"The ring?" the celebrant asked. Angel smiled and reached into his pocket. He held his hand out and opened it.
Sitting in the palm of his hand was a ring that made both Temperance and Mrs Brownlow gasp. It was a platinum band set with two rows of diamonds running round the entire ring. Two intricately crafted platinum hands held a large heart shaped topaz, the exact same colour as Temperance's eyes, above it, a diamond encrusted crown. He looked from the ring into her eyes, which were wide as saucers. One hand covering her mouth, she held out her left hand to him. "A claddagh ring!" she whispered. Angel smiled and nodded as he removed the small claddagh ring that matched his. He fingered the thin gold band that she wore that Booth had given her, then reverently slipped the new ring onto her finger, making sure the point of the heart was towards her wrist. It fitted over her old ring perfectly.
She stared at his long fingers, gently holding the ring as he slid it onto her finger. Whispering words as he did.
Tá Ye Fola de mo Fola, agus cnámh de mo cnámh.
Mé a thabhairt sibh mo Comhlacht, go bhféadfadh beirt a bheith ar cheann.
Mé a thabhairt sibh mo Spiorad, `bheidh Til ár saol a dhéanamh."
She stared at him as he spoke, his tongue wrapping silkily around the words she could not understand. He looked into her eyes, reaching up and cupping her face, he translated.
"Ye are Blood of my Blood, and Bone of my Bone.
I give ye my Body, that we Two might be One.
I give ye my Spirit, `til our Life shall be Done"
He smiled, "there is more." She nodded for him to continue. He did so, in English.
I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night, and the eyes into which I smile in the morning.
I pledge to you the first bite of my meat and the first drink from my cup.
I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care.
I shall be a shield for your back and you for mine.
I shall not slander you, nor you me.
I shall honour you above all others, and when we quarrel we shall do so in private and tell no strangers our grievances.
This is my wedding vow to you.
This is the marriage of equals
He stopped speaking, nobody made a sound. Only the gentle music from the quartet continued wafting on the breeze. He used his thumb to wipe a single tear from her cheek and looked at the celebrant who was standing, clasping his book to his chest, completely entranced by this couple in front of him. Angel smiled at him "Can I kiss her now?" The celebrant was jolted out of his own romantic daydream and coughed. He grinned and nodded "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may, of course, now kiss your bride" Angel needed no other encouragement.
His lips covered hers as his arms wrapped around her pulling her close to him. He felt the babies squirm between them and let her go, both of them looking down at her belly. "I think they approve of their parents declaring their love publicly" Temperance said. Angel grinned and bending down kissed her belly. He stood up and looked over at Mr and Mrs Brownlow who were standing close together, their hands clasped, watching them. He swore he saw a tear on Mr. Brownlow's cheek.
The celebrant produced a marriage certificate. "If you would care to sign this now?" Angel and Temperance smiled and proceeded to sign the document. He then motioned to Mr and Mrs Brownlow. "Would you please sign here as witnesses?" Mr Brownlow frowned, "But isn't this just a renewal of vows?" The celebrant smiled "Yes, but they have requested a certificate to commemorate the day. A token, if you will." He said. "Oh! What a nice idea!" Mrs Brownlow said as she scratched her signature on the document. "Thank you for being here Mr and Mrs Brownlow. I appreciate it." Angel said to the old couple. Mrs Brownlow walked over and kissed Temperance on the cheek and then gave Angels arms a squeeze and he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "Thankyou" he whispered. "Pshaw. You'll make an old woman cry in a minute. That was the most beautiful vow renewal I have ever been to. And I can tell you I have been to quite a few over the years"
Mr Brownlow walked up and also kissed Temperance on the cheek "You're a beautiful sight for these old eyes, love" he said. He turned and shook Angel's hand. "Congratulations. Not just for the wedding thing." He said nodding towards Temperance's stomach. Angel grinned "Thanks for everything." The older man waved his thanks away. "Come along me darlin'. Let's go and leave these two lovebirds to it." He said, taking his wife's hand and leading her down the steps of the rotunda and heading back to the house.
Angel and Temperance turned back to the celebrant who was signing the certificate. He used a Government seal stamp to finalise the procedure. He held the certificate up to Angel. "There's nothing I can do about the date. But you are officially man and wife." Angel took the certificate from him and held it up for Temperance to look at. He had one arm wrapped around her shoulder and she leaned into him, holding up her hand to look at her wedding ring. He smiled down at her "You like it?" She turned into his arm and wrapped hers around him "I love it. It's so beautiful Angel, but I feel bad because you don't have a new ring." He shook his head. "I don't want or need a new ring. I will never take this off" he said "You gave me this ring as a sign of your love. Nothing has changed has it?" She shook her head. "And that's why I won't ever change it. But I had never given you anything to tell you that we are forever."
Temperance looked up at him. "I will take off my old wedding ring and wear yours." she said. He seemed startled "No, you don't have to do that." he said quietly. "Yes. Yes I do. I love that you made allowances for Booth's ring. But. Angel, Booth is dead. I'm OK about it. It's been a long time. I will always have love for him, you know? But he's not here. You are. And I'm in love with you. I love you, Angel. For everything you have done for me, for all that you are, for who you are. I'm not going to get rid of it. I'm just going to put it away. You are my husband Angel. You have been ever since I put that ring on your finger. This?" she gestured around her "This doesn't make our marriage any more real in my heart. But I do love that we can say we are married and know that we said the words. And speaking of words, tell me about what you said. It was really beautiful."
Angel shrugged "It's an old Irish wedding vow. It's what my father would have said when he married my mother" his voice trailed off. He rarely thought of, let alone spoke fondly of his father. "It just seemed appropriate" he finished. "Well I loved it. Especially those lines you said first. We've really lived that haven't we?" she lay her head against his chest and listened to his heart beating, remembering a time when a silence was all she could hear. He patted her back. "Come on, before we all start crying again. I have a surprise for you." She stepped back "What? Like all of this isn't enough? Are you trying to send me into early labour?" Angel laughed and started ushering her to the steps, then stopped turning to her, his eyes wide "Why? Is anything happening?" he asked worriedly. Temperance laughed and kissed him. "Not yet!"
"Thanks again. For everything" Angel nodded to the celebrant who smiled at the retreating couple. He had done many favours in his time, and been paid well for it. But this one, he would have done for nothing he admitted, although the wad of cash pressing against his chest reminded him that he didn't. He was reliable and trustworthy. Nobody would ever know about this wedding. They would just be another married couple renewing their vows.
Angel and Temperance entered the house and he pulled her away from the direction of the staircase and ushered her towards a pair of large doors that they had not yet looked behind. He pushed the door open and they were greeted with the happy cheering of their friends and family. Temperance burst into tears as Angela came running up to her. "Oh Sweetie! Don't cry. Booth told us you would cry. How was it?" she asked "Was it wildly romantic? I'm so jealous that we weren't allowed to be there." She said frowning at Angel, who simply grinned and shrugged.
Hodgins walked up and pulled his wife off of Brennan and hugged her. "Congrats Mrs B. Again" he smiled, and turned and shook Angels hand. "Well done, putting the rest of us under pressure" he winked at Angel. Temperance looked around as face after face came up to her, kissing, hugging and congratulating her. She glanced over at Angel who was standing talking to Caroline. He caught her eye and grinned and raised his chin in a little salute to her. She blew him a kiss and was swept up in a hug by Sweets. "Sweets! Where is" Sweets held up a hand "We broke up. I know, I know. I think the problem is I compare every woman I meet to you. Nobody comes up to par I guess." He said winking at her. Temperance blushed.
Everyone was there. How on earth did he manage to do this without me knowing? I can't believe him she thought as Cam grabbed her arms and whirled her around. "You look fabulous! How long to go now?" she asked. Sweets walked over and punched Angel in the arm "So you didn't trust me to be your best man a second time?" he said jokingly. Angel smiled "Ah well, I think I managed OK by myself this time." he said awkwardly.
Parker walked up to him and wrapped him in a hug "Congratulations Dad. But I still don't understand this getting married again thing. You oldies are weird." he said to his father. Angel squeezed him tightly "Well son, we oldies are also romantic at times and prone to doing weird stuff" he laughed. Angel stood with his arm around Parkers shoulders "Good turnout hey?" he said to nobody in particular, looking around the room. He took in a sea of happy faces, raised glasses and laughter. He walked over to his wife and grabbed two glasses of champagne from a tray. He handed one to Temperance who shook her head "I can't" He shushed her, "Only one sip. Just to toast us. It won't hurt."
He cleared his throat and called out to the room "Attention! Everybody? I'd just like to say, thank you so much for coming and making this day complete for Temperance and myself. We have missed you all and felt that this would be a great way to get everyone together again. If you would raise your glasses? I'd like to toast my beautiful bride" Glasses clinked, people cheered as he and Temperance linked arms and sipped their champagne while looking into each other's eyes. "I'm pretending to sip it" she whispered to him. "I know" he winked at her.
"I wonder why Dad didn't come?" she asked Angel later in the evening. He felt his stomach drop. "Well, he did say that he wasn't feeling very well and that he might not make it. I didn't want to say anything, just in case he did manage to come. We'll give him a call in the morning to say hello, OK?" he said. Temperance nodded "Yes, OK. Thanks. I'd like to say hi to him and tell him about today." Angel kissed the top of her head, guilt washing over him. He had tried ringing Max, but had received no answer. He hoped that he was alright. He tightened his hug slightly, resting his cheek on her hair.
The night went on into the wee small hours. Angela and Hodgins, Parker and Sweets were the last to leave. They were staying nearby at a bed and breakfast before driving home in the morning. Angel and Temperance waved goodbye from the front steps. He spun her to face him. His fingers tracing the circles under her eyes "You look exhausted. Maybe this was too much?" he suddenly said. "Not at all. Yes I'm tired, but very happy. Thankyou Angel. For everything. Can we please go to bed now?" Angel smiled and bent down sweeping her up off her feet into his arms. He stumbled slightly for a moment under her weight. "I'm too heavy!" she squealed. He grinned "Yes, you are. But I'm carrying you up to bed if it's the last thing I ever do. It's our wedding night Mrs Booth!"
It had not occurred to him to call her anything else. As Angel, he had no actual last name. He was Seeley Joseph Booth to the world. And that was how he would leave this world one day. Only she called him Angel. And oh how he loved it when she did. He got to the staircase and hesitated looking up at the steps in front of him. "Put me down! It's too far!" she shrieked. He gritted his teeth, hoisting her up a little higher in his arms, flexing them, and started up the steps.
He got to the bed just in the nick of time. His knees were about to buckle under the weight of her and the babies she was carrying. His ego would not allow him to put her down until he made it all the way to their marriage bed. But he would probably suffer for it in the morning. but it is so worth it he thought as he climbed up on the bed and flopped down beside her. "I don't want to take this dress off" Temperance said stroking the beaded bodice with her fingers.
Angel smiled lavisciously "I, on the other hand, would love to take it off for you" pulling one of the straps down over her shoulder with one finger, and kissing her soft skin. His fingers found the zip at the side of the dress and slowly slid it down. He reached across her body and slowly, teasingly slipped the other strap over her shoulder, pulling the bodice over her breasts releasing them to his awaiting mouth. She groaned and pushed her fingers through his hair, holding him to her.
Temperance sat up and let the dress fall to her hips, pushing it over her stomach. He helped her wriggle her bottom over the fabric and he held it out and let it drop to the floor. "Angel! Shouldn't you hang it up or" He pushed her back diving his tongue into her mouth. His hands exploring her body, his mouth following in their path. He lifted his head and stared at her through hooded eyes, smoky and dark with lust. "I love you wife" he growled as his lips burned a trail of hot kisses over her belly and down between her legs. "Angel" was all she managed to whisper as she let him take to that place where every sensation was magnified tenfold and they were the only people on the planet.