"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."
– Mignon McLaughlin
Marceline was currently waiting in the bridal suite on the Wahewa Reservation with Donna, Gemma and Tara, all gussied up and ready to be wed. Jasmine was with Bentley and the other men and Marci had a walkie-talkie sitting on her lap to talk to her best friend or son before they were to see each other at the altar.
"Why am I not nervous? I should be terrified."
It was her wedding day, a day she never thought she'd see, and she was so calm. She thought she'd be on the verge of an Anxiety Attack, but she wasn't. Marci was as cool as a cucumber and it didn't feel like anything could kill her good vibe.
"That's good, means you're marrying the right man." Gemma told her as she pinned her veil into her hair.
"She's right." Donna chimed. "When I married Ope, I just breezed through the ceremony like it was nothing. He was a nervous wreck. Poor guy was shaking when he said his vows."
"Bet Eddie's pissing himself." Gemma smirked.
"I can confirm that Dreamboat has sprung multiple leaks." Jasmine's voice came through the walkie-talkie on the bride's lap. "You've got the man ready to blow chunks over here, Marci. I feel like we need to have an ambulance parked out front."
"Hi, Mommy." Bentley greeted.
"Hi, Bentley. Can you do me a favor and try to calm your Dad down?"
"I'll try, but I don't think warm milk and honey can help him." Bentley replied. In the groom's room, Kip looked like he was about to pass out at any given moment while Phil and Juice were as calm as ever. "Dad, you gotta calm down. Mom said so."
"Dude, your kid's telling you to chill." Phil snickered. "You're not nervous, are you?"
"Nope, this is fun. I like my fancy clothes and all the pretty girls." Bentley smiled.
"Yet you keep managing to mess up your fancy hair." Jasmine tutted with a smile before holding her hand out to Bentley. "C'mon, cutie. There's a comb and gel around here somewhere."
"I am freaking out, man." Kip said with a sigh as he gripped a chair. He's had to have his hair redone three times because his nervous sweating kept messing up the polished look.
"You got your girl back, she forgave you for everything, she still loves you, she brought a couple kids that you're raising as your own and you're getting married." Phil reminded him. "I don't see what the problem is. Everything seems perfect."
"She could walk away." Both Juice and Phil began protesting at the lame excuse. "No, no! I'm serious. She could get cold feet and just leave. Maybe she doesn't trust me anymore or maybe she thinks I've cheated on her or maybe she'll realize I'm not father material."
"I've seen Mairi throw up on you and you wiped it off with your hand." Phil said.
"Which was gross." Juice chimed. "You taught me how to change her diaper, remember?"
"And don't even get me started on Bentley. That kid loves you almost as much as he loves Marceline. Seriously, there's a crumb's worth of love separating you from her."
"You handled Mairi better than Jax did with Abel. He didn't even know how to make a bottle and without Marci giving him an overnight parenting class, I'm pretty sure Gemma would have custody of her grandson." Juice joked. "If none of that proves you've got parental instincts, I don't know what will."
Phil put his hands on Kip's shoulders and got him to sit down, becoming serious. "What's the real reason why you're so on edge?"
"...what if she still loves him?"
"She hated him, guy was a goddamn psycho. She stabbed him in the gut for you." Juice scoffed.
"Juice, he's not talking about Asher."
"Oh."
"I've been thinking about it since she let me come around." It was that day he slipped some cash under her pillow and found that one-of-a-kind gun hiding under her pillow. He knew who gave it to her and he had a feeling that he knew why she's made such an effort to keep it around. "Zane was the first guy she ever loved and after he showed up in Charming, I kinda felt like she had feelings for him before we got together...and maybe during..."
"I can't say how she feels about Zane now, but yeah, I think she loved him." Phil was there when Kip was in lockup with a majority of the other Sons. He watched as Zane provided an effective distraction for Marceline and then, he served as a replacement to Kip. Even before that, he saw how Zane looked at Marci when they were visiting Chibs at St. Thomas and he partially overheard what he told her about running with the Lin Triad. There was a cryptic 'I love you' in his words. "I know she was torn between you guys too, but she's with you now. She's marrying you."
"Yeah, because he's dead." Kip said bitterly. "If he was alive, they'd be living in New Orleans by now."
"None of us know what would've happened if he were still alive and we never will. What I do know is that fate or destiny, take your pick, made it so that you two got back together. Something greater out there wants you to be with her."
"Listen to the universe, Sack." Juice added.
~.~.~.~.
Jasmine is Marceline's maid of honor and she is escorted down the aisle by Phil, since he's Kip's best man. Juice is Kip's groomsman and Donna is Marci's bridesmaid. Bentley walks down the aisle as the ring bearer and he smiles at all the cameras he sees. Mairi comes after him as flower girl and she's tossing petals from her basket, then dumps the rest of them at the altar when she gets to it, being scooped up by her grandfather afterwards.
"Brothers and sisters, we come together today under the all-seeing eye of nature to witness the blessed joining of Edward and Marceline." Charlie Horse was acting as pastor as he spoke to the gathered family of bikers and friends. "I'd like to share with you a blessing of the Apache. Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for you will always be warm for each other. Now you will feel no loneliness, for you will always be each other's companion. Now you are two persons, with only one life before you. May beauty and peace surround you both in your journey ahead and through all the years to come.
"The betrothed have written vows that they will now recite." Charlie motioned to Marceline and she received a piece of paper from Jasmine, taking a breath before beginning.
"Life is difficult and the past hasn't always been easy, but the future will be amazing because we will be together. There are no words, no kisses, no embraces and no proper emotions to express how I feel right now. Thank you for taking me as I am, loving me and welcoming me into your heart. I, Marceline Caitríona Telford, take you, Edward Kip Epps, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."
There were some quiet 'Aww's' from the crowd as Marceline finished reciting her vows and that made her smile. Charlie Horse then motioned for Kip to recite his vows and he pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his suit.
"You are the bravest, most hilarious, most spectacular woman anyone could ask for and I am the luckiest man alive to be marrying you. I promise to cherish and respect you, to stay true to you, to hold you at night and in the morning, to be your loving husband and someone you can always count on. I promise to be the man that I see in your eyes today, tomorrow and always. I, Edward Kip Epps, take you, Marceline Caitríona Telford, to be my wife. I promise to love you when the sun shines, when the rain falls, in sickness and in health. When you look at this ring, think of me and remember that I always love you."
"Into this union, these two souls come to be joined." Charlie Horse announced. "If anyone objects to this marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
"I object to the third degree!" Phil announced with his hand in the air. "I wanna marry Marceline."
"I do too!" Kozik stood up and Marceline looked at the blond like he was insane. Even though no one could clearly see her face through her veil, Kozik knew her eyes were on him and he winked at her.
"Can I marry her too?" Kenny asked his father, making Opie laugh. Mairi was sitting on Chibs' lap and she yelled out something in her still-developing language, clearly being provoked by the outbursts of her family.
Jasmine gave her flowers to Donna, then stepped down from the alter to stand before the first row of seats, in plain view of everyone witnessing the ceremony. "If anybody has the right to marry the cute ginger next, it's me, so sit down, take a number and wait your goddamn turn!"
And with that, the men sat down to let things continue. Jasmine reclaimed her flowers and her position, waving at Charlie to signal that he could continue.
"If there's no more commentary from the guests, we can continue." Charlie announced and stared at the biker, waiting for him to speak. After a beat, Kip looked to Charlie Horse for permission to unveil his bride, but the elder man simply stared back at the biker. "You're forgetting something."
The groom looked behind him at Juice and Phil took a step back to trade places with the tanned man. "You were serious?"
"So serious." Juice confirmed, much to Kip's dismay, but shrugged and smiled, "Club rules, man."
"I can't say that to her." Kip debated. "My son's standing two feet away from me."
"Say it or you're not getting married." Juice warned and Kip sighed, but his friend gave him a pat on the back for encouragement. "It's just this once. Sooner you do it, sooner it's over."
"I promise to always cherish and protect you." Kip began, unable to help himself from stalling.
"What else?" Juice egged on, clearly enjoying the torment his friend was suffering through.
"And treat you as good as my leather..."
"And ride you as much as my Harley!" All the Sons said in unison.
"By the power vested in me by the laws of the Wahewa and the State of California, I pronounce you man and wife." Charlie announced with his arms spread out to either side and a huge smile on his face. He turned to Kip and granted him permission, "You may unveil and kiss your bride."
When Kip unveiled his bride, he simply stared in awe at Marceline. She looked so beautiful, like a princess, and he was bluntly reminded that he didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve her love or to be in her children's lives, but he let him anyway. She let him have her love and today, she was giving him the rest of her life.
Marceline couldn't stop smiling at the awe-struck look on Kip's face. She had to thank Jasmine, Gemma and Donna again for doing such beautiful work on her hair and makeup. She did want to get married, so she cautioned her husband-to-be, "If you don't kiss me soon, Jasmine's gonna do it for you."
And with that, Kip took Marceline's face in his hands and kissed her, sealing their marriage.
At the reception, Marceline is surrounded by the women while the men flock around Kip. When he comes over to her with Bentley, he asks where Mairi is and Marci slightly lifts her dress to show him their daughter sitting under there with another basket of flowers.
Kip and Marci dance to When It's Time by Green Day and Marci gasps when she hears the song. Kip is smiling as he tells her how they never really had a song, but he remembered the night he earned his patches and they danced to this one, so it was special to him.
One by one, the couples at the ceremony begin getting up to dance around the bride and groom. Jax adoringly stares at Tara before he gently nudges her in the shoulder with his own. He opens his hand to her and she takes it with a smile. Opie gets up and has Donna's hands in his. He wraps them around his neck and lifts her as he carries her to an empty spot on the dance-floor, setting her down and getting a kiss before they start dancing. Jasmine is watching everyone with a lovesick expression and T.O. asks her if she wants to dance. She all but pulls him over the table, but Juice comes over and asks Jaz for a dance. She looks between them, but T.O. tells her they'll dance later and she goes with Juice.
Marci takes her head from Kip's chest to look around and sees everyone dancing around them. She giggles when she spots Phil dancing with Danica, who's wearing a one-shouldered metallic dress that looks more like clubwear than formal attire. She sees Arcane sitting at a table with some of his bodyguards around him, but the druglord is flirting with a man sitting across from him that Marceline didn't recognize. He sees her watching and raises his bottle of champagne to her.
Gemma and Chibs are left watching everyone, but Gem pokes Chibs in the leg and nods to the dancefloor. Smiling, Chibs takes her hand and leads her to a spot. Bentley is watching his sister and asks her if she wants to dance. Mairi's response is throwing flowers at him.