Seven - Wedding Bells
Jackie beamed at Steven as they stood together in front of their friends and family, the sun setting behind them. They were renewing their vows, in a ceremony that very closely resembled Jackie's dream wedding. She had made changes to make sure Steven enjoyed the day too, and she couldn't be happier. The golden rays of the sun were shining in his hair as he smiled at her. This moment was everything she'd ever wanted.
"You may now exchange your vows," the minister said. "Jackie, if you would go first?"
Jackie squeezed Steven's hands gently. "Steven, every day I spend with you is a great day. You make me happy. You know exactly how to make me feel better. You bring out the best version of me. I vow to keep having great days by your side. I vow to continue making amazing memories with you and having fun with you. I vow to keep loving you, no matter what."
"Steven?" the minister asked, looking at him.
Steven squeezed her hands, just as she had done to him. "Jackie, you're my light on the darkest days. You brighten the room just by being there. You're a bright and amazing person, and I vow to make sure that light doesn't get too dim. I vow to stay by your side and trust you. I vow to keep loving you, no matter what."
"You may now seal these vows with a kiss," the minister said.
They both leaned in and kissed tenderly. It was everything Jackie had imagined it being.
Hyde sat next to Jackie at the head table in the wedding reception hall. Kitty was taking pictures of them, as she had been since the wedding started. She was determined not to let anyone forget this wedding. "Mrs. Forman, I'm sure you have enough pictures," Hyde said.
She put her hands on her hips. "Fine. But you'll wish I took more when I give you the album!"
Forman walked over. "When can I do my best man speech? I'm really excited about it."
"I know, you haven't shut up about it since you wrote it two months ago," Hyde said. He looked at Jackie. "What do you think? Time for speeches?"
"Yes," Jackie said with a smile.
Forman grinned and went to get Donna. When he came back, he clinked his fork against his glass. "Attention, everyone!"
The room looked towards him. He smiled. "I've known Hyde since we were kids. We've been together through thick and thin. We were there for each other during scraped knees, bad grades, breakups and even a failed engagement. We even lived together for a few years. He's my brother. So you can understand why I was devastated when I found out he'd gotten married without me there."
Hyde glared at Forman. "You will not let that go."
"No. I can't let that go." He shook his head. "But the day after he married Jackie for the first time, he told me I'd get to be his best man at the vow renewal. So here we are. And it took me a little while, but I finally understood why he and Jackie got married that night. They'd been apart for a long time, and it wasn't enough to just be together again. They both knew they'd never love anyone else, so why keep wasting time? Now, I never really liked Jackie-"
"Please don't insult my wife in your speech," Hyde said.
"I'm not! Let me finish!" He shook it off. "I never really liked Jackie, and I never understood why Hyde loved her. But this past year, I thought about it some more. And I saw that when Jackie's ideas got too big and too extravagant, Hyde was there to bring it back to reality. And when Hyde got paranoid about something, Jackie was his voice of reason. I saw the way they balanced each other out. I saw the connection they had. I had never seen it before.
"So today I want to congratulate my brother for settling down with a woman who can balance him out. And I want to congratulate my friend Jackie for finally making him commit to something. I thought it was impossible for a really long time, but you did the unthinkable and broke him down enough that he suggested getting married in the first place. Which I also will not let go. So, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart-Hyde. Who knew one night in Vegas would bring you two together forever?"
Forman's speech was met with applause from the wedding attendees. Hyde smiled at him. It really was a good speech.
Hyde definitely hadn't known one night in Vegas would bring him back to Jackie.
Jackie danced with Red on the large dance floor of the reception hall. Steven was dancing with Kitty not too far away. It was their parent-child dance, improvised due to Jackie's father being in prison and Steven's mother being a bitch.
"Thanks for doing this dance with me, Mr. Forman."
"No problem, Jackie. You're the only one I ever liked, anyway."
Jackie grinned. "Thanks."
"And I trust you to be good to Steven. I was a little… unsure after your drunken marriage, but I'm not stupid. I see that you two are good for each other. I trust you won't hurt each other too badly."
"I won't. I love Steven, like Mrs. Forman loves you. I have faith that we'll make it."
"That's good. And if you ever need help with your car, let me know. I'd be glad to teach you some things that Steven can't."
Jackie hugged Red tightly. He seemed surprised at first, then hugged her back.
Hyde smiled as he saw Jackie hug Red. Kitty smiled too. "He is so sweet… And Jackie is just such a nice girl. She's really good for you."
"Yeah, she is." He smiled at Kitty. "I married her for a reason, y'know."
"I know! I'm giving you a mother's approval. It means a lot."
"It does. I am glad you like her. You're basically my mom, so it's nice to have that approval, I guess."
Kitty smiled warmly. "You're my second son, Steven. Don't ever doubt that."
"I won't."
Kitty hugged him, and he hugged her back. "I'm glad you did a vow renewal so I could see you get married."
"I'm glad too. Sorry again we didn't invite anyone to the first one."
She pulled back from the hug, but kept their original dancing position. "It's all right. I get why you wanted to be with her right away. You love her."
Hyde met Jackie's gaze across the dance floor. "Yeah, I do love her."
Jackie jokingly twirled Donna around as they danced together. Van Morrison's Glad Tidings was playing. Nearby, Steven was watching Eric dance with a bemused look on his face.
Jackie and Donna looked at each other as they sang, "La, la, la, la… la, la, la, la…" It was something they always did when they listened to this song together.
They both smiled when that section of the song finished. "I love you, Donna," Jackie said with a smile.
"Love you too, Jackie." She looked around the hall as they kept dancing. "So, is this everything you ever imagined from your wedding?"
"Almost. It's not exactly like what I dreamed of, but it's perfect. Honestly, I probably would have been fine with just the Las Vegas ceremony. All I really wanted was to be married to Steven."
Donna nodded. "That's… really romantic."
"I know." Jackie looked over at Steven, then said, "I'm really excited for our honeymoon, too. After our first wedding… God, Donna, it was amazing."
"I'll take your word for it." Donna glanced at Eric, still doing his weird dances. "I think I'm gonna ask Eric to marry me sometime soon. I want to try again."
"I think you two can do it this time. You've learned to communicate by now, at least. Just wait until Steven and I get back from the honeymoon, I want to be around when you propose to him."
"You got it." The song changed to Do You Believe In Magic? by the Lovin' Spoonful. Donna offered her hand to Jackie. "One more dance with me?"
Jackie took her hand. "Of course."
Hyde held Jackie close to him as they swayed around the dance floor. It was the final dance of the evening, to The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin. She'd picked this song. She said she always thought about him when it was on.
"So…" he started, "You've dreamed of your wedding your whole life. How did today measure up?"
Jackie smiled. "It's perfect because you're the one I'm marrying."
Hyde couldn't help but smile back. He spun her around, then pulled her back to him. "I love you."
"I love you too. And I'm really glad I chose beers with a friend that night. I don't think we'd be here if I'd chosen cocktails with assholes at the bar."
"We might have figured it out. But I think it was better that we got married that night. It forced us to talk. And we needed that to get here."
"Yeah, we did." She pressed close to him, resting her head on his chest. "I'm excited to spend our lives together."
He rested his head on top of hers. "I'm excited too. I'm also trying to live in the moment. Which means I'm more excited to start our official honeymoon."
Jackie pulled back a little to grin at him. "I can't wait, Mr. Burkhart-Hyde."
"Oh, you love that, don't you?"
"I really do."
As the song finished, Hyde dipped Jackie. "Well, Mrs. Burkhart-Hyde, I think it's time for us to get some time alone."
"I think you're absolutely right."
Hyde kissed her lovingly. He was really happy to be married to Jackie.
Who knew one night in Vegas would reunite him with the one woman he loved more than anyone else in the world?