All My Dreams Fulfilled Chapter 8, an outsiders fanfic

Evie was about a month-and-a-half pregnant and was freaking out. When she read the results, she started crying and shaking. Ashlynn and I went hysterical trying to comfort her and it took a while, but eventually we got her into a somewhat stable condition.

It took a month for her to finally work up the nerve to tell Steve. Ironically, it ended up being around Steve's birthday when this confidence growth took place. On his actual birthday, we all went over to the Curtis house for a small party in the late morning and early afternoon. It was Spring Break, so we didn't have school, but we had work and Ashlynn and I had dance. Soda had taken half the day off. Everyone was there, even Rachel and Ruth.

The entire party, I saw Evie ringing her hands and bouncing her leg out of anxiety, the latter causing her heel to constantly click on the ground. Once she asked me to some to the bathroom with her and threw up, though because of nerves or morning sickness, I wasn't sure.

Everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves the whole day, though Evie, Ashlynn, and I were a little off.

"You okay, darlin'?" Pony asked me at one point and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Yeah, I'm fine", I told him, but I could tell he didn't believe me.

"What's really wrong?"

"You'll find out soon", I said quietly. "But nothing's necessarily 'wrong'."

He looked at me strangely, but kissed my temple and believed me.

We ate cake and went into the living room to open presents soon after that. Steve was in the middle of opening up Soda's present when from her spot next to him on the couch, Evie blurted out, "Steve, I'm pregnant".

Everyone froze, especially Steve. His mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant, Steve", Evie whispered. "And it's yours."

He stared at her for a minute before dropping to one knee and taking her hands.

"Marry me."

This time it was Evie's turn to be shocked. "What?"

"I know this seems really sudden and I don't even have a ring, but I love you more than anything in the world and we're going to be parents together so, Evelyn Margaret Rivers, will you marry me?"

"Are you serious?"

"I've never been more serious about anything in my life", he responded, looking into her eyes.

"Yes", she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you, Steve."

We all cheered as Steve jumped up onto the couch and kissed her lovingly.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" Steve yelled after the kiss, jumping up onto his feet and running over to Sodapop who he tackled in a hug. "I'm gonna be a dad, Soda!"

"You're gonna be a dad!" Soda laughed and hugged his best friend back.

The next few minutes were filled with "congratulations" to both of the expectant parents from everyone.

"Did you know about this?" Pony asked me suspiciously, a smirk on his face.

"Maybe", I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"How?"

"When we said we were going shopping a few weeks ago, we were really going to the clinic. We've known since then."

"And none of you told us?"

"Evie was scared and she isn't work up the courage to say anything until now."

"I love you", he told me.

"I love you too, honey. And I always will."

"I thought that was my line", he laughed.

"Well, maybe I like it enough to steal it", I smiled.

"Well, maybe I love you enough to let you use it instead of having you go through all the trouble of stealing it", he teased.

"Maybe", I said.

"Now, a toast to the new parents and engagees, Steve and Evie!" Two-Bit yelled as he passed around beers, even giving them to Pony and I (but not Evie, obviously). We and I just looked at Darry, who nodded with a smile and made a "go ahead" gesture. A bottle opener was passed around as well, Pony opening both of our drinks.

"Hear, hear!" Two-Bit cheered and raised his bottle, us all repeating his chant and me throwing in a "mazel tav!" before raising our bottles as well and drinking.

I scrunched up my face when the bitter liquid hit my tongue. "Ugh!"

Ponyboy laughed at me and took the bottle, which I handed him. "Bitter?"

"Goddamn, that's awful!" I exclaimed.

That was when everyone else laughed at me, making me laugh with them. A moment later, I was brought a glass of water by Ruth.

"Thanks", I said and carefully took the glass.

"No problem", she laughed.

The taste of beer still lingered as I drank the water, but became much less obvious fairly quickly.

"So beer's not for you?" Two-Bit chuckled.

"No, not it most certainly isn't."

XxXxXxXxXx

A few days after he proposed, Steve went out, bought an engagement ring, and gave it to Evie. It was simple; a thin silver band with a tiny diamond and he offered to get her another one if it was too little, but she assured him that it was perfect.

The wedding was planned for the day after they graduated, so we only had about a month to get everything planned, which wasn't that hard since the wedding was going to be so simple.

Steve was fine with just getting married down at the courthouse, but Evie wanted to it "right", meaning the ceremony would be happening at a church (even though none of us were very religious) and Steve wouldn't even be seeing Evie the day they got married until she was walking down the aisle. Both Steve and Evie's moms had walked out on them and their dads and neither his dad nor hers cared about them enough to get invited to the wedding, so it would be Darry walking Evie down the aisle and giving her away along with him being a groomsman. It would all of us (the gang and the girlfriends) along with some school friends of Evie and Steve's, my family, Ashlynn's mom, and Two-Bit's mom and sister.

"Who'd have thought that you'd be gettin' married first?" Pony said to Steve as we walked to school a couple weeks after the proposal.

"Hey, you better watch it, bub, or you're not gonna be in the wedding", Steve said and wound up as though he was going to swing at Pony.

"Steve, don't injure anyone before the wedding please", Evie told him.

"Yes, dear", he sighed.

"I just mean, I would'a thought it would have been Darry or Two-Bit or somethin' since their older", Pony explained.

"I suppose that makes sense, though they've been together longer than any of us", I told him.

"If we're goin' by how long people've been together, you two'll be gettin' hitched next", Steve said, pointing to Pony and I.

"Not now. I'd say after we get outta school. That sound right to you, Princess?" Pony asked, looking down at me.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Great, we'll start the wedding preparations immediately!" he jokingly exclaimed.

"You still have to propose, you know, honey", I teased.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that part."

"Sure you did", I laughed.

Steve's hand was always resting protectively over Evie's small baby bump whenever we saw them. They were getting increasingly excited for the baby, as were the rest of us. I loved babies and the last ones I had ever been close to were the twins and that had been over twelve years before.

Ruth, Rachel, and I were Evie's bridesmaids with Ashlynn as her maid of honor. Evie wasn't closer to Ashlynn than to Ruth, Rachel, or I and the only reason that Ashlynn was the maid of honor was that Sodapop was Steve's best man and the couples were being kept together. We would all be wearing dresses that we already had and Evie would be wearing her mom's wedding dress. Anna and Henry were the flower girl and ring bearer. Ruth would be holding Evie's train.

We all went to Ruth's college graduation a few weeks before the wedding, the drive being interesting even with us taking multiple cars.

Finally, graduation day came and Steve and Evie walked across the stage and accepted their diplomas. There was an afterparty at the Curtis house before Evie was whisked away to Ashlynn's house for the night. The girls and I stayed over Ashlynn's house that night so we could all get ready together the next morning.

The day of the wedding, I did Ashlynn, Ruth, Rachel, and I's makeup in soft spring colors and shades. I offered to do cat-eye eyeliner on them, but they both said no, so I just did it to myself. Evie wanted to do her own makeup and who was I to disagree. Ruth put on a light green dress that brought out her dark green eyes and a pair of nude kitten heels with her hair up in a beehive. Ashlynn wore a light pink dress with a pair of grey heels and her hair up in a neat bun. Rachel wore a yellow dress with white flats and her hair up in a ponytail. I was wearing the blue dress that I had worn for Two-Bit's graduation a year earlier and Mrs. Curtis's black T-strap heels with my hair tamed into bouncy curls thanks to the magical abilities of Ruth's curling iron. My jewelry consisted of my necklace and ring from Pony, along with some silver dangly earrings. Lots of makeup was put on my arm to hide my scars.

Evie had shades of pink and peach for eyeshadow (the same as us), cat-eye eyeliner (the same as mine), and mascara. Her lips were covered in her signature bright red lipstick. Evie's hair was naturally wavy and was down, flowing over her shoulders with the hair near the top of her head teased and twisted into a kind of half-up-half-down kind of thing. It looked beautiful on her, whatever she had done.

"You look gorgeous, Evie", Ruth told her. Ashlynn, Rachel, and I nodded in agreement.

"Thank you", she smiled. I guess what they said about pregnant women glowing was true because Evie looked radiant in both senses of the word.

"You ready to get into your dress?" I asked. She nodded went over to the box that held her mom's wedding dress before taking it out and laying it on the bed. It was a simple, long, silk dress with long sleeves and buttons down the back. There were no embellishments or lace, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

It took a bit, but eventually I got the back unbuttoned and we all held the dress while Evie stepped into it. I then re-buttoned the back and stepped in front of Evie with Rachel, Ruth and Ashlynn. We all just stared at her for a while.

"Well?" she asked. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous", I said as Ruth, Ashlynn, and Rachel answered with, "incredible", "amazing", and beautiful.

Evie's blush was evident, even through her makeup. "Thanks, y'all."

"We'll help her with her shoes and veil while you two get some flowers", Ruth told Ashlynn and I. We nodded and went outside.

Our bouquets and the boutonnières pinned to the boys' lapels were going to be made out of flowers that we picked ourselves. We had a very limited budget and it was spring anyway, so we figured it would be the best idea. The ones we decided on were wooly yarrows, showy evening primroses, wild roses, and bindweed since they were pretty and easy to find.

Most of the things for the wedding were things that we made or things that we already had. The reception was going to be at the Curtis' house and dinner and dessert would be made by us. The exceptions to the no-spending-money maxim were buying the rings and getting the church for the designated time along with the preacher and organ player.

Ashlynn and I stayed outside, searching around the yard and Ms. Young's garden, for a while, trying our very best not to get ourselves dirty. When we came back inside, we sat down in the kitchen and cut the stems off them and the leaves off the wild roses (they are prickly), setting some aside for the boys before separating them into five bunches (leaving the biggest one for Evie, obviously) and tying some ribbon around them so they would stay together when we held them.

"Oh, dear, you look just beautiful!" I heard Ms. Young say from the other room. Ashlynn and I got up and headed over to her, finding Evie, Rachel, and Ruth all ready.

"Y'all got the bouquets?" Rachel asked us. We nodded, went into the kitchen, grabbed the flowers, and came back, handing them out.

"Let's get goin'", Ms. Young smiled. We all piled out of the house, Evie and Rachel going with Ms. Young in her car and Ashlynn and I going with Ruth in her car. It was a short drive to the church, which was small enough to be a chapel and when we got out, we saw that the boys weren't there yet. That was good since it meant there was no chance of Steve seeing Evie before the wedding.

We scurried into the building and rushed into a side room. Rachel found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote "Bride's Room. Do Not Come In Unless We Say So", sticking it to the outside of the door with a piece of tape. Ashlynn's mom was outside waiting for everyone else.

"Okay, we've got about half-an-hour until the ceremony", Ashlynn said. "What do y'all wanna do?"

Shrugs and "I dunno"s were the only answers she received. Evie was ringing her hands and twisting her engagement ring around her finger.

"You okay, Evie?" I asked. "Morning sickness?"

She shook her head. "No."

"What's wrong?"

She stood up and started to pace. "I dunno. I'm just really nervous."

"About what?" Ruth asked.

"I'm just scared he'll change his mind or somethin'. That he doesn't wanna marry me anymore", she told us as she walked back and forth across the room. One hand rested on her swollen stomach while the other was occupied by her thumb twisting her ring around her finger.

"Evie, sweetie", I started and went up to her, grabbing her shoulders tightly but gently, "Steve loves you. He loves you a lot. He wouldn't have asked you to marry him if he didn't. Hell, you guys wouldn't have been together for the past three years if you didn't love each other. He loves you and the loves this baby and everything's gonna be just fine, alright? Don't work yourself up over something like this. Go ahead and sit down. You want something to eat? Something to drink?"

"No, I'm good", she answered as she lowered herself onto the couch, a hand rubbing her stomach. The baby bump wasn't very noticeable yet, but we knew it would be soon since Evie was so tiny.

Soon we heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Ruth called.

"Darry", he answered. "Can I come in?"

"Can he come in?" she asked Evie, who nodded in response. "You can come in, Dar!"

He carefully opened the door and walked in before closing it. He had a paper of some sort something in his hand. "Y'all look great."

"Thank you", we all said.

"What's that?" Rachel asked him, pointing to his hand.

"Well", he started with a sigh, "my parents wrote letters for everyone in the gang and their future wives that they planned on giving us all on our wedding days. We found 'em all a couple weeks ago in the basement in a box with their wedding stuff in it. So this is for you." He handed Evie the letter. Written on the envelope in Mrs. Curtis's looping cursive was "Mrs. Steven Jacob Randle".

Evie hand clamped over her mouth in shock. Then I remembered that she had met them, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis. She must have since she and Steve had been together before they died.

With shaking hands, Evie opened the flap and read through the letter, tears coming to her eyes as she did. Ashlynn quickly passed her a tissue, causing the bride to thank her quietly as she continued to read. After a little while, Evie placed in gently on her lap as though it would break if she put it down normally. The room was completely silent. You could have heard a pin drop.

"Steve has his too", Darry broke in after a while. "It's in his breast pocket."

I nodded carefully as he checked his watch.

"We've got five minutes 'til the ceremony starts", he said.

"Oh, Darry, can you go pin these to the boys' lapels?" I asked, getting up and giving him the flowers for the boutonnières.

"Sure", he answered. "I'll be right back." And with that he left the room.

"You ready to become Mrs. Randle?" I asked Evie.

She smiled nervously and nodded as she put letter back into the envelope and tucked it in with the flowers in her bouquet. Rachel, Ashlynn, and I took our designated bouquets and looked in the mirror one final time each before opening the door and heading out into the corridor. Ruth was staying in the room until it was time for Evie to come out since she would be with her. The boys and the twins were lined up, waiting to go. Darry started walking back to the room to get Evie when he saw us coming.

The boys and us all greeted each other as Steve was smiling goofily and practically jumping up and down.

After a couple minutes, it was time to start the procession. Steve and Sodapop walked down the aisle and stood at the altar, followed by Rachel and Two-Bit. Ponyboy took my hand, smiling at me before we walked down the aisle as well.

"You look beautiful", he whispered as we walked.

"Thank you", I said quietly. "You look very handsome."

"Thanks, darlin'."

"You're not wearing your boutonnière", I noticed.

"I don't need one", he smiled.

"And why's that?"

"I've already got a flower with me."

It took me a moment, but I quickly realized that he meant me, so I smiled and squeezed his hand before we separated, him on Steve's side and me on what was to be Evie's.

Ashlynn walked down the aisle next and I looked out at the seats. My parents and Ashlynn's mom were sitting at the front and Steve and Evie's friends from school were in the pews behind them. Only one side of the aisle was occupied since both of them knew the same people.

Henry came out next with a little pillow that held the rings before he went over and stood with the boys. He insisted that he was too old to be a ring bearer and didn't want to be in a "monkey suit", but when we told him that he could grease his hair as much as he wanted, he relented.

Anna came out after him, scattering the aisle with the petals of the same flowers in our bouquets. She wasn't too keen on being a flower girl either, reusing the argument that she was too old and she didn't want to wear a dress. She really disliked them with a deep passion. Our bargaining chip for her was that she could wear her Converse with her dress, which finally made her agree.

"Please stand", the minister announced. Everyone in the pews did as he said and faced the back of the room as the organ started paying the "Bridal Chorus".

The doors opened and in walked Evie, Darry on her right arm and Ruth behind her, holding her train. Steve's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I could swear there were tears in his eyes. Soda clapped him on the shoulder.

It was obvious that Evie was smiling, even with her veil over her face. The music stopped once she got to the end of the aisle and Ruth came over to our little line.

"Who presents this woman to this man?" the minister asked.

"I do", Darry responded, giving Evie a quick hug before putting her hand in Steve's. She walked up the few stairs that led to the alter and faced him. He carefully lifted up her veil and smiled even wider when he saw her face.

The minister gave his usual sermon on marriage before turning to Steve. I had already started crying, causing Ashlynn to laugh at me a little.

"Will you, Steven Jacob Randle, have Evelyn Margaret Rivers to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her and keep her, forsaking all others to remain true to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I will", he answered.

"Now repeat after me", the minister instructed. "I, Steven Jacob Randle…"

"I, Steven Jacob Randle…"

"…take thee, Evelyn Margaret Rivers…"

"…to be my wife…"

"…and before God and these witnesses…"

"…and before God and these witnesses."

"…I promise to be a faithful and true husband."

Then the preacher turned to Evie.

"Will you, Evelyn Margaret Rivers, have Steven Jacob Randle to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him and keep him, forsaking all others to remain true to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I will", she answered. She had started to cry, so Ashlynn handed her a tissue.

"Repeat after me", he said. "I, Evelyn Margaret Rivers…"

"…I, Evelyn Margaret Rivers…"

"…take thee, Steven Jacob Randle…"

"…to be my husband…"

"…and before God and these witnesses…"

"…I promise to be a faithful and true wife."

"May I have the rings?" the minister asked. Henry came forward and held out the pillow.

"Repeat after me, Steven", he started. "With this ring, I thee wed…"

"With this ring, I thee wed…"

"…and all my worldly goods I thee endow…"

"…and all my worldly good I thee endow."

"In sickness and in health…"

"…in poverty or in wealth…"

"…'til death do us part."

And with that, he slipped the ring onto Evie's finger.

"Repeat after me, Evelyn. With this ring, I thee wed…"

"With this ring, I thee wed…"

"…and all my worldly good I thee endow."

"…and all my worldly goods I thee endow."

"In sickness and in health…"

"…in poverty or in wealth…"

"…'til death do us part."

Evie put the ring onto Steve's finger.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride", the minister told them.

Steve pulled Evie to him by the waist and gave her a sweet kiss while we all applauded. After a moment, they pulled away, all smiles, and walked back down the aisle and out of the church.

The rest of us followed, the twins, then Darry and Ruth, Ashlynn and Soda, Pony and I, and Rachel and Two-Bit. We all gathered on the front steps for pictures (a lot of pictures) and then just Steve and Evie had their pictures taken.

After the pictures, the newlyweds got into Steve's car and drove off to the Curtis'. Everyone got in their respective cars a few moments later and we too drove to the Curtis' house. I was in the car with my family.

"See, guys, that wasn't so bad", I said to Anna and Henry.

"I guess", he shrugged.

"When we get to the reception you can change into your regular clothes", Mom assured him.

"You brought mine too, right?" Anna asked.

"Yes, I brought yours too. Don't you worry."

When we pulled up to the Curtis' house, we saw everyone streaming into the house. We followed and were met by…well, everyone.

"Darry, honey, do you need any help with dinner?" Mom asked him when she saw him in the kitchen.

"You don't have to help, Mrs. Smith."

"No, I insist. If there's something that you need help with, I'll gladly help you with it."

"Well, there is some pasta-"

"Say no more, Darry. Pasta is my specialty", she said as she walked into the kitchen, rolling up the sleeves on her sweater.

Dad went into the living room and started talking to Mrs. Mathews and Ms. Young while Henry took over Soda and Pony's room and Anna took the bathroom so they could change.

I went into the backyard where everyone else my age was.

"Congratulations, guys!" I exclaimed as I hugged Steve and Evie.

"Thanks, doll", he said, giving me an affectionate squeeze. Evie gave me a huge hug and when she was pressed against me, I could feel the bump in her stomach.

"How's the baby doing?"

"I think it's doin' okay", Evie told me. "I'm starting to feel better. I'm not really throwin' up anymore, anyway."

"That's good. Have what do you think it's going to be?"

"I say boy."

"I say girl", Steve said.

"We'll find out in about five more months, won't we?", I smiled.

Suddenly, there were arms around my waist, hugging me from behind.

"Hey, darlin'", I heard a deep voice say.

I turned my head to see my boyfriend. "Hey, honey."

"Can I steal her away for a minute?" he asked Steve and Evie, who looked at each other and nodded.

Pony took my hand and led me into his room, which was not unoccupied by my brother.

"And what do you want, mister?" I teased and crossed my arms.

"This", he answered before coming up to me and kissing me. I was shocked for a moment, but quickly kissed back, wrapping my arms around his neck. Since I was wearing 3-inch heels, I didn't have to stand on tip-toe.

After a minute or so, we pulled apart, breathing heavily.

"I haven't been able to do that all day", he smiled.

"Well, now you have", I told him and hugged him around his middle.

"Now I have", he agreed and kissed my head.

There was a knock at the door, so we pulled bock and just held hands as we opened it. My dad was standing there with an amused expression on his face as our faces turned red. He looked us over for a minute until he made a "go ahead" gesture.

We rushed back out into the yard and were greeted by Soda and Ashlynn.

"Y'all look like you just saw a ghost", she said.

When we stayed silent for a moment, Soda asked, "Who caught you this time?"

"It wasn't necessarily getting caught as much as my dad knocking on the closed door and us voluntarily opening it", I told him, making them both laugh.

The four of us talked for a bit before I excused myself and went over to Evie, who was standing by herself and watching the festivities with a smile on her face and a hand on her stomach.

"Hey, Evie", I greeted.

"Hi, Lily."

"So have you thought anymore about working somewhere else?"

She sighed. "Yeah. I'm thinkin' about working with you at the bookstore."

"Really? That's great."

"I would usually choose the diner, but that would be a lot of running around and I don't know how good that'll be for the baby. And it's pretty quiet at the bookstore too, so that might be good."

"Yeah, that makes sense", I nodded. "I'm sure Mrs. Brown will hire you. There's always room."

"I'll ask her the next time I'm downtown."

"Does Steve know?"

"Yeah, I told him a couple weeks go", she answered.

Our conversation was broken by the shouts of "dinner!" from my mom inside the house. Everyone ran in and got as much food as they could handle and ran outside where an old picnic table had been set up.

"Glory, Mrs. Smith. This's real good", Soda told her with his mouth full of fettuccini Alfredo.

I narrowed my eyes at him in a way that said "really?", causing him to chew and swallow before repeating himself.

"Thank you, Sodapop", she laughed. "I try."

"It was a real help havin' you in the kitchen, ma'am", Darry said.

"It was my pleasure, dear", she smiled and patted his hand.

After a while, dinner was finished and a large chocolate cake was brought out and set on the table along with a knife. Evie and Steve held the knife together and made the first slice before feeding it to each other. The cake was cut up, rationed out, and done within ten minutes. That was when the champagne was passed out to everyone except for Evie, who got apple juice. Even the twins had some. There weren't enough proper champagne glasses, so most of us got regular glasses or mugs.

"I'd like to make a toast", Sodapop announced, standing up on the seat of the picnic table. "Stevie, we've known each other since second grade. You've been with me through all of my stupid decisions, my bad ideas, and my awkward faze." That last part got a lot of laughs. "We've helped each other through breakups and bad grades and death. Sorry 'bout how dark that got, folks, but you get my point.

"When you met Evie, I remember you being so excited. I had never seen you this excited over a girl. When I finally met her, I saw this pretty, tiny girl that made you happy. You obviously saw more than I did since you're the one that married her. It's been more than three years, and here y'all are. You've gone through some tough spots, but who hasn't? The point is you're happy and in love and you've a got a little baby Randle on the way. So, here's to y'all. Cheers!"

We all raised our glasses and drank the champagne, the twins and I scrunching up our faces a bit. I still wasn't used to the taste or bitterness of it.

The radio was turned on loud enough that it could be heard from the yard and the first song to start up was a slow song. Immediately, it was announced that it was time for the newlyweds' first dance. Everyone cleared off of the middle of the yard, leaving it for them. Steve took Evie's hand and led her to the open space before dancing with her. It wasn't anything flashy or intricate. They just swayed along until the song ended and we clapped for them.

The music continued as all the other couples started dancing. The twins were looking a little lonely since they refused to slow dance with each other, so after a few songs, Two-Bit went over and asked Anna to dance while Rachel went and asked Henry. They both blushed, but agreed. It was funny to look at since Rachel was about 9 inches taller than envy and Two-Bit was a good foot taller than Anna, though it was admittedly quite sweet to watch.

We all danced for over an hour before "Love Me Tender" came on.

"Darlin', it's our song!" Pony exclaimed.

"You don't say", I laughed.

"C'mon, we're doin' this right."

"Right?" I asked, but he ignored my question and placed one hand in mine and the other on my waist. I figured out that we were going to waltz, so I placed my hand on his shoulder and he started dancing me across the yard.

Pony hummed along to the music as we danced and I closed my eyes, trusting him to not let me crash into anything or anyone. We carried on like this until the song ended, when he dipped and kissed me, which caused me to laugh a bit. Then I heard clapping and cheering, causing my eyes to fly open and Pony to lift me back up.

All of the people in the yard were looking at Pony and I and applauding. Soda put his thumb and index finger between his lips and wolf-whistled. We blushed a deep red. Pony jokingly bowed and I curtsied.

"You sure this ain't you're wedding?" Steve laughed.

"Not yet", Pony told him with a smile as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

I smiled contentedly and lay my head on Pony's shoulder.

"I love you", he told me.

"I love you too", I said back with a smile. "And I always will."

Hey, guys! I loved writing this chapter because I'm a complete sap and I love weddings. The amount of research I had to do about wedding processions, vows, etc. was insane, but fun. There was a comment saying that the song "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran really works for Lily and Pony and I can't help but agree completely. I absolutely love that song and forgot to mention the exact fact that it really works well in the last chapter. If this story were set in modern time, I definitely would have put that song in somewhere. In fact, the last part of the chapter where they're waltzing during the reception is inspired by that song. Are you guys excited for baby Randle? Because I sure am! I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavelclaw13