Chapter 29-A Dream Wedding

Danny laid in bed the next morning, staring at his ceiling again. He maybe got two hours sleep tops. He remembered meeting Shiloh a couple of times, and this time each time he closed his eyes, he saw the creep with Willow, and he would try to stop it, but he couldn't.

Knock. Knock.

"Danny?" he heard his dad's voice. "Are you up?"

He rolled out of bed and opened his door. "Yeah."

"Great." Drew smiled. "We gotta get ready."

"Uh, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are the girls still here?" Danny asked.

"No," Drew said. "They headed up to Wyndemere to get ready."

Danny's shoulders shrunk.

"Our suits are here though," Drew said. "Kristina brought them this morning. She made them."

Danny nodded. "Dad? Do you think I'm a bad brother?"

Drew sighed. "Deep down inside, no. But you haven't been the best brother since we moved here."

Danny frowned.

Drew ruffled Danny's hair and smiled. "Don't worry. You have the rest of your life to make up for it."

"I guess."

"You've been through a lot in your short life. That doesn't give you the right to pick on your sisters though."

Danny lowered his gaze. "I know."

"If you're that bored, you should come to work with me and Jason on your days off, since you're just doing school part-time."

Danny grinned. "Can I?"

"Yeah, we could use your input. You're still deciding on what job you'd like, right?"

Danny nodded.

Drew squeezed Danny's shoulder. "Are you doing okay, though? Like I just said, you've been through a lot."

Danny shrugged. "I'm fine."

"I don't think you're fine. You were in therapy before V-Town started. The medical clinic is now built, and Nikolas said he has offices there for Kevin and Andre. I think you should talk to one of them."

Danny groaned. "But I don't want to talk to them."

"Then will you talk to me?"

"There's nothing to talk about…"

"Danny… we both know that's not true."

"We should get ready," Danny said. "Don't want to be late."

Drew sighed. "You know, if you don't talk to me or a therapist, your mom is going to be on you to talk to her."

Danny rubbed his temples. "Okay, fine. I can't sleep more than 3 hours a night because I have nightmares. I have since long before V-Town. It just got worse when the Stupid V took over. But can we talk about this later? Can't we just focus on the wedding today?"

Drew nodded and hugged Danny. "We thought you and Scout could stay at Wyndemere tonight and Willow's going to stay with Jax."

Danny's eyes grew wide. "But she's coming back, right?"

"I think so. But what I'm saying is, your mom and I are spending the night alone, but you and I we'll set aside some time to talk just the two of us. Okay?"

"Okay."

Drew kissed the top of his head.

GHGHGH

Seats were lined in the courtyard with an aisle separating the bride's family from the groom's. Danny and Drew stood up front in matching tuxedos while they waited for rest of the wedding party to arrive. Cameron sat on a chair next to them with his guitar and played a soft tune while they waited.

On the bride's side, Kristina, Chase, Leo, and Lucas sat in the front row with Molly, TJ, and Lexi behind. The next row was Nikolas, Ava, Spencer, Avery, and Nikky. In the last row was Jax, Josslyn, Spinelli, and Georgie. Sam considered Spinelli family, so she included him.

On the groom's side, Monica, Jason, and Elizabeth occupied the front row with Jake, Aiden, and Violet behind them. Next was Michael, Jonah, Ned, and Brooklyn. And finally, in the back row was Curtis, Trina, and Stella. Drew wanted a friend there since Sam had Spinelli, and they said Stella and Trina could join.

Danny waited anxiously at the front with Drew and Father Coates. Finally, Cameron started to play My Heart Will Go On on his guitar and sang along to it. Scout walked out to the courtyard wearing a frilly white blouse, dress pants, and sandals. She walked up the aisle and dropped flower petals as she went, then stood up at the front on the left. Danny smiled sadly at her. She still hated dresses, only she couldn't remember why.

Next, Willow stepped out, wearing an elegant baby blue dress down to her ankles. She held a pink bouquet in her hands and smiled at Jax and Josslyn as she walked past them, then stood next to Scout. Danny smiled over at her, but Willow wouldn't look at him, and he frowned.

Cameron played his guitar louder and everyone rose. Jason lifted Violet so she could see better, and TJ did the same for Lexie. Kristina and Molly smiled and peeked around. But Cameron finished singing and Alexis and Sam hadn't arrived.

Drew cleared his throat. "Maybe they're still getting ready."

Willow scratched her chin. "Well, they were ready. They told me and Scout to go on ahead, they had to check something first."

Everyone started sitting again, and Danny looked at Cam, shrugging. Cam continued playing some soft music on his guitar.

Danny scanned the courtyard. Chase took Kristina's hand in his and kissed her knuckles, while TJ tickled Lexie making her giggle. Nikky sat on Ava's lap and played with her face. Jax and Spinelli whispered something to each other, and Jason stroked Elizabeth's hair. Aiden yawned and Curtis looked over at Drew.

Drew lowered his gaze. "She wanted your grandfather to walk her down the aisle. But I convinced her we should marry now."

"But she wanted to marry you now," Willow said. "She told me just before Scout and I came down. She said she wished Julian could be here, but she knew in her heart she didn't want to wait to marry you again, because the future is so unknown."

"I can go check on them," Danny offered. "Maybe they're just having a mother-daughter moment or something."

Drew sighed. "Maybe, I just—"

But Sam walked out in a white dress holding her bouquet with a groggy Julian, but awake nonetheless, in a suit at her side, and Alexis behind pushing him in a wheelchair.

Danny's face lit up. "Grandpa!"

"Dad!" Lucas called out and waved.

Sam smiled at Drew and her kids, then held Julian's hand. Everyone rose, and Cameron started to sing and play again as they made their way up the aisle.

Danny ran over to Julian and hugged him gently, then kissed his mom's cheek, and returned to his place beside Drew. Sam kissed Julian's cheek and hugged Alexis. Then she handed Willow her bouquet and took Drew's hands.

Lucas and Leo hugged Julian, then helped move his wheelchair next to their row.

Cameron's music stopped and Father Coates spoke, "Friends, we have joined here today to share with Andrew and Samantha an important moment in their lives. Their time together, they have seen their love and understanding of each other grow and blossom and now they have decided to live out the rest of their lives as one. Now, the bride and groom have written their own wedding vows. Andrew?"

"Sam, I know what it's like to be with and without you, and I never want to experience the feeling of not being with you again. You are my heart and my soul. I promise to always listen and cherish you. I promise to always protect you and our children." He turned and smiled at Danny, then smiled at Scout and Willow. "I will always put you and our children first. I'm not going to let anything keep us apart again. You are my forever and always, and I love you." He lifted her hands and kissed her fingers.

Sam started to cry. "When I was mind-mapped, nothing was real. Nothing except for you and our kids. I made a lot of mistakes, but you have always been patient and loving with me. I promise to be patient and loving with you. You are an amazing father, you are so good with Danny and Scout, and you're so welcoming to Willow. I promise to try to as good of a mother as you are a father, and I promise to try to be the wife you deserve. You are my anchor and my compass, and I will never stop loving you."

"Now Andrew," Father Coates said. "Repeat after me, 'I Andrew, give you Samantha, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you'."

Danny handed Drew the ring.

"I Andrew," Drew said. "Give you Samantha, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you." He slipped the ring on her finger.

"Now Samantha," Father Coates said. "Repeat after me. 'I Samantha, give you Andrew, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you'."

Willow handed Sam the other ring.

"I Samantha, give you Andrew, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you." She slipped the ring on his finger.

Father Coates continued, "By the power vested in me by the Island of Spoon—"

Danny chuckled.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Cheers and claps filled the air as Drew and Sam kissed tenderly, and Danny didn't even cringe.

Drew and Sam walked back up the aisle, and Danny walked over to Willow and Scout.

Willow swallowed hard.

"You both look really pretty," Danny said. "Can I walk you out?" He lifted both arms for them.

Willow smiled and linked her arm through his, and Scout did the same with his other arm, and siblings followed their parents out of the ceremony.