Hawkes dropped his fork and pushed his plate away. "Wow, that was great! Remind me to thank Sid for hooking us up."
"I think Lindsay and Danny already are," Mac pointed out with his fork. The couple was going around to all the different tables as their guests ate greeting their friends and family. And right now Lindsay was giving the medical examiner a bear hug.
"Speaking of Sid, who knew his wife was so hot?" Flack asked, dumbfounded. "How did he get a woman like that? I mean, he's a nice guy and all but he can be kinda creepy."
Mac shrugged. "One man's creepy is another woman's quirky. There's somebody for everybody out there, Don. And Sid is a very lucky man."
"And his daughters are so pretty, too!" Stella pointed out, looking over at the table Sid was sharing with some other people from the ME's office.
"Glad somebody else pointed it out," Flack said. "Cuz if I had said it, I'd be the creepy one."
Peyton rolled her eyes at him. "Don, they're barely in their 20s."
"So what! It's not like I'm gonna hit on 'em or anything. And I just said their mother is hot and she's gotta be over 40! I don't believe in age discrimination when it comes to beautiful women. I mean, Sharon Stone is how old but I'd still totally…"
"New topic!" Stella said as she elbowed Flack in the side. "Do you smell what I smell?"
Hawkes wrinkled his nose. "Asparagus? Rosemary? Chicken ballotine?"
Stella sighed. "Well, yes. But I was talking about vindication! It's in the air tonight for Stella Bonasera!" She looked around the table but received nothing but blank expressions from her friends. "IF you recall, at the end of Lindsay's very first week with us I was saying that one day we'd be hearing wedding bells for her and Danny. I saw the sparks that were flying between them and I just knew, knew that theirs would be a deep and enduring love. And do you know what kind of response I got?" she asked Peyton, who just shook her head.
"Sheldon Hawkes, bazillion IQ, scoffed. Donald Flack, seasoned detective, rolled his eyes and made a joke. And the brilliant Mac Taylor, who knows so much about people, gave a little snort and said 'I seriously doubt that.' And yet here we sit, at their wedding." She had a very smug smile on her face.
Flack felt the need to defend himself and his 'seasoned' detective abilities. "C'mon, Stella, the first few months Lindsay was here she and Danny had a severe case of sibling rivalry. They each wanted to prove to 'Daddy' here," he jerked a thumb at Mac "that they were the better CSI. They didn't get along at ALL. So your thinking that they were gonna fall in love and live happily ever after was a bit far-fetched."
"And you're forgetting that we were all rooting for them to get together for a long time, too," Hawkes added.
"But you were all late boarders to the Danny/Lindsay-relationship ship," Stella pointed out. "I was the first to predict this day. And my excellent insight was brushed off entirely."
"We apologize for not recognizing your wondrous intuition earlier, Stella. You were right, I was wrong." Mac had a small smile as he said the words he knew his good friend was longing to hear.
"Dammit! I should have had a tape recorder ready. I don't know if I can count on one hand how many times you've said that, Mac," Stella noted.
She burst out laughing when Mac, after a moment's thought, held up four fingers.
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"I've never been hugged this often in my entire life," Danny muttered as they left another table of well-wishers. "I think Zau cracked my rib," he added with a small wince. He looked to see who was next in line to be greeted and his eyebrows shot up. "Oh boy…"
"Is that our little Danny-boy? All grown up and looking so handsome?" a woman with dyed black hair exclaimed before kissing both his cheeks.
"Can't be, Lydia," answered a woman with a giant bouffant. "Danny is still a baby and is definitely not old enough to be getting married, because if he is I don't want to think about how old that makes me." She too kissed his cheeks.
The third woman-a very large woman with even bigger hair- grabbed him in a bear hug. "Of course this is our Danny-boy! You look so much like your father. Not your coloring of course but your face."
"Hi, Aunt Rosie," Danny said to the woman who was still hugging him. "And hey Aunt Lydia, Aunt Frannie. Thanks for coming."
"Like we'd miss this!" Frannie sniffed. "I know we haven't been in touch for a long time but on a day like today it's important for family to be there. We wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Rosie finally let go of him and grabbed Lindsay. "Aren't you ADORABLE? You're just an itty bitty little thing, aren't you? A tiny, cute thing like you can't work in that nasty crime lab, can you?"
"Don't patronize the poor girl on her wedding day, Rosie," one of the other women chided. "I'm your Aunt Lydia, by the way. Welcome to the family." And Lindsay was promptly kissed by all three sisters.
"This is my 'date,' Ted Green," Lydia said with a sly smile as she seized the arm of the young man who was with them. "Isn't he cute?" she exclaimed as she pinched his butt. Lindsay choked back a laugh at the indignities the Federal Agent was being subjected to. That's life as a rookie, though. Been there, done that. And I bet this guy would gladly dumpster-dive or wade through a pool of lubricant right about now- anything to be someplace other than here.
"Does Uncle Paulie know about your 'date' Aunt Lids?" Danny asked with a sly smile of his own.
She answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I told him I was trading him in for a younger model. And speaking of your uncle, he sends his congratulations," Lydia informed him.
"The whole family does, Danny," Rosie told him. Danny's eyebrows shot up, so Rosie hurriedly continued. "They still aren't pleased with your…career choice," she arched a brow meaningfully at him and glanced quickly at Agent Green, who was listening intently. "But they are happy you're thinking about starting a family. It's always a good thing when more Messers come into the world. And they're proud of you, actually." Danny's eyebrows shot up even further, as did Lindsay's.
Frannie shrugged. "Don't be so surprised. We're your family and we love you no matter what. And we're proud that you're successful. We know you've gotten in trouble a few times- hell, you're a Messer! But we also that you haven't been in trouble for a while now and that people think you're good at what you do. Which makes us all proud of you- especially since so many of your cousins are failures," she said with a small sigh. "My youngest boy is back in jail again, in case you didn't know. He should have done what you and Tony Jr. did and gone off to school. Of course, he was always too stupid for school- like his father, that one." She sighed again. "
"You knew Fred was as dumb as a brick wall when you married him," Lydia chided her sister. "So you can't complain about it. Lindsay dear, there will be things you can change about your husband- and from what that tall detective said you've already made good progress- but part of a happy marriage is accepting that there are certain things you CAN'T change and loving them for it. Is our Danny still stubborn as hell?" Lindsay laughed and nodded. "That's not going to change. He's a Messer, it's in his, whaddaya-call-it, DNA."
"Trust me Aunt Lids, it's in the Monroe genetic code, too. Big time," Danny said with a laugh, then saw Lindsay glaring up at him. "And I love it, babe! It's one of your cutest traits. In anyone else it'd be a flaw but in my Montana, it's perfection." He kissed her hand and gave her his best puppy-dog eyes.
"Oooh, you've got him well-trained, dear. That can't have been easy to do," Rosie said with an admiring smile. "Anyway, we'd have brought you a wedding present but we were informed that it'd be a bad idea. Apparently family members can't give presents to other family members without it seeming like a bribe or something. She glared at Agent Green, who just held his hands up with a "let's not argue about this again" expression.
"It's really alright. You being here is present enough," Lindsay said. "It's so nice to meet more of Danny's family."
"I'm thrilled you're here," Danny added. "It's really great to see you three. And you don't look like you've aged a day since the last time I saw you!" Danny added. Thanks to gallons and gallons of Clairol and a truckload of Botox, I suppose…
"You always were a charmer, Danny-boy," Frannie said with a smile as she pinched his cheeks. "He gets that from his father, you know," she told Lindsay. "Messer men could charm paint off the walls."
"We've kept you too long from your other guests and Agent Green too long from his chicken. You better eat, boy," Lydia said to the Fed with a wink. "You're going to need some fuel for when the dancing starts!"
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Of course, according to Stella the dancing couldn't start until Lindsay and Danny had done the traditional opening dance. More than a few guests' eyes welled up as the two CSIs swayed gracefully to Ella Fitzgerald's "At Last"- the newly married couple looked so ecstatic and so adoringly at one another it was hard not to get choked up. And as the last few notes of the song faded away, Adam's brother was supposed to put on the song Lindsay had requested for her dance with her father.
Instead, "In the Mood" came blaring through the speakers, completely ruining the moment but causing everyone present to burst into laughter. Well, everyone except Danny. He turned bright red, from embarrassment or anger (or a bit of both).
"C'mon, Messers!" Flack said into the microphone from the DJ's table. "Show us what you got!"
People laughed harder as Danny flipped off his friend, looked around at all his friends and coworkers laughing at him, and shrugged. He turned to his wife, winked, and proceeded to twirl her around. Flack hadn't been exaggerating- they were pretty good. Granted, it was hard with Lindsay in her long dress but they still managed to do a few of their flashier moves. When they were finished, the crowd was clapping and cheering. Danny was still pretending to scowl but Lindsay had to laugh. Give Danny a chance to show off and he can't resist. My giant little boy.
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The rest of the night passed in a pleasant manner, as was inevitable. You give a bunch of overworked public servants the night off and an open bar, they're going to have a good time. Add dancing, good friends, and a good reason to celebrate and there's no way things could go wrong. And the country folk mixed well with the city slickers: Ashley and Reed swapped stories about going to college in the "city" (as Ashley went to school in Billings), Danny's buddies quickly adopted Joe as a kindred spirit, and all the sports fans in Lindsay's family were happily debating various members of the NYPD. Jeanie was the belle of the ball, however- once Hawkes busted a move with her to "Twist and Shout" she wouldn't rest until she danced with every one of "Aunt Lindsay's men friends." By far, one of the highlights of the evening was Jeanie standing on Mac's feet, waltzing to "It Had to Be You." A sea of flashes went off as they worked their way around the floor, partially because it was so damn cute but mostly because people wanted proof that Mac Taylor had done something so cuddly.
The various romances that had been kindled by the Girl's first trip east were reignited for the night. Out on the dance floor Kirsten and Hawkes were graceful, Marty and Shelby were rowdy, and Flack and Marie were borderline obscene.
"I've heard of PDA before but this has got to be PDL," Hawkes quipped. When Kirsten cocked an eyebrow at him, he explained. "Public Displays of Lust." Right as he finished saying that, Marie grabbed Flack and pulled him off the floor and out of the room. They didn't return for an hour, looking exceedingly pleased with themselves and very rumpled.
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The time came for the newlyweds to depart, although everybody else intended on partying until the break of dawn (well, except the unlucky people who had to work the early shift). As planned, Lindsay threw the bouquet right at Tricia and nobody else tried to catch it. As she stood there, a bit surprised, she noticed a note tied to the stem. She read it, then started crying and laughing, and as she turned around Adam was right behind her on one knee with a ring. She pulled the lab tech (who was of course magenta) to his feet, shouted "OF COURSE!" and planted a great big kiss on him. Everybody cheered, and people's desire to stay and celebrate was even more fixed at this point.
"How many different drafts did he go through for this note, babe?" Lindsay whispered to Danny.
"Twenty-two," Danny whispered back, but he couldn't hide the pride from his voice.Nicely done, Lobster Boy…
There was much hooting and hollering as Danny retrieved Lindsay's garter and launched it into the crowd and even more laughter when Mac caught it by reflex. Horrified, he threw it back up into the air, where Flack and Marty scrambled for it. Fortunately, Flack had a good 6 inches on the ME and came away with the prize. Everyone was so busy watching the festivities that no one realized Danny hadn't removed his hand from his wife's thigh.
"Whaddaya say we blow this Popsicle stand, Montana?" he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"I'd say that sounds like the best idea you've ever had, cowboy," she answered, mimicking his expression.
"Nah, that prize goes to deciding to do everything in my power to make you mine, sweetheart." Deciding not to take no for an answer the day of the vodka case, deciding to be patient. Nicely done, Messer.
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AN: Wedding night is next. Hopefully you won't have to wait TOO too long for it.