UNREQUITED
Summary: When Emily Hargreaves meets Wyatt and Chris Halliwell, she has no idea how complicated her life is about to become. Set in the changed future. It's about life, love and all of that…
Disclaimer: The characters in Charmed do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made. The characters of Emily and Chloe do belong to me though, but they can be borrowed as long as I'm asked first.
Notes: Hi! Finally, a new chapter for you. It's decidedly on the sappy side btw, but it's a wedding so it's allowed! LOL! Anyway, with no further ado, let's get on with the show. It's the morning of the long-awaited nuptials in case you hadn't guessed…
OOOOOO
Chapter 43 – The Wedding
The guest bedroom at Chloe and Wyatt's apartment...
Emily woke the next morning to the sensation of warm lips pressed against hers. "Mmm," she murmured groggily, as she slowly emerged from the fog of sleep and opened her eyes. "Hey you!"
"Morning Sleeping Beauty!" Chris greeted her brightly; smiling down into her face as he tenderly brushed a few wayward strands of her sleep-mussed hair out of her eyes.
Emily smiled drowsily back at him, and then suddenly realised where she was. "Wait! What are you…?" she exclaimed, struggling to a sitting position, an action that was severely hampered by the sheets wrapped tightly around her body. "Chris, you can't be here!"
Her boyfriend laughed at her unreasoning panic. "Why not? I don't think there's any rule against the chief bridesmaid and the best man seeing each other before the wedding on the big day - only the bride and groom."
"I suppose so," Emily agreed, giving up the fight and relaxing back against the pillows again. "Why are you here anyway?" she asked curiously. "There's nothing wrong is there? Wyatt hasn't changed his mind?"
"I don't think there's much chance of that," Chris reassured her. "He was still asleep when I left. I just wanted to say good morning that's all."
Emily shot him a sceptical look. "You must have a more pressing reason to come here than that," she said.
Chris grinned at her, his green eyes alight with mischief. "Maybe," he conceded coyly.
"So, are you going to enlighten me or what?" Emily asked.
"Well, if you absolutely insist…."
And with that pronouncement, Chris dipped his head and proceeded to kiss her breathless, his fingers tangling in her hair as his mouth explored hers with its usual thoroughness. Returning his embrace with enthusiasm, Emily slid her arms around his back and pulled him down on top of her. They made out like this for several minutes until Chris eventually found the strength to extradite himself from her arms.
"I knew it'd be worth it," he declared as he sat back, earning himself a playful punch in the mid-riff from his passion-flushed girlfriend.
"You are so bad," she accused, pouting prettily at him.
"You still love me," he replied confidently as he combed his fingers through his mussed-up hair and rose to his feet. "I'll see you later," he added with a wink and a cheeky half-smile.
As he disappeared in a plume of sparkling blue lights, Emily shook her head in indulgent exasperation. It certainly beat an alarm clock as a wake-up call, that was for sure. She turned over onto her side and startled when she noticed the time. She'd slept in, a happenstance that was not all that unexpected given the previous night's events. Her Mom and Aunt were due to arrive in ten minutes though, so she threw back the covers and quickly scrambled out of bed.
Pulling on her robe, she padded barefoot down the corridor to the lounge, stopping in to check on Chloe along the way. Her cousin was fast asleep, curled up into a foetal position with a serene expression of peace on her pretty face. Emily decided not to wake her. They didn't need to start getting ready for a while yet, and she, her Mom and Aunt Leann were more than capable of handling things in the meantime.
As if on cue, the doorbell rang and she hurried to answer it, admitting her female relatives with a hissed instruction to keep their voices down. "Chloe's still asleep," she informed them in hushed tones. "I figured she could use a lie-in."
"Is she all right?" Leann questioned her niece worriedly.
"Yeah, yeah, she's fine," Emily reassured her, deliberately not mentioning Chloe's earlier emotional breakdown.
She was pretty sure that those tears had been the cathartic release that her cousin had needed, so she didn't see the point in worrying her Aunt unnecessarily. Chloe couldn't abide anyone fussing over her and Leann's mothering instincts would go into overdrive if she suspected her daughter was unhappy in any way. No, it was best to keep quiet and be done with it. Chloe wouldn't thank her for opening up a can of worms when it wasn't needed.
"Coffee?" she offered brightly instead. "I think we should wait for the blushing bride to surface before we crack open the champagne, don't you?"
Both her Mom and Aunt nodded their assent, so she led the way into the kitchen and proceeded to brew a pot of coffee for them all to share. "Where are Dad and Uncle Mike?" she asked, as she flicked the switch on the percolator and waited for the telltale glug-glug sound to begin.
"We left them back at the hotel," her mother explained. "They have instructions to turn up an hour before the cars are due to arrive."
"We decided we should keep them out from underfoot for as long as possible," Leann added wryly.
"I imagine the variety of Sport channels on offer at the hotel hold more allure for them than a French manicure anyway," Emily remarked with a grin.
"Tell me about it," her mother concurred with a roll of her eyes. "I swear your father's been glued to the TV set in our room every spare moment since we checked in!"
Emily laughed and then her expression sobered. "Dad is all right, isn't he?" she asked. "I mean, after last night…"
Bella nodded. "Yes, he's fine. It shook him up a bit, but he handled it all pretty well considering. I already knew the counselling was helping, but it was good to have additional proof of that."
"You'll be pleased to know that Chris went up in his estimation too," she went on to add.
"He did?" Emily asked with some degree of incredulity, "What? Even after he let me tag along with him and Wyatt when they went to find Chloe?"
At the time, her cousin's welfare had been the only thing on her mind. It was only afterwards that she realised that her stubbornness in that regard may have reflected badly on Chris in her father's eyes.
"He only agreed after Wyatt overrode his initial objection," Bella reminded her daughter, "And then he went on to insist that you stay close by his side. In other words, he was mindful of your safety even though Chloe and his brother were the main focus of his thoughts at the time. That's all your Dad really wants, Emily - for someone to show you the same consideration that he would."
Emily nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"It was more than that though," Bella continued, "Maybe you were too much in the thick of things to really notice, but Chris was the one who kept a clear head last night. He stopped Wyatt from spiralling out of control, and basically showed himself to be someone who can be relied upon in a crisis. I know your Dad can be an overprotective parent at times, but he'll always give recognition where it's due - and Chris definitely earned himself some extra credit last night."
Emily beamed happily at her Mom on hearing this. Even though she tried hard not to show it, her Dad's continued indifference to her relationship with Chris did upset her. She knew she shouldn't expect too much, too soon, that her father was still coming to terms with what had happened to his sister all those years ago, but she had been hoping for some change in his attitude by now. Instead, he remained coolly polite towards her boyfriend, which in some ways was worse than his original out-and-out disapproval of him. With any luck, her Dad might make the effort to get to know Chris a little better now however. It was something to hope for at least anyway.
After pouring herself a cup of coffee, she pushed the pot across the counter towards her Mom and Aunt, and then turned to rummage through Chloe's kitchen cupboards for something to eat. She eventually found a bag of relatively fresh blueberry and cinnamon bagels in the bread basket, one of which she split in half and popped into the toaster oven. When it was done, she spread it thickly with cream cheese and bit into its doughy softness as she, her Mom and Aunt waited for Chloe to emerge from her bedroom. Then, and only then, would the final build-up to the wedding of the year begin…
OOOOOO
The Halliwell Manor, several hours later…
Wyatt stood at the window of his bedroom, gazing reflectively down on the street below. The wedding guests were beginning to arrive. He could see them wending their way up the driveway, dressed in their finest and carrying brightly wrapped packages in their hands. They were greeted at the door by one or other of his extended family, and then ushered through the house into the back garden where the wedding ceremony was due to take place in an hour or so's time.
He knew he should probably go downstairs and play host, but he was reluctant to give up his quiet solitude just yet. Apart from the slight flutter of butterflies in his stomach, he felt reasonably calm about what was to come however. The indecision and angst of the last few days had been well and truly banished by the re-established emotional connection between himself and his beloved fiancée, and the strong sense of rightness that he'd always felt with Chloe was flowing strongly through his veins once again.
He couldn't have walked away from this commitment even if he had wanted to therefore - which he didn't of course. While he wasn't going to deny that bachelorhood had been fun in his early twenties, he was ready to settle down and build a family of his own now, something that he was looking forward to with an odd mixture of expectation and apprehension.
There was a light tap on the door then, and he turned to see his three Aunts framed in the doorway. His Aunt Prue, along with his Grams and Great-Grams, had crossed over especially for the occasion, and he felt strangely honoured by their other-worldly presence.
He was still getting to know the eldest Charmed sister properly. She'd crossed over for the first time when he was about sixteen, and, for obvious reasons, hadn't been around much since then. He'd noticed her visits had been getting more frequent in recent years however, probably because his Mom and Aunt Phoebe had finally managed to come to terms with their loss, and were no longer stricken by renewed grief every time she left.
Once her sisters had reconciled themselves to her presence, Prue had turned her attention to getting to know her nephews and nieces better. The two brothers had summoned her for help on a number of occasions in the last couple of years in actual fact, finding her advice invaluable and less clouded by the need to protect them from harm. She loved them, sure, but from a distance and hence could see things a little more clearly than her sisters could. Piper, Paige and Phoebe had never quite let go of the little boys that he and Chris used to be – as was illustrated by the latter's next comment.
"Well look at you, all debonair and handsome," she said in a voice that held a slight twinge of regret, "What happened to my sweet little nephew, hey?"
"I guess he grew up," Wyatt replied, taking the hands that she offered to him. "Apparently that happens as the years go by."
"Yeah well, it shouldn't," Phoebe said with an exaggerated pout. "Ah well, I guess you and Chloe are just going to have to make me some cute great-nieces and nephews to fuss over instead."
Wyatt laughed. "Give us a chance to get married first," he lamented.
"All right," she agreed, and then winked at him. "Just don't wait too long, okay?"
Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him warmly on the cheek, then let go of his hands and stepped back, allowing her elder sister to take her place.
"Good Luck and be happy, okay?" Prue said as she leaned forward to hug him.
"I will," Wyatt replied, affectionately returning her embrace before he turned to face Aunt Number Three.
"Chloe's a lucky girl," Paige said, as she palmed the side of his face in her hand and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "We love you, you know," she murmured in his ear.
"Yeah, I know – and I love you too," he quietly responded.
"MOMMY!"
Wyatt glanced up to see his youngest cousin standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips and an irritated expression on her small face. She was dressed in a pretty sapphire-blue dress with a white satin sash around the middle. Matching blue ballet pumps adorned her tiny feet and a circlet of white and cream flowers was woven into her unruly mop of dark hair.
"Hey flower-girl," he greeted her with an affectionate smile.
"Hey Wyatt!" Amy beamed toothily at him, and then turned to Paige. "It's time to go," she told her Mom peremptorily.
"I swear some of your Mom's genes got mixed up in her somewhere," Paige murmured softly to Wyatt, causing him to bite back a snort of laughter.
"Well, I suppose I should orb Little Miss Trouble here to join the Bridal party," the youngest Charmed One went on airily. "Why they'd want her though, I don't know."
Wyatt laughed for real this time. "She adds the cuteness factor," he explained. "Two bridesmaids and a flower-girl is the perfect combination. Well, according to Chloe anyway, I can't say I know much about these things to be honest."
"No, all you bridegrooms have to do is turn up," Paige said. "So you just make sure you do that," she told him with a wink.
"I'm not planning on going anywhere," Wyatt replied with a twinkling smile.
"Aww, that's so sweet!" Phoebe gushed and Prue rolled her eyes.
"Okay, I think we'd better get out of here before Pheebs suffers a major saccharine overdose," she said, catching her sister by the arm and quickly herding her out of the room.
After they were gone, Paige hoisted her daughter up into her arms and orbed out, leaving Wyatt to turn back to the window and resume his contemplative watch over the street outside.
"It's started I see," a dry voice said from behind him.
"The fond farewells before they send me off to the scaffold, you mean?" Wyatt remarked wryly.
Chris laughed as he crossed over the threshold and came into the room. "Yeah – although I wouldn't let Chloe hear you describe it like that if I were you," he advised.
"I wasn't intending to," Wyatt replied, turning away from the window to face his brother.
"This doesn't change anything you know," he felt the need to say after a beat of silence.
"Yeah, it does," Chris immediately contradicted. "Once that ring is on your finger, you don't solely belong to this family anymore. Chloe'll be your number one priority and, like it or not, that changes things. It's how it should be of course, but it's gonna take some getting used to all the same."
Wyatt's mouth quirked up at the corners, "You're not feeling too deposed, I hope," he said.
Chris shook his head. "Me? Nah! Can't wait to get rid of you!"
"And you're so funny – not!" Wyatt replied.
He mock punched his brother on the arm in retaliation and they shared a laugh before the conversation turned to more serious matters. "Have you got the rings?" Wyatt asked.
"All present and correct," Chris said, patting his jacket pocket as confirmation of that. "Just relax, okay?"
"Yeah, well, that's easier said than done right now," Wyatt replied, as the nervous butterflies in his stomach suddenly took flight and performed a series of dizzying loop-the-loops, making him feel decidedly nauseous.
Chris grinned at his brother's uncharacteristic lack of composure. "Just keep saying 'I do' and you'll be sweet," he advised. "Oh, and your name is Wyatt Matthew Halliwell if they ask."
"Okay, got that," Wyatt replied with a nod. "Umm… and who am I supposed to be marrying again?" he asked jokingly.
Chris laughed. "I think someone said her name was Chloe."
"Chloe? Right, yeah, I know the one. Blonde, gorgeous and…"
"…Probably something you shouldn't mention in front of your father."
While Chris burst out laughing at Leo's rather risqué jest, Wyatt's shocked gaze swivelled towards the doorway to where their father was standing.
"Sorry," Leo apologised contritely as he entered the room.
"I should think so too!" his elder son returned. "I might have been about to say something perfectly innocent…"
Leo raised his eyebrows sceptically and Wyatt grinned. "Or not. But that's beside the point – you're an Elder – you're supposed to set a good example."
"Seriously failed there then, didn't he?" Chris interjected slyly. "I mean, hooking up with Mom, daring to marry her and then getting her pregnant too. Not very Elder-y behaviour, is it?"
"Yeah Dad, you were a real rebel in your day, weren't you?" Wyatt joshed.
Leo laughed. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose," he said, and then turned to address his younger son. "Your Mom wants you downstairs," he informed him.
Chris nodded, choosing not to question this rather conveniently timed summons. "All right," he agreed, then reached out and jovially slapped his sibling on the back. "Well, good luck, bro. Try not to flub your lines, okay?"
"Oh and don't take too long to show your face downstairs either," he cast back over his shoulder on his way out the door. "The audience are getting rather fed up with the warm-up act. The fact that I'm way cooler and far more interesting doesn't seem to matter to them for some reason. They're starting to heckle for the main event now."
It was a testament to Wyatt's increasing nervousness that he didn't take the bait following his brother's light-hearted jibe. "I feel like an attraction at a freak show," he remarked to his father instead, wrinkling his forehead in consternation as Chris left the room.
"They're your friends, Wyatt. They just want to share in your happiness," Leo said. "What you have to remember though is that this is yours and Chloe's day, nobody else's. The two of you and the commitment that you make to each other is the most important thing in the end."
"And here's me thinking it was just an excuse for a party," Wyatt joked.
Leo smiled. "Now I know you don't mean that," he said.
Wyatt smiled back. "No," he admitted quietly. "No, I'm ready for this. I don't know how or why, I just know that I am."
"You met the right girl, that's all it takes," Leo answered. "Now, I know you don't really need my advice…"
"But you're going to give it anyway," Wyatt quipped.
Leo shrugged. "It's what fathers do," he replied. "And, while I don't want to sound too conceited, I think I can claim some authority on how to maintain a successful marriage."
Wyatt nodded, knowing that to be true. He was old enough to understand that his parents were the barometer as far as happy, long-term relationships went. They'd fought hard for the contentment they'd achieved though, and negotiated many bumps in the road along the way. They'd always come out of the end of them together though, and Wyatt reckoned that, in some ways, their love was all the stronger for it.
"I think the most important thing is to keep talking," Leo said. "Whenever your Mom and I have temporarily lost our way, it's usually been because we've stopped communicating properly. And never take your marriage for granted either. However much you love each other, a relationship doesn't just happen. It has to be nurtured for it to grow. A plant will die if it's not fed and watered and a marriage is pretty much the same."
Leo stopped and smiled rather self-deprecatingly. "Of course, I'm sure you already know all of this…"
Wyatt laughed. "Yeah, I do," he agreed, "But only because I've been set a good example my entire life."
"And to think, a few minutes ago, I was a corrupting influence!"
"Well, as your son, you and Mom can be excruciatingly embarrassing at times. But, if I were an impartial observer, I'd think probably think the fact that you still have the hots for each other after almost thirty years together was a pretty amazing thing. I hope me and Chloe are half as lucky."
Leo smiled. "You will be, I'm sure of it," he replied confidently.
Wyatt nodded. "I hope so. Oh and Dad?"
"Mmm?"
"I love you."
"Yeah, I love you too, son. I love you too."
Downstairs, a short while earlier…
Chris took the stairs two at a time and was met by his mother at the bottom of the staircase. "Is your brother ready?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied.
Piper nodded in satisfaction. "Okay then, hold still," she told him, then reached up and fixed a white flower to the lapel of his charcoal grey jacket.
"There," she said, straightening the waistcoat that he wore underneath before stepping back and surveying the result with a critical eye. "And brush your hair, will you please? You look like a haystack."
Chris grinned, knowing that, while he might look slightly dishevelled, it wasn't as bad as she was making out. "Yes Mom," he replied obediently, seeing no real gain in arguing the point with her.
This was a conversation they'd been having off and on since he was a teenager, and they were no closer to a resolution. Sometimes he thought that maybe he should just wear his hair shorter like his brother and have done with it. However, the stubbornness, which he'd inherited from the very person that he was locked in this endless debate with, baulked at letting her win so easily. So, here they were, still stuck in the same old dispute ten years on.
Piper shook her head with a smile, knowing exactly the thoughts running through his mind at that particular moment. It had become a kind of a habit for them, one which her husband found highly amusing. He thought it was hilarious that she was so irritated by the very attributes that she herself had passed onto their son. She was self-aware enough to see the irony in it however. So, fortunately for Leo, he got away with teasing her about it, whereas under normal circumstances he might not.
"What am I going to do with you?" she demanded of her son in affectionate exasperation.
"I suppose letting me make my own decisions is too much to hope for?" Chris asked, peering down his nose at her.
"I'm your mother, it's my job to interfere," she shot back and then joined in with his resultant laughter.
"Go and find your Aunts and recheck the magical defences," she instructed when their mirth died down. "I don't want anything to go wrong today. I know from personal experience that magically-interrupted weddings are no fun, and Wyatt and Chloe have been through enough already."
"Okay, will do," Chris agreed obligingly, wanting much the same thing for Wyatt as his Mom did, so not objecting to the rather overzealous precautionary measures in the slightest.
No matter how much they ribbed each other on the surface, a deep underlying affection existed between him and his elder brother. They were bound by the same ties that had held their Mom and Aunts together for so many years – ties of family, love, friendship and magical heritage that could be stretched to the limit sometimes, but never, ever broken.
After her youngest son had disappeared off in search of his Aunts, Piper started up the stairs, seeking out her first-born. She found him in his old bedroom with Leo, and she looked on in gentle affection as father and son shared a brief but heartfelt hug.
"Hey Mom!" Wyatt said, spotting her over his father's shoulder.
"Hey sweetie," she said, tears welling up in her eyes in spite of an earlier resolution not to cry.
He looked so grown-up and handsome though - her little boy - a man now - and about to embark on probably the most rewarding journey of his life. Her marriage had certainly been that for her, not simply because of Leo and the loving companionship that he provided, but because of the children that they'd brought into this world together.
Wyatt and Chris – her beloved boys - different as night and day in some ways, but with enough in common to overcome their inevitable sibling rivalry in favour of a loyal friendship with each other. She couldn't have been prouder of the men that they'd become and this day capped all of that in some respects.
"Here," she said thickly, repeating the ritual that she'd just gone through downstairs and pinning the obligatory flower to his jacket.
The act held more emotional resonance this time around however. She wasn't yet handing over the responsibility for Chris to someone else, although she suspected that that day wasn't all that long in coming. Wyatt was a different matter though, and while Chloe was a lovely girl - the embodiment of the wife that she had always hoped for her son - handing over the reigns was a wrench nevertheless.
Picking up on her mixed emotions, Wyatt stooped down and enveloped her in a bear hug. "I'm only getting married, Mom," he told her as he held her tightly within his strong embrace. "I'm not emigrating to Timbuktu. You'll still see me all the time."
"I know," Piper replied with an audible sniff. "And I'm happy for you, truly I am."
"You'll always be my favourite older woman," he promised faithfully, making her laugh in spite of herself.
"Glad to hear it," she said, wiping away the stray tear that had escaped to run down her cheek. "Your father and I are so proud of you - you do know that, don't you?"
"I do now," Wyatt replied with a smile.
"And we love you very much."
"I know - I love you too."
Piper cupped his face in her hands and kissed him in response. "Be happy okay?" she said. "And remember – we're always here for you whenever you need us."
Wyatt nodded solemnly, and then his face split into a wide, beatific smile. "So, am I allowed to get married now?" he asked.
Both his parents laughed. "Oh, I think you've got our permission," Piper replied archly.
"And our blessing," Leo added more seriously, a statement to which his wife nodded in whole-hearted agreement.
"Good," Wyatt said. He then drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Okay, I think I'm ready for my close-up now," he declared.
OOOOOO
Chloe and Wyatt's apartment…
"There," Emily said softly, as she fastened the last of the buttons and rearranged the bustle of her cousin's cream satin wedding dress. "You're done."
Chloe contemplated her reflection in the free-standing oval mirror in front of her for a moment, and then slowly turned to face the rest of the room's occupants. "So how do I look?" she asked.
"Pretty hot," her cousin told her with an impish grin.
"Elegantly demure," was her second bridesmaid, Prue's much more appropriate response.
"You're so pretty!" came little Amy's star-struck reply.
"Honey, you look absolutely stunning," her Aunt Bella told her.
"So beautiful," her mother whispered tearfully. "I can't believe my little girl's actually getting married. It only seems like yesterday that I first held you in my arms."
"Mom!" Chloe protested plaintively. "Don't – you'll make me cry and there's not enough time to re-do my make-up!"
Leann laughed and drew her daughter into a loose-armed hug, mindful not to crease her dress or disrupt the elaborate cascade of golden curls, opalescent pearls and cream, silk flowers that constituted her bridal hair arrangement. Chloe returned her mother's embrace with loving affection and then gently pulled away.
"So," Emily said, "Are we planning to be on time for this wedding or fashionably late?"
"On time," Chloe replied without hesitation. "I'm not going to keep Wyatt waiting, not after everything that has happened in the last few days – it wouldn't be fair."
Emily nodded. "Okay, I guess we should get going then," she said, holding her hands out towards Chloe and crooking her fingers in a come-hither gesture. Her cousin smiled serenely at her and slipped her fingers into hers.
"You could have the decency to act a little bit nervous," Emily teased as she leaned forward to bestow a chaste kiss on the radiant bride's cheek.
"I'm marrying the man I love, there's nothing to be nervous about," Chloe replied calmly.
"Well, there's no accounting for your taste," Prue said sardonically, "But good luck anyway."
Chloe giggled. "You don't mean that!"
"No?" Prue queried mockingly, then laughed and threw a sly sidelong at Emily. "Actually, it's the poor girl who ends up stuck with Chris that I feel more sorry for," she joked.
"Wyatt and Chris are cool!" Amy protested in indignation.
"You only think that because you're too young to know any better," Prue retorted as she took her little cousin's hand and led her from the room. Bella hugged her niece and wished her good luck, and then she and Emily also departed.
"I'll send your father in, shall I?" Leann said after she'd hugged her daughter a temporary, but fond farewell.
Chloe nodded, and then let out a nervous laugh. "I can't believe I'm actually about to do this," she said.
"Do what?" her mother asked, slightly puzzled.
"Marry Wyatt Halliwell."
"You love him, don't you?"
"Of course I do. It's just… you know, I heard so much about him growing up. He was this magical celebrity of sorts. And now, here I am on the brink of becoming his wife. It's just so surreal."
"He's a good man, Chloe." Leann said solemnly, "That's all that really matters. Human emotions make a marriage, honey, not magical powers."
"I know." Chloe said with a smile, and then nodded at the door. "You should go," she said. "If we carry on like this, I'm going to be late and I swore I wouldn't keep him waiting."
Leann cupped her daughter's face in her hands and kissed her gently. "I love you, sweetie."
"I love you too, Mom. Now send Dad in, will you? I want a man's point-of-view on how I look."
"I think I have one very beautiful daughter," Michael Simpson said from the doorway, "And she looks almost as stunning as her Mom did on her wedding day."
"'Almost as stunning'?" Chloe demanded in mock protest. "What kind of back-handed compliment is that?"
Her father laughed, stooping to kiss his smiling wife as she took her leave and followed the rest of advance wedding party downstairs to the waiting cars.
"I was the groom then," he explained to his daughter once they were alone. "It makes a difference. I'm sure Wyatt's going to think that you're the most beautiful creature he's ever laid eyes on."
"Well, that's the effect I was going for, so I guess we're ready to roll," Chloe declared.
"In a minute," Michael said, and then bent to kiss her lightly on the forehead. "Now, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to give you up yet, but if you're certain you want to do this…"
"It's what I want, Dad," Chloe reassured him.
"I know," Michael said, "Just checking though. A father's prerogative. So…" He held out his arm to her with a dramatic flourish. "Shall we?"
Chloe slipped her hand into the crook his elbow, then stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I thought you'd never ask," she said with a broad smile as they turned and headed for the door...
OOOOOO
The Halliwell Manor…
Chris turned away from his murmured conversation with his parents just in time to see his brother's rigid posture visibly relax. A quick sweep with his sensing power confirmed why. Emily's presence instantly emerged from the background noise like a blazing comet, and he suspected Wyatt had been alerted to the arrival of his bride in much the same way.
Sure enough, a minute or so later, Wyatt's two oldest friends, Daniel and Martin stood cordially aside to allow Emily's parents and Leann Simpson to pass. As the three of them made their way up the aisle to take their seats at the front, an expectant hush fell over the gathered throng. The presence of bride's family meant that the wedding ceremony was about to begin, and the merry chatter quickly died away in anticipation of that.
The harmonising strains of the string quartet began a few moments later, and the congregation rose as one to their feet. As everyone craned their necks to witness the approach of the radiant bride, Wyatt remained staring rigidly forward, his fingers clenched into fists by his sides. He desperately wanted to turn around and watch Chloe walk up the aisle towards him, but found that he needed to concentrate on combating the sudden urge to throw up instead. Even though he knew he was doing the right thing, he'd never been so nervous about anything in his life.
Once the bride and her attendants were assembled at the back of the garden, the groomsmen bent and set the crystals - which they'd been holding in their hands up until now - ceremoniously down on the ground. Shimmering arcs of light burst like fireworks from the circle of white prisms, forming a criss-crossing dome of golden light over the wedding party. While the resultant effect was startlingly beautiful, it also had a serious purpose behind it. The cage was intended to keep any unwanted guests out. Nothing bar a natural disaster was to be allowed to disturb this wedding, the entire Halliwell coven had seen to that.
After a few moments of awestruck contemplation, Chris - his nerve endings still buzzing with the heady intensity of combined Charmed Power that had gone into constructing the mesmerising dome of light - turned his attention to more earthly concerns. Emily and Prue, with little Amy between them, had started their slow walk up the aisle ahead of Chloe, their faces wreathed with smiles as they nodded and waved to various members of the congregation as they passed by.
Rich sapphire-blue in colour, the bridesmaid's dresses were strapless with a fitted bodice, nipped-in waist and a slightly flared ankle-length skirt. The underlying satin fabric was covered with a chiffon overlay in a slightly lighter shade of blue, which created an eye-catching two-tone effect. The style of the gown enhanced Emily's curvy figure to maximum effect, Chris noted, and found that he had to swallow hard to overcome the decidedly unbalancing effect the flattering cut of his girlfriend's dress had on his sense of equilibrium.
In an effort to distract himself, he lifted his eyes to her face and found her looking back at him, a twinkle of amused censure shining in her blue eyes. She'd obviously sensed him checking her out, but didn't seem at all annoyed by it. In fact, she was positively glowing under his appreciative scrutiny. She smiled at him, and he grinned unrepentantly back at her before his gaze shifted onto his future sister-in-law, walking with her proud father a few paces behind her trio of attendants.
And his verdict on his brother's bride? Well, she looked absolutely stunning in his humble opinion. Her wedding gown was simple in design, but had an added touch of panache and sparkle to set it apart from the ordinary. She'd forgone the traditional veil and headdress in favour of keeping her long, blonde hair loose and natural. It was all very Chloe, Chris thought. She was an uncomplicated country girl at heart, and the lack of pretentiousness in her bridal garb reinforced that in spades.
He leaned over to speak quietly in his brother's ear. "I think you need to look," he softly advised.
"Yeah?" Wyatt's voice was slightly croaky.
"Definitely."
Taking his sibling's advice, Wyatt at last turned to face his approaching bride, and Chris grinned when he heard his brother's subsequent intake of breath. A delicate blush rose to stain Chloe's cheeks as she became aware of her groom's intense gaze, and Chris noted that her eyes never left Wyatt's face as she completed the remainder of her journey down the aisle to his side. It was as if everyone else had faded away into the distance and it was just the two of them, something that became glaringly apparent when the celebrant began to speak and the distracted bride and groom both startled like a pair of deer caught in headlights.
The celebrant paused and smiled warmly at them. "Are we ready to begin?" she asked the young couple in a gentle tone.
"Umm yeah, go ahead," Wyatt instructed tremulously, while Chloe blushed prettily and let out a self-conscious little giggle.
"Okay then," the celebrant said, and continued on with her introductory address, stressing the solemnity of the commitment that they were about to make, whilst also extolling the inner joy and happiness that their marriage could bring them as well.
Wyatt and Chloe had opted for a human marriage ceremony rather than a magical binding, a decision that a number of purists among the magical community had been highly disapproving of. Chris understood his brother's choice however. He knew that Wyatt - while fully accepting of his exalted position within the magical hierarchy - viewed his relationship with Chloe as something that fed the more human side of his soul. It seemed appropriate for them to make this lifetime commitment in the traditional human way therefore.
However, in deference to their Wicca heritage, the young couple had chosen to have their marriage magically blessed – a task that had fallen to a proud Leo, who was clad in his gold and cream Elder's robes for the occasion. Chris reckoned he could count the number of times he'd seen his father dressed like this on the fingers of one hand. Because he never made a big deal of his Elder status, it was often easy to forget that Leo also belonged 'up there' with his magical compatriots as well as on earth with his family.
When the time came for Wyatt and Chloe to exchange vows, Chris stole a quick glance over his shoulder at his family. Ever the emotional one, tears were already streaming down Phoebe's cheeks. Paige, Prue and Piper were much more composed, although he thought he saw a suspicious shine in his Mom's soft brown orbs. Penny Halliwell was watching the proceedings with an expression of deep pride on her austere face, while his Grams was standing next to his Grandpa, both of them beaming from ear to ear.
Smiling inwardly, he turned back to the front and met Emily's gaze as they stood opposite each other, either side of the bride and groom. Even though this was Wyatt and Chloe's day, he had been feeling the weight of expectation on himself and his girlfriend from all directions. He'd lost count of the number of not-so-subtle illusions to him following in his brother's footsteps, but surprisingly it didn't bother him all that much.
With Bianca, the mere mention of marriage had made him decidedly uneasy inside. However, with Emily, he just didn't get that uncomfortable urge to run and hide. He knew that they were a long way from marriage yet, but he also knew that, if things went according to plan, then a wedding was the inevitable outcome. He was determined not to rush anything though. While he might appear more impulsive than Wyatt on the surface, when it came to life-altering decisions, he adopted a much more conservative approach than his brother and his relationship with Emily would be no exception to that.
Unable to speak to or touch her right now, he shot her a conspiratorial wink instead, and was delighted to see a flush of pink jump to the apples of her cheeks. It told him that he hadn't been the only one speculating about their possible future as Wyatt and Chloe exchanged their vows, and something deep within him was exorbitantly pleased by that.
He was called upon to hand over the rings then, and the act brought his attention back to the central purpose of this long-anticipated day – the two people who were currently getting married right in front of him. Wyatt seemed to have overcome his initial nerves, for he now spoke the words of his vows in a clear, steady voice, his eyes never once straying from his bride's face as he did so. Chloe, in turn, was equally confident about the promises she was making and the rest of ceremony passed smoothly as a consequence.
Instead of announcing them as husband and wife however, the celebrant stepped aside and Leo took centre stage to perform the blessing. Chris had never seen this done before and, because his father had insisted that things should be as spontaneous as possible, neither Wyatt nor Chloe knew what to expect either.
Chris watched, fascinated therefore, as Leo took a smooth, highly-polished spherical crystal of the purest white out of his pocket and handed to Chloe, quietly instructing her to hold it in the palm of her hands. He then directed Wyatt to place his hands over hers before he completed the ritual by sandwiching their co-joined fingers between his own palms.
His hands then began to glow with a pale golden light, which, at first glance, looked very much like his healing power, but that was actually something much more profound and far-reaching. Wyatt and Chloe both had rather stunned looks on their faces, and Chris could only imagine what they were experiencing as their union was blessed by magic beyond both their understandings.
After about thirty seconds, Leo took his hands away, leaving Wyatt and Chloe standing with their hands tightly clasped and the crystal orb nowhere to be seen. Chris's eyes widened. "Where did it…?" he started to ask, and then broke off when he realised that this probably wasn't the time.
"Later," Leo told him shortly, before he turned back to his son and new daughter-in-law. "I think this is the bit where I pronounce you husband and wife," he announced with a wide smile.
"So, do I get to kiss her now?" Wyatt demanded of his father as the congregation erupted into spontaneous applause behind him.
"Only if you want to," Leo replied with a chuckle.
"Oh, I want to," Wyatt declared emphatically. Wrapping an arm around Chloe's waist, he tugged her up close so they were virtually nose-to-nose.
"Hi, Mrs Halliwell," he said softly as she looped her arms around his neck and smiled happily up into his face.
Chloe Halliwell, née Simpson, opened her mouth to respond, but whatever she had been about to say was swallowed by her husband's lips, as he brought his mouth firmly down on hers and kissed her for the first time as his wife…
:-)
To be continued…
