Chapter 11: Nothing on Earth

The song lyrics the guys sing at Torque and Speedy's wedding reception is "Can't Stop This Thing We've Started" by Bryan Adams.


Speedy swallowed hard as he looked into the eyes of the brunette before him. She glowed with the sunlight streaming down into the church as he made his vows to her.

"Virginia Camellia Hamilton, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true the Lord Himself has answered that prayer. For today, Ginny, you as my joy become my crown. I thank Jesus for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future as bright as the promises of God, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, Ginny, my friend, my teammate, my partner and my love. Today I give to you me and I hope and pray that you know only one thing: nothing on earth is as beautiful as you," Speedy said, keeping his voice steady up until the last line, the impact of which brought tears to Speedy's eyes. Robin smiled at the bride and groom from his place as Speedy's best man, and then looked over their shoulders at Raven, the beaming matron of honor, who discreetly swept a tear away from her eyes as Torque took a deep breath and spoke vows of her own.

"Roy Oliver Harper, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helper that God designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto you as unto our Lord. Therefore, Roy, I pledge to you my life as a faithful and loving friend, teammate, partner and wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God. You have become for me what I never thought I'd find: you have come to be my forever and for that, I will never cease to cherish and honor you until my dying day and beyond," Torque said, losing the battle to reign back tears of her own. The words of the priest hardly registered as Speedy and Torque drowned in one another's eyes. They murmured Amen on command and then Speedy pulled his bride into his arms and kissed her, venting the passion he had been holding back. Applause erupted from their guests, teammates, friends and family, from the Justice League to their fellow Titans, family, and friends. Speedy took Torque's hand and turned to face their audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Roy Oliver Harper!" the priest announced, finally conceding to a chuckle as Speedy swept Torque high up into his arms and carried her back up the aisle and out of the worship space, quickly followed by the remaining Titans and the kids. When they emerged from the church, they were showered in birdseed from the rest of the team. Speedy charged down the steps, leaving Robin and Raven to walk more slowly and laugh as the bride and groom made a dive for their car. Raven tucked her hand into the crook of Robin's arm and smiled as he patted her hand and walked her carefully down the steps. Beast Boy and Starfire met them at the bottom of the steps where Robin lightly kissed Raven's cheek before the two went to their respective spouses and climbed into the other cars that would take them all to the reception.

Hours later, as the reception went on, the male Titans, their ties loosened and their collar buttons undone, took the microphones and sang karaoke to the happy bride and groom.

"Can't stop this thing we've started!
You've gotta know it's all right!
Can't stop this course we've plotted!" the guys sang. Torque and Speedy, along with their other guests, laughed as they sang, making as big a show of this stage performance as they possibly could. Between giggles, Torque leaned over to her new husband and whispered, for perhaps the fiftieth time that day, that she loved him. Speedy smiled at this and kissed her. Aidan, planted firmly on his mother's lap, witnessed this display of affection and giggled.

"Eww!" he squealed. "Daddy!"

"Oh, and we love you, too, squirt," Speedy teased, ruffling Aidan's hair and kissing the top of his head. Torque laughed as Aidan squirmed and joined in, kissing Aidan's cheeks. After Aidan had sufficiently been kissed, Torque contemplated the events of the week. Wednesday had been an important day for them. Not only had this been the day that the pair had secured a marriage license, but that was the day that Speedy adopted Aidan, and thus officially became the boy's father. Torque had never been so proud of Speedy.

After the reception ended, Torque very gently passed her sleeping son to Terra, trying hard to smile as she and Speedy escaped to tiptoe out of the Tower for their honeymoon vacation. Once the pair was settled on their plane to Puerto Rico, Torque was still dabbing tears from her eyes.

"It's okay, honey," Speedy said, sliding his arm around her and hugging her close. "Terra and Aqualad know what they're doing. In any case, it'll be good practice for them. Their wedding is next, after all," Speedy teased. Torque smiled and nodded. Ever since the day Terra had lost control and beaten Olivia, Terra had attended depression and anger management classes, parenting classes that Aqualad had attended with her, and she had even submitted to several weeks of only being able to spend time with the kids under the direct supervision of one of the other Titans. Terra had at first refused when Torque and Speedy asked her to watch Aidan for them, telling them she didn't feel worthy to be in charge of him. But all inhibition fled when Aidan charged across the room and flung himself into Terra's arms, declaring that he loved her. Terra had wept, lifted the little one into her arms and accepted.

"I hope he's okay," Torque said, sniffling away the last of her tears. "We've never been away from him for more than a few hours since he was born."

"He'll be fine, sweetheart," Speedy insisted, kissing Torque's forehead. "What could happen?"

That night, after Terra had tucked Aidan in, she returned to the living area to find Aqualad languidly sitting back on the couch, his tie undone and collar buttons open. He popped his shiny dress shoes off his feet as Terra came back into the room and curled up beneath his arm.

"Well, are you ready to do the same thing at the end of next month?" Aqualad mused, closing his eyes against the encroaching dusk glimmering outside the windows. Terra smiled and snuggled closer.

"I've been ready for a while. I love you, Garth," Terra replied, drawing a smile from her fiancé. Aqualad kissed the top of Terra's head and pulled her a bit closer before he said, "I love you, too, Terra." Several minutes of companionable silence followed this before a small sound invaded the quiet.

"Aidan?" Terra called. "Is that you?" Plainly miserable, little Aidan stumbled in out of the hallway.

"Mommy and Daddy are gone!" he wailed. Tears flooded his cheeks despite constant attempts to wipe them away.

"Of course they are, honey, they're on their honeymoon. They'll be back next week, sweetheart," Terra replied, going over to kneel beside the five year old. She already knew why he was crying. Aidan was used to being able to go and crawl into bed with his parents when he was lonely or afraid, but tonight he had gone in and found their bed cold and empty. Poor Aidan Alexander Hamilton Harper was feeling virtually abandoned. Terra lifted Aidan into her arms and carried him back over to the couch to sit with she and Aqualad. When Terra sat back down on the couch, she placed Aidan on her lap and wiped his tears away. Then she looked at him and asked him, "Aidan, do you remember what your mamma said that you are?" Aidan swallowed hard and nodded.

"Mommy's treasure," Aidan mumbled.

"That's right," Aqualad added, leaning into the conversation. "And I know your mom. She would never leave her treasure all alone forever."

"But, I want my mommy," Aidan murmured, his eyes welling up again.

"We could just call them so that he can say goodnight?" Terra suggested. Aqualad cocked an eyebrow. "They aren't going to answer," Aqualad smirked as Terra dialed.

"We at least have to try," Terra replied, allowing the phone to ring.

"You know that we're interrupting them, right?" Aqualad snickered.

"You're not helping," Terra said. Another ring passed and Torque finally picked up.

"Hello?" said a sleepy voice.

"Hey, honeymooners, how's Puerto Rico?" Terra asked cheerfully. She could hear Speedy murmuring in the background.

"Mmm….it's so beautiful here, Terra. Are you sure you and Aqualad don't wanna skip the mountain lodge you two have planned and go to the same place?" Torque teased. Terra smiled. "No thanks. We'd rather be among as much of the elements as possible," she replied. "Look, the reason I'm calling is because someone here can't sleep and needs to say goodnight." There was a soft but audible gasp on the other end of the phone line. Terra grinned again.

"Well…what are you waiting for? Put him on!" Torque said, sitting up in bed. Terra gently handed the phone to Aidan, who timidly held the object to his ear.

"Mommy?" he murmured. Torque smiled and replied, "Hi, baby. What's wrong?"

"Where are you, Mommy?" Aidan asked. Torque felt a lump forming in her throat.

"Mommy and Daddy will be home before you know it, honey," Torque said, unwillingly shedding a tear. Speedy sat up and smoothed his hand over her bare back, looking at her with concern.

"Come home, Mommy!" Aidan begged, starting to cry again. Torque couldn't manage a reply, and covered her eyes with her hands as she, too, began to cry. Speedy gingerly took the phone from her hands and kissed her cheek before speaking into the receiver.

"Aidan?"

"Hi, Daddy," Aidan murmured.

"Hey, sport. Listen. Do you remember when Mom and I talked to you about today? We told you that we were going to go away for a little while and that Auntie Terra and Uncle Aqualad were going to take care of you. Do you remember that?" Speedy asked.

"Yeah," Aidan admitted softly.

"Okay." Speedy said gently. "Then here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to bed and pray for mommy and daddy. Then, in the morning, I want you to draw us a picture and leave it on mommy and daddy's bed, okay? When we get home, we can look at all the pictures you left for us, okay?" Aidan swallowed hard and nodded.

"Okay, daddy," he replied. When Aidan handed the phone back to Terra, Speedy explained what he had asked Aidan to do.

"Thanks," Terra said. "I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be able to do to comfort him for a minute there."

"I think the key word is distraction," Speedy said, chuckling a little. "He loves to draw and color. Get him to play with the other kids, too. He's old enough to follow Emily and the twins around now. You could even help him keep track of how many days till we come home on the calendar."

"Will do. You two have fun now and don't worry about a thing," Terra replied.

"He's in great hands. Thanks again for watching him for us, Terra. Give him another big hug and a kiss from us and then put him back in his bed," Speedy said. After Terra hung up the phone, she did precisely what Torque and Speedy had prescribed. When this was done and Aidan was finally asleep, Terra and Aqualad retired to bed.

A/N: Forgive me for the short chapter. I promise much more interesting material for the concluding chapters of this volume. I will probably only go to 15 before moving to the next volume. Yes, Terra and Aqualad's wedding will be in this volume and maybe one more birth. Thanks for sticking with me, everyone!