Disclaimer: All recognized characters and places are not mine. The plot and any spelling/grammar mistakes are...
Again I want to thank Loki's Only Love for betaing this for me and I apologize for the long wait for this update. I had a bit of trouble with this chapter that I fortunately got over...So please enjoy the conclusion to this short story...
Chapter 6
Charlie and I had a wonderful time in Venice. We rode on a gondola, shopped, and ate at the many shops and restaurants in the beautiful city. We also did a bit of sightseeing. Since we didn't have a lot of time together we had wanted to do as much together as possible. Reality crashed down on us on our last afternoon together and we finally had the discussion that I had tried to initiate when were at the café in Verona. After going back and forth with each other we had finally decided that I would move to London. I could write from anywhere in the world just as long as I had a computer and internet connection and the idea of living in London was exciting. Also, Charlie loved the city and in my heart I knew that I couldn't take him away from it. It took less time than I thought but within two months I was moved in with Charlie. I still worked for Bobby as a freelance journalist as well as some prominent magazines in London. The day after the move-in Charlie and I went and completed all the forms to make our marriage legal. Charlie worked at his law firm and we had fun exploring the city and surrounding countryside when we weren't working. We also had fun exploring each other. I learned even more about my husband than I did on that day in Verona. It was the happiest that I've been in a long time.
Yet, moving across the Atlantic was difficult. My dad and friends still lived in New York and being so far away from them did make me homesick especially at certain times like now-my birthday. Usually for my birthday I would visit my father and spend some time with him before having a small get together with friends. But that wasn't possible this year. My phone made a noise indicating someone talked to me on FaceTime bringing me out of my thoughts. I opened the app and smiled.
"Happy birthday honey," my dad instantly said. He looked like he was sitting on a park bench.
"Hi Dad." I tried to sound enthusiastic but my father saw right through me.
"What's wrong?"
Knowing that I couldn't lie to my father, I sighed. "I'm a little homesick today that's all."
"Do I have to fly over there and kick Charlie's ass?" he asked.
I laughed. After I flew back to New York I went to see him and told him about what happened. He was surprised of course since he had been expecting to walk me down the aisle to Victor. He never questioned my decisions. He just asked me about Charlie and said that he wanted to talk to him face to face. So I had called Charlie and set up a time for him and my dad to video chat. I had to teach him how to skype but soon he and Charlie were talking. I was too nervous to listen so I waited in my old room until my dad came and told me that Charlie wanted to speak to me. My dad assured me that it was nothing bad and that all he did was threaten to kick Charlie's ass if he ever hurt me. Charlie assured him that he would never do that. "No, Charlie has been good. It's just that this is my first birthday when I'm not going to see you, Jen, and Katie."
I heard someone behind my dad and an instant later the voice of my friend, Katie. "And you wouldn't have if not for me showing Max how to use his phone."
I laughed again. Dad was not tech savvy. When he started using Powerpoint for some of his class lectures he would ask me to help him set it up. Eventually he got so that he could do that himself but he still had trouble with other devices so I wasn't surprised that Katie was helping him. "Still learning huh Dad?" I teased. He was a teacher and was always fascinated learning new things.
He chuckled. "Every day there are new things to learn."
That was always his response when I teased him about his fascination.
"True that," Katie said. She was in the process of getting her Master's in Education. She hoped to one day get her PhD.
"Just because you love rap music doesn't mean that you can talk like a rapper," I told her rolling my eyes. In fact Katie was Korean American. Her great grandparents came over to America from Korea.
She smiled at me and shrugged.
"So now that you helped bring Dad further into the twenty-first century what's next?"
"World domination," Katie answered with a maniacal tone to her voice.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I talked to Katie and my dad for a while longer and hung up. It felt good hearing from them but I was still saddened that it had to be over a phone. I truly did miss them. After hanging up the phone I went to take a shower and change. I knew that Charlie would be home soon. Claire and Lorenzo, along with some of our friends would be arriving shortly after that. A hot shower was calming. When I was finished I dressed in a long sleeved knee-length white maxi dress and went in search of Charlie. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs I called to him.
"Here," he answered back.
Following the sound of his voice I made my way to the den only to stop dead in the doorway. "What?!" I managed while gazing at my father, Jen, and Katie. Dad was standing by the fireplace while my friend were sitting on the sofa. After the shock wore off I found that Dad was wearing dark pants and a light blue shirt. Jen was wearing a black and white skirt and black top while Katie was in a long sleeved cranberry colored shirt and tan pants.
"Surprise!" my friends said in unison.
"Sure is," I said recovering from the shock of seeing them. I walked over and gave Katie and Jen each a hug. I then went over to my dad and launched myself into his arms like I did when I was six years old. He laughed and kissed the top of my head. "Charlie was kind enough to buy us all planes tickets," he said a moment later.
I pulled back from my dad and looked over at Charlie who was standing a few feet away. "You did this?"
He nodded. "I know how much you've been missing them…"
He never got to finish because I quickly made my way over to him and kissed him. "Thank you," I told him. I knew that the kiss was probably thank you enough but I wanted to say it as well.
Charlie's face turned crimson.
"I love you," I told him trying to diffuse some of his apparent embarrassment.
His embarrassment lessened. "I love you, too. Now go visit."
I nodded with a smile and hearing Charlie leave the room turned back to my father and friends finding them all smiling softly.
"What?" I asked wondering what the smiles were for. All three of them looked to each other before Jen decided to answer. "You look so content."
"He makes me happy."
"We see that," Katie said shifting her weight.
"When did you get here?"
"This morning," Dad answered.
"So when we spoke earlier…"
He nodded. "We were already in London."
"I knew that park bench looked familiar! I've been to that park a couple times since I've lived here."
Dad and Katie had sheepish expressions on their faces. I couldn't be angry with them. It was so great that they were here. I was still a little shaken up by their appearance so I decided to sit. I picked the seat nearest Jen and settled down in it. Upon closer inspection of my friend I found that her skin had a greenish tint to it. "Jen are you all right?" I asked her. She nodded. "The flight was a bit bumpy."
"You flew?" I said remembering Dad mentioning that Charlie had bought them all plane tickets.
"Yes," she answered simply.
"But you hate to fly…"
"I know but I wanted to see you and the tickets were free."
"I'm glad that you are here," I told her earnestly only mildly annoyed at the free ticket comment.
"Me too."
"She took something and was asleep for most of the flight," Katie chimed in.
"It was the only way to forget that I was flying without being plastered," Jen added before anyone else could say anything. She didn't look happy that Katie said what she said. Katie gave her an apologetic smile and pat on the arm. Jen easily forgave her. They couldn't stay mad at each other for long.
We spent the rest of the time before Claire and Lorenzo were to arrive talking and catching up with each other. When they arrived I introduced them to my father, Jen, and Katie. Jen immediately started talking about the story I had written about Claire and Lorenzo finding each other. Claire graciously answered her questions though I was sure she was getting weary of questions due to the story's publication. Lorenzo was talking to my father about wine. I raised an eyebrow in question but neither man seemed to notice.
"What is that look for?" Charlie asked coming up beside me.
"My father is talking about wine and he hardly drinks alcohol."
"Well he is a teacher thus interested in learning new things," Charlie hedged.
"Hmm…" was all I could get out before there was a knock on the door. Charlie went to answer it.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
After all of our family and friends had arrived the party was officially started. I wasn't one for making a big deal about my birthday so I walked around the room talking to everyone asking about them even though today was supposed to be about me. When Claire, whom I was speaking to, excused herself I was approached by Mr. Cornwall, an old friend of the Wyman family. He had been best man at Claire's first wedding to Charlie's grandfather.
"I hope that you don't mind but Charlie invited me," he said after I greeted him.
"I don't mind at all," I answered him earnestly. And I really didn't. I had only met him once before and he reminded me of my own grandfather. "You're always welcome."
"You remind me of my sister. She was always writing about something. Except that she never had the nerve to publish anything."
"Was she any good?"
"Ah yes. She even assisted me with some of my sermons."
I smiled at him. "You were a minister right?"
"Yes for twenty-five years. I've been retired for nine years now," he answered a bit sadly.
"Do you miss it? I asked wondering if that was the cause of the sadness I heard from him.
"Sometimes."
"What was your favorite part?"
"Weddings," he answered sounding happier.
I smiled at that and began to think that if Charlie and I had just got engaged and waited to have the ceremony at a later time we would have loved to have everyone who was important to us there. In fact, there was a good chance that Mr. Cornwall would have officiated our ceremony since he has known my husband for his entire life. In fact….
"Mr. Cornwall can you excuse me for a moment?"
He nodded. "It's Ben dear and of course."
"Thanks." I left him and went to find Charlie who was in the kitchen drinking something from a frosted glass. I took it out of his hands and sipped it tasting water.
"Hey," he said feigning anger.
"Community property," I simply told him.
"We've been married for almost two months now. Community property was put into law for couples who have been married or living together for years," he retorted sounding like a lawyer. His eyes were shining with humor.
"I think that after your 'I do's' everything would be equally shared."
He took the glass back and tipped it up to his mouth before saying, "I can't argue with that."
"A good lawyer could make an argument out of anything," I prodded teasing him.
"I am a good lawyer," he told me. His tone and expression showed me that he knew I was teasing him.
"So you say…" I started before he was on me tickling my sides where he knew I was ticklish. I laughed almost to tears when I finally shouted "stop" to him. He released his hold but stood near. "What were you saying?" he asked once I calmed down a bit.
"That you are a good lawyer."
He smirked. "Thought so."
He looked so carefree and happy at my teasing and I loved him even more for that. "I love you," I told him earnestly.
"I know. I love you, too."
"Marry me."
"But Soph…"
"I know that we are already married but I want you to marry me today when we have everyone that we love here with us to share this with."
"Oh my goodness!" came an overly excited voice behind me.
I turned around quickly to see Jen standing there, her riotous curly red hair bouncing and her green eyes glistening with mirth.
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked her as calming as I could. She had startled me. Though I asked her I was pretty sure I knew the answer. I glanced back at Charlie. He just stood there with the same happy but slightly confused expression he had before we were interrupted.
"Long enough. So, I guess that we'll need to get started on getting everything organized if you want to have the ceremony tonight," Jen answered.
As a backstage hand on Broadway she definitely knew how to deal with last minute details but having her or any one's help like this never entered my mind. When Charlie and I first got married we had spoken to everyone who was a part of the ceremony ourselves. She seemed to realize that she had come in on what was a private conversation and her eyes widened. "Oh I interrupted. Please proceed. Pretend that I'm not even here…"
I glanced back to my husband who was still standing there. I didn't know how to pick up where we had left off before Jen's interruption but I didn't need to worry. Charlie took me by the hands and drew me to him. He wrapped my arms around him and kissed my forehead, nose, and finally my lips before saying "Now where were we…ah yes. You were just asking me to marry you again…"
I smiled as I leaned into him. "And you haven't given me an answer yet."
"I haven't. How remiss of me." His voice was filled with amusement.
I giggled at his words. "So…will you marry me again?"
"Yes."
I tilted my head and kissed him. "Good."
After that everything seemed to happen very quickly. We found Jen and asked her for her help then we went to Ben, Mr. Cornwall, and asked him if he'd perform a simple ceremony. He was delighted to do it. With quick efficiency, Jen gathered everyone into the den, moving furniture with the help of others. She placed everyone so that they were facing the fireplace. Logs had been placed in it and a fire started. The light from the fire cast a warm glow around the room. It was simply beautiful, breathtaking even. I stood outside the door as I promised Jen I would and just watched her work.
"I bet she could put together a fancy dinner for the Queen of England in one afternoon," my father said. He was right beside me.
I looked over at him. "I think you are right."
"So you're really doing this?"
"Yes."
"Well I guess your relationship has been anything but traditional," Dad said.
"True," I answered.
"Who wants traditional anyway?" Claire asked coming out of the den.
I smiled at her. "Apparently not me nor Charlie."
Claire chuckled. "That's what I thought. I came out here to tell you that it's time."
"Okay thanks."
She kissed my cheek before heading back to her seat which was next to Lorenzo on a love seat. He leaned over and spoke to her.
"At least one thing is being kept with tradition," my father said as I took his arm.
Music began as we were going to take a step. It was a piano version of the Wedding March. I looked around the room and saw Katie holding her cell phone. When she saw me looking her way she wiggled the phone and smiled. I shook my head. I looked over to Charlie to see that he was equally amused by her. My father seemed just as amused by the snickering I heard next to me.
"I guess some traditions will have to be adhered to whether you want them to or not," he told me humor lacing his voice.
I nodded as we entered the room. Everyone was turned so that they were looking upon me but my gaze was on Charlie. His eyes were filled with love and happiness as they have been ever since we first got married. It took only six steps to get to him and my father handed me off to my husband. They didn't need to exchange any words since they had already spoken at great length about Charlie taking care of me and being a good husband to me. My father went to sit in a chair. He had to move Darcy, our new lab puppy, so that he could actually sit.
Ben cleared his throat. "We are all unexpectedly gathered here today to witness Charlie and Sophie renew their vows…"
I tore my gaze from Charlie to look around the room. Everyone was smiling at us. Patricia gave me a bored look when my eyes met hers. I raised my eyebrow at her expression and she just shrugged as if to say "I've seen you get married once". I rolled my eyes at her and returned my gaze to Charlie. He squeezed my hand.
"Now do you Charlie have any words that you wish to speak to Sophie?" Ben asked.
"I do," he answered.
Since this whole thing was put together last minute I was a bit surprised and curious as to what he'd say.
"Sophie," he began unaware of my mental musings, "Two months ago I promised to love and cherish you throughout whatever life may bring us and here today in front of our family and friends I make that same promise again. I love you and I have a question to ask."
"What?" I whispered unsure.
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out something. Opening his hand I saw a silver marcasite ring. It was the ring that I had picked out when we went ring shopping last week. They had to size it and I didn't know that it had been ready or that he had picked it up.
"When did you…"
"Yesterday. Now back to my question. Will you wear this ring as a symbol of my love and promise?"
"Of course," I answered him without hesitation.
He slipped the ring on my finger so that it sat next to my other ring which Isabella had given us to use. They fit together perfectly.
Ben was grinning jovially at us. "Now Sophie do you have any words that you wish to speak to Charlie?"
"I do," I answered. "Charlie, nothing in our courtship has been traditional but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I love you and our life here and like two months ago I too again promise to love and cherish you throughout whatever life may bring us and I will admit that I have been falling in love with you more every day."
"Me too," Charlie said softly.
I placed my hand upon his cheek in acknowledgment that I heard him. He took my hand and placed a kiss on my palm before releasing it.
"I think you'll want this for the rest of your vow," Charlie said holding out a thick silver band. It was the ring that he picked out when we were shopping.
"This will help," I said playfully taking it from him. He laughed as did Ben. I think there were even a few chuckles around the room.
I decided to use the same question he had. It was perfect. "Will you wear this ring as a sign of my love and promise?"
"Yes," he answered holding out his left hand. I slid the ring onto his finger. Once it was settled he took my hand into his.
"With the vows spoken and the rings given and received I pronounce that you are once again husband and wife," Ben said.
Like our first ceremony Charlie pulled me towards him and I couldn't help the shivers that danced down my spine as he tilted my head and caressed my lips with his thumb. He smiled before kissing the one corner of my mouth then the other. I grabbed his shirt and captured his lips with mine before he could perform the sweet torture again. He pulled back before we could deepen the kiss and I let out a moan. He grinned. "Later," he whispered before we turned faced our future together. Who knew that when I attended Claire and Lorenzo's wedding two months ago, that the three little words "come with me" would change my life in a way that I had never expected...and I couldn't have been happier.