Chapter 47 : Bliss
He froze when he saw her in her white, loose, summer dress with golden, flat sandals at the end of the aisle. Her hair was untied, the wind put some of it on her face so prettily made up, mixing of dark and pastel tones. Her dark brown eyes had been brought out beautifully thanks to the red lipstick.
Uncle Sarzo seemed so proud to walk by her side, holding her arm, smiling to everyone around. On the contrary, Chris was focused on him, looking directly at him with her beautiful, big, brown eyes, smiling to him. He smiled her back, she was so beautiful. Tan tapped his shoulder.
"Lucky you!" Street turned to him and pouted. He was indeed.
Chris quickly arrived to the altar, in front of Jim. Luca just behind her as he was the only she could thought as her maid of honor.
"We're doing it, we're really doing it!" She whispered to him as Uncle Sarzo let her after dropping a kiss on her cheek. He smiled at her excitement.
"I guess we are." He grabbed her hands in his and pressed them. "And congratulations for your outfit…I mean I would have never imagined you would choose a dress… And here you are, even more stunning that had imagined. You really know how to surprise me every single time and…"
Buck bent to them, interrupting their low voice conversation. "Can we start, love birds?"
They were both surprised and did a little jump and smiled to Buck. "Yeah, yeah, of course." They mumbled at the same time, like two teenagers who had been caught by their parents while billing and cooing.
"Dear people, here today with us, thanks for being in this lovely place." Buck nodded to Annie and Deac sitting at the front row. "At first let's thank Deac and Annie to share their haven of peace with all of us! Give them some love!"
All the guests applauded the hosts of the party, Street and Chris let go of reaching other's hands to cheer their friends before joining them together as soon as they could. As if being physically separated one more second could hurt them or prevented them from breathing.
"And now let's focus on those two kids I have in front of me. Two kids I've been knowing for a long time now. Who saw me in my good and bad moments. So when Jim called to ask me if I would agree to officiate during a simple, secular ceremony to make him and Chris official in front of their friends and family, I was like whaaattt."
He stopped for a few seconds. Time for the audience to stop laughing at his joke.
"But of course, I agreed because I love these two kiddos. I've know little Jimmy since he was 12. No need to come back to the circumstances of our meeting. They were not cool. But as soon as I met the kid, I felt this connection and I promised him this day I will be always there for him. To be honest, he was more there for me than I've been for him but anyway. I was really honored he thought of me to speak during the ceremony and then, he confessed to me it was Chris's idea and then I understood why it was a brilliant idea."
Tan enjoyed the moment of silent to whistle. Bonnie gave her a tap on the arm to make him stop and whispered sorry to Chris and Jim who laughed before getting serious again.
"And then Jimmy talked to me for hours with passion, with emotions. About his life, about how his relationship with Chris changed his vision of the world, the way he was seeing things, feeling things. How he slowly but surely felt in love with the stubborn, determined, awesome, dedicated, clever, beautiful woman he was working with. Because she stimulated his mind, his thoughts, his beliefs. Because she made him feel like he was capable of making things change. And then I thought, wow, this young man is in love. Like crazily in love of this woman and then I remember the woman Chris was. And I was like OK it's completely normal."
Pause again. Hondo took his chance and yelled "Chris, my giiiiirl" from his seat to show him his support.
"I met Chris when she was assigned to SWAT. Not gonna lie I was not happy to welcome the first female SWAT officer in my squad at the time and she made me change my mind. She was calm, diligent, hard-working, precise, combative. And it was how she made me change my mind. This little thin woman was not a woman in SWAT, she was just like any other officer, but more careful, assiduous, serious because she had known from the beginning she will have to fight for everything here. And she's earned all my respect since.
Chris, Jim, I'm very proud you asked me to be your officiant for the ceremony. Glad you thought of me, you believe in me to be the one leading the whole thing. And now I let the place to the glowing Bonnie Tan!"
He sat aside and Bonnie walked to Buck's place. She seemed tired, she was almost 8-month pregnant after all but she wanted to be a part of the ceremony. She took a golden cord from her pocket and tied Jim and Chris's wrists with it.
"First of all, guys, I wanted to thank you to have me being a part of your ceremony. Means a lot."
She looked and winked at Victor who winked and smiled back at her.
"Let me use this little golden cord I've tied to your wrists with to symbolize the link that connects you. Chris, Jim, your love is a deep, strong feeling that keeps you united and it is unique."
She took a part of the cord in her hand to demonstrate the words she was saying.
"This cord can twist, tangle, be stretched, but she never yields. Like the love you have for each other. Building a life together can be difficult. Life is not a fairy tale. Far from this shit you read in books. But it's beautiful and twisted and sometimes, on your way you find the right person to share this messy path with you and things become a little easier. You two found each other, you fought your feelings for so long but fortunately for you – and also for Victor's sanity and also mine because he was waiting for this moment to happen more than Santa Claus at Christmas morning – you finally accepted them and agreed you were perfect for each other. Today, I entrusted this cord to you two as a symbol of the feelings you shared yesterday, you share today and you will share tomorrow. Keep it safe. Protect it from the storms. And remember your love is the most important thing in all this journey."
They grabbed the piece of cord she had in her hand and thanked her for her blessing. Buck got up and took the place he was at the beginning of the ceremony.
"Thanks Bonnie for this beautiful moment. And now, would you agree to listen to the lovebirds here? Pretty sure they have some words to say?"
A loudy "yeah" came from the audience. Then whistles and applause.
"Ok, ok" Street turned to his close ones. "Maybe we can do something for you."
"Who wants to go first?"
Chris and Street shrugged. "As you like…" Chris finally told in a low voice. And he knew he was the one to dive in.
"It will be me!" Street announced proudly. "You know I'm the talkative type so it's logical, right?"
"Oh come on, Street, for once in your life, stop being talkative." Tan teased his friend, making him laugh.
"Ok, if it is asked so nicely by my dear friend, Victor, I can't do otherwise than to comply immediately." He pointed at Tan, smirking. "But sorry bro, today, it's not about you. It's all about her."
"Not only today, bro, it's always been about her!" Tan concluded, making Jim blush and lower his head to finally meet Chris's eyes. She was all smiley.
"Chris, I won't say a lot. I promise. I know how endless talkative I can be."
People started to laugh. Making them laugh too. He became serious again when he looked at her large dark eyes diving into his. He cleared his throat and started to talk.
"My love, we will go, I and you,
And away in the woods we will scatter the dew;
And the salmon behold, and the ousel too,
My love, we will hear, I and you, we will hear,
The calling afar of the doe and the the deer.
And the bird in the branches will cry for us clear,
And the cuckoo unseen in his festival mood;
And death, oh my fair one, will never come near
In the bosom afar of the fragrant wood."
The people there remained silent, surprised by Street's move. No one would have thought he would recitate a poem from memory. Even more a difficult one like this one.
"Is it…" Chris asked sweetly.
"W. B. Yeats! One of your favorites! Once again a proof that I read, C."
She giggled. He will remember this till the end of time. It was their funny inside joke and she could go with this. And in the same time it was really adorable because he remembered she told him about studying Yeats at school and loving this author. She had talked about him like two years ago. How could he remember this?!
"I do see this, J. pretty impressive." She pouted.
Buck brought them to reality. "Chris, maybe you want to say a word."
She snorted, which made the guests laughed. Which made her laugh more. It was a good way to let the stress out. She was a mess when he came to speak in public. To speak about feelings. To speak about feelings in public.
"J., I don't know where to begin so I'll be short. You know me. I'm not very good at talking feelings. Even at simply talking. Kind of paralyzed and frightened of them. But when you're around, it makes things a little easier for me. You've been teaching me to be a little bit more at ease with them every day. Not to be afraid to show the world I'm happy and appeased and…"
He pressed her hands, he could see she was stressed. "You can stop there if…"
"No… And peaceful. Yes, you make me peaceful and knowing me it's a miracle. You can ask my aunt and uncle!" She made people laugh once again. "I'm more the volcanic, fiery type. The kind of person who's always in a hurry. Who loves to sink doors and walls. You've been teaching every day how to love and to be loved. Not easy, I know, I can be a real pain in the ass."
She turned towards Deac and Annie's kids. Towards her second cousins.
"Sorry, kids, don't repeat this, these are bad words. But in that case, these are the only ones which fit with the situation. Believe me!" She turned to Street again.
"I've married my best friend. It may seem clichee but it is what I feel. It's how I feel. People say you meet your person only once in a lifetime… I'm just glad Buck asked Hondo to welcome you in 20 Squad on this day even if at the time you were a little jerk."
She turned again to the children, a finger on her mouth. "Once again, you don't repeat!"
"J. thanks for being in my life, you have turned it into something so much more than I could have imagined, you have brought me peace and quiet. And also messiness and insouciance. And a love for hiking and great natural spaces. So let me make you a gift…"
He looked puzzled by Chris's latest words. "A gift?"
She nodded, smiled at him and gave a chin move to Luca seated just behind her. He rummaged in his pocket and got out a little black and red box that he handed to Chris.
"Here are two rings. I know how you love this old tradition of wearing rings and after all you have conceded to me, I told I can do an effort and give you this at least."
Chris opened the box and revealed two simple silver rings.
"Here are two rings, one for you, one for me. So if you agree, maybe we could share them as a proof of our commitment…"
Street remained speechless. He knew Chris didn't like archaic symbols as she used to call them. The concession she was doing here, he has no word to qualify it.
"So after all these years, I've succeeded in making you voiceless, Long Beach." She tried to joke even if the emotions in her voice let no doubt about how she was feeling right now.
"No… No… I do agree… Chris… This is… This is amazing… I… Just yes." He handed his left ring finger to her. "Just put a ring on it, C."
She giggled and hurried to make this man totally hers. Before handing her finger to him. "Your turn, now!"
He didn't need to be told twice and added the silver ring to Chris's hand and before Buck could say anything, he kissed her like his life was depending on it. Good for him, she did answer to his urge.