Chapter Seventeen – Eternity

"Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, I present to you all for the first time: Mr. and Mrs. Christopher William Holmes!" Reverend Francis's voice boomed out across the sanctuary and the hall erupted in cheers and howls, most of them coming from Chris's side of the church. In the front row, Ruth sobbed loudly into her handkerchief, supported by Aaron who was wiping at his own eyes and sniffling. To Linda's delight, Sarah and Ulysses were also in the front row, quietly clapping and smiling as she and Chris turned around. He offered his arm and they walked down the steps and down the aisle to the doors of the church, letting out deep breaths of relief when the ushers shut them after them.

"Oh, my God. I never thought getting married would be so stressful," Linda said through a laugh. "No wonder people only want to do that once in their life."

"Well, now it's all over, so we can focus on other things." Chris pulled her to him and cupped her face to give her a deep and lingering kiss. "How does it feel to be Mrs. Holmes?" he murmured when they parted.

"Absolutely fantastic," she whispered, stealing another kiss as the photographer asked them to follow him so he could start taking photos. Along with the wedding party, which consisted of Fran, Melody, Michael and Elijah, they took pictures all around the expansive gardens, fountains and lush landscape of the English countryside. Chris and Linda couldn't have asked for a more perfect reward for sticking through and fighting for their relationship. It was truly magical.

At the reception meal, Michael delivered a funny and somewhat embarrassing best man speech detailing Chris's mad chase after Linda, and Fran made sure to tell the story of their first kiss in the closet of her and Linda's dorm room, stressing that they had woken her up from a blissful sleep because they were so loud and it was the middle of the night...or morning, as Chris corrected, making Linda kick his leg under the table.

"But, you know," Fran said as the laughter died down. "Even though I though Chris was something of a mad man, I was thankful that he was so unique that Linda was drawn to him. Without him, I fear that she would be one of the most boring people alive."

Everyone laughed and Linda rolled her eyes.

"I have a feeling that their life together is going to be anything but boring. Good luck, you two." Fran and Linda embraced to applause and Michael stood to his feet, his champagne glass in hand.

"To Chris and Linda!" he called, and everyone stood with their glasses in hand and echoed his call.

As everyone mingled, Chris and Linda made their way through the crowd and greeted and thanked different guests as they saw them, exchanging more hugs and kisses than they could count. After a while, Aaron suddenly appeared next to them.

"I have a surprise for you. Actually," he addressed Henry and Elijah, who had just walked over to join them. "It's for all of us." He pointed to a man standing over by the refreshments. He was wearing a very tight and expensive green dress and sporting a very large curly blonde wig, completely ignoring the highbrow looks that were shot his way as he helped himself to some punch.

"Is that Rudy?" Chris asked, his jaw dropping as the man fluffed his wig and smiled at a couple who had to take a double take as they passed him by.

"Yes. Managed to get a hold of him and tell him about you getting married. Said he wouldn't miss his baby brother's wedding for the world." Aaron beamed and waved to Rudy. Linda suddenly felt less like a woman as Rudy gracefully made his way over; he walked better than most women did, almost a fluid like motion in his tall, proud stride.

"Chris." Rudy smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you," he said sincerely as he pulled a very surprised, yet happy Chris back and clapped his shoulder. He looked to Linda. "Oh, and you, my darling, look absolutely gorgeous in that dress. Most women can't pull off that look, but your body type is perfect. I hope you didn't have to starve too long to fit into it."

Everyone looked to Linda, all of the brothers except Rudy holding their breaths to see how she would respond. Slowly, a sweet smile spread across her face.

"You would be surprised what a life without chocolate is like," she said with a chuckle. Chris felt himself relax and he started to breath again.

"Oh, tell me about it." Rudy let Chris go and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm telling you, when I dress shop…"

She let him lead her away from the group, laughing as he told her something funny. Henry scoffed in disbelief.

"Did she just freely accept our cross-dressing brother?" He asked dumbly, pointing after them.

"That's what it looks like to me," Aaron replied just as dumbly. Elijah and Chris looked at each other, and smiled. Yes, Linda was indeed going to fit in with the Holmes family perfectly.

After a bit of talking, Rudy excused himself from Linda's side, but not after kissing her cheek and giving her a small tip on how to handle Chris on rainy days. She turned around to walk back, but the sight of her mother and father stopped her. Sarah moved away from Ulysses's side, her arms out to welcome Linda.

"Mother," Linda whispered, moving into her open arms to give her a tight hug. Sarah rubbed her back gently, nuzzling her nose in Linda's hair.

"I'm so happy for you, darling," she said tenderly as she pulled back and pet her cheek. "You're positively glowing."

"I'm sorry about…" Linda started, but the statement was choked away by her tears.

"Oh, Linda." Sarah kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart, I'm not angry with you. Not in the slightest." They hugged again, and Linda looked over her mother's shoulder to see Ulysses standing stiffly with his hands behind his back and watching them. "My little girl isn't so little anymore." She murmured as she stroked her hair.

"Are you and Father...?" Linda trailed off as Sarah tensed.

"Your father and I have some…issues to work out," Sarah said slowly as she pulled back and looked over her shoulder at him. Now wasn't the time to tell Linda about their decision… "But don't you let what's happening to us affect your marriage," she continued almost sternly as she turned back, her gaze falling onto Chris, who was coming up to them. "You and Chris have a bright future ahead of you."

He smiled at her words as he came to a stop. In a sudden sweep of motion, Ulysses came over and held out his hand.

"Christopher." They shook hands. "Take care of my daughter," he said with a firm grip and a tight expression.

"I will, sir." Chris said sincerely, smiling at Linda. Ulysses placed a gentle kiss on his daughter's cheek.

"I wish you both the best." He didn't sound angry or bitter, but he also didn't sound extremely pleased either. Linda didn't seem to mind; she smiled all the same.

"Thank you, Father." With one last hug to each parent, Sarah and Ulysses walked off, making sure to keep a distance between them. Linda sighed sadly.

"I hope they'll be all right."

Chris swallowed back his reply; he had already deduced what was going to happen, but he wasn't about to say what it was. Thankfully, he wasn't left to his own thoughts too long as Michael and Melody came over to them, punch glasses in their hands and huge smiles on their faces.

"Greetings, happy couple!" Michael said with a loud voice, making Chris roll his eyes.

"Had a little too much punch there, Mike?"

"Your mum really knows how to spike a good punch." Michael took another sip and whooshed out a breath. "Remind me to thank her later."

"Won't do," Chris replied drolly, making Melody giggle.

"So, where are you going for your honeymoon?" she asked Linda.

"Oh, we decided on Paris. We'll be gone until the term starts."

"You know, I'm actually kind of worried about when we go back," Chris said. "Anne is probably going to have a nervous breakdown when she sees that we're married. Hopefully, she doesn't try to poison us."

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Michael took a sip of his punch. "Anne isn't coming back."

Chris blinked in surprise.

"She met some Irish bloke over the summer and ran off with him to get married. What was his name, darling?" Michael turned his head to Melody. "Moran…Morton-"

"Moriarty," Melody corrected.

"Yes, Moriarty." Michael nodded and swung his glass. "We met him, actually. He's a real interesting guy; kind of weird, but so is Anne, so it's a good match."

Chris and Linda looked at each other.

"Well, I hope she's very happy," Linda said sincerely. "Maybe one day, we'll all make amends." Michael and Melody shrugged as the DJ came over the microphone and asked for the star couple to come out to the dance floor for their first dance.

"Love, look at the two of us, strangers in many ways…" Karen Carpenter's voice started to sing out from the speakers all around the hall as Linda put her arms around Chris's neck and they started to slow dance, all eyes on them.

"You know what I've always wondered?" she asked as they moved slowly.

"What's that?"

"People talk about loving someone for all of eternity. Is that even possible?"

He looked thoughtful for a second. "I guess in the physical world, no, it's not," he finally answered.

"Then why do people say it?"

"Because when you fall in love with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, the concept of eternity becomes...that person, not a length of time."

"So, I'm your eternity?" Linda asked with a smile.

"You, Linda, are my everything." He drew her close and kissed her nose. "My past." Her cheek. "My present." Her other cheek. "My future." He started to trail kisses along her jaw. "My strength… my weakness…my partner….my lover…my best friend…my genius," he finished with a kiss on her lips.

"And you, Chris, are my choice," she replied softly, moving her arms so she could lay her head on his shoulder as the world faded into the background, until there was nothing but them.

It was the start of the rest of their lives.