"I've got two dresses," said Tina. "I'm going to show you both, you pick which one you like the best."
Artie agreed but checked the time on his phone. He didn't want to rush Tina, but she did need to hurry so they'd be on time for the wedding. He sat and waited on the bed for her to try on the first. She emerged soon in a long dress with an empire waist and a floral pattern. It really emphasized the belly, but not much she wore didn't these days. Tina was starting her eighth month now. It was early April, and the baby was due at the end of May.
"I don't like this for the wedding," she said, surveying her appearance before Artie could speak. She sighed and looked at the dress from all angles. "Maybe for a different occasion though."
"You look beautiful to me." Artie knew that was the correct answer, but it was also true. She did look beautiful in anything. He especially liked the soft curl in her hair and the way she smelled. She smiled and leaned over to give him a quick kiss.
As Tina went to change into her next dress, Artie thought about the last few months in Columbus, Ohio. Without a doubt, the move was the best decision they could have made for the family, for several reasons. Mae was now attending public school, since the district had an inclusion program specifically for Deaf students, which included a teacher of the Deaf who came daily to ensure Mae's needs were being met. Artie was even happier with the public school here than he had been with the private one they'd paid for back in New York. Evan attended the same campus as Mae, instead of Gianna, but he flourished by being back in an environment where he could have just one teacher for one more year. Gianna's new junior high school had a performance arts emphasis. She'd landed a role as one of the stepsisters in the spring production of Cinderella, which was pretty good, given than the school's students ranged from sixth to eighth grades, and she was only in sixth. Sienna, as predicted, did transfer in as a strong contender for Valedictorian next year. She was also able to get a spot on the relay teams for both swimming and track in the spring. And now they could see Isaac whenever they wanted. In fact, Artie sometimes ran into him on campus.
Artie was working two jobs, essentially, although many of his functions at Cornell had been taken over by people who were physically present. OSU enjoyed having a celebrity in their field as a professor, and therefore, they worked with Artie anytime he needed to do something concerning his research. His most recent project was trying to sell everyone on Isaac Morales as a patient. They were indeed skeptical of someone who was fifty-four years old and had been injured since the age of sixteen. But one thing they liked was how much Isaac used the ReWalk to exercise his legs on a regular basis. Isaac was scheduled to undergo some detailed health screenings soon, and then they'd see. Artie warned his friend that this was sometimes a long, frustrating, drawn-out process.
"Okay, here's the next one," she said, stepping out. This dress was dark blue and shorter, emphasizing Tina's dancer legs. When she wasn't pregnant, she was usually doing some kind of dance class for fun, but pregnancy zapped her energy for that. She'd added some heels. The dress was fitted, emphasizing her belly still, but also showing off the rest of her curves.
"Sexy mama," he said, patting the empty space on the bed. As she started to put her arms around him and leaned in for a kiss, there was a knock at the door. She sighed, frustrated. Currently, four children were home in the house, and there was no way they could expect to have privacy for any length of time. At least they'd knocked.
"Come in," said Tina, sitting back down on the bed and adjusting her dress. It was Sienna, who'd come to let them know that Mercedes and Matt had just arrived to ride with them. Only Mackenzie would be going to the wedding, and Sienna was staying at the Abrams' residence to watch Morgan, Malachi, Gianna, Evan, and Mae, with the Rutherfords agreeing to pay her for her time. Artie grabbed his crutches to leave.
"You like this one?" Tina asked, giving her reflection an uncertain glance before heading out the door. Both Artie and Sienna gave her two enthusiastic thumbs-up. As she stepped out, she also received Mercedes' approval. Mercedes had chosen a dark pink dress, that hugged her curves, similar to Tina's, minus the baby bump. Sienna snapped a few pictures of her parents and friends, and with that, they were out the door.
It was, indeed, cool and comfortable on the day of Santana and Sam's outdoor wedding. The possibility of rain did threaten the forecast earlier in the week, but thankfully, all had remained dry. There were four empty seats waiting for them next to Puck, Quinn, and Brittany. All stood and exchanged hugs before anyone took their seat. Artie always remained standing while everyone else did, still soaking in the feeling of doing that.
"Artie!" Quinn exclaimed. "I was watching you walk, you look so steady and sure of yourself!" She turned to Tina. "And Tina, you're glowing."
"Oh, wow, look at you," Brittany added, taking in the sight of Tina. It looked like no one had told her that Tina was pregnant. "I trust the sex after Artie's surgery went well then."
Artie chuckled. "A little too well," he said, always enjoying Brittany's unique way of saying exactly what was on her mind. "We're happy, though, even if this did come as a surprise."
"What did you think was going to happen?" That was Puck, who took a sharp elbow in the side from Quinn after that comment. "Ow. Sorry, Tina. What Quinn said - you're glowing."
"That might just be sweating," said Tina, as she slowly took a seat, fanning herself with the little paper fan she'd been handed on the way into the ceremony. "But thank you. Not much longer now."
Mercedes looked over her shoulder. "Guys, look, here comes Mr. Schue!" She waved him over to sit behind then. "Hey, Mr. Schue, how are those grand babies doing?"
"They're great," Mr. Schue reported. "It was a girl for Gabe and Sarah and a boy for Daniel and Alyssa. We've got our hands full, but the good news about being the grandparent is that you still get to sleep at night."
"Something we won't be doing for much longer," Artie said, indicating Tina. Emma and Will hadn't even been aware that Artie and Tina were expecting number six until that moment. They also didn't know the pair had relocated to Columbus until Artie filled them in.
"We're really happy for you," Emma said, beaming at them. "Maybe we'll see you both around more often."
"We need to have that retirement party for them next month," Quinn whispered to Artie, who was seated beside her. They'd turned back around now, giving their attention to the alter, where Sam had just stepped out with best man and son, Vance, and the minister. "I talked to Rachel the other day," she went on. Then she leaned over Artie to include Tina in the discussion. "Can you guys make it if we have the party around mid-May? I told Rachel we needed to bump it up because of you. No pun intended."
Tina laughed lightly. "I mean, hopefully," she said, glancing down at her belly. "No guarantees, but we'll try to make it for sure. We just live an hour and a half from Lima."
"Great," said Quinn, cutting their conversation short just then, as the music started. First to come down the aisle were the two daughters. Artie suddenly realized that his son was in the crowd, for as she took her place at the front, Valerie Lopez waved and blew him a kiss. Artie glanced over his shoulder to meet Isaac's eyes. He at least had the decency to duck his head with embarrassment. His son was sitting with the other Isaac and his wife, a few rows behind them.
Next came little Mackenzie Rutherford as the flower girl, gleefully skipping down the aisle and flinging her petals, forgetting everything she'd been told about going slowly and taking her time. Gentle laughter followed from the crowd.
The music changed and Santana appeared, escorted by her father on one side and her stepfather, Miguel Morales, on the other. Artie thought it was a nice touch, having both men escort her. Her off-white dress was simple and fitted, flaring slightly at then bottom, complimenting her slim figure nicely. She had skipped the veil, opting to wear her hair down, in soft curls around her face. As she joined hands with Sam, his huge grin filled his entire face.
They kept the ceremony short and sweet, to avoid anyone being uncomfortable outside for very long. As they retreated to take some pictures, the guests were invited to go ahead and get settled into the barn for the reception. They'd seated Quinn, Puck, Brittany, Mercedes, Matt, Artie, Tina, Will and Emma together at a big table.
"Artie, can you dance with those?" Brittany wanted to know, indicating his crutches. "You were so good with your wheelchair dancing. I miss it."
"Weirdly, so do I," Artie agreed. "I can't exactly do much with these. My hands are always occupied. I actually do have my chair in the car..."
"I'd be happy to go get it for you if you want," Matt added. Artie gave a non-committal shrug, so Tina made the decision for him.
"That would be great, Matt," she said. She turned back to Artie. "That's if you aren't too worried about having me in your lap." Emphasizing her point, she rested a hand atop her belly.
"Of course not," Artie assured her, leaning in for a kiss. Matt got up and returned after a little while with the wheelchair for Artie. He placed it in a corner while they ate, and then when the dancing started, Artie ditched his crutches for the chair. As he wheeled out to the dance floor, he caught sight of the only other person in a wheelchair out there with him. Ike already had Jessa in his lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. He grinned to see that they weren't the only ones on wheels, for a change.
"Still the best way to dance," Isaac said, to which Artie nodded in agreement.
Tina sat herself down very gingerly onto his lap, clearly worried about the fact that she was much heavier than her usual size.
"It's okay, Tina," said Artie. "Better than okay, it's perfect. One thing I'd never want to give up is getting to dance with you like this. I'm glad Matt got my chair."
"Me too," she agreed, tucking her head against his shoulder. "And it means I don't have to stand. The heels were a bad idea. They look better than flats, but they're killing me."
"Sorry," he said. "Thanks for going through all this again. I mean, I know you didn't exactly have a choice, but the fact that you're carrying my child one more time means a lot."
"One more time, Artie Abrams." They weren't doing anything permanent to guarantee the fact, but they'd agreed that Tina would go on birth control pills and Artie would use condoms, doubling up on their protection, at least until they were both well past the age that more children would be a possibility.
Ike wheeled by again. This time, Jessa was nearby dancing with the groom, and Santana was on her stepbrother's lap now, sharing a dance, for which he'd jokingly paid them, a contribution to the honeymoon fund. Sam and Santana were going to the Bahamas in June.
"It's the best way to dance, right Tina?" Santana said, as Ike spun them.
"We found great partners," Tina agreed, grinning. "Lucky us, we get to look good and don't have to do anything to make it happen."
"Speaking of cute couples," said Santana, and she then pointed across the room to where Valerie was tucked up next to Isaac Abrams, looking cozy in their private moment on the floor. "These two are getting kind of serious, you know?"
Artie smiled. "Yeah, and we approve," he said. Valerie was a sweet girl. She had all of Santana's best qualities and really none of her worst. Isaac had already brought her over for dinner with the family a few times, even being brave enough to subject her to all of his siblings at once.
"Thanks," said Santana, grinning over her shoulder at them. "She could do a lot worse. Well! I have to go do the bouquet toss and the gartner toss! We'll be aiming for those two!"
Twenty minutes later, they were all laughing as Isaac Abrams' face blinked like a stoplight. He was positively mortified to be holding the little lacy gartner. But Valerie had the bouquet, as planned, and both posed for a few pictures before Isaac disdainfully returned the delicate item to Santana. Tina had her feet up in Artie's lap, heels off, and Artie was rubbing her feet. Valerie and Isaac were back on the dance floor, one of the last remaining couples still dancing as the wedding wound down to a close.
"I don't know if I'm ready to be the mother of the groom," said Tina, watching them closely. "I hope, if they are serious, they take it slowly." She smiled, though. "He does look happy. This is all so strange..."
"One in college, one in utero," Artie supplied, which was a phrase he'd recently adopted anytime he was asked about his family. He'd then explain that they had a whole stream of kids at various ages in between, and people would smile at him like he was crazy. But if this was crazy, so be it. He wouldn't have it any other way.