The camera man then came into the room to take pictures of the brides while everyone else went into a different room to get drinks before the meal. It turned out that they were in the house that Nicky had grown up in. Alex had wanted somewhere big and classic but not too far away and Nicky had suggested her mother's house as she was currently in Gibraltar with her husband. Her mother had been happy to accept the wedding there, heavily hinting that the next wedding to take place there should be Nicky's.
When all the pictures were taken, and there were a lot of them, the two walked until they were standing outside a dining room. Piper almost walked straight in but Alex just pulled her back, muttering, "wait." A few moments later, silence was heard from the room and Piper could hear Nicky say, "Can everyone be upstanding for the brides?"
The sound of seats being scraped back was heard and the door was opened by Nicky herself who was smiling brightly at the couple. Piper and Alex then walked in, hand in hand, and sat at the top table, where Lorna was sat at one end with Polly, Pete and Finn at the other. There were three empty chairs in the middle where Piper and Alex would sit, along with Nicky.
Originally, it was just going to be Polly and Nicky sitting at each side of the bride but Alex knew it would make Piper happy to have Finn sitting near her and it wasn't fair on Lorna having to sit with people that she didn't know so she put her on the top table beside her girlfriend.
Nicky let the brides walk in front of her before she went to stand beside her girlfriend and best friend. Once everyone was where they were meant to be, Alex and Piper sat down and the rest of the company followed them. Talk started immediately and waiters and waitresses came in holding bottles of wine and asked everyone which they preferred. Piper refused any, simply asking for a glass of sparkling water instead.
Once everyone had a drink, the staff started to hand out the starters. Alex knew that she wanted soup but she didn't know which flavour everyone would like so she decided to have a couple of different options. Everyone had written down which soup they wanted so the staff knew how many of which soup to place at each table. The only one who had no idea was Piper but Alex had ordered her a leek and potato soup knowing how much she loved it.
When the starter had passed, Piper finally cracked. Alex was surprised that the blonde had been able to keep in for that long.
"How did you even manage to plan all of this behind my back?" Piper asked and Alex just smiled and took a sip of her drink before answering.
"With a large amount of effort," she replied and told Piper the story.
She had decided to plan everything while Piper was at work as it gave her something to do to take her mind off of Lindsay and her book. She knew that she wanted Nicky to be her maid of honour so she asked her immediately and the two started to plan everything. They were an incredible team. When Alex had described the venue to her, Nicky offered Alex her house as she wouldn't need to pay.
When all that was sorted, she needed to persuade Polly to get her on her side so things would be easier. The brunette was actually quite quick to accept and thought it was a good idea. "Nice one, Supercunt," she'd said. Alex had taken it as a complement for once.
When Polly was on board, they then decided to choose the dresses. Alex wasn't one for tradition but she knew Piper was so she chose the classic ivory dress for Piper in the style that Polly had described as apparently Piper had once described her perfect wedding dress to Polly. For her, she chose to go with something a little different. At first, she wanted to go with her typical attire of black but that wouldn't look great for a wedding. Instead, she decided to go for dark green to accentuate her eyes and she knew that Piper loved the colour green.
Nicky then suggested that they went with blue for the maid of honour as she thought Polly would suit it. She'd also decided that, although she loved a good skirt, she wasn't a huge fan of dresses and had decided to wear a suit instead, matching her blouse with the dresses. Polly looked at the selection dresses and went for a dark blue one. It took a while before Alex decided whether she thought they should have bridesmaids or not but then she thought it was a little mean to not have Lorna in the wedding too as she was an amazing friend to both Alex and Piper. Then there was the fact that it'd look a little odd if there was only one bridesmaid so she decided to have Grace and Zoe too.
Since Lindsay's passing, Alex and Grace had become quite close as she'd helped Grace with the funeral arrangements and she'd decided to give her some money so the business wouldn't fail now that Lindsay wasn't there. Alex was now technically co-owner of the business so the two of them then had that in common. However, she still didn't particularly like Zoe but she knew that she and Piper were still very close so she added her as the last bridesmaid.
The idea of leaving notes around the apartment for Piper just came to her one night as she remembered the times that she and Piper had left notes for each other when they were in prison. She also loved the book 'P.S I love you' so she decided to add that in too to make it more romantic.
"The worst part was getting Lorna to keep quiet about it," Alex finished. "Everyone else was great but Lorna just kept talking about it when you were in the next room and I started to panic that you'd picked up on it when you asked me yesterday."
"No, I just got fed up of being shut up," Piper replied with a sigh. "I really started to worry and thought that you didn't want to marry me anymore."
"Never think that," Alex muttered and kissed her. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too. So are you becoming a Chapman?" Piper teased knowing that Alex wouldn't like that idea. To her pleasure, Alex scowled as she said it.
"We don't have to change our surnames just because we're now married," Alex said. "It's the twenty first century. Hyphenating isn't high on my list either."
"You don't but I'm going to change mine," Piper decided. "I always looked forward to getting married just so I could have a different name. I'm going to become Piper Vause." She then paused as she said it as she hadn't actually thought about it until that moment. "Piper Vause, Piper Elizabeth Vause. I really like the sound of that."
"Mrs and Mrs Vause it is," Alex accepted and kissed her again.
The main course was beef and a selection of vegetables which was then followed by either a selection of cheesecakes or ice cream before the meal was over. Then it was time for the speeches. Piper just hoped that she wouldn't have to make one as she wasn't a huge fan of public speaking and she knew that she'd just say words and not make any sense. She knew that she wouldn't be able to follow Alex's smooth speech that she'd make.
When all the plates had been collected, Nicky tapped a spoon on her glass lightly with a mutter of, "I've always wanted to do that," before standing up so she could get everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the bride's speech." She then looked at Piper, "Don't worry, Piper, I'm not going to force you to do one."
Nicky then sat down and Alex stood up. She took a deep breath before she started and Piper could tell that she was nervous about what she was doing. However, after a quick glance around the room, she realised that she was the only one who had registered that she was nervous. Everyone was just waiting for her to start her speech. After looking at her mother, she saw that she looked genuinely intrigued at what the brunette was about to say.
"I met Piper over ten years ago when she'd just graduated from Smith and immediately I felt drawn to her," Alex began. Despite the nerves, her voice was calm, portraying that she wasn't nervous in the slightest. "After not much persuasion, she agreed to going out and soon she became my girlfriend. We then travelled all over the world with my job but then my job got in the way and she, quite rightly, broke everything off with me.
"For years, I wondered where she was and if she was happy and mainly, if I would ever see her again. Then everything seemed to crumble before me as I was arrested. The worst thing I did was name Piper but I'm actually glad I did as we were reunited. It was a little tense at first but we made it and we got back together. She stuck by me after she was released and now we're finally together. We live together and now we're married.
"I don't know what my life would be like if Piper hadn't entered it. As cliché as it sounds, Piper is my life and I never want to know what a life without her would be like. I know we may have arguments and we may not always agree on things but I do know that I'm always going to love her because she is my person. She is everything to me." Alex then looked away from everyone and turned to look at only Piper. "I cannot wait to spend every single day together and to see how our future unravels. You are my everything and I really do love you, Piper Elizabeth Vause!"
When she finished her speech, everyone started to applaud her and Piper stood so she could kiss her wife. She glanced over at her parents and saw that her mother was actually crying but it seemed to be from happiness as she was smiling. It seemed that she had finally accepted that Piper was with Alex and wasn't going to leave her no matter what happened. Piper also looked at her brother and saw that he looked happy too but annoyingly, still a little unsure. With seeing his reaction, Piper cleared her throat and everyone stopped talking.
"I know Nicky said she wasn't going to force me to make a speech but I've decided that I do want to make one," she announced. Even Alex looked a little surprised but she sat down so that Piper could be the sole focus. "Everything Alex said is so true because I feel the same. I love her more than words can say. Yeah, we had a huge complication when we were together all those years ago, but those memories are what kept me strong when I was arrested. We were able to reunite with those memories. They kept me sane." She then looked over at Danny and spoke to him personally. "Some members of my family aren't ridiculously thrilled with my choice of bride but I can honestly say that I've never been happier than when I'm with Alex. Danny, I didn't accept your choice of wife because of how she treated me and how she sometimes treated you but this is completely different. Alex has never said anything bad against you and she's done nothing but try and prove to you how much she cares about me so please leave her alone.
"This has been the best day of my life because I had no idea that this was happening. Alex arranged everything today with the help of our friends and she kept it from me so it would be the happiest surprise ever. It's also my birthday tomorrow and we're flying to Madrid. I love everything about today and mostly because Alex planned everything. She's everything to me." Piper then looked directly at her wife. "I never want to spend a day apart because you're my person and I never want to lose you. I love you, Alexandra Vause!"
Alex then stood up again and kissed Piper because she could barely keep herself together. It was then Nicky's turn to make her speech. Polly had opted out of doing a speech because she knew that she'd end up saying something about Piper that she didn't want anyone to know about her times in college. There was always the chance that she would call Alex 'Supercunt' which Piper would never let her forget. She also had to keep a look out for Finn.
Nicky then stood up to get everyone's attention and the two brides sat down and looked up at their friend.
"It's my turn now thankfully as it was getting a little too soppy for my liking," she began and everyone chuckled at her. "I met Alex when we were in prison. To say it's a hellhole, you do meet some great people. We instantly clicked and she became my best friend. We got on ridiculously well and we had each other's back from the beginning. Then Chapman came in and everything got a little weird and I spent weeks trying to figure out what had gone down between the two of them. It was a surprise to me when I found out what had actually happened.
"For weeks, they were the best entertainment in the entire prison. It got boring when they finally sorted themselves out and got together but I'm actually so glad they did as their love inspired me to tell my now gorgeous girlfriend, how I truly felt about her. I know that when Alex and Piper have arguments, I'll receive a phone call from Vause telling me all about it but I wouldn't expect anything else. The two of them are two of the greatest friends I'll ever have and I can't wait to spend my life having two great friends." She then picked up her champagne glass as the waiters had filled up everyone's glasses with it as the speeches were being made. "To Alex and Piper!" Nicky called and everyone chanted it back before raising their glasses towards them and taking a sip.
Piper even took a small sip out of her glass as to not ruin the moment but as soon as it was over, she placed her glass back down on the table and picked up her water.
Now the speeches were over, people were free to leave the room and wait the hour before the night time party began. Alex had put Polly in charge of inviting people to the night do and she knew that the other brunette had made a large list of people. The majority of them were people that she and Piper went to college with. Alex had also given her a list of people that she knew. She got Nicky to write to Red to see who had been released from the prison since they had been there. The Russian had quickly replied saying that Poussey and Taystee were now out and living in Brooklyn so the two of them had also been invited to the party.
When everyone had left the room, Alex grabbed onto Piper's hand and led her through the house and up a flight of stairs towards the room that Nicky had pointed out to her earlier. She had purposefully asked her best friend where she could sneak Piper to during the day so could truly show her wife how much she loved her.
"Alex, where are we going?" Piper asked as she ran behind her wife.
"You'll have to wait and see," Alex replied without looking behind her.
Alex kept going for another few minutes before she suddenly stopped and Piper toppled into her.
"Ouch!" Piper gasped.
"Sorry babe," Alex muttered and turned round to make sure her wife was okay. When she was assured that Piper was okay, Alex opened the door and pulled her wife inside. "Because Nicky loves us and knows us so well, she sorted out this room for us."
Piper then looked round and saw that there was a bed in the middle with a heart made out of rose petals.
"That's Lorna through and through," Piper said with a laugh.
"Oh who cares," Alex replied and pulled Piper close to her. "Come here, I wanna make love to my wife!"
"Finally!"
Alex then pulled Piper even closer and sealed their lips together. Then their dresses were carefully removed and the rose petals were forgotten on the floor.
Hello again everyone. Goodness, it's been such a long time since I updated this and I'm so sorry but I've just been so busy settling in to uni. I've been here for almost 3 weeks and my timetable still isn't 100% sorted. However, I've finally had the time to write this chapter and I'm sorry to say that there is only going to be one chapter after this as I need to focus on my studies more than write this story. There is a chance I'll write a sequel but I've said that a lot about other stories and never done it so don't hold your breath. If I were, it would be written next summer probably when I'll finally have time to sit and write. Again, thanks for all of the reviews, I love reading them so make sure you review this chapter! It'll make my week as it hasn't been the best. Homesickness is the worst! Thanks again everyone, you're all amazing and I love you lots! Emss x