Chapter 11
A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with another one. Enjoy!
Liam's POV
Chaos.
That's what followed her proposal.
Absolute chaos.
When she meant soon, she literally meant as fast as humanly possible.
With her due date approaching in three and a half weeks—on the 1st of September— there was a lot we needed to get done, and Steffy had decreed that the wedding would be in one week.
One week.
The rush was insane, and I told her as much.
She threw a pillow at me, and then very calmly explained, "I don't want to push it too close. I want us to have a small moment of marital bliss before she comes, and I want to be fully rested and just patiently awaiting her arrival, which means the two weeks leading up to the due date, I want us to be lazy and relaxed, okay? So, if that means that it's going to be crazy right now, then you're just going to have to get used to it."
Eric protested it was too quick to have him design her a new wedding dress. Fortunately, she had designed a beautiful white lace maternity dress in the Steffy's Girl collection that she was happy to use.
The wedding was going to be on the boardwalk; the Ferris wheel had brought us happiness before and it was perfect to mark our new beginning. But that venue on such short notice meant huge fees to rent out the massive tourist attraction for the evening and a whole bunch of paperwork.
We asked Dr. Marsh to perform the ceremony and she'd been happy to accept having already gotten her license from previous clients with the same idea.
The real drama was with the guests. Despite mending their relationship to tolerable work acquaintances, Hope and Steffy were still not completely okay with each other. Brooke was more bent out of shape than Hope at this point to be honest, so she was a hard no. Ridge, was beyond excited and had demanded to walk his daughter down the aisle, even though she tried to excuse him because of the tension it was causing in his marriage. Even R.J. had decided to come home, much to his mother's annoyance.
Eric and Quinn were coming, as well as Wyatt and Carter, and Pam and Charlie, but Rick and Maya politely declined.
The news of the wedding had divided the office once again into the Hope and Steffy teams. The usual teams I suppose, but it had created a tension that was almost impossible to ignore. Steffy skated along fine, wrapped up in her own bubble of our wedding and our daughter. She had plans.
Then again, team Hope had finally stopped blaming Steffy and all their glares and hatred were reserved for me.
Combine that with Lamaze classes, Braxton Hicks contractions, and Steffy's mood swings; it wasn't chaos, it was anarchy.
But I couldn't bring myself to care.
Everything I had been fighting for was about to be mine again.
I was getting my family back, and I wasn't ever going to lose them again. So, I took on chaos with a smile and pushed through, because when our wedding day came around, it was going to be the best day of my life.
And it was.
August 8th was the first peaceful day I'd experienced all week. Everything was done, all that was left to do was get married.
Ridge came over bright and early with the cavalry, they pushed me out of the door before Steffy could even wake.
I had to get fitted for my tuxedo, and she had to get ready.
I absolutely could not see her. Quinn and Eric made sure I stayed away, they didn't want even a chance of bad luck today.
I didn't put up much of a fight. I wanted today to be perfect, too.
I did start to get a little anxious waiting. The wedding wasn't until sunset, I had spent all day waiting, and I was getting a little impatient. The countdown had begun, in less than fifteen minutes I would be Steffy's husband.
I was sitting on one of the little white chairs, chin on my knuckles, when Dr. Marsh took the chair beside me.
"Are you excited?" She asked.
"Yeah, it's like waiting for Christmas. I wish it was happening already."
"Well, I've got some insider information. Steffy's here, and just as impatient as you are. We're all ready, so if you want to go stand at the altar, I'll give her the all clear to start walking."
"Really? Yeah. Absolutely." I said. "And hey, thanks so much for doing this for us."
"Of course." She said.
The eight seats filled up, four on each side. I stood at the altar, which was really just the edge of the pier, the railing decorated with white roses, overlooking the ocean and the sunset.
The song 'Can't take my eyes off you' by the Cary Brothers began playing, as I waited for a glimpse of my future.
I saw Steffy before she saw me. I caught a glimpse of white between the frozen yogurt and popcorn stand.
She had never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment. I wanted to soak up every single detail. She was laughing at something Ridge had said, her hair falling around her face as she shook her head. There were little jewels and flowers in the mass of brown curls that she'd pinned up and braided, the rest of her hair fell around her shoulders. The dress was magnificent. I'd only seen designs at meetings, but the real thing was better than I could've ever imagined. It was an off the shoulder, sweetheart dress with intricate lace design. In maternity fashion, it flowed over her stomach, ending at her knees. The lightest blue lace overlay flowed down from just over her stomach to the floor, and as she walked towards me, the wind blowing against her, the train whipped around her, the blue overlay fanning out, pushing the dress against her belly, our daughter ever present and proud.
But, by far the most beautiful thing about her was her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes that sparkled with love, mischief and all the future adventures we were going to share.
"Hi." She said, after Ridge kissed her cheek and took his seat beside R.J.
"Hi, beautiful." I said, taking her hands in mine. "What do you say? You wanna get married today?"
She faked a sigh. "Well, only if it means you'll stop asking." She said, laughter erupting from everyone.
"You asked me." I said.
"Did I, though? Did I really?"
I laughed. "I missed you today. Let's never do that again."
She nodded. "Okay."
"Good." I kissed her.
"Alright, before we get ahead of ourselves here," Dr. Marsh said. "I think there's a few other steps before we get to all of that." She smiled. "I might be a little rusty, it's been a little while since I did this, but I think there's some stuff I have to say, and you have to repeat."
Steffy laughed. "Sorry."
"It's alright." Dr. Marsh said. "I'm glad you're eager."
She clasped her hands in front of her, addressing the audience. "As many of you may have noticed, I'm not a judge, or a justice of the peace. I'm not a loved one, or a close friend. My name is Ariel Marsh, and I have had the pleasure of working with these two on their relationship for the last three months. So, I don't have cute stories of how they met when they were younger, or how I always knew they would be together, but I do have this." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "In all my sessions, I take little notes, things I observe about the couple. Steffy here, caught me that first night—sharp as a tack this one—immediately wanted to know what I had written in my little notepad. Many times, I found her around that notepad, itching to open it and see what I'd written. So, I thought I'd share that with you today."
She unfolded the paper, and I watched as Steffy's attention snagged and caught on her. Her curiosity bubbling over.
"I don't need to remind anyone of their past situations. You all know the place they were in when they first came to see me, and even then, I could see it, and I wrote on this little piece of paper: tethered."
She showed us the paper, and there in her handwriting was a single word.
"It means to be tied, connected to something or someone. Restrained from drifting too far from your tie, bound together by something greater than you are. In my line of work, I see a lot of couples come in, struggling to make it work. It makes it hard to believe in destiny and soulmates, but on that first night, I believed in it again for the first time. I saw a couple tethered to each other by a love that was pure and passionate and strong. They had drifted from each other, but that tether kept them together. And in the first session I watched as you tried to pull away because of fear and pain, and I watched that tether pull you back in. I watched them fight it and steal glances at each other, and I had faith. I knew back at that first session that you would end up here again, and not just because of a destiny that you couldn't fight, but because of a love that you fought for, and worked to maintain."
Steffy nodded, smiling as happy tears spilled over and onto her cheeks. Tears I quickly wiped away.
"And as I stand here today, about to marry you, I know there is no better love than the one you two share. It is a love that few people ever get the joy to experience, and a love that I know you will cherish and maintain for the rest of your lives." She smiled, clearing her throat. "I've had the pleasure of listening these two talk about their love, and I feel it's only fair that you get to as well, so we've done away with the traditional vows, and the bride and groom will share their own."
That was my cue.
"Steffy, you are the love of my life. I am more myself and more complete when I am with you and I can't imagine my life without you in it. When we're together, every breath I take is lighter, everything is electric, it's in technicolor and it's because I fell in love with my best friend. Our life together has always been amazing because you're the first person I turn to before I start a new adventure, and the first person I want to tell all my stories to. You're the one who talks me down when I'm angry and soothes me when I'm upset. Being with you has been my greatest adventure and as we are about to continue our adventure together, I promise to love and support you, to laugh with you and share your pain. I promise to listen and grow with you. I promise to dance with you and watch silly movies with you and let you boss me around. I promise to be the best father to our little girl and raise her to be just like her strong, beautiful mother. I will fight with you and make up with you and give you everything I have. I am yours, Steffy, body and soul, and I promise to spend the rest of our lives reminding you of that."
She raised our joined hands to my face, wiping my tears and pressing a quick kiss to my hands, smiling at me.
"Liam, my life started the day I met you. I knew I love you then, just like I love you now. Being with you has made me the person I am today. You have made me a stronger better person, and I have loved watching you grow into the man you are; the man that I love. I have been incredibly lucky not only to have found my best friend in you, but to have had my best friend love me just as much as I do him. You are my partner in crime, my partner in life and in love. You keep me grounded at times, and other times you fly with me. There is no one else I'd rather spend my life with or create my family with. It has always been you, and I promise that I will always cherish you, and listen to your opinions. I promise to raise our daughter with you and be the best mother I can be. I promise to laugh with you and share your pain. I promise to dance with you and watch silly movies. I promise, I'll try not to be too bossy, and to let you win some arguments. I will make up with you and share my life with you, because I have always been yours and always will be."
Dr. Marsh sniffed clearing her throat.
"Liam, do you take Steffy to be your wife?" She asked.
"I do."
"And Steffy, do you take Liam to be your husband?"
Steffy bounced on her toes. "I do."
"Then by the powers vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You—"
Steffy leaped forward, her lips catching mine, in our best first kiss as husband and wife. She smiled into the kiss pulling back, "It's nice to see you again, husband."
"Likewise, my beautiful wife."
I lifted her up, spinning her as she laughed.
"May I present to you, Liam and Steffy Spencer."
Our entourage cheered, congratulations were shouted, but as I held my family in my arms, crying and laughing as we watched the sun disappear beneath the horizon, I couldn't hear a damn thing, except Steffy's laugh.
It was loud and beautiful and just plain, happy.
A/N: We're coming up on the end of this fanfic, kind of bittersweet for me, the end of my first fan-fiction. There may only be four or five chapters left, but good news now that I have a plan and no more writer's block, I'm going to be updating frequently again, so once again thanks for those who stuck it out, and to the readers who love this story. Your response has been amazing!
In this chapter R.J. made an appearance, just because I feel like sibling relationships are very important even when both your sisters aren't cool with each other. I don't really like the lack of family support I've seen in the show, especially where Steffy is concerned. She really only has Ridge, because Taylor just comes and goes, and Thomas is always too wrapped up in his own love life. So, I wanted to give her a little extra family.
Thank you so much for reading, your response truly has been amazing, and until next time.
Read! Review! Enjoy!