? Ladies?" And in a single file line the bridesmaid slowly got out of the limo and gathered beside it as Rayleigh emerged in her floor length, princess bridal gown. Once she had found out that she was pregnant, the original dress no longer fit and in a rush to get a new gown, she had come across this one and had immediately fell in love with it.
Taking a deep breath, Rayleigh took the arm that Hunter offered her and the two made their way into the church, pausing briefly to mind the stairs. The stairs leading into the church weren't steep, but with the amount of fabric that Rayleigh's dress was made of she needed to be careful, one wrong step could send her face first into the concrete and having a broken nose wouldn't make for a good wedding day.
Adam offered his sister a little wave as he led their mother and their grandmother to their seats so that the ceremony began. She offered them a small smile and tried to peak out the doors as they went, but they were quickly closed behind them. Hunter chuckled as he watched her.
"You really are anxious to see him," he observed.
"Yeah," she responded before looking at him, a slight smile on her face, "Aren't you suppose to try and get me to back out of this? Tell me I can find someone better?"
"Would you listen to me if I tried?"
"Not really," Rayleigh answered honestly, "Any advice?"
"Breathe," Hunter offered, "I know it may seem hard, but this is the hardest part…everything will become a whole lot easier when you're up there. It'll be like it's just the two of you and no one else." Rayleigh smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Thanks," she whispered as the doors to the church opened and the wedding march started. As Rayleigh and Hunter entered the church, each guest rose to their feet, but Rayleigh didn't have a single care for anyone in that church except for the man that was standing at the end of the aisle. There with a smile spreading across his entire face was Mike.
"Breathe dude,' John whispered, as Rayleigh made her way to the altar, but Mike didn't respond. The only person that he was focused on was Rayleigh and she looked like a princess. Suddenly his palms began to feel sweaty and his collar became a little bit too tight.
"Relax," John whispered to him again, "She's almost yours." Mike met the pair at the bottom of the altar. Hunter placed Rayleigh's hand in Mike's and shook his head.
"Take care of her," he told the groom, before turning to Rayleigh and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, "She's one of most important people you'll ever have in your life." And with those departing words, Hunter took his seat behind Judy, Adam and Margaret as Mike and Rayleigh smiled at one another and turned towards the priest.
"Ladies and Gentlemen we are gathered here today to see the joining of this man and this woman in holy matrimony and if for whatever reason that these two should not be wed, please stand now or forever hold your peace," said the priest and he stayed silent for a moment, but in that moment neither Mike and Rayleigh could breathe. They didn't want to know if no one thought that they should be together, they just wanted to spend the rest of their lives with one another.
"Now," the priest started again, allowing both Rayleigh and Mike to release the breath that they had been holding…
"I was told that you've both prepared your own vows," the priest stated, as the ceremony continued. The almost newly married couple nodded.
"Michael?"
"Rayleigh, when I first met you the first thought that ran through my head was when. When will you be mine? Not if you'll ever be mine, and as much as it pains me to say it, I had to wait a long time before you were mine, but the moment that you were I didn't want to let go. I didn't want to give you the chance to find someone that was worthier of you. Rayleigh Marie, you are the light of my life. The person that brings joy and happiness to my life with every moment that we're together and even though we've both had our moments of sorrow, we've been together through it all and I couldn't imagine my life any other way," Mike told her, "I want to be able to share my happiness, my sadness, my anger, my annoyance, my fears and everything in between with you because, Ray, you're it. You're the love of my life and today, I swear to you that I will always be there. I'll be always be there for you to count on and to take care of you, to protect you. I love you and today, I make you not only my wife, but my partner in everything I do from this moment forward." Rayleigh wiped away a tear that slowly made its way down her cheek.
"Rayleigh?"
"Mike, the moment that I knew that you were the love of my life may not have been the night that my life had gone topsy turvy, but the night that I had gotten into a car accident and found out that I wasn't going to able to wrestle for half a year. Instead of going back to work, you risked not even having a job twenty-four hours later to take care of me when I wasn't able to walk. You risked everything for me and no one besides my family had ever done that for me and it was then that I knew, Mike, that I will love you every day for the rest of my life," Rayleigh vowed, "I will love you through our happiest moments and our hardest moments, I will love you even if tomorrow we find out that we don't have jobs anymore.." Both Rayleigh and Mike pause to look at the CEO of their wonderful company to see Vince McMahon smiling at them and the rest of their guests laughing.
"Mike, I love you and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Michael and Rayleigh, with the power invested to me by the state of Connecticut and the United States of America, I now pronounce you, husband and wife," the priest announced, "You may now kiss-"
Mike didn't wait for the priest to give him permission; he grabbed Rayleigh's face in his hands and planted his lips on hers. The wedding party and many of the guests, who had been aware of the thirty-six hour rule, chuckled at his behaviour. Dipping her backwards as he did, Mike gave her the biggest kiss he had given her in recent memory.
"Hi Mrs. Mizanin," Mike said, as he greeted his wife in the middle of the floor for what was going to be their fifteenth dance of the night. Rayleigh smiled at him and linked her hands behind his neck.
"Hi Mr. Mizanin," she greeted back, "Can you believe it?"
"No," he answered her, "But, I'm getting pretty damn close to it. How are your feet and little baby Mizanin?"
"Missed their daddy," she told him, "Baby Mizanin was restless for the past couple of nights, I only fell asleep because Adam decided to tell the baby our story and they're killing me, I can't wait until I can take off these shoes."
"Our story bores you," Mike teased, "It bores you?"
"I lived it, Mike," Rayleigh said, a smile similar to the one that Mike had back at the altar spreading across her face, "And plus I didn't need to hear how it ended I already know it won't." Mike laughed as he remembered the words he had used when he had proposed to her. Leaning down, Mike kissed his new bride and just as he pulled back and went back for another one the pair was interrupted by the maid of honor.
"It's time for the bouquet toss," she told Rayleigh, handing her the tossing bouquet that they had the florist made. Rayleigh nodded and gave Mike a quick kiss before she turned to leave. Before she could however, Mike grabbed her arm and pulled her into his chest.
"You know what comes after the bouquet toss right?"
"Yeah, and you better behave," Rayleigh told him, "You're the reason, I got pregnant before the wedding."
"I think it take two to tango Mrs. Mizanin," Mike teased kissing his bride one more time, before he let her go.
"Alright ladies," Josh Roberts announced, "The lovely bride would like all of the non-married woman in the middle of the floor, so she can toss the bouquet.
"We're goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married…" started as all of the ladies gathered in the middle of the floor. Adam and Stephanie helped Rayleigh up a couple of stars so she could stand slightly higher than all of the woman that were now standing behind her.
"Here we go ladies," she announced, "Everyone ready?" Rayleigh swung her arms over her head, but didn't release the bouquet. All of the women and some of the men laughed as they watched her tease the crowd twice more, before she actually released the bouquet into the crowd. The rest of the wedding guests as most of the Divas and Rayleigh's friends from school that made the trip dove for the bouquet, but the one person that caught the bouquet was Mike's sister, Erika.
"Nope," Mike said, as they set up the chair for Mike to take Rayleigh's garter off, "She's not getting married."
"Mike," Rayleigh said, as she sat in the chair glad to be off her chair, "You do realise that's what Adam said, when I was her age right?"
"Yeah, but-" Mike was cut off as someone had thought it would be funny to play Shawn Michaels theme music for this tradition. Rayleigh started laugh at the top of her lungs as Mike started dancing to the music, before bending down on his knee in front of her and taking the modest route and just stuck his hand underneath and kissing her lips as he looked for the garter.
Mike stood once the garter was in his hands and it was now his turn to tease the crowd of men. Mike shot it into the crowd and it landed in the hands on his new brother-in-law. As soon as the crowd cleared, the DJ played a slow song and Mike held his hand out to his new bride, silently asking her for another dance.
"You happy," he asked her, as he danced in the middle of the floor with her.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
A/N: Alright two chapters left and then Broken and Healed are done. There's still time to vote for the sex of Baby Mizanin, so take a look at the poll on my profile and cast your vote.
xo