Chapter 51
The wedding had begun with Shaun performing her solo as Mac and Kira came down the aisle tossing green-tinged white rose petals. Paul, Brian, and Logan were already in place.
Mariah then made her way down the aisle, followed by Tasha. When Tasha finally went to her place, everyone rose.
Montana slowly made her way down, Jack and Sly on each side of her. Both Dotty and Paul's mother dabbed away tears at the sight of her, and the groom looked on the verge of crying himself, she looked so beautiful.
Sly then took his place beside Brian. Jack gave away his beloved daughter, giving Paul a sly wink and muttering, "Take care of my little girl."
"I will, sir," he muttered back.
The rest of the ceremony had gone off without a hitch, though it had appeared that Paul had zoned out for most of it. Maybe it was nerves or even boredom, but he hadn't really paid attention to what was going on until he felt a sharp poke in his ribs.
"Dude," Brian said. "Earth to PL. You taking this woman or aren't you?"
Paul snapped to attention. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. No problem."
Everyone, including the minister, broke out laughing, save for Paul's father and stepmother. His father leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. His stepmother rolled her eyes. Could this boy embarrass them any further?
"Good enough," Montana smiled. More laughter.
The comedy had continued when Brian put on an act of misplacing the rings, with Paul putting on his kill face.
"Never mind, I found them!" Brian announced, handing them over in the midst of more laughter.
"Of all people I could have chosen for best man, I had to pick the weirdest guy in the company," a relieved Paul muttered, barely restraining from laughing himself.
"Can't live without me, dude. Now be a good boy and exchange your rings."
After the wedding:
"Now that was what I call one good ceremony!" Shaun grinned as they all headed outside to greet the new couple.
"Sure was," Marylin nodded in agreement. "Of course, nothing is ever dull around Paul."
"Ladies, I don't think I'd ever laughed so hard in my life," Eve added. "If I didn't know any better, I'd thought this was a theater production instead of an actual wedding."
"I don't know what was funnier," Maria said. "Paul zoning out or that act Brian put on of losing the rings."
"Yeah, he stole that act from me," Chavo replied. "I did that on the Vickie and Edge wedding angle, remember?"
"Oh, don't be a spoilsport, Chavito," Lilian laughed. "Besides, we heard this three years ago when you claimed Paul stole the Cruiserweight title from you."
"He did," Chavo protested.
"Too late now, title's retired," Marylin responded. "Oh, get the rice ready, guys; here they come!"
The couple laughed as they were pummeled with rice on the way to their car. Guests then scrambled for the cars; Tasha, Logan and Mariah riding with Sly and the girls going with Paul's mother.
Paul knew immediately something was up when he spotted Mariah giggling as she got into Sly's car. "Uh…who is driving us?" he finally asked slowly.
"Greetings, happy couple," Brian said cheerfully, bowing ceremoniously toward the car in front of them. "My name is Brian and I will be your driver to your lovely reception this evening."
"Fucking hell," Paul groaned. "Of all people, we get the WWE's version of Mario Andretti."
"Oh, come on, dude, you'll enjoy it."
"Are you sure we'll arrive there alive and in one piece?"
"Sure, we'll even have our own bodyguard."
"You got Ezekiel in there too?" Paul went white. "Oh God."
"Come on, Paul; it's not that bad," Montana soothed. "Besides, if we have to detour through that one bad neighborhood, we'll have nothing to worry about."
"Uh….Zeke doesn't happen to be hungry, does he?" Paul asked.
"Oh no. I got the dude five Big Mac meals on the way here," Brian grinned. "He's good until dinner."
"Thank Christ….I think."
"Now let's get shoving. Can't have a reception without the bride and groom."
At the reception that evening:
Mariah kicked off her shoes, letting out a sigh. "Finally. My feet were killing me. Now I wish they'd finish these pictures already."
"You and I both," Tasha grunted, pushing off her own shoes. "I wear heels to work, but these things are torture."
"Yeah, and Montana wore flats. What's the justice in that?"
"Mom, I gotta go to the bathroom," Logan announced.
"Make it fast, scout, and don't mess up that suit. They're taking more pictures as soon as Paul and Montana get here. And tell Daddy to bring me something to drink if you see him."
A short distance away, Mac was scratching her head around the flower halo.
"Mackenzie Regina!" her grandmother scolded. "I said not to dig!"
"It's itchy," Mac complained. "And Mami said we can take them off when the wedding was over."
"They have to do more pictures first," her grandmother replied.
"And Sissy's picking her nose again," Mac added.
"Kira Buena, stop that. That's dirty."
"I was just scratching," Kira protested. "No picking."
"Well, ask for a tissue when you do that. My goodness, both of you, just like your papi."
"We are Papi's," Kira said proudly.
"And here they come now!" Mac said, excited, seeing Paul and Montana arrive.
Soon, Brian made his own arrival, being carried in by Zeke. Paul gave his best man an odd look.
"What?" Brian asked as Zeke put him down. "My damn feet were killing me. Hey, Zeke, I forgot my smokes. Think you can fetch them from the car for me?"
The big man nodded. "Yessir."
At the next table, Chavo turned to Bam as they watched the wedding party pose for final pictures. "How come you don't do that kind of shit for me and Vickie?"
"Give me a raise, and I might," Bam replied nonchalantly.
Later:
As the reception was fully underway and everyone was now dressed in comfortable casual wear, Brian his water glass brought everyone's attention up to the front of the room. "I'd like to make a toast," he said clearing his throat.
"Oh shit, here we go," Paul groaned good-naturedly.
"You know, PL and I have bagged on each other for many, many years. And sometimes, we beat each other's ass."
"Sometimes," Paul laughed. "Only I beat yours more than you did mine."
"Sure you did, dude. Keep telling yourself that," Brian grinned. "But in all honesty, I didn't think this guy would ever settle down again after Reggie passed. Then came along the lovely Montana. She loves you, the kids love her, you love her, you make her happy. Everybody wins. So here's to years of happiness, lots of sex, and ten more black haired babies."
"Ten?" Paul asked.
"Got to make it an even dozen, dude. You want a big family and you already have two. Congratulations, guys." Everyone applauded and went back to their meals.
Jack turned to Paul's mother and Dotty. "I will say one thing," he grinned. "I don't think my little girl is going to have a dull life from here on in."
