Just Love
Chapter 3
Tino was ready to pull his hair out. His mother and Berwald's omega father got along just fine, until they had different ideas about the wedding.
Light blue. Dark blue. White accents. Black accents. Inside reception. Outside reception. Writing their own vows. Traditional vows.
The list went on and on and Tino was too overwhelmed to think or answer any of the questions they kept drilling at him.
Berwald came up behind him and placed gentle hands on his shoulders. Tino automatically leaned back against his chest.
"Berwald! Just the alpha for the question," Tino's mother, who had told Berwald to call her Wanda, chirped. "Would you prefer Tino in a white suit or a blue suit?"
"Blue!" Dylan hissed. "That's hardly acceptable. White is meant to show purity. It's tradition!"
"We are hardly having a traditional wedding! When was the last time someone was married this old?" Wanda waved her hand at the soon-to-be married couple.
"Let's ask Berwald! He'll know!" Dylan glared and turned to his son. "What do you think Berwald?"
The alpha blinked, thoroughly confused. Then he looked down at Tino, who had his fingers buried in his soft golden brown hair, and knelt down to whisper in the omega's ear. "What would you like to wear?"
Tino startled and raised his head to look at the bickering omegas, but Berwald caught his chin and forced their eyes to meet. Swallowing, Tino whispered. "I would like a white suit, with a blue waist coat underneath. And if you wore black and the same waist coat, I think it would look very nice for photos."
Berwald planted a kiss on Tino's forehead and faced the older omegas. "There you have it."
"But what about a veil?" Wanda said.
"Or what if we had Tino wear a long tailcoat so we could have one of your nieces hold it for him as he walked down the aisle?" Dylan cooned.
"Why would she be Berwalds niece?" Wanda snapped.
"Does Tino have any nieces?" Dylan asked, knowing full well Tino was an only child while Berwald had an older brother.
"I don't want a long coat. She can be the flower girl." Tino suggested.
Dylan and Wanda met the other's gaze before giving a mutual nod. Berwald squeezed Tino's shoulders.
"We need a ring bearer." Dylan said, jotting something down on a piece of paper.
"Well, it definitely won't be anyone on our side." Wanda huffed.
"Mom." Tino breathed in disbelief. He had never seen her act this way before.
"Well, she's right." Dylan said continuing his notes.
"Dad." Berwald narrowed his eyes.
Tino wasn't sure if the two omegas felt it, but the atmosphere had gotten even thicker than it was before. He was sure it was because of the upsetting smell Berwald was giving off.
"Tino does not have siblings or nieces or nephews to be in the wedding, it will have to be our family or there won't be a flower girl or a ring bearer." Dylan said calmly, seemingly not to notice the change of mood.
Wanda stood, her chair pushed back roughly behind her. As she turned to leave the room, Tino's father, Peter, met her in the doorway. The two disappeared to the back porch. Arlot entered the dining area once they had left.
"All I said was the truth." Dylan said defensively, eyeing his alpha.
"My mother almost didn't have me." Tino said suddenly, yet softly. "She was lucky to have me."
Dylan raised an eyebrow curiously while Berwald gazed at Tino. He hadn't heard of that before.
With a deep breath, Tino continued. "There was a miscarriage before me, then I was born far too early, that's why I was delayed on getting married, they wanted to make sure I was healthy enough. After I was born, the doctors had to remove my mother's uterus, if she wanted to survive." Silence filled the room.
Awkward, Tino kept talking. "She knows she had to do it, but it still hurts her sometimes. We still have the first baby's blankets. His name was going to be William, after my great-grandfather. He was old enough to know he was an alpha."
Dylan lowered his head, blantaly ashamed."I'm so sorry, Tino. I had-"
"I don't want to interrupt, but you should not be apologizing to Tino." Three heads swiveled to Arlot. "You should go tell Wanda."
Though his face stayed neutral as he stood, Dylan's eyes gave away his embarrassment. He walked silently out of the room to Tino's parents.
"Tino? Are you okay?" Berwald asked gently.
"I'm okay. It just seems kind of dumb, all this wedding planning." Tino turned his face to Berwald. "What does it matter what I look like or who carries what? As long as we get married, I could go down the aisle in a monkey costume."
Berwald let out a rare chuckle and squeezed Tino's shoulders. "I think it's really for the moms."
Tino shrugged "It's still our wedding," he flipped through the wedding magazine set before him. Red circles were over the cakes Wanda and Dylan want, but Tino skipped over those and pointed to a small cake, probably big enough for twenty people. "And I want it to be about us. Just us. Just our true love I'm sure we'll have without a giant wedding."
Berwald nodded and pressed a kiss to Tino's hair. Dylan and Tino's parents returned then. Though the omegas looked like they had been crying, Peter looked like they had resolved something.
"Boys," Dylan started, going to the comforting arms of his alpha. "We're sorry for going a little overboard."
"So, we're going to back up and let you two make all the decisions." Wanda said softly.
Tino smiled and squeezed Berwalds hand. "Thank you. Though, I do think I'll need help deciding what to wear down the aisle."
The mother omegas smiled in unison.
"Alright," Tino glanced at Berwald, who gave him an encouraging smile. The omega continued. "We just want a small wedding. Of course Berwald's brother can come, and our grandparents. Aunts, uncles and cousins, but that's it. However, the groomsmen and bridesmaids are our choices."
Wanda wrote notes quickly, while Dylan gave her names. Once they were finished, they looked at the couple.
"How many groomsmen?" Dylan asked. "And we'll need the same number of bridesmaids."
At this, Tino flushed. Being sick kept him from having many friends, and he wasn't sure if he had anyone close enough to be his maid of honor.
"We'll only need one of each." Berwald said. "Mathias will be my best man."
All eyes turned to Tino. How was he expected to choose a maid of honor right now? Looking for a way out, Tino glanced at the large ornate clock on the wall.
"Oh, look at the time!" Tino said, standing. "Seven o'clock! I have to shower, and start the fireplace…" Tino trailed off, waving his hands as he went upstairs. Its not like the wedding was tomorrow. He had plenty of time to find a maid of honor.
He went to the bathroom, though he didn't start the shower until he heard the door open and close and Berwald's steps on the stairs.
Standing under the full blast of the water, Tino pretended not to hear Berwald's knock on the door. After cleaning himself and standing around for another ten minutes, he decided to face his alpha. He had the right to know Tino was a loner. Maybe Berwald was the same way?
Awkward, since he didn't bring a fresh change of clothes, Tino left the bathroom and went to their now shared room. He found Berwald at his desk, typing away, oblivious to Tino entering the room.
Tino scurried over to the dresser and began to pull out underwear and pajamas. Berwald looked up when he heard the soft pull of the drawer.
"Are you okay?" Berwald asked, his voice thick.
The omega nodded, not looking at his future-mate. Then, he smelt it. The pure emotion pouring off Berwald was heavy like the smell before a long day of rain. It was intoxicating to Tino, and he knew he was given off his own scent.
He cleared his throat and faced the alpha. Berwald was watching him, almost hungrily. Tino had half the mind to cover his bare chest. He was pale and rather on the thin side, since he wasn't allowed to play a lot outside. Yet Berwald's gaze held not only lust, but admiration. Like Tino was the most beautiful and fragile thing in the world.
"Yeah. I'm okay." Tino breathed out.
"You didn't seem okay earlier." Berwald said gently.
Tino let out a breath. "It's just a lot, you know?"
Berwald said nothing, his eyes were locked on Tino.
"It's about the bridesmaids." Tino said softly.
"What about them?"
"I don't have any." Tino said. He turned his back and quickly covered his exposed skin with his pajama shirt.
At first it was just a snort. Then a chuckle, then a laugh. Tino turned on his heel. Berwald was laughing. Well, it was pretty quiet, but his mouth was drawn back to reveal his pretty teeth and his eyes sparkled behind his glasses.
"What? What's so funny?" Tino tried to sound defensive, but Berwald looked so wonderful in that moment, Tino didn't fight the grin.
"Did you think I would care? I do care, of course. But, it's just funny to think that you were working yourself up because you have no one to be a bridesmaid." Berwald finally calmed his soft laugh, though a smile was still in its place.
Tino blushed and quickly finished dressing. "I was just worried you wouldn't get the wedding you wanted."
"I could care less about the wedding."
Tino felt his cheeks get hot incredibly fast. He was never one for anger, but if Berwald didn't even care about the wedding-
"As long as we are together, we could be married right now. You in your pajamas and wet hair and the only witness being the fireplace." Berwald finished calmly.
This time, Tinos cheeks didn't heat with anger. "Ber…" Tears pooled in his eyes and he crossed the short distance between them to hug his alpha.
Berwald easily pulled Tino into his lap. "Do you feel better?"
"Yeah." Tino tucked his head under Berwalds chin. He would figure something out. They had plenty of time, he might as well enjoy the moment he's in now. "What were you working on?"
"Just my book." Berwald began to drag his fingertips over Tino's pajama-clad thigh. Even through the fabric, the touch burned pleasantly against Tino's skin.
"Just your book," Tino rolled his eyes. "What's it about?"
"This college girl gets a new roomate who has remarkable similarity to an at-large serial killer."
"Oh, geez. You're not a serial killer are you?" Tino said teasingly.
Berwald let out a snort of amusement. "No. Are you?"
"I can't even kill a spider without getting upset." Tino grinned.
Another snort. "We should get to bed. Don't you have more wedding planning tomorrow?"
Tino suppressed a groan. "Were going shopping for our clothes."
"We're going together?" Berwald asked. Despite being an alpha, he seemed to understand the importance of the groom not seeing the bride's dress (or rather suit in this case) until he was walking down the aisle.
"No, silly. You, your dad, and my dad will go one place. Our mothers and I will go to another." Tino said. He had begun to get tired, and Berwald's warmth was lulling him to sleep.
"Alright," Berwald stood, Tino cradled easily in his arms. "Time for bed."
As he walked across the large room, a thought occured to Tino. "Do you want to write our own vows?"
"What would you like to do?" Berwald asked. Be set Tino on the bed, who immediately crawled under the covers.
"Write my own vows while I'm marrying an author. That would be interesting." Tino smiled.
"You can go first, then I could correct your grammar before reading mine." Berwald said teasingly as he undressed.
Tino laughed as he snuggled into the pillow. He watched Berwald change. It was quite a show with Berwald's pale skin and muscles down his back and arms. Tino just wanted to wrap his arms around the alpha's neck, his legs around Berwald's hips and join together in the most intimate way. Tino blushed and quickly turned so his back was to Berwald. "I-I wouldn't mind writing them out, as long as you don't correct me."
"It's a deal." Berwald slid into bed. He kept his distance from Tino, yet the omega could feel Berwalds warmth even with cool sheets separating them. Tino turned to face him.
"What will our theme be?" Berwald asked. He had taken off his glasses and was squinting to see Tino. He looked angry and rather cute at the same time.
Tino was quiet for a moment, then he whispered, "Just love."
