Author's Note: This is a commission from Countess of the Bats. I'm very excited to publish this story, and I'm glad I had someone to push me to tease out the ideas of how it went.

Enjoy!

When Schemer and Stacy had reunited for good and decided to become a couple again they were determined to put the unhappy events created by Paul firmly in the past.

By the time they were engaged, he was barely an afterthought. The trials that they had been through had more than prepared them to take the leap into life's next big adventure.

Stacy sometimes wondered, though she would never say this out loud, if Paul was in any way the catalyst that brought them together, for either the first or last time. The thought was unsettling, though when she looked at her husband-to-be she knew that it was in spite of Paul, and not because of him, that they were happily embarking on the next stage of their lives together. They were electric, and while he tried to disrupt the current they had still found a connection back to each other.

At present, they were a little less than two weeks away from the wedding. Stacy had officially moved into Schemer and Schemee's house and the family life that they had settled into together warmed her heart. It was everything they fought for, but the outcome had been so much sweeter than she had once hoped.

Being violently ill a week before your wedding was never advisable, but Schemer was hardly known for his sense of timing.

Stacy admittedly felt unwell though she was faring better than her husband-to-be.

Stacy and Schemer had been on a date, one final night out before they became husband and wife, and it was seemingly ending in disaster.

When Schemer was able to finally make it to bed, clammy and tired, he declared wryly that he wasn't going to wake up until the wedding day. Stacy good naturedly rolled her eyes, and gave him a kiss on the forehead before turning out the lights and going to sleep.

Schemee was lucky enough to avoid sharing in their fate, but only because he hadn't been present. It was now the Wednesday before the wedding and only he and Stacy were present in the Station. Schemer was just about better, though he had business to attend to in Snarlyville in his new role as Vice President of the Indian Valley Railroad..

"Do you need a lift home Schemee?" Stacy asked with a smile from across the station. She was just about done for the day. He looked up from the arcade where he was doing his homework.

He accepted with a smile and followed her out to her car.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked casually as they began to drive away.

"Eh, mostly better. Still a little nauseous," she admitted with a shrug.

"That sucks you both caught the same thing, good thing you're going to recover in time for Saturday," he said gratefully.

She exhaled deeply with relief. "I'll say. Schemer was on the verge of panic when he started feeling unwell. He wasn't even home before he broke out into a cold sweat, and the poor guy was sick by the time he was in the driveway."

"So what happened? Did you eat the same bad meal?"

She cocked her head as she considered this. "No… We didn't even have the same thing, come to think of it. He had the shrimp pasta, I had chicken parmesan."

Schemee burst out laughing without warning. She looked over in alarm. "What is it?" she asked worriedly.

"Why the heck would he eat shrimp? He has a shellfish allergy! We both do," he admitted, still laughing. "He's fine, it just makes us sick, not anaphylactic or anything, but yeah. He must've forgotten, I guess it has been a few years since either of us encountered it."

This puzzled Stacy. "But then, why was I sick too?"

He shrugged. "Not sure, maybe it was a coincidence? Maybe you were just sympathetic to him? Either way, the important thing is that you'll both be fine for the wedding."

Stacy frowned but said nothing else.

The wedding day was quickly upon them. Ginny had graciously offered to let them use her farm as their venue, which they happily accepted. The wedding was set to take place in the late spring when the apple blossoms would be in full bloom, and they would get married outside and then have the reception in Ginny's barn.

Stacy was just about finished getting ready when there was a knock at her dressing room door. Her ready room was actually Ginny's solarium and she and her bridesmaids, her sister and two sisters-in-law, had spent most of the morning getting ready there, however she was alone at present. She had wanted a few quiet moments to spend going over her vows. She wasn't surprised at the interruption, as most of the morning had been spent fielding questions about her opinion on just about everything. From decor, to flowers, to food, she had just about heard it all.

She needed a break from it. Honestly she didn't care about any of that, and she was slightly irritable that everyone was deferring to her when it was both of their day. The only thing she cared about was marrying the man she loved. Everything else was secondary. And besides, she sent most of the people coming to her with requests back to Schemer because he was the one who cared far more about these things. They had basically agreed to give him more or less free reign on planning, but she did have an equal say if something was going too far for her taste.

"He's missing?" she asked, nonchalantly leaning into the door frame. When she answered the door this was not what she was expecting to hear.

It was Billy, and he was sheepishly avoiding looking directly at her which both annoyed and amused her. She was no different than any other day, but everyone was acting as if seeing her before she walked down the aisle was some grave matter.

"Well, uh, we expect he hasn't gone far. I just wanted to let you know in advance, you know, to warn you. He's probably hoping to see you," he explained, looking carefully at the wall just beyond her left shoulder.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Got it, thanks Billy," she said, bidding him farewell. He nodded and walked away as if he couldn't leave the vicinity fast enough.

As she closed the door she paused. Was she concerned? Not at all. But should she be concerned? Well, a missing spouse before a wedding was generally cause for panic but she knew him and she knew this wasn't anything serious. She moved towards the desk to finish reading her vows when she noticed the sliding door that led to the outside was slightly ajar, and that the curtain was gently blowing in the breeze.

She smirked, almost thankful for Billy stopping by to save her the fright. There was a folding screen at the side of the room to be used for changing behind. She knew there was a chair behind it, because she had seen it when she changed into her dress. The chair was currently occupied and a pair of legs was just visible from behind the panel. She knew the owner, and she could see in the way that they were casually splayed out that he was also looking for a brief respite from the chaos that weddings brought.

"Long day huh?" she asked gently.

He wheezed with agreeable laughter. "You could say that, and it's not even noon yet."

He seemed to intentionally be keeping himself, and probably more importantly, herself, out of sight, and as much as she wanted to go embrace him she held back. They had agreed to wait to see each other until she walked down the aisle, even though they had already been married in basically all ways but on paper.

"Yes, well, they say that the day will be over before we know it," she shrugged. "Anyways, what brings you here?"

"Oh, you know, just taking a stroll," he said playfully, and she could swear she heard the smirk in his voice.

"I wish I could do that. Everyone seems afraid to look at me and it's driving me mad," she huffed.

"I mean, I would love to look at you. But I feel like this is the whole point of the day," he said, and she watched as he gestured with his hand just beyond the panel.

She sighed, only half-amused. "It is a bit much, isn't it?"

"You're not… You don't regret this do you?" he asked, sounding worried suddenly.

"No! Of course not, this will all be wonderful. The waiting is torture but I am very ready to walk down that aisle to you."

He breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Oh good, because I was worried," he confessed.

She smiled a bit sadly. "Aw Schemer, you have nothing to be worried about. I'm here." She reached around to grab the hand that was just visible around the panel. He tenderly squeezed back.

"I know, I just… I just needed to make sure that this was real. And that I hadn't just been dreaming this whole time."

He lapsed into silence and she pondered his words. "It's real," she said in a hushed voice, "It's always been real."

As she took her father's arm and began her long walk down the aisle she was interested to find that she was only peripherally aware of all the details that they painstakingly planned. The flowers, the music, even the guests' faces, all seemed to blend into one image. The one, solitary detail that had her full attention, and was etched into her memory for years to come, was the way he looked at her.

The way his eyes shimmered with unshed tears and the way he smiled as she closed the gap between them was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Her father kissed her on her cheek and embraced Schemer, before leaving the two of them to clasp hands at the front of the altar.

The officiant, Ginny of course, beamed at them. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"