Yes. Yes, I Do
(August 31, 2017)
4: Do You?
They came inside the Shack to shouts of "There they are!" and "SURPRISE!"
Instantly, Manly Dan hugged Wendy. The man could hug. Once when a grizzly bear had charged him, Dan had hugged it so hard that the relationship threatened to blossom into something serious.
That hug was nothing to the one he gave Wendy. There was a lot of weeping. The flannel of her shirt darkened as her shoulder began to get wet. Finally the big guy let his daughter go, cleared his throat, wiped his eyes, and blew his nose. In a hoarse croak completely unlike his normal, even belligerent, bellow, he whispered, "Your mama would be so happy for you, Baby Girl."
To Dipper's relief, the lumberjack didn't insist on hugging him, but instead enveloped his hand in a catcher's-mitt-sized fist. "Dipper, now, you take real good care of my little girl, hear?"
"Yes, sir. I'll do it or die trying," Dipper promised.
Dan's friendly clap on the shoulder almost buckled Dipper's knees. "Good man!" Ah. There. There was the bellow.
"Come on, let 'em in, make room!" Stan said. "Come with me, you two. You've wasted enough time already!"
The parlor had been decorated—Dipper knew that Mabel had been up to something!—with roses and daisies, even fragrant sprigs of brilliant orange trumpet honeysuckle, a vine that grew wild. White candles with lacy gold bows had been put in the sconces—when did Soos put in the sconces? Everything had been made as tidy and neat as he'd ever seen it—what he could see of it. In the center, the crowd had left an aisle open for the wedding party. The crush of people filled and overfilled the floor, standing rather than sitting—no chairs meant more room. Oh, one exception—up front on the left side of the aisle, Dipper saw Abuelita, also standing, but with a folding chair behind her.
At the back of the room, Stanford came and stood beside Dipper. "I hope I'll be acceptable as your best man," he whispered.
"Yes. Absolutely," Dipper whispered back, feeling relieved. He had debated whether to ask both of his grunkles to stand as co-best man, but crafty Stanley had taken care of that little problem. Well, now he wouldn't have as much to fret about it in the months leading up to the December church service!
He heard piano music—"Somewhere Over the Rainbow," of all tunes—and it seemed to be coming from up front, though with everyone standing up he couldn't see if it was live or, maybe, Soos doing his DJ bit. No, there was Soos, next to Abuelita, towering above everyone else on the bride's side.
"Come on, kid, it's showtime!" Stanley said. Dipper went with him up to the front and saw Robbie and Tambry off to his left, she standing and playing a keyboard, he holding his guitar. Robbie winked at him and gave him a thumbs-up as Tambry finished the intro music. She looked with a warm smile at Robbie, he glanced toward the back of the room and nodded, and then instead of "Here Comes the Bride," they began playing—
Aw.
"I Will Always Believe in Fairy Tales," the love song Dipper had composed for Wendy. In fact, it was the first song he'd ever composed and the only one he was really happy with. The two didn't sing it—thank heavens, the lyrics were personal—and they didn't rock it, but together they played a lovely, slow-tempo instrumental arrangement.
Looking back, Dipper saw Mabel, not in full bridesmaid rig, but wearing a duplicate of her favorite sweater from years ago, the red shooting-star one. Around her head she wore a coronet of yellow daisies, and she held a small bouquet of red roses. With her came Billy Sheaffer, a little pale and a little stiff under the gazes of all those people, holding a pale green satin cushion with two rings resting on it. Grunkle Ford was next. Mabel took Dipper's ring, Ford took Wendy's, and looking relieved, Billy retreated to stand with Mr. and Mrs. Pines on the front row of the groom's side.
Dipper felt dazed. Across from him, Mabel was making little squeaky happy noises and beaming at him. He didn't know how much she'd been involved in the trick that morning, but at that moment, Dipper couldn't be angry at his sister if he tried. Not with her bright-eyed and clutching the roses to her breast and smiling her beautiful, goofy old smile. He remembered when gleaming braces decorated it, but even more he remembered all those good times. And he teared up a little bit when Mabel silently mouthed, "I've always got your back, Bro!"
Then—the crowd had to shuffle to each side—Dan came down the aisle with Wendy on his arm. Though Dipper and Wendy were in casual garb, Dan had dressed up. He'd buttoned the neck of his flannel shirt and wore a clip-on black bow tie. Wendy's coronet, no doubt Mabel's crafty work, was a halo of perfect white daisies, and she carried a bouquet of mixed pink and red roses and white baby's breath, and with her cheeks flushed a little, she looked radiant.
The unusual wedding march ended with some grace notes courtesy of Tambry.
Stanley said, "Welcome, friends, relatives, neighbors, and any curious bystanders who wandered into the most befuddling place on Earth by accident. Stick around, we'll open later. Oh, and you too, Jeff and Shmebulock, yeah, I see you there behind the potted ferns. You're welcome, too. All right, everybody, thanks for being with us. We're here today to celebrate the wedding of Wendy and Dipper. Thank you all for your presence and your friendship. Please join us now in offering your love and support to this union as Wendy and Dipper begin the adventure of their married life, surrounded right now by those who mean the most to them.
"Now, before going further, I'm supposed to ask—does anybody here know of any reason why this man and this woman may not be joined in wedlock? If there is, speak up right now, or forever shut your yap!"
Dan turned around and glowered, sending a searchlight glare over the crowd. Over in the back left corner Tyler Cutebiker briefly fainted, but people had him back on his feet in a few seconds.
Of course, nobody objected to the match.
"Good," Stan said. "Daniel, do you now present your daughter to be wed to Dipper Pines?"
"I do!" he said.
He kissed Wendy on the cheek—she whispered, "I love you, Dad"—and bawling like a baby, he shuffled to his place, where his sons patted his sides, about as high as any of them could reach. Of them all, only Junior had matched and exceeded Wendy's height.
Grunkle Stan said, "Wendy and Dipper, I said marriage is an adventure. You'll find that it truly is. We all hope it's gonna be a long and happy one for you. It's a serious step to take, but it's a beautiful and wonderful step, too. By your commitment to each other today, you're both promising to hold each other for a lifetime in friendship as well as in love. You're promising to live your lives with dedication to each other and patience for each other. You're promising to talk and listen, to meet sorrows with tenderness and joys with laughter. You'll swearing you will always be slow to anger and quick to forgive. You're taking a vow to always not only accept but also value your differences. Main thing, just make sure you love each other truly, deeply, and always. This ceremony don't make a marriage. Only you two can do that. It's going to be something you build together, each and every day of your lives. Understanding all this, do you, Mason Pines—that's his legal name, folks, and it's out at last, but don't anybody use it unless he gives you permission—let me ask: Do you, Mason Dipper Pines, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do," Dipper said. It came out clear and warm and firm, surprising even him. But then, he was holding her hand, and he felt her joy leap straight into him.
"And do you, Wendy Corduroy, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
Her green eyes sparkled, and he caught her thought: Yes! Oh, God, yes! But aloud, and again with love and assurance, and very clearly, she said, "I do."
Now tears were trickling down Stan's cheeks. "Somethin' in my eye," he muttered. "Allergic to these flowers, I guess. Ahem. If you two kids have anything to say to each other, any vows to make, now's the time. Dipper, you go first."
For a change, he hadn't planned a thing. But he heard himself saying, "Wendy, you're the excitement of a brand-new sunrise. You're the soft gentle wind in the pines, the warm rain of springtime. You're the leaping energy of a whitewater stream and you're the strength of a wild mountain storm, and the peace of a winter's night, the joy in a baby's laugh. I love you with all my heart, and for the rest of our lives, I'll do my best to make you happy."
"Not bad, kid," Stan said. "Wendy?"
She was leaking a few tears herself. "Dipper," she said, "I liked you the very first time I saw you, more than five years ago. The more I got to know you, the more I fell in love. You're funny and smart and brave and kind and wise. I can't live without you. You're the breath in my lungs and the beat of my heart. You've been my best friend and you've become my only love. I want to share every adventure with you, be there for you always, and be the best wife that I can. I'll love you forever and ever. And I'm always so proud of you!"
Stanley cleared his throat. "Beautiful. May I have the rings?" He grimaced slightly and added, "Please?" He coughed "Still hurts. Now, these two rings symbolize those vows you spoke before everybody gathered here. Dipper, place the ring on Wendy's finger. Good. Now repeat after me: With this ring, I take you as my wife, to love, cherish, and honor, for now and forever."
Looking into her emerald eyes, with his heart feeling huge in his chest, Dipper repeated the words.
Stan, his voice breaking a little, said, "Now, Wendy, you place this ring on Dipper's finger. Repeat after me. With this ring, I take you as my husband, to love, cherish, and honor, for now and forever."
Wendy did, though she changed it a little: ". . . forever and ever," she said.
By that time Grunkle Stan barely held it together. "With the vows you've made, the rings you've exchanged, and the love you hold for each other, by the power vested in me by the State of Oregon, by the county, and by the city, as Justice of the Peace, I pronounce you husband and wife. Quick, now, kiss each other!"
Oh, that was a great kiss. A beautiful kiss. It was so magical that for that moment, everyone in the room held their breath. Nothing spoiled it, not even the foghorn of Stan's blowing his nose. He had just managed the last bit before completely giving in to sobs. However, when the kiss ended, Stan, gulping and gasping, stuck to it manfully and finally got the last bit out: "Ladies and gents, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Pines!"
Robbie and Tambry struck up a somewhat metal version of Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Oberon and Puck—fairies, Dipper thought fleetingly. Why did it have to be fairies?
But at the moment, the fairies were only the imaginings of Bill Shakespeare, and they didn't matter. To that tune, and to laughter and congratulations and a few scattered sounds of happy weeping, Wendy and Dipper hurried down the aisle, up the stairs, and into the attic room.
Where they closed the door and locked it.
And Dipper, holding her left hand, looked at the thin silver band. "I bought you a better ring," he said. This was the one he'd had made from a silver coin when they were way back in time and had to pretend to be married—well, that's another story, never mind.
She grabbed the back of his head, kissed him, and then with her forehead resting against his, said warmly, "You dummy. There is no better ring!"
Someone pounded on the door. "Hey, you two, not yet!"
Mabel. Great.
She didn't let up on the pounding. "You gotta come down for the birthday party and official reception and banquet on the lawn! Do that, and I promise that after it's over, you can drive to the college house and be all alone together and show each other eerything you got!"
"Gonna be worth waiting for," Wendy whispered.
"It better be, after all this time!" Mabel yelled.
"She's got ears like a jackrabbit," Dipper murmured in Wendy's ear.
"Do not! They're like two beautiful pink seashells. Don't make me pick this lock! Come on, come on, get dressed and downstairs!"
Dipper unlocked and opened the door.
Mabel said, "Huh, it's been twenty seconds and you're still dressed? What's wrong with you two? Anyway, get your butts downstairs. Wendy, you still gotta toss your bouquet. Behind and to your left, distance about ten feet, and get a little loft on it! Remember, to your left!"
So the adventure wasn't over yet. Not yet.
Hand in hand, they headed downstairs for the rest of it.