The Wedding of the Century Part I
As Thad submitted to the hands of Kurt Hummel, fashion guru, the rest of his band of brothers were arriving at Dalton. Mrs Carmichael was there to greet them all as they arrived, and was more than happy to take custody of little Wes and Evie, the eldest children to arrive so far. Then it was time for the grooms from yesterday to return, both of them aware of something that the two teenagers with them had no clue of. Beats hastened off to get changed into his dress uniform, which he would wear for the wedding, before changing, like all of his brethren, back into his more casual clothes for the party afterwards. Elliott kissed him before he left, Dante and Lachlan looking the other way as all teenagers do when parents are being affectionate. They thought that Beats was leaving to practice the songs for the party later. The two of them were being affected by the school differently today; yesterday it had seemed almost enchanted to them, but today it just seemed too warm, and it was making them feel sleepy….
Elliott laughed at them as they yawned, and he escorted them to the Junior Commons, where he had been told to take them as they planned yesterday. He settled them down on one of the sofas, then smiled as they yawned again. "Why did we have to come so early?" asked Dante. "We could have had another couple of hours in bed!"
"It was important that Beats was here now for his rehearsal, and we travel as a family group. Look, no-one is going to mind if the two of you take a nap in here right now. I will be around, and I will wake you up when it is time for the big event," responded Elliott.
"Well, if you are sure that it will be okay," said Lachlan, stifling a yawn.
"This is Dalton Academy; here, if it makes you happy, then it is usually more than okay," replied Elliott with a smile.
Ten minutes later and he was sitting quietly with two sleeping teenagers, awaiting his husband's arrival. After all, he had to get changed too. He had suggested that if they wanted it to seem like a dream, then he should rewind time and dress up in his full Starchild outfit for the first time in forever… They had all agreed it was a wonderful idea, and all he now hoped was that he would be able to recreate his old look, and more importantly, remove it all and look like his current self when those in the 'dream state' woke up…
As all of this took place in a school in Ohio, an angel sat in quiet contemplation in his New York apartment in the angelic realms. He had already been given the full Kurt Hummel treatment, although his preparations had included a thorough preening of his wings. He sat on his own, having eschewed the offers of company that he had been given by Blaine and Finn. If this was a big day for his beloved Thaddie, then it was an even bigger day for him. He was being given the greatest gift he had ever received from a woman that he respected and admired, a woman whose job he was about to take over. He knew that there was nothing he could ever do to fully repay Elizabeth for this. He had spoken to her though about one small thing, a decision that he had come to the night before that remained between the two of them for now. In his mind, it was the right thing to do, and would make the day all the more special for both himself and his beloved…
Ollie Harwood had found the bed in the room that he had been taken to by his brother exceptionally comfortable, but that might have been down in part at least to the fact that he was, to be frank, exhausted. His later than planned finish had not helped his case, but the ER had been so busy. He had been in the middle of treating a life and death case when his shift had finished, but unlike some doctors that he had heard of, and indeed, knew, he had not handed the patient over to someone else so he could head home. For him, the needs of the patient always came first. In retrospect he did wonder if he might not have been better heading straight to the airport from the hospital, and then used his credentials and his charm to access one of the lounges and a comfortable sofa, but it would probably have made little difference to the situation.
He had tried to doze off on the flight too, but a combination of a small child in the seat behind vigorously kicking his seat back, and the person in front reclining their seat so far back that they were nearly lying on top of him had made that impossible. As a result, he was fast asleep when his brother crept in with Kurt at his side. The latter was very impressed with what he had achieved in such a short space of time; Thad was no slouch when it came to his grooming and appearance, and had always been the most fashion conscious of the Warblers of his era, but he had taken him to the next level. His hair was trimmed, well styled, and somehow looked fuller in Thad's eyes. His skin was perfect, all flaws hidden. His clothes were well tailored, neat and fresh. In his buttonhole was a rose from the bush that they had planted over the spot where Wes' ashes were buried, as it was the only flower that seemed proper in the circumstances. All in all, he was the model of a groom…
"Okay, so I am going to place him in to 'dream state' now," whispered Kurt. "His eyes will open, and he will be wide awake, but as far as his mind and memory are concerned, nothing will be actual and real until we remove him from this state after the wedding is over."
"Fine… And it definitely will not harm him in any way?" asked Thad, who had been anxious about the whole process from the start for just that reason.
"It is completely harmless, trust me. The only drawback will be if he feels compelled to tell you all about what he dreamt, and you are going to have to pretend that you know nothing about any of it."
"I think that I can manage that," replied Thad. With a nod, Kurt headed over to the bed, and bent down until his mouth was right at Ollie's ear; then he whispered the words of the incantation that his mom had told him only a few hours before. With that done, he vanished into thin air, just as Ollie opened his eyes and took in the room around him…
"Oh, hey little bro… Wow, you are looking very smart and dapper!"
"Well, yes," responded Thad. "I mean, it is kind of traditional for a man to make an effort to look his best on his wedding day, but then again, it is also normal for his best man to be up and about, and attired in a similar fashion," he continued in a tetchy tone.
He had to stop himself then as he noticed the look of confusion that suddenly crossed his brother's face; it was all he could do not to laugh as Ollie just stared for a moment, then shook his head vigorously. "I am sorry, I must still be half asleep Thad. I thought that you just said that this was your wedding day…"
"I am seriously beginning to think that you were drinking something alcoholic at work last night," said Thad, shaking his head. He sat down on the bed, and faced his brother. "I am getting married, in just under an hour, and you are supposed to be my best man! So get up, get showered, then get dressed; your suit is hanging up in the bag in the closet. I will be back to get you in 15 minutes, and you had better be ready, because I am not keeping Wes waiting!" With that, Thad flung the duvet off his brother, then stalked out of the room…
Ollie lay where he was for a moment, his mind in overdrive. His brother had just stood there and told him that he was getting married to his dead boyfriend in less than an hour; he had quite clearly lost his mind. He grabbed for his phone, and called his wife. Michelle answered quickly, and before she could speak, he blurted out all of his worries and concerns. Then she replied, "Erm, he is getting married in less than an hour Ollie - maybe you are the one that is losing it? I am with Wes right now, and David for that matter, in full best man mode."
Ollie shook his head, and said firmly, "Wes is dead, Michelle…"
"Not from where I am sitting; he looks very much alive. Would you like to speak to him, or David?"
"No, it's alright, it is just that…" Then his words stopped, and he realised that the rest of the world hadn't gone mad, he was just in the midst of what had to be a very vivid and realistic dream; his body was exhausted, and now his mind was playing a prank on him. As dreams went, this one was okay so far; Thad was happy, and so was Michelle. He would just roll with it, as long as when it came to it, his brother's future husband was not a rotting corpse…
"I'm kidding, I know what is going on!" he continued. "I had you going there, and Thad for that matter!"
"You have a very strange sense of humour, Dr Harwood… Right, you need to go and do what all best men do; support your brother, as he probably needs you to keep him from going insane right now."
With those words, his wife hung up. Ollie climbed out of bed and headed for the shower, as per his brother's orders. The water felt so good, and he decided that if this was a dream, he wouldn't try and wake up, he would just keep playing along. Refreshed, clean and then dried, he opened his suit bag, the one that he himself had carried from his home in New York, through the airport, and then placed here, by himself, in the closet at Dalton; doing it made him pause again. Inside was a suit he had never seen before, along with a beautiful white shirt, a tie that matched the one his brother had been wearing, and even fresh underwear and socks…
'It's all a dream, just go with it,' he thought, and put it all on; it fitted him like a glove, and he had to admit that when he looked at himself in the mirror once he was dressed that he looked almost as handsome and dapper as his little brother. At that moment, the man in question walked in, took in his brother, and smiled.
"Good. For a moment there I was thinking that I might have to promote Nick to your role as a replacement. That would have cut me to the quick… You look wonderful, but there is one final touch; hold still, whilst I get you buttonholed…"
Not far away at that moment, Beats and Elliott were waiting with Kurt outside the Junior Commons. It had taken longer than they had hoped for Dante and Lachlan to fall into a deep enough sleep for the incantation to be delivered safely. They had kept waking up again, and they had even seriously began to discuss whether they might have to resort to a mild sleeping draught to achieve the necessary state. As they waited, Kurt studied the two men before him. Beats looked much younger than his own almost three decades on the planet, thanks to a little judicious make up, and at his side, Elliott looking his most flamboyant in his Starchild make up and clothes. So far, only Dani had been privileged enough to see what he was currently wearing, and she had loved it; it reminded her of the golden days when they were all so much younger and the air had been filled with much less sorrow. One Three Hill had been the best little group she had ever performed in, and seeing Elliott dressed that way had made her miss Kurt just a little more than normal…
Kurt had been listening carefully to the noises from the room, and now he nodded, and crept inside the less opulent of the school's two common rooms, where two teenage boys were curled up against each other on the couch. Kurt smiled, wondering if this was how he and Blaine had looked all those years ago to his dad when he walked in on them dozing together… Then he remembered why he was there, and he headed over to them, and was glad to see that their heads were lying together at such an angle that he could whisper in both their ears at once…
Beats and Elliott had crept in behind him, but heard not one word he spoke; then he vanished before their very eyes into the ether… Lachlan was the first of the two to wake up, his bleary eyes landing first on Beats, and then widening significantly as he caught sight of Elliott. He elbowed Dante, and he shot up, and after a reproachful stare at Lachlan, followed his gaze…
"Dante, Lachlan, Elliott and I decided that it was high time that you were introduced to Starchild in all of his magnificence," said Beats casually.
"Oh, okay… All I can think of to say is wow! So, is it a fancy dress party, because Lachlan and I don't have a costume," responded Dante.
As his husband stifled a laugh, Elliott smiled at the two boys, and replied, "No it isn't; it is something much cooler than that. You see, the party is for later; just now, we are all invited to see Thad marry an angel…"
Ollie was silent as he and his brother walked through the silent corridors of Dalton in the direction of the auditorium, where Thad's wedding was scheduled to begin in just under a quarter of an hour. The moment they stepped inside, the silence was over; the room was more or less filled with happy chatter and smiling faces. Ollie looked around and saw that all of Thad's friends that he knew from New York were present, all the former Warblers dressed in a very smart, well tailored version of the usual Dalton uniform. He had a momentary double take as he saw the man standing beside his wife, unable at first to believe that it was actually Elliott. Then he recalled a chat they had had some time ago about Starchild, Elliott's alter ego, and he realised that he was now seeing him in the flesh for the first time… And then he started, as he saw what appeared to be a bride in one corner of the room, dressed in a long white dress…
Thad saw where his brother's eyes were fixed, and how wide they had gone, and he laughed. "No, Ollie, I am not marrying a girl, and no, that isn't Wes in drag either. Brittany just wanted to be the bridesmaid at our wedding, and she is so sweet, and married to Santana, so we couldn't really refuse to grant her her dream, could we?"
"I guess," said Ollie, shaking his head and smiling at just how sweet Brittany was to have wanted to take on the role. His eyes moved on, and then he turned to his brother and asked, "So why are Nick and Jeff up on the stage right now?"
"Well, it was in this room that Niff became a reality about a decade ago; Nick roared out of his closet by snogging the face off Jeff at an assembly, right on that spot. Then it all got a little heated, and Sebastian and Trent had to literally drag them off the stage, still locked together at the lips. I do hope that they are not about to do a re-enactment, not today of all days, as that would be in poor taste…."
Thad stopped as he saw that his brother's mouth had dropped open again, and his eyes were out on stalks; he was making no sound at all. Following his gaze, he smiled as he saw that Kurt and Blaine had made an appearance, their wings outstretched; whether it was those magnificent appendages or the way they had just suddenly materialised that had rendered his brother speechless he did not know… He slipped an arm around his brother, and part walked, part dragged him over in the direction of the two angels. "Kurt, Blaine, so good to see you. This is my brother Ollie; please be kind to him as he has never seen an angel before…"
"The pleasure in meeting is all ours, Thad," said Blaine, extending a hand, which Ollie took out of manners and instinct before he even realised what he was doing, and shook gently, still in awe. Blaine smiled, then continued, "As long as we ensure he doesn't touch our wings, however tempted he is, things will be okay. So let's give him the obvious answers to the questions he is dying to ask. Yes, we are that Kurt and Blaine; yes, we can fly, but won't be today. And yes, Wes has similar wings."
"Everyone always asks the same questions on their first time," explained Kurt. "Hopefully, now that you have met some of us, even if it is only in a dream like this, you will start to believe that we do exist, and in doing so, might well be able to see us in real life, whilst awake, one of these days. That ability would be quiet an advantage, given who your brother-in-law will soon be…"
"So this really is just a dream?" whispered Ollie.
"It is whatever you are comfortable with it being I guess," replied Blaine. "After all, what is real and correct to one person is fake and false to another."
"The important thing in all of this today is this," said Kurt. "Look at your brother; when did you last see him looking so happy? I mean, if this did happen to be real, would it not be the most fantastic thing in the history of the world? It is all of his dreams come true…"
Ollie nodded, as he had to admit that his brother was almost glowing; he looked as he had done when he was still a carefree teenager again. The lines on his forehead had faded, the careworn look in his eyes vanished. He turned back to look at Kurt again, and saw that he had lost his wings, or put them away, or something. That was when it hit him, and he blurted out, "I'm sorry, shouldn't you have a halo or something?"
Kurt laughed, and replied, "Now that is a new one! Well done on being the first with that question. We keep them for special holidays in the main, rather than day to day wear. Only archangels are forced to wear them at all times as it is their badge of office."
Ollie nodded, thinking that the absence of the halo did make practical sense. Then he saw that Thad was back at his side, smiling again like he hadn't done since he was a child back home. "Okay brother, we need to let Kurt get on. I apologise on my brother's behalf for his litany of questions, but it is his first time."
"It's fine, Thad, but I do need to get on, and you need to get into your spot as we only have 5 minutes to go. Wes was always such a stickler for punctuality, and if anything, he has gotten worse."
"I am much the same in that respect these days. I think that it must be carrying a gavel in your top pocket that does it," replied Thad. He turned, and lead his brother down to the front of the room, past everyone else, to stand at his brother's side at the front. Once there, Mrs Carmichael appeared and examined them both. "You look as near perfect as you can be… this is such a joyous day for all of us. We never imagined that it could ever happen…"
"Now Edith, leave Thad and Oliver alone; we need to take our places," said her husband, as he appeared to guide them to their allotted spot. "But I will just say this; today does make all of us so very happy…"
Just a few moments later, Ollie felt a draught behind him, and he shivered a little from the cold blast of air, whilst wondering why a school like Dalton could not fix such an awful problem in its auditorium. He was about to ask his brother when he saw that his face was now nearly splitting in two from the grin on it. Something compelled the elder of the two Harwood brothers to turn round and follow his brother's gaze, and in doing so he caught sight of the man of his brother's dreams, looking to all intents and purposes like a matinee idol of the 1920s, resplendent in a suit that aped a Dalton uniform in style, and bearing a frankly magnificent pair of wings. He realised that they had been the source of the troublesome draught….
With his wings safely stowed away, Wes began to walk towards the front of the room too, his face a match for Thad's in being a show of pure, unadulterated joy. Mrs Carmichael was already in tears, and a glance around saw that she was not the only one; Brittany, Michelle and Trent were also crying. David joined him halfway down, and the two of them came slowly to the front, with Wes stopping right by Thad. Looking around, he leant over and whispered, "You look so handsome right now, my little one. This is the happiest and proudest moment of my existence; after today, it is us, together, for all eternity."
"I can't wait Wessie," replied Thad, before they all felt another draught, and the whole room fell silent, all eyes now focussed on the front. Ollie looked to the front and saw that another angel had arrived; a female that looked a little like Kurt, dressed in a neat suit with a badge of office pinned to her lapel. She carried with her a book and a sheaf of papers. He guessed that she was the celebrant, the senior angel that would marry his brother to Wes, tying him to an angel for all eternity. She smiled at them all, as she arranged the book and her papers on the lectern, then put on a pair of gold framed half moon glasses. Then, with another glance around the room, she spoke…
"A warm welcome to all of you on this most beautiful and perfect of mornings, to what has been described as the wedding of the century. Such utterings are not without merit, as there has been only one previously recorded case in all of angelic history of an angel and a mortal being given permission to marry. That case was but a rumour until Mr Finn Hudson, at my direction, travelled to England to investigate, and proved himself worthy of his promotion to Senior Collector and Trainer by finding with aid from an English counterpart, all the documentary evidence that was needed to convince the council of senior angels that the events had taken place, and giving precedence for today's proceedings."
"Today is a just reward for Wes' dedicated and loyal service since he arrived in the angelic realms, and of course, his unblemished track record. It is no lie to state that most of my colleagues in senior administration would crave an assistant of his calibre, and many have tried to poach him from me. I have denied them all that chance, and groomed him for a senior role himself. This is why, on my upcoming promotion, he will be taking over from me as the Head Administrative Officer of the Ohio Section…"
That came as news to most, even David, and there was a ripple of noise around the room. Elizabeth laughed at that, and said, "I should have guessed that his natural modesty would have prevented him from disclosing that piece of news to all of you except his soon to be husband - well that and his excitement about today. We are also here because of a promise that Wes made to Thad when he was too frightened to reveal the true nature of his feelings to himself, let alone anyone else. He nevertheless told Thad repeatedly that, if he was still single on his 30th birthday, he would marry him. Those words were the final thing that cemented our case for permission to be given for this day. So, without further ado, let us help Wes to keep his promise to his little one…"