7. The day of all days
1 annual later…
He had met Adora Myles at the Academy of his Tin Man training 3 annuals ago. She had been a secretary at the office of Sergeant Edmund Lonot and whenever a lock of her honey blonde hair had fallen into her face, her sweet little nose had crinkled and she had to sneeze, it had caused Cain to lose his head. The way she walked, talked or ordered a new protocol had made him feel dizzy, to make it short –Wyatt Cain jr. had had a crush on Adora Myles.
Their first date was a disaster, Cain had wanted to be a gentlemen, he had bought her flowers and in addition he had ordered a table in an expensive restaurant, but then when she had talked to hi , when their hands met between the candlelight and their dinner plates, Cain had simply screwed it up. He couldn't remember if he had said something wrong, or if Adora wasn't interested, but after that night almost 3 annuals ago, he had felt like the biggest klutz in Oz as Adora had waved him a silent goodbye. After that they needed some time apart, but destiny seemed to have more in mind for them, because 2 annuals later they had been forced to spend the night together in Lonot's office, due to a terrible storm.
The awkwardness from their first date seemed to have completely vanished as they kissed each other in a longing embrace, hours after they had spent an evening full of laughter, talking and coincidental touches. After that day, many of those wonderful and romantic days would follow and at a hot day in June 2 annuals after their embarrassing date, Wyatt asked Adora to marry him.
This day was his wedding day and Wyatt couldn't be happier.
His mother couldn't stop crying when she and his sister were fumbling at his suit, everyone wanted him to look good at his special day but Cain couldn't deny that he felt uncomfortable.
"Ma , could you please stop. The tie won't look any better if you tie it again!" With big hands he grabbed his mother's that were shaking from her strained nerves but mostly from her joy.
"I'm just so proud of you my little one! I didn't think that you would be the next one, after your sister married her stable boy last year. I thought that Robin might be the next. But I´m so happy for you, cupcake!" Another cry of joy left her lips and before the mascara on her face would ruin his white shirt his sister Anne jumped in to bring their mother to her place in the church.
"Rough day so far, huh?" Cain almost jumped at the sudden interruption of his brother. The men hadn't seen each other for almost 3 annuals because his brother was back in their old home town Old Creek and working for an old engineer who was one of the very few who repaired the cars in OZ.
"I think mother will never stop being so emotional but it's good to see her so happy," Cain answered with a satisfied grin on his face before he turned around to grab his brother and to give him a long awaited hug.
"Looks like you inherited that sensibility from her," Robin responded mockingly which earned him a knock on the head.
"How are you doing? It's nice to see you," Cain said calmly as the first joy of seeing his brother again was gone. The oldest Cain boy hadn't come to his sister's wedding and all in all he had become a very silent man and a loner.
"Any woman that you want to introduce to us?" Wyatt added when his brother didn't reply to his first question. Robin seemed to be uncomfortable because it was clearly evident on his face and he turned around looking at the wall of the little room of the chapel before he could answer.
"I hope you know that I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you but I couldn't come to Anne's wedding. The days are getting rough and the people from Old Creek needed me. You won't understand but all I can say is that things are better now. I want to apologize for my bad behavior and I want to celebrate the wedding of my little brother. I'm not in anyone's company though," the last lines were spoken with a mixture of an amused but sad face.
Cain couldn't tell if he wanted to know what his brother had done all this years in Old Creek or not, but it was his wedding day so he decided to let the past be the past and to welcome his brother with open arms. He forgave him without even hesitating for a minute and within a blink the older Cain found himself in Wyatt's warm embrace again.
"You sure are much too sentimental today. Or is it that woman of yours?" Robin laughed, but ducked away before another fist could touch his head.
"I'm sorry! Thank you little brother." And with that he left Cain alone so that the groom could take care of his final preparations.
When he observed himself in the mirror, he bet that he was seeing the luckiest man in Oz. His hair was combed in a stylish manner, his white shirt and black suit were neatly pressed and a red rose was decorating his lapel. Nevertheless he wasn't as happy as his looks were telling and something very special was missing. Someone special to be exact, and Cain couldn't help but read the letter again that was resting on the table in front of him.
My dearest and most loyal friend,
Words cannot describe how sorry I am that I have to do this to you, but there is no other way. The Queen has sent me to our neighboring countries Ix and Ev to discuss important political manners that could change our future for good. Many years those cities have been the most reliable trading partners but the happenings of the last five years have made them suspicious.
Ozma believes that I'm the only one who may convince them to not break any of our contracts. Alas, and this is the very upsetting and disappointing part of my message, I won't be back in the next three months for the journey alone will take weeks. Believe me when I say that there is no excuse for this and that I understand if you're honestly mad with me now.
As you might have guessed from my cryptic lines is that I won't make it to your wedding! I wish the current political situation was different but I have a duty to this country.
However, my duty as your best friend is it to wish you and your beautiful wife Adora, the most romantic and happiest day of your life. May all good spirits be with you.
I do hope that my sisters will keep their promise and be at your wedding in my name. I also hope that this won't be the end of our friendship, since I wouldn't want our friendship to end like this.
To the most luckiest man in Oz and hopefully still my best friend Wyatt Cain jr.
With best regards and wishes,
Ambrose Gale
(Head Ambassador of Oz, Duke of Gilikin)
On the one hand Cain was really angry that Ambrose couldn't come, but the way in which the letter was written made him smile. Of course he would be mad at his friend for some time, it was his special day and Ambrose should have been part of it. But Cain did know that OZ needed their neighbors and that his friend was in a tricky situation. He wouldn't put an end to their friendship, he couldn't. Ambrose was part of all his good memories. Nevertheless he would show his friend how hurt he really was by giving him a cold shoulder for a while.
O.O.o.O.o..O.O.O.O..O.O.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.O.o.O.o.o.
His vision was blurry from spending hours of staring onto the piece of paper in front of him. His fingers were aching from holding the quill way too long and his neck was hurting. The words on the paper were the truth, none of it was a lie. Ambrose really couldn't join Cain at one of his most important days but nevertheless they felt wrong.
All he wanted for his best friend was to be happy. Yes he had repeated this intention over and over again while he had written his letter to Cain and he meant what he said, however he felt like a great liar. Of course he knew that the day would come where Cain was about to introduce a pretty young lady to them, but Ambrose had been afraid of this day for 5 years.
His emotions and feelings were torn. It was his duty... no not his duty... It was only natural that he wanted Cain to be happy, it was also only logical according to his brain that Cain would choose a woman as his spouse but was it o wrong that his heart was still hoping for Cain's mind to change?
He knew that it was wrong to hope. It was wrong because he shouldn't wish for changes that had to do with the matter of heart. Cain was a grown man, he had always felt attracted to women so why should he suddenly change his sexual orientation because Ambrose was having dreams of a life with him?
It wasn't fair to both of them. For Ambrose it was only hurtful, to Cain it wasn't fair because he was about to start a new stage in his life and he needed Ambrose as a friend and a supporter.
Ambrose would have to learn to live with their fate and he would have to accept that there was no chance for his foolish dreams to come true.
Not long after finishing the letter he made a decision. He would face the woman and he would tell her that she was the luckiest woman in OZ , that she should take care of Cain and that he wished her all the happiness in the world. Maybe it was hard but THAT was his duty. He wanted to be sure that there was someone who took care of Cain and who gave him the love that Ambrose would never be able to show.
He didn't sleep that night and with tears in his eyes he said goodbye to his one and only true love, for no matter how many ladies and men he would met in his life, they all weren't Wyatt Cain jr.
O.O.O.o.O.O.O.O.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.o.O.O.o.o.o.O.o.O.o.o.o.O.o.o
"You're the luckiest woman in the world do you know that?" A group of women surrounded the young bride as she was preparing herself for the ceremony. Her family and all of her friends had come to be part of Adora's great day, but now that everyone was hugging and kissing her she felt a little bit uncomfortable.
"Say how did you do it little sis? Wyatt is a darling and he looks so handsome." Her sister was supposed to do her hair and not to make her feel like she needed to crawl under a rock. She blushed lightly when Isabel mentioned her fiancé but she was happy that her family liked Cain.
"He is, but if you keep talking like this he will be a very sad man since he won't have a woman that he can marry but a nervous-wreck with a ruined hairdo," Adora reminded her sister who had lost every track of what she was doing.
"I'm just saying that I´m happy for you, sweetie. You don't meet a man like Wyatt Cain jr. every day and I'm glad that my sister finally found her Mr. Right." Isabel answered as the curling iron served its cause and finished Adora's look by creating the most beautiful locks that she had ever seen.
In the end she was looking at herself in disbelief. Was this pale woman with the curly honey blonde hair, the perfect makeup and the breathtaking white wedding dress really her? Her two sisters had worked wonders and now that she was observing herself in the mirror she could understand why her mother was crying and why her father looked at her with this sentimental glance.
"May I take the bride now and bring her to the altar?" Her proud dad cut in as her siblings were straightening her veil. From a close distance she could see that her father had tears in his eyes which made her heart ache. Not from pain but she didn't like to see him cry, she knew that it were tears of joy, but nevertheless she wished that her father wouldn't have to cry because of her.
"Sure daddy." Adora smiled at him reassuringly, and took his offered hand before she linked her arms with his.
O.O.O.O.O.O.o.O.O.O.o.O.O.O.O.o.o.o.O.O.o.O.O.O.o.O.o.
Cain couldn't tell if he had ever been this nervous before. The little chapel was full of people and familiar faces and soon he and Adora would be the center of their curious glances.
More than ever he wished that Ambrose was at his side to comfort him and to tell him that everything would be all right but his friend was at Ix or Ev and so his brother Robin replaced him as best men.
From his place next to the altar Cain could see his mother and sisters but his father had buried his face behind a book of prayers so that Wyatt wouldn't see his tears. Behind his family he spotted his royal friends and he was glad that everyone had come to see his wedding. Anne had turned around to talk with Ozma Lavender who was playing with her little daughter Azkadellia. The future heir was a beautiful child with dark short curls and mesmerizing brown eyes like her uncle. Ahamo, the Prince Consort, was sitting next to his wife and when his gaze met with Cain's he gave the man a comforting smile. Wyatt liked Ahamo he was down to earth and a man of action.
Wyatt was completely lost in thought when the members of the little choir rose from their chairs and an organ started to play the wedding march. The doors to the chapel opened and Adora in a breathtaking white gown appeared at the end of the aisle.
Her appearance made his heart pound harder, his head was light as air and his hands felt sweaty when Adora's father gave his daughter a kiss and little soft hands were placed into his big ones.
"You …You look beautiful," Cain stammered when Adora looked up at him with those big green bluish eyes.
"Thank you, you too," she whispered back shyly and both turned their gaze to the priest when he started to talk of the special occasion of the day, the importance of love and loyalty and other very nice and poetic stuff that Wyatt wouldn't be able to recall since he was too mesmerized by the beauty of his bride and by her voice that was as clear as a bell when she repeated her vows.
"And so I hereby declare you wife and husband. You may kiss your bride," the priest finished his part of the ceremony and after lifting Adora's veil with shaky hands, Wyatt gave his wife the long awaited wedding kiss that was accompanied by cheers, laughter and clapping of their friends and family.
"I love you, Mrs. Adora Cain."
"I love you, Mr. Wyatt Cain jr."
A.N : This one has a larger focus on Cain ..usually I write a lot for Glitch/Ambrose but with this project I also wanted to focus on other characters ;) There really isn't much to say. Hope you enjoyed it. Also I hope the way Ambrose is dealing with his feelings doesn't come off as strange ..don't why I'm afraid of that but it needed to be said. Next chapter on Saturday .