Pairing: Olivia/Melinda
"Wedding Day"
"C'mon girls" Olivia yelled as she flopped down on the couch next to Melinda, while pressing the play button on the dvd player remote control. "I'm going to start the movie without them" she says to her wife.
"Give them five minutes, they'll be down" Melinda says. "Besides, what's the rush?"
"Mommy, when are you going to pop the popcorn?" Matthew asked Olivia.
"You wanna help mommy out?" Olivia asked the five year old.
"Yes ma'am" he replied. "Can we put a lot of butter on it too?" Matthew asked as he and Olivia walked into the kitchen.
Before Olivia could answer, Melinda answered for her. "Not too much just a little bit. Too much butter isn't good for you."
Olivia kneels down and whispers in Matthew's ear. "How about we put a little bit of butter on mommy's popcorn and a lot on ours? But you gotta keep it a secret because if mommy finds out, I'm going to be in big trouble."
"Okay" Matthew whispers back with a big smile on his face. "I promise I won't tell mommy."
While Olivia and Matthew were in the kitchen popping the popcorn for the family, Taylor and Mackenzie finally comes downstairs. "Mmm" Taylor says, "That popcorn sure smells good."
"Sure does" Mackenzie replies, as she sat next to her mother on the couch. "So, what's it going to be tonight?" she asked her mother.
"Imitation of Life" Melinda replied.
Taylor sighs. "Mom, that movie is old. Besides, aren't all the actors' dead now."
"I don't know Taylor, I like that movie" Mackenzie says.
"I like it too Kenzie, but we've seen that movie about ten times and every time we watch it mom cries."
"Do not" Olivia yells from the kitchen.
Melinda laughs. "Okay then, you chose a movie" she tells Taylor.
"Cool" Taylor replies. "How about, 27 Dresses?"
"That movie is old too" says Mackenzie.
"Not as old as Imitation of Life" Taylor replied.
"We've seen it three times already" Mackenzie says to her sister.
Olivia and Matthew enter the living room carrying three big bowls of popcorn. "So, have you all decided what we're going to watch?"
"Yeah, I want to watch…" Taylor begins.
Mackenzie quickly interrupts her, "No, I wanna watch". Both girls went back and forth until Melinda had enough of them bickering.
"Okay, lets take a vote on it" Melinda says. "All those in favor of watching Imitation of Life raise your hand". Olivia and Mackenzie quickly raised their hands. "Okay, that's two" Melinda says. "Now, all those in favor of watching 27 Dresses raise your hand." Melinda and Taylor quickly raised their hands. They all looked at Matthew, who now has the deciding vote.
"Matt, you didn't raise your hand" says Taylor.
"Yeah Matt, what's it going to be?" Mackenzie asked.
"I want to watch cartoon" the five year old says.
"Nope" says Taylor. "You've got to break the tie."
"I don't wanna break the tie. I wanna watch cartoon."
"Come here, baby" Melinda says to Matthew, simultaneously patting the empty cushion next to her. Matthew gets up from the floor and sits next to his mother. "You don't have to break the tie, if you don't want to" Melinda tells him, as she puts her arm around him, comforting him.
Olivia sighs. "Well, we're going to have to watch something before the popcorn gets cold and stale."
Mackenzie peps up, "I've got a great idea" she says excitedly.
"Oh boy" Taylor mumbles.
"How about, we nix the movie for tonight"
"And…what's so great about that?" Taylor asked.
"Well, mom get to tell us about their wedding day" Mackenzie says.
A stunned Melinda looked at Olivia, who begins to choke on the popcorn she was eating. After hearing Olivia cough several times, Melinda reached for the glass of water on the table and hands it to her wife. Olivia catches her breath and drink the water. "You guys don't want to hear about our wedding day" Olivia tells them.
"You know Kenzie, that's not a bad idea" Taylor says. "I mean, you guys told us about how you two got engaged but never mentioned the wedding day."
"We got married on our wedding day… The End... There's nothing to tell" Olivia says.
Taylor turns to Melinda. "Mom, why don't you tell us your point of view since our other mother isn't willing to share her memories with us?"
"Okay" Melinda agreed. "What all do you want to know?"
"Everything" Mackenzie says.
"Okay, well, where do I start?" Melinda says and then pauses.
"I'll tell the story" Olivia says, interrupting Melinda's train of thought.
"Their wedding day from momma Liv's point of view, pass the popcorn; this is going to be good" Taylor says to Mackenzie.
"Hey, I heard that" Olivia says.
Both girls giggle. Mackenzie then passes the bowl of popcorn to Taylor.
"They were just kidding, right girls" Melinda says as she winks her eye at them.
Olivia takes a deep breath and then exhales. "Well, it was about 7am the morning of our wedding and Fin wakes me up"
Olivia's POV:
Fin nudges Olivia on the shoulder. "Liv, baby girl, wake up"
"I'm up" a sleepy Olivia says.
"Here" Fin says, handing her the phone. "It's Mel, she sounds upset."
Olivia sits up on the couch and clears her throat. "Mel, sweetheart, you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay" Melinda says crying into the phone. "It's, it's, it's our wedding cake" Melinda said as she continued to cry.
"Mel, baby, calm down. What about our wedding cake?"
"My mother forgot to put the request in and now, we don't have a wedding cake"
"Aw shit" Olivia says out loud. "Don't worry, we'll just have to get another cake."
"Liv, today is our wedding day, we're not going to find someone to make our wedding cake"
Suddenly there's a knock on Fin's door. He walks over and opens it. "Stabler, what's up?" asked Fin.
Olivia continues to talk to Melinda for ten more minutes and then ends the call. She walks in the kitchen where Fin and Stabler were sitting at the table.
"What's up El?"
"Nothing much, just came by to see if you were having any last minute thoughts."
"No fucking way" Olivia tells him. "I knew I wanted to marry Melinda the second time we went on a date."
"That's when she let you hit it, huh. Damn, was it that good" says Elliot.
"No asshole" Fin interrupts. "For your information, Melinda made her wait."
"How long are we talking... one,two months?" Elliot asked.
"Try six months" Fin replied.
"SIX MONTHS" Elliot yelled. "Liv, you must have been getting it from someone else."
"No, I wasn't getting it from someone else. I've never cheated on Melinda, and never will."
"Hey, how come you knew about this and I didn't?" he asked Fin.
"Umm, I don't know. Could it be because she's my little sistah and best friend" Fin says sarcastically.
"Oh well, whatever" Elliot says. "I've gotta run. Kathy wants me to stop by and pick up a few things from the grocery store" Elliot begins to walk to the front door. "See you guys at the wedding."
"Bye El" Olivia said, as she waved. "You know, you don't have to remind him, we're best friends" she tells Fin.
"I know it's a habit" Fin tells her. "I like getting under Stabler's skin" he giggles. "Okay what's wrong?" he asks her.
"Nothing" Olivia says.
Fin knows Olivia well, too well. He knows something is eating at her. "Baby girl, who do you think you're talking to? I know when there's something wrong."
"Melinda's mom was so busy making sure everything was so right, so perfect, she forget about the cake"
"What?" Fin says in disbelief.
"Yeah, now there's going to be a wedding with no cake."
"Over my dead body" Fin tells her.
Olivia turns and looks at Fin, "Really"
"Yeah, really" Fin says. "Don't worry, I've got the hook up. You and Melinda are going to have that big ass cake y'all want. I'm going to make sure of it" he tells Olivia. "Now, grab your purse, lets go out for breakfast."
Fin and Olivia went Denny's for breakfast. Olivia is now starting to get butterflies and she's unable to eat her breakfast. She drinks a cup of coffee instead. After breakfast Fin drops her off at the apartment and he goes to one of his Asian friends who owns a cookies and cake shop in Manhattan. Fin gives her a picture of the wedding cake and asks if she could have it completed and delivered by 4pm, which gave her seven hours to complete. He also promised her, if she could get this done, he'll double the price for her and the lady agreed. Before leaving he gave her Melinda's parents address, which is where the wedding is going to take place.
Fin left Manhattan and picked up Olivia's mother, Serena, on his way to the jewelry store. He wanted to get Serena's opinion on a pair of diamond earring he was getting Olivia as a wedding gift. "Here they are" Fin says pointing at the earrings.
"They're perfect" Serena says. "And the price isn't that bad either. It's a great steal" she tells Fin. The two adults left the store and headed for Fin's apartment.
It was now, 1pm, four hours until the wedding. Fin and Serena enters the apartment. Olivia gives her mother a hug. Their mother daughter relationship had been strained over the years due to Serena's drinking. With the help of Melinda, Olivia's relationship with her mother is now better than it's ever been. Serena's been sober for two weeks now, which makes Olivia happy.
Olivia and Serena went into Fin's bedroom and she showed her mother her wedding dress, which bought Serena to tears. Olivia was stunned, she's never seen Serena cry before. Growing up, she didn't think Serena had any feelings or a heart.
"My baby" Serena says, looking into Olivia's eyes. "I know I've made plenty of mistakes in my lifetime but giving birth to you wasn't one of them." Tears begin to trail down Olivia's face. "Livvy, I'm an alcoholic and I'm your mother and I love you, I love you very, very much."
"Oh, mom" Olivia says as she hugs her mother tightly. All her life, she's wanted to hear her mother say, I love you Olivia.
Serena breaks the hug. "Don't say a word, just listen." Serena reaches down in her purse and takes out a small box. "This was your grandmother's wedding ring" she tells Olivia as she opens the box. "She gave it to me before she died, in hopes I'd pass it on to my son to give to his bride. Since you're my only child, I thought I'd give it to you to give to Melinda."
"Mom, it's beautiful and I would love to give Melinda grandmother's ring, but…
"But, you already purchased a ring for Melinda" Serena says.
"Yeah" Olivia says.
"Well, not really"
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"Well Melinda had you to believe you were purchasing her ring. Instead you paid to get this one resized and cleaned" Serena tells her daughter.
Serena hand the ring to Olivia, who stares at it for a few moments. "I don't know what to say."
"Thank you will do"
"Thanks mom"
"Well, it's something old. Now it's time for something new"
"You didn't….." Olivia begins.
"No, I didn't" Serena replied, "but Fin did." Serena calls Fin into the room. He gives Olivia the new pair of diamond earrings he purchased for her. Again, Olivia is bought to tears.
"Okay, enough with the crying" Fin says. "I bet Munch and Stabler a hundred bucks a piece that you'll cry at the wedding. So, don't use up all your tears here."
Olivia gives Fin a big hug. "I love you" she whispers in his ear.
"Love you too, baby girl" he replied.
"Okay, it's time for showers" Serena says.
"You two ladies shower first" Fin says.
Everyone takes their showers and Serena helps Olivia with her hair and make-up. Fin enters the room. "What do you think?" he asks them.
Olivia turns around and sees Fin standing in the door wearing a black tuxedo with a yellow tie. "Odafin Tutuola, you clean-up well" she says, with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, if I was 20 years younger…" Serena starts out saying but was interrupted by Fin.
"Don't say it. I don't want to have that imagine in my head" he tells Serena. They all laugh.
Olivia gets up and runs straight to the toilet. "What's wrong with her?" Fin asks Serena.
"Butterflies"
Fin's phone rings, it' Melinda. "Liv, it's for you" he yells. "Mel, she's in the bathroom right now."
"Fin, were you able to get the cake?" Melinda asked.
"Yeah, my friend called thirty minutes ago. They should be there around 4pm."
"Thanks, I owe you big time" Melinda says.
"So, how are things going over there at your parents' house?"
"It's crazy, mad crazy over here. My mom is getting on everyone's nerves. The caterer almost walked out, the band called and said the lead singer has strep throat. We should have eloped."
"Band, what band?" Fin asked. "Black people don't hire bands for their weddings, we play records and do the electric slide." Fin could hear Melinda's laughter through the phone. He was glad he was able to get her to laugh because earlier she sound as if she was going to lose her mind.
"Tell Liv, I called and I love her."
"Will do. See ya soon" Fin said and then hangs up the phone.
Olivia returned from the bathroom. "You're not having seconds thoughts are you?" Fin asked.
"No…Hell no" replied Olivia. "I'm just nervous, that's all."
"Well hurry up and get dressed the wedding starts in two hours" Fin tells Olivia. He leaves the room while Serena helps Olivia into her wedding dress. Less than an hour later, they all leave Fin's apartment and gets into the limousine.
They all arrive at Melinda's parents' home an hour before the wedding. Marilyn and Robert greet Olivia, Serena and Fin with a kiss. "Olivia, you look absolutely gorgeous" Marilyn tells her.
"Thank you" Olivia replied. "Where's Mel?" Olivia asked.
"She's upstairs with her sisters" said Marilyn.
"I'm going to go up and say, hello" Olivia tells them.
"No…wait" Marilyn said. "You're not to see the wedding dress until she walks down the aisles."
"That's an old wise tale, Marilyn" Robert says. "I saw your dress before the wedding. As a matter of fact, we made ou…."
Marilyn quickly interrupts. "Oh hush up, Robert" she says, as she put her index finger over her husband's mouth. "They don't need to know what happened on our wedding day." She turns to Olivia. "Now, you can hang out in Gabbie's room. I don't want you and Mel running into each other before the wedding starts. And Fin, you're a life saver, the cake is beautiful."
"No problem" Fin says.
"Come see the decorations in the back yard" Robert tells them.
They all went out back and Olivia was speechless, she couldn't believe her eyes. "How'd you do this?" she asked Robert.
"It was your mom and Marilyn's idea" Robert tells her.
"I hope you like it, sweetheart" Marilyn says.
"Like it…I, I love it" Olivia tells her.
The guests are starting to arrive. Olivia and Fin goes into Gabbie's room. "Thirty more minutes until Melinda becomes Mrs. Benson" Fin says to Olivia, who's pacing the floor. "What are you doing?" Fin asks her. "Are you talking to yourself?"
"I'm trying to remember my vows" Olivia tells him.
Meanwhile, Melinda is in Ursula's room with her two sisters and their mother walks in. "Mel, you're beautiful" she says to her daughter. "And Olivia, she's just stunning."
"Thanks mom"
"When I married your father, your grandmother gave me this pearl necklace. She said, it belonged to her grandmother, who received it from her mother when she jumped the broom. So, what I'm trying to say is, this necklace belong to your great-great-great grandmother and I thought I'd give it to you on your wedding day, so you could wear something old."
Marilyn takes ahold of Melinda's hand and place the pearl necklace in the palm of her hand. "Mother, it's beautiful" Melinda said, as she examined the necklace that's been in her family for generations. "Just beautiful" she echoed. "Here" she says, "could you put it around my neck" she asks Gabbie.
"Sure thing, sis" Gabbie replied.
Ursula goes into her closet and gets a bag out. "I knew mom was going to give you the necklace, so I decided to buy you matching earrings. Mom gave you something old, now here's something new."
"Thanks Ursula" Melinda says. "You guys are the best and…"
"Wait, hold that thought" Gabbie says. "Now, you know I'm in between jobs right now and my money is a little funny at the moment. So, since mom and Ursula got you something old and something new, I decided to give you something blue."
"Okay" Melinda curiously says.
"Here you go" Gabbie says, as she hands Melinda a small box.
Melinda opens the box and is a bit confused. "A bootie"
"Yeah" Gabbie says. "You said, you'd like to start a family soon after you get married, so I wanted to be the first to buy your baby boy something."
"Yeah but, it's a bootie. Don't they come in pairs and how do you know my first kid is going to be a boy?"
"I got a feeling it's going to be a boy. Yes, they do come in pairs. I'm giving Olivia the other one" Gabbie tells her.
"Cheap, you're just cheap" Ursula says to Gabbie.
"I told you, my money was a little funny" Gabbie replies.
Robert knocks on the door. "Melinda, it's about that time" he tells her. Marilyn opens the door and Robert eyes fill with tear when he sees his oldest daughter in her wedding dress. "Baby, you look just like your mother on her wedding day" he tells Melinda.
Olivia was still pacing the floor. "Okay, okay, I think I can say my vows without messing up. I'm good to go now" she tells Fin.
"Good" Fin says, as he stands. "It's time."
As he and Olivia exited the room, Melinda was exiting the other room with her father. They came face to face, gown to gown in the hallway. "Mel, you're stunning" Olivia says.
"Thank you" Melinda replied. "And you, you look beautiful, gorgeous. Liv, I'm never seen you more beautiful than this moment."
"Okay ladies" Robert says. "Save the vows for the ceremony."
Fin and Olivia walked out first and the guests stood as the band played, the Bridal march. Olivia took her place on the right side. Melinda and Robert followed behind while the bridal march still played. The wedding ceremony began and both ladies tried to fight back their tears but couldn't. Fin looked over at Munch and Stabler and winked at them because he knew, he had just won a bet.
After the wedding ceremony, Fin went to his car and got out some records. "Heck, I'm not listening to that tired ass band" he thought to himself. Fin had a crate filled with record albums in his car. He put the records on and the first song he played was Michael Jackson's, Pretty Young Thing. He played about five songs before getting on the microphone and telling the bride and bride to get on the dance floor. Everyone cleared the dance floor for Olivia and Melinda.
"Mrs. Olivia and Melinda Benson, this song is for you" he said. Fin played, Save The Best For Last, by Vanessa Williams. The couple danced for about two minutes before everyone else joined them on the dance floor. The next song played was Good Vibrations, by Markie Mark. Olivia showed off her dancing skills to everyone, while Melinda, who's not a get-down type of girl stood there and watched.
Later on Olivia noticed her mother acting strangely. She went over to Serena and realized, her mother had been drinking. "Mom, you didn't" Olivia says.
"I only had two drinks" Serena says to Olivia. "Okay, maybe three or four or five. Hell, I don't know. Don't worry Livvy, I'm good. I'm not going to get all loud and embarrass you."
The thing is, Serena was drunk and didn't realize how loud she was talking. She was already embarrassing Olivia. Fin walks over where Olivia and Serena were. "Okay, lets go" he tells Serena.
"Get you hands off me" Serena said, as she snatched her arm away from Fin.
Fin leans over and whispers in Serena ear. "Your drinking messed up her life while she was growing up. I'll be damn if I let you mess up the happiest day of her life. Now, put the drink down and lets go."
Serena looked over at Olivia and put the drink down. "I'm sorry, baby" she says.
"I know you are, you're always sorry, mom" Olivia says.
Fin left the wedding reception with Serena.
An hour later, Olivia and Melinda said their goodbyes to the guests and they went home to their apartment.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"That's it" Taylor says.
"Yeah mommy, what happened next?" Matthew asked Olivia.
"What happened next is private" Olivia says.
"Oh, okay, I know what happened next" Mackenzie says.
"Me too and I don't want that thought in my head" says Taylor.
"What thought?" Matthew asks.
"Our mothers" Mackenzie replied.
"Kenzie" Melinda calls out her daughter's name, afraid of what she'll say next. "Okay, that's it kids. Now you know what happened on our wedding day."
"Yeah, but all we heard is mom's side. What happened at grandma's house? How did she forget about the cake? Why was she driving you crazy on your wedding day? Why did the caterer almost quit?" Mackenzie asked.
"Baby, that's a whole other story and we don't have that much time because it's bedtime of someone" Melinda said, looking at Matthew.
"Aww man" the little boy said. "Can I sleep you tonight mommy?" he asked.
"Umm, not tonight honey" Olivia said.
"How come"
"Because I want to fuck your mother's brains out tonight" Olivia thought to herself. "Well, because…umm…"
"You can sleep with us tomorrow night" Melinda tells him.
"Okay" he says.
Later on that night after the kids were sound asleep, Melinda and Olivia repeated their vows to one another while in bed and made hot passionate love to one another.