Chapter 13: Love Is An Open Door

The morning of Frank and Phil's wedding began with the phone beside Laura Hardy's side of the bed ringing at six-thirty. The caller I.D. read "Beachwood Manor." Laura's mind flew with questions as she grappled for the phone. Pearl Cohen had booked Beachwood, why on Earth would they be calling Laura at this hour?

"Hello?" Laura asked muzzily, trying to clear the fog of sleep from her mind and voice.

"Yes, Mrs. Hardy? This is Thom, the night manager at Beachwood Manor. I was about to leave my shift when a woman arrived, said she was a close personal friend of yours and she had to do some sort of "blessing" of the grounds before the wedding tonight. She insisted that I call you instead of Mrs. Cohen to get this cleared up. Now, we here at Beachwood have no qualms with this sort of thing, but no one had told us in advance that anyone was arriving this early…"

"Is she short, plump, hair a shade of red that does not occur in nature?" Laura asked. Thom hesitated.

"Y-yes. She said her name is Riona…"

"Magee," Laura finished for him. She sighed heavily. Whatever wild hair that had gotten into Riona to come "bless" (or rather, put up protection spells) the place of the wedding could only be benign in intention. And if it made Riona feel like she was helping to make the day run smoothly, then G-d bless her.

"She's harmless. So long as she doesn't slaughter anything or make a mess, let her do her thing. But I suggest you tell the next shift to keep it under their caps if she's still there when they clock in. I don't want this to raise Mrs. Cohen's hackles." Yes, definitely. She did not need to have her relationship as an in-law of Pearl Cohen start off on a bad foot if she found out a witch had blessed the site where her gay Jewish son was going to get married later that evening. Nope, that wouldn't do at all. Thom promised he would pass the information on to the next manager and staff coming on shift and ended the call.

"Slaughter anything? Surely Riona wouldn't…" Fenton asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"I don't think so, she's probably just smudging the place. Maybe light some incense and say a few incantations…" Laura mumbled as she hunkered back down into the comfort of her bed.

"We should have just given them the money to elope." Fenton yawned and turned back over to catch another hour of sleep before the preparations of the big day began.

"You said the same thing when Joe and Vanessa got married… Your father said the same thing when we got married." Laura poked Fenton's back with her elbow.

"And yet, no one ever listens." Fenton chuckled as Laura smacked him soundly on the side of his head with her pillow. He turned quickly and grabbed his wife around her waist, pulling her on top of him and kissing her tenderly. Laura melted into the warm, sleepy kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck…

ooOOoo

Hearing the phone ring from the other bedroom woke Frank up. He tossed and turned but just couldn't go back to sleep. He'd had a hard time sleeping the last few nights anyway. Thankfully it wasn't caused by weird dreams, visions or night terrors. The mattress was comfortable enough. Phil. Phil wasn't there when he turned over, the absence of his warm presence in bed told Frank's sleepy brain that something was just not right.

Frank got out of bed and headed for the old Jack & Jill bathroom that he and Joe had shared as boys. Even the old bathroom had received Laura and Aunt Gertrude's estrogen-fueled touch. After a nice long shower, he rambled through his toiletry bag looking for his saline solution and came across a small, black velvet box. The older Hardy boy smiled happily as he held the box and walked back into the bedroom, forgetting about his contact lenses for the moment.

He stepped to the bedroom window where he had the best light and opened the box. The intricately carved silver band glinted brightly in the morning light. Frank pulled the ring from the box to examine the script carved inside for the one hundredth time since he'd picked it up from Moshe's jewelry store weeks ago. Although Frank couldn't read a word of Hebrew script, he'd become very familiar with these particular characters. "Ani ohev otcha" Phil's first words of love to him after they had cemented the intimacy of their relationship; Frank's words of assurance that he'd always love Phil and only Phil. And now these words would touch Phil's skin every day for the rest of his life.

ooOOoo

"…Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to propose a test, er, toast… Toast! To the newly married couple…" Joe stammered. Vanessa shook her head as she cut off the breast pump.

"Joe honey, you're over-thinking it." Vanessa said kindly as she set herself right back in her bra and buttoned up her shirt. She popped the baggie of breast milk in the refrigerator then walked across the den and sat beside her husband on the sofa.

"I've never been good at public speaking. That's Frank's area of expertise. Now if you want a joke, sure, I'm good for a laugh. But this… whew." Joe puffed air out of his cheeks as he hit the backspace button on his laptop several times to correct the error. "Frank made this look easy at our wedding."

"Frank just spoke from his heart." Vanessa patted Joe's chest just over his own heart. "That's all you need to do."

"Maybe I should have gotten him to write it and I'd just read it. He's helped me with my homework back in the day." Joe smirked.

"Joe!" Vanessa gave him a look of mock disapproval, but brightened. "It's a little late for that I think. But I know you'll come up with something great." She kissed him and rose from her place by his side. "I'm going to take Ashleigh to Mom's and then head to the salon to meet your Mom, Gertie and the others."

"Keep you claws in, dear." Joe warned.

"I'll behave…" Vanessa replied defensively as she double-checked Ashleigh's diaper bag. "But c'mon Joe. That comment she made the other night about my lack of parenting skills was not called for!"

"There you go, get it out of your system before you leave…" Joe smirked. That earned Joe a stuffed animal being tossed at his head. "Hey, I bet Melissa doesn't throw toys at her husband!"

"Of course she wouldn't, his face is his calling card! Who's going to go to a plastic surgeon with a black eye?" The new mother huffed. Joe stood up from the sofa, the tossed stuffed animal in his hand. He reached around his wife from behind and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you get pissy?" He whispered hotly in her ear. Vanessa stopped fussing with the diaper bag and rested her head back against Joe's shoulder.

"Not lately." She said softly and sighed as Joe began to rub slow, deep circles into her back.

"Look, it's not everyday you get to be pampered like the princess you are." Vanessa giggled at that. "You're a great mother, I've been amazed at how you're taking to parenting, a lot better than I am. Ashleigh is growing like a weed and the doctor says she's hitting all of her milestones. So ignore my bitchy cousin! Melissa's only going to be in town a couple more days. Just tune her out and enjoy getting your hair, makeup and nails done. You'll come home, get prettied up in that sexy dress and you will be stunning! We'll dance, have some champagne, and when we get home, I'll help you out of that dress…" Vanessa could practically feel Joe waggle an eyebrow when he said that.

She turned in his arms and kissed him deeply.

"You're one smooth talker, Joe Hardy." she kissed him again "Thank you for that."

"You're very welcome. Now, why don't I get Ashleigh up from her nap and changed while you finish getting her overnight things ready?" Joe suggested as he handed the toy back to his wife.

"Thanks, Sweetie." Joe nodded and then headed down the hall toward Ashleigh's nursery. "And Joe?"

"Yes?" He said softly as he had just reached their baby's bedroom door. "I'm sure whatever you come up with for your best man's toast will be just fine."

Joe smiled back at his wife. That was one of the many reasons why Vanessa Bender was the love of his life, she always had faith that he was capable of more than he gave himself credit for.

ooOOoo

"You look lost in thought. What's eating you?" Biff asked Chet as he stumbled into the kitchen looking for his favorite cereal and a bowl. Chet was sitting at their tiny excuse for a kitchen table staring out of the window to the brilliant morning before him.

"Oh, I was just thinking… The first wedding I get to take Beth to, and it's a gay wedding, two guys at that. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that Frank and Phil are getting married, if any two people belong together it's them! But, no garter or bouquet toss to look forward too…" Chet let his words fade off as he reached for his cup of coffee. Biff stopped shaking cereal out of the box before he'd filled the bowl.

"Huh? Listen to you! You act like you'd want Beth to catch the bouquet or some crap like that." Chet didn't reply. "Chet? You're kidding me? You want her to catch the bouquet?"

"I realize it's just a superstitious tradition. But no, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if we were to go to a wedding and she caught the bouquet. Or I caught the garter."

"Chet, you haven't been dating her a year yet, don't tell me you want to get married already." Biff left his dry cereal on the counter and sat across from one of his oldest friends.

"Well, not tomorrow, for G-d's sake! But Beth, she just makes me feel… I don't know, like a different man, a better man, when I'm with her. And when she smiles or laughs, I…Biff, it's like something in my gut is telling me she's the one." Biff's look of skepticism softened to a smirk.

"You're ass over tin cups over this one, aren't you?"

"Nice, Biff."

"Seriously Chet. You love her!" Chet looked up from his coffee mug and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, Biff. I am. I'm in love with Beth Gauldin." Biff reached across the table and gave Chet a brotherly clap on the shoulder.

"I'm happy for you man. Really, I think Beth's a great girl, and she's lucky to have a good man like you."

ooOOoo

Phil had kept himself sequestered in his old bedroom most of the day, not to be anti-social, but the wedding day of a Jewish man or woman was one of reflection and atonement. He had also removed his watch, engagement bracelet and star of David chain and pendant. Coming to the chuppah to be married, one was to be accepted for who they were, not their material possessions.

Some part of Phil's brain screamed that he should at least wear his silver Magen David under his dress shirt during the ceremony, just in case, G-d forbid, some vampires or werewolves crashed the wedding. But between the local Were brotherhood and "associates" of Amy and Ezekiel, the supernatural side of the security measures were in place.

The old gang from New Orleans was more than glad to come up and keep an eye out along the perimeter during the wedding and reception in exchange for Amy hosting them to a hunt in Buffalo the next night. Amy, Biff and his cousin Buddy had hosted a meet and greet with Stanley Wood's pack and Amy's vampire friends out at the old Hooper home place the weekend before so everyone knew who the "friendlies" were. As odd as it sounded, Phil almost felt more relieved by the vampires and Weres they trusted than the beefed up security Beachwood Manor was supplying in the event of a homophobic incident.

A loud rumble from his stomach brought him out of his reverie. There was the other reason he was keeping himself cooped up in his room. He was fasting, as it was another custom he was observing on this special day. The smells of food coming from the kitchen downstairs made his stomach protest that much more. A neighbor had brought over pastries and other finger foods for the Cohens to nibble on to free up Pearl on such a busy day.

Phil looked at the clock by his bed, it was just two in the afternoon. Only seven more hours until he and Frank would be pledging their lives to each other. Another hour before he could have something to eat. Phil's stomach gave another involuntary groan.

"Ah! I know! I know!" Phil griped to himself. A soft knock at his bedroom door drew a grumpy "What!?" from the hungry and nervous groom. The door slowly opened and his Elter Zaide poked his head in.

"You know, they say talking to yourself is one of the first signs of loosing your mind. You're not going a little meshugge on us are you?" Phil smiled at his great grandfather.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, just hungry, low blood sugar and all. Not used to fasting." Phil beckoned the older man to come in and sit down.

"I figured. Here, shh… I won't tell if you don't." He handed Phil a napkin with a few cinnamon and raisin rugelach in it, it's sweet and spicy smell had been driving Phil mad for hours. Phil hesitated, but Aaron cocked his head to the side "Come on, don't tell me you haven't imbibed in your other daily habit? This is nothing compared to that vile cocktail" Phil's face colored for a second, but he shook his head.

"Actually no. I didn't want to come to the chuppah with vampire blood fueling me. I think that's why the fasting is hitting me so hard today." Phil answered honestly.

"Well go ahead and nosh. All this fuss and planning, I don't want your mother's hard work to go to waste if you pass out when your parents walk you down the aisle. Now eat! I won't leave you be until you do!" Phil sighed at Aaron's insistence, but the rugelach did look so good. And it was, as the texture and flavors melted in his mouth.

"Oh my G-d that tastes so good." Phil said around a mouthful. Aaron smiled, satisfied that Phil was taking his advice. "Thanks, Zaide."

"You're welcome. I remember how hungry I was on my wedding day, I would have given anything to have had a member of my family come and sneak something up to me. By the time we got to the "Mazel Tov!" I was ready to pass out." Aaron laughed mirthlessly at the bittersweet memory. "I've been thinking about what your Frankie said at dinner the other week. About Eli. Does… does Frankie know anymore? Did Eli say anything else?"

"From what Frank managed to tell me, Uncle Eli showed him everything, what he went through, how he… died." Phil could see his great grandfather start to pale, so he quickly added "but he's been like a guardian angel, so to speak, watching you through your ups and downs." Aaron nodded, his eyes cast down at the carpet.

"I looked up to Eli, he was my hero. Smart, dashing, well liked by everyone. But Abba never let us talk about him after they took Eli away. He didn't live long enough to ever tell me why. Was he ashamed of Eli? Or did he not want us to talk about him for our own protection?" Aaron looked up at Phil. "I've lived long enough to see a lot of changes in the world, in people's attitudes. I believe things have finally come full circle. From standing at the front door with my family on that cold night, watching those bastards drag my brother away. And why? Because he didn't love the way other people do? And tonight I get to see my great-grandson marry the man he loves… It's almost like things are finally being put to right." Phil didn't realize that tears had started to sting his eyes until he saw his Elter Zaide pull a handkerchief from his pocket and wipe away a stray tear or two.

Phil cleared his throat as he quickly swiped his knuckles under his eyes and broke the awkward silence that had fallen between the two men.

"Are you okay Zaide?" Phil asked cautiously when Aaron had gone quiet. The older man nodded and gave him a wry smile.

"I guess that bumper sticker on the back of your car is right." Phil laughed at such an unexpected comment from Aaron.

"And which one are you referring to?" Phil asked, surprised that his great grandfather had ever paid any attention to the back bumper of his car.

"Love wins."

ooOOoo

Frank paced the floor in a guest suite at Beachwood Manor. The sun was setting and the beautiful hues in the sky were like a silent but bold announcement; that the most important hour of his life would soon be at hand. From his vantage point, he could see most of the goings on down below. The Manor's employees, Tony's catering staff, and the florists were getting the finally touches ready for the wedding. The Expressos' tenor and soprano were standing just off from the chuppah going over the sound system and musical arrangements for the ceremony with Pasquale's DJ, Tommy. Tommy and the remainder of the Expressos would also be providing the music for reception.

At least that was one thing Laura and Pearl had left for Frank and Phil to line up for their own wedding. Everything else, Laura Hardy and Pearl Cohen had insisted on coordinating for their sons' wedding, as neither woman had a daughter to ever plan a wedding for. So Frank and Phil had given the women free reign on all the decisions save the music, and their mothers gladly left that detail to the fiancés.

"How are you holding up there bro?" Joe asked from his spot on an overly stuffed loveseat as he fiddled with his cufflinks. Both Hardy boys were already dressed, save for donning their dinner jackets and fixing their ties. Frank stopped his pacing and looked over to his younger brother.

"Good. I'm fine." he said automatically. Joe raised an eyebrow.

"What do you expect? I'm getting married in less than an hour. All of this just seems so surreal… I just never thought this day would be possible for me." The smile on his face was genuine, if wistful. "Ya' know? When I finally allowed myself to be true to who I was and what I wanted in life, this wasn't even a possibility." Frank looked away from Joe and back to the window. "At least, not in the legitimate sense, that I could really call myself someone's husband. And now, …" Frank felt his brother's hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see Joe's boyish grin plastered across his face. Somehow the brothers could always read each other's emotions even without saying a word. Now was one of those times. Joe embraced his brother fiercely, Frank sinking into the younger man's hug, the action communicating more than words ever could. Joe's voice hitched as he tried to speak.

"I know big brother, I know." Joe leaned back so that his piercing blue eyes met those of Frank's deep brown ones.

"I'm only going to say this once, and if you tell anyone I'll swear you've had too much to drink… But growing up, I always looked up to you. You're smart, always kept your head in a heated situation and you always looked out for me. You did what big brothers do, and then some. When you came out, I was never ashamed of you, like you thought I was when I wasn't speaking to you. But it was like a punch in the gut. I was mad at the world! All I could see was that the happiness that you deserved in life being snatched away from you, and I was angry because it wasn't fair. My big brother, my protector, deserved to live his life and love who he wanted just as I was able to. But you've taken it all in stride, the insults, the way people who don't understand who've treated you differently. And all the weird, supernatural crap from the last year and a half, the trauma and challenges you've faced and managed to live through… and then finding out that we're not one hundred percent human… Yet here you are, still standing. And you're still my hero, big brother."

"Thank you Joe…" Frank was so filled with love and admiration for his younger brother that he hugged him again. "I don't know what to say…"

"You don't have to say a thing. I'm just happy for you." Joe smile, but it dropped quickly when he heard someone clear their throat. Apparently Frank and Joe had not heard Chet knock and come in.

"I'm sorry, the door was cracked… I thought it was okay to come on in. Or should I come back when the hug fest is over?" Chet's ginger hair and flushed cheeks shone in bright contrast to the charcoal grey suit and tie he, along with the other male attendants, was wearing for the wedding. Frank smiled. Chet was no longer the chubby little boy who tagged along because their mother babysat he and his little sister. No longer their stout look-out whenever Frank and Joe were nosing around for clues for their father's cases. He was no longer just their friend, it was like he was always meant to be a member of the family. If fate had worked out differently, maybe his sister would have never died, and he would have been Joe's brother-in-law.

"Get over here buddy! Group hug!" Frank said and Chet closed the distance from the door to the brothers. Frank and Joe each wrapped an arm around the strapping young man they now held in their circle.

"Hey! Is this a private party or can anybody join?" Tony and Biff walked in, the scrappy little Italian, the muscle-bound jock, the whole gang was there except for Phil.

"Ah! Ah! Before you even ask, I just checked on him on the other side of the Manor. Samuel and his folks are with him, and he looks just as jittery right now as you do." Tony interjected as Frank began to open his mouth.

"Jittery? Who me?" Frank laughed nervously. But he looked around the room at his childhood friends. To his brother and the young men he'd known before he'd ever met Phil. "Thank you all for standing up for me and Phil today, and for being the kind of friends who will stand up for a couple like us."

"We're honored that you'd ask us. As a matter of fact, I would have considered it a great insult if you two had run off and gotten married without your best buds to witness it." Tony smirked and ruffled Frank's hair lightly, not enough to mess it up, but enough for Frank to run his fingers through it to coax his fringe back into place.

"And quit with the "like us" gay crap. You're two people in love, and you're announcing to the world, and vowing to each other, that you're committing your lives to one another for the rest of your days. Sounds like marriage to me, whether your straight or gay." Biff added.

"And you realize you're one of only four people on the East Coast who can get away with saying something that blunt to me and not get a fat lip for it?" Frank chuckled as he tugged Biff into a bear hug.

There was a light tap at the door and there stood Laura Hardy and a slender young woman dressed in all black, the wedding photographer, who took the opportunity then to take a few candid shots of the five young men gathered together. Frank and Joe's mother looked radiant in her periwinkle colored, floor length, chiffon gown. In her hand Laura held a single boutonniere, and after the photographer took a few more snap shots with Frank and his attendants, Laura asked the other men to see the wedding coordinator downstairs so she could pin their own flowers to their lapels.

"C'mon boys, before we head downstairs let's go visit Mr. Cohen's room and get a few shots with him." The photographer interjected. The group followed her out of the room and down the hallway. Joe slapped Frank's shoulder and smiled.

"See ya downstairs bro." Frank smiled but couldn't answer, his mother arriving with his boutonniere could mean only one thing, and what jitters he was experiencing were made all the worse.

When the room was cleared and it was just he and his mother, Laura walked over and helped Frank into his black formal jacket and despite his protests, knotted his tie for him. As she pinned the small orchid to her son's lapel, she noticed he was shaking slightly.

"Sweetheart? Are you okay?"

"We should have eloped." Frank muttered quietly as he gazed out the window, not looking directly at his mother. Laura just giggled at her son.

"Joe was so nervous on his wedding day he threw up in the bathroom while you and the other groomsmen were having your pictures taken. Don't ever tell him I told you." She flattened her hands on his suit to straighten it up to his shoulders. The she cupped his face in her hands and turned his head to face hers.

"Frank, you've seen it. I've seen it. We don't know what tomorrow or next week holds for us, but your gifts have allowed you to see that ultimately you and Phil are going to be okay, you'll have a family and everything will be okay. Alright sweetie?"

"And the spirits? Will I ever get a handle on that?"

"I don't think I have to tell you the answer to that." Laura smiled and gave her son a warm kiss on the cheek.

There was another rap on the door, this time Beachwood Manor's wedding coordinator, bedecked with a headset and clipboard, scurried in, followed closely by an amused and grinning Fenton.

"Okay, you're dressed and you've got your flower on. I double checked with Joe and Samuel, they have the rings, the girls have their bouquets and are ready too. So everyone's lining up for the processional. When the musicians get about halfway through "Butterfly Waltz" we'll start with the attendants. The way we have the chairs set up there are two aisles so that both sets of parents can escort their sons down the aisle to the chuppah at the same time. We'll get that going at the beginning of the instrumental of "Sunrise, Sunset"…" the coordinator rattled off.

The details were starting to become a blur of information as he waited patiently for the spitfire of a coordinator to stop talking. He tuned her out and glanced back out the window. The sun was finally down, the soft glow of fairy lights and candles brightened the ceremony space below and he could see the chairs filling up with friends and family. He could see where Tony's girlfriend, Robyn, Beth, Amy and Ezekiel were seated together on his side of the congregation. In the row in front of them were Riona Magee and her daughters. If he leaned closer he could hear the strains of the music the coordinator was just speaking of.

The rabbi and the minister had taken their places under the chuppah, and his raven-haired cousin, Claudia Hardy, was the first attendant to walk down the aisle, followed a few beats later by Tony.

"Frank? Son, it's time." Frank heard his father say. The brunet took a deep breath to collect himself, closed his eyes and let the breath out. This was it, the moment he'd been waiting for since he sat on a blanket last Fourth of July and asked Phil to marry him. The moment he and Phil had fought for their lives to make it to. The visions he'd been having of their future would begin with this moment. Before he realized he'd actually walked the distance down the stairs and to one set of double doors that lead out to the courtyard, another young woman in black and a headset like the other coordinator was standing before he and his parents waiting for her cue.

Fenton lightly touched Frank's left arm, just above his elbow, but Laura grabbed onto Frank's right arm like a lifeline. Then the young woman touched her headset and nodded. She smiled politely at the Hardys.

"Are you ready?" She beamed as she began to turn the brass door knob.

"Yes." Frank said looking to his parents and smiling. "I'm ready."

ooOOoo

Author's Note:

Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter banged out. Real life has had me juggling sick kids, sick husband, two "Snowmageddons", cheerleading practice and basketball games for two daughters who are on two different squads… You get the idea, busy mom stuff. I had so wanted to post this on Valentine's Day, it would have been perfect. But having the kids home and keeping them entertained (and not killing each other) stunted the creative process and I got stuck right there at the end.

And just as I'm writing chapters about Frank and Phil's wedding, my home state just recently declared that the ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional! Eff yeah for more steps toward marriage equality!

I'm so excited about working on the next chapter and getting into the nitty-gritty of the wedding. So R&R and thank you for your continued support.

Oh, lastly, as a sentimental memorial to my mother, as I described above, Laura is wearing the same formal dress that my mother wore when I married the love of my life.