Author's note: Merry Christmas, everyone! Just a disclaimer, I wrote this before I read all the hype about Mariah Carey's song "All I Want for Christmas is You" being the most annoying Christmas song ever. I have a few others that I think are more annoying. I also thought using it like I did here would be cheesy as hell, which is really the point. If you haven't figured it out by now, this Ana and Christian are both cheeseballs.
Chapter 26 All I Want For Christmas Is You (Christian's POV)
December 24, 2016
"Will you stop fussing over me, you old coot!" Patrice Koffi shouted exasperatedly at Ray Steele, causing everybody except for Ana and Ray to burst out laughing, including me.
"No, I will not," Ray responded calmly but firmly as he continued adjusting the throw blanket over his girlfriend's legs. He had just finished putting a pillow under her feet, which were inclined and resting on the stool he'd moved in front of her. "You've fussed over me plenty of times, and now that our places are reversed, I'm going to make the most of it. Besides, it's my fault you broke your ankle, and I'm only glad it was just your ankle and not your head or… something worse!"
Ms. Koffi rolled her eyes. "It most definitely was NOT your fault, Raymond! It was that idiot kid's fault, the stupid little shit! It's a wonder we didn't run into him and kill him!"
We were back at my cabin after a quick trip to the ER, where Ms. Koffi had gotten x-rayed and fitted in a boot. She hadn't needed surgery, which we were all relieved to learn, but she would have to stay off her foot for several weeks, and then she would need physical therapy. I didn't envy her that at all. Ana and I had waited with our security in the waiting area, and Ana had been a nervous wreck, but it hadn't taken very long for them to return with Ms. Koffi's foot in that boot. She looked rattled, but relieved she hadn't been hurt worse.
Ana hadn't stopped watching Ray worriedly since we'd left the ski slope. Instead of calling an ambulance and drawing the attention to ourselves, our security had carried Patrice down the slope to one of our SUVs and driven her to the hospital ourselves. I'd called Elliot on our way to the hospital, and he'd filled in the others. They'd headed back to the cabin, and we'd met them here after we returned. Mom had insisted on coming with is, being a doctor and all. She may have quit her job, and wasn't licensed to practice in Colorado, but that didn't stop her from wanting to use her medical knowledge to help however she could.
But it turned out that there wasn't really anything Mom needed to do. It was a fairly simple in and out hospital visit that resulted in an orthopedic boot and several thousand dollars in medical bills that I made sure were all paid in full before we left. Ms Koffi would make a full recovery, the doctors assured her, but she'd have to wear that boot for at least six weeks.
"Dad, did you get them to take a look at your arm?" Ana asked Ray worriedly.
"Yes, Annie, and it's fine," he assured her. "It's just scraped and bruised. I know the bleeding scared you, sweet pea, but it'll be fine. Stop worrying. Isn't it about time we all start getting ready for this fancy Christmas Eve dinner you wanted to have? I mean, I know we ate lunch not too long ago, but for some reason you want us to get all dressed up for the fancy shindig you've planned."
Finally, that brought a smile to my girl's face. She glanced at me, and I winked at her. Yeah, baby, I'm ready.
"Well, you're going to have to help me get ready, Raymond," his girlfriend told him crabbily. "And so much for dancing with you tonight."
"Who dances on Christmas Eve anyway?" he asked her as he started helping her up. Well, he would dance tonight with his daughter, but he just didn't know it yet.
"Where I come from, we dance on Christmas Eve," she informed him. "And pretty much any other time. In my family, we like to dance."
"Where do you come from, Ms. Koffi?" I asked her conversationally. I knew from her accent it was somewhere in French speaking West Africa, but that left a lot of options. According to her background report, she'd lived in Washington State since she was in high school, having come here with her parents, who'd immigrated. They were both healthcare workers, so their daughter's chosen profession as a caregiver wasn't a big surprise. Their country of origin was in the report, but I couldn't remember where in Africa.
"Togo," she answered with a fond smile, "It's the place to go. Do you know where it is?"
I nodded. "Between Ghana and Benin in West Africa. I've never been there, but I know where it is."
She looked impressed. "You know your African geography," she commented appreciatively. "Most Americans think Africa is one big country."
I smiled, knowing her words were true. "We aren't like most Americans, Ms. Koffi."
Ana rolled her eyes with a smile and agreed. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one. I didn't even remember your last name, Patrice, but leave it to Christian to know it." She turned to me and said, "She's dating my dad. Don't you think you can call her 'Patrice'?"
I shrugged. Some habits were hard to break. But yeah, I suppose I could.
Ana and I went to our room to get ready, but she refused to shower with me and insisted that Matilda was off limits until later tonight. Yeah, whatever. I was in my bedroom with my girl before our wedding, so I wasn't complaining. Thank God she wasn't traditional, thinking we couldn't see each other the day of our wedding. To hell with that.
Ana didn't stay in our room long, though. She grabbed her bath robe and informed me that she was getting ready in Diane's room, and that she'd see me at the alter. I knew that Jason and Gail were making sure the wedding planner had the floral arch that Ana had ordered and all of the furniture put into place before people returned to the great room. It was this floral arch that Ana was referring to as the "alter."
"Whoa, wait just a minute," I stopped her. "You can't go yet."
"Christian, Diane is going to do my hair. I'm not wearing a veil because I think they're old fashioned, but I have a floral crown I'm going to wear, and my hair needs to look good for it."
"Ana, when has your hair ever not looked good?" I asked rhetorically. Her hair was always perfect, just like her. If she was going to wear flowers in it, what could go wrong?
"Stop delaying us. I want to marry you, so let's get on with it," she told me snarkily.
I laughed. "Well, I'm happy to hear that, and I'm not trying to delay us, but I have something I need to give you before you go get dressed."
"Christian, you better not have bought me the Tiffany diamond. I was already planning to wear my grandma's pearls, and they look good with my dress."
I told her truthfully, "Ana, if the Tiffany diamond had been for sale, I most certainly would have bought it for you. But no, I didn't buy you a diamond necklace. Just earrings." I took the box and handed it to her.
She opened the box and got teary-eyed when she saw the contents. They were pearl and diamond in a platinum setting. I'd purposefully tried to scale it down compared to what I thought she deserved because I knew she wouldn't want anything too flashy.
"These are perfect, Christian. They match my pearls perfectly. I love them."
"I love you, my Ana," I told her. I kissed her and then helped her put the earrings in her ears.
"Oh, I have something for you, too," she told me. "I almost forgot." She went to her handbag, which was on her bedside table, and got out a box.
She'd gotten me platinum cufflinks, engraved with our initials and today's date. And these were not cheap shit; they were high end. She'd spent a lot of her limited resources on these, just for me.
"Thank you, Ana. I love them," I told her with another kiss.
She smiled and lit up the room. "OK, I'm going now. I have a white dress waiting for me to put on, as soon as I get my hair and makeup done."
"You don't need too much makeup," I reminded her.
She laughed as she responded, "I know, Christian. I know what you like." She kissed me and told me, "I'll see you soon."
It didn't take me more than half an hour to shower and get dressed in my brand-new charcoal Armani suit with the white tie that Ana wanted me to wear. Damn, I loved this suit even more than my other ones. I was so excited and nervous. I wanted to make sure everything looked the way I knew Ana wanted it to look before she came out of Diane's room. Besides, I wanted to be in the room when people began to realize what was happening. And I needed to make sure the music was ready to go. Our surprise guest wouldn't show up until later.
When I walked out of my room, the first person I saw was my brother. He was dressed in his "Christmas suit," as he called it. He'd been wearing the same three-piece charcoal gray suit for the past few years only at Christmas. It was probably the only day of year Elliot ever put on a suit. Ana would be happy that our suits matched, even though the shades of gray weren't identical. We hadn't planned for the groom and best man to both be wearing charcoal gray. I'd forgotten about Elliot's Christmas suit.
"Hey, El, I have a favor to ask you," I told him as I felt in my pocket for the emerald green necktie I'd put there earlier.
"Damn, look at you," he commented appreciatively. "That's another new tailor-made suit, isn't it, you smug asshole?"
I smirked but didn't respond. Instead, I told him, "I have a bet going with Ana. She says I can't talk you into wearing this, but I think you'll do it if I ask nicely. So… will you wear this tie tonight so I can win the bet?"
"What do you get if you win?" he asked with a smirk as he took the tie from me and examined it.
"She'll marry me sooner," I replied with a straight face.
"What, you mean in a month?" he joked.
I shrugged. "Or less. Mia was wrong, you know. If you have enough money and aren't too picky, you can plan a wedding in less than a month."
Elliot laughed as he removed the tacky Christmas tree tie that he was wearing and put on the plain green one. "Well, lucky for you, I like this tie. Good luck, bro."
As it happened, the fates were smiling on me, so even though I appreciated his wish for good luck, it wasn't necessary. I was already getting everything I wanted.
Elliot walked with me, as I was a man on a mission. The great room looked fantastic, and Elliot didn't seem to even notice the floral arch that had been moved close to the grand piano, or the couches that had been moved, along with the dining chairs, to form two rows, with an "aisle" down the middle. Elliot followed me into the kitchen, where I wanted to check on the food. There, we ran into Mia, who was focused on plating the hors d'oeuvres. Behind her stood a massive two-tiered wedding cake on a cart. It didn't have a bride and groom on the top, but some evergreen twigs, pine cones, and holly berries that were all artfully placed on the top, around the middle tier and along the bottom. It was the perfect cake for a Christmas wedding.
"Hey, Meems. Your dress matches my tie," Elliot pointed out.
"It does, doesn't it," she agreed. She smiled at me and gave a subtle wink.
Wait, what? Why was Mia wearing a dress that matched Elliot's tie? Sure enough, it was emerald green. I remembered Ana telling me that Kate was wearing an emerald green dress, not Mia.
"Umm… Meems?" Elliot asked as he looked confusedly at the cake behind her. "Why's there a wedding cake behind you?"
She feigned confusion, but I could always read her when she was pretending. "What do you mean, El? That's not a wedding cake. It's a Christmas cake. I made it for our Christmas Eve dinner tonight."
"You made it?" I clarified.
She smiled at me. "I did," she confirmed. "The bottom tier is red velvet with cream cheese frosting, which Ana said she really wanted for Christmas. It's like her favorite Christmas cake ever. But I wanted to be sure there was more than one option since there are so many of us, so the top tier is vanilla bean. The vanilla buttercream frosting is to die for."
I stared at the cake, Mia's masterpiece, knowing that Ana was absolutely going to love it. I loved it. It was perfect. Ana had made the right call in getting Mia to do it, without a doubt. When and how had that come about?
"Umm... Mia?" I asked. "When exactly did Ana ask you to make our… Christmas cake?"
"Oh, about a week and a half ago," she replied. While Elliot was distracted stealing one of the appetizers, Mia leaned towards me and whispered, "Do you still think I can't keep a secret, Chrissy?"
Well, fuck, Mia was in on our wedding surprise, and she'd made our fucking wedding cake! She'd kept our secret from everyone, even me!
I just smirked at Mia and told her the truth, that the cake was perfect, and the hors'd overs looked delicious.
"Thanks, Christian," she responded. "By the way, wave and say 'hi' to Ana." She pointed at a camera behind us. "She's going to love watching this later."
I smiled and blew a kiss at the camera. "You got me, Meems," I told her. "Now I know you can keep secrets."
She smirked proudly. "Just out of curiosity, when are you going to tell him?" She nodded her head towards Elliot, who was busy checking out the dinner that was warming in the ovens.
"Tell me what?" Elliot asked. We hadn't thought he was paying attention to us.
I answered Mia, "I'm not. I'm going to wait for him to figure it out."
"I give him ten minutes," Mia predicted.
I smirked back at her. "My money's on twenty."
Elliot followed me confusedly as I left Mia in the kitchen and returned to the great room. I made sure the play list was ready to go, and then started it. For the next hour, the house would be filled with the sound of music, as my iPhone was connected to the surround sound. Some of the songs I'd chosen were Christmassy, but not all. I didn't want people to get tired of the same shit, so I'd made sure it was a good assortment of old and modern music, but all approved by Ana.
"I love this song!" Sophie announced as she bounced into the room. The song currently playing was "Can't Stop The Feeling," by Justin Timberlake. I was surprised to see that she was also wearing an emerald green dress, similar to Mia's. How had Ana managed that?
Gail then walked towards me with some flowers in her hand. "I've been sent to pin boutonnieres on you and Elliot," she told me quietly. "Does he know yet?"
I shook my head and whispered, "Mia and I have a bet on how long it takes him. I think I'm winning.
As he looked around the room, Elliot's face registered confusion again. He had to have noticed the arch and rows of chairs this time. When he saw Gail pinning the flower to my jacket, his confusion only deepened.
"Why are you wearing a boutonniere?" Elliot asked me. I was impressed he even knew what that was.
"It's Christmas Eve," I answered. "Ana wants us all to wear them. Look, there's one for you, too."
"But there are only two here," Elliot pointed out. "If we're all wearing them, where are the others?"
"Well, I know Ray's is upstairs because Ana wanted to pin it on him herself. I'll get the rest when I'm done here," Gail told him. She couldn't hide her smirk.
"OK, what's really going on here, Christian?" Elliot asked. "There's a wedding cake in the kitchen that you and Mia were whispering over. There's a wedding arch by your piano, and the furniture is arranged in rows, like… like for a wedding ceremony. The house is filled with flowers, red roses to be exact. Mia and I are wearing matching colors, and Sophie's dress matches, too. I seriously doubt you and Ana really had a bet over this tie that you got me to wear. But I can't ask Ana, because she's conveniently not here, which makes one wonder what she's doing exactly. Like, maybe, she's hiding upstairs, putting on a long white dress with a white veil? And… you're dressed like a fucking groom with that white tie!"
I glanced at my watch as I responded neutrally, "That's a whole lot of clues, Elliot. Seems to me that they can only mean one thing." I smiled broadly at him, happier than a pig in shit.
Mia walked in at that moment carrying two plates of hors d'oeuvres.
"Hey, Meems, come here," I called her. When she put down the plates of hors d'oeuvres and walked over, I got out my wallet, took out a Ben Franklin, and handed it to her. "Ten minutes, almost exactly. You called it. You win."
She smiled at Elliot, who was still looking like a fish out of water. "Christian thought it would take you twice this long to figure it out," she told him.
"But… how is this even possible?" he asked me. "You only just got engaged last night!"
"Shush, Elliot," Mia admonished him. "The others don't know yet. Don't give away the surprise yet."
Then I heard Ray's voice from behind me. I turned as he was speaking. "Christian, it was really insightful for you to give us a room on the bottom floor. I'm sure you were thinking of my health, not Patri…" He stopped speaking as he took notice of the room around us. He gave me a scrutinizing look, and then he didn't say another word. He turned towards the stairs and headed up them.
"She's in Diane's room," I called to Ray. "Go left at the top of the stairs, and then it's the third door on the right."
"Thanks," he said without looking back at me.
I hoped to hell that he wasn't going to try to talk her out of it. He'd given me his blessing, after all. Surely he hadn't changed his mind between Thanksgiving and now.
I didn't have time to worry too much, because the next thing I knew, my parents and grandparents had joined us. They all immediately noticed the furniture arrangement and arch, but it wasn't obvious to them at once what it was all for.
"Are we having some kind of Christmas Eve service?" Mom asked curiously.
Elliot smirked. "Yeah, Christian, when is the minister showing up?"
"No minister, Elliot," I replied. "Not necessary."
"But… how are you going to…?" Elliot started to ask, but Mia stopped him.
"Elliot, try one of these sausage balls," she offered. "I used Grandma Grey's recipe, except I used smoked cheddar. Tell me what you think, honestly. Her distraction worked, at least for now.
Dad also took one of the sausage balls as he asked Mia, "Why do you and Sophie Taylor have on matching dresses, and why do they match Elliot's tie?"
Mia shrugged. "That's what Ana wanted us to wear. It's a Christmas Eve thing." Yeah, that answer sounded lame, but I'm not sure what would have been better.
"The music is nice, Christian," Mom commented. "Very romantic." Was it? Elton John was singing now, "Groovy Kind of Love," and I knew Ana liked this song, and so did my mom. It hadn't occurred to me that it was romantic, though. Well, that was good. It was what I was going for.
Grandma mused, "Romantic music. Red roses and lily of the valley, the most romantic flowers there are. A bridesmaid, a groomsman, and a flower girl." She pointed at the arch and added, "That's what gave it away, though. You only see arches like that at weddings." She turned back towards me and asked, with a giant smile, "Now… when were you going to tell us you're getting married today, Christian?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Alice, the boy only got engaged yesterday…" When grandpa saw the smile on my face that matched my grandma's, his voice trailed off.
Glancing at my watch, I answered Grandma's question, "Oh, in about twenty minutes."
My mother clued in very quickly, and she had happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, Christian. You planned all this to surprise us, didn't you?"
I smiled back at her and asked, "Mom, would you do me a favor? Ray is… a little preoccupied. Would you go check on Patrice and see if she needs help? I don't know if she's dressed yet or not or if she can make it into here without assistance."
"I'll check on her," Mom agreed at once, and she headed off to their room.
Dad took a little longer to clue into what was going on, but my grandparents were both looking proud as peacocks.
"You don't waste any time, do you, kid?" Grandpa teased me.
"Well, Theo, he did say that a month was too long to wait. Did you think he was joking?" Grandma had the biggest grin on her face that I'd ever seen. Yeah, she was happy for me. She probably never saw this day coming, given my fucked up childhood.
"This is… unexpected," Dad commented. "Christian… are you sure you know what you're…?"
"Dad, don't even finish that question," I warned him. He was about to piss me off.
"It's just so… sudden," he observed. "I mean, you only got engaged yesterday! You didn't knock her up, did you, son?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, Dad. Ana's not pregnant. That's not the reason we're getting married today. We don't plan to have kids for a few years."
Dad looked slightly relieved, but he didn't let it go. "Well, don't you think you need to…"
"No, dad, I don't," I interrupted.
He sighed. "A least tell me you've already signed a prenup."
My eyes popped. Oh, no, he didn't just… Oh, hell no!
"Carrick!" Grandma snapped at him. "Just what in hell do you think you're doing?"
I answered angrily, "What he's doing, Grandma, is trying to get himself kicked out of my house on Christmas Eve, right before I marry the love of my life!"
"Christian, be reasonable," Dad insisted. "I'm only trying to look out for your best…"
"Don't even finish that statement, Dad," I warned him. "I don't need your protection from Ana, of all people."
That seemed to stop him. "Well, no, of course you don't. It's not about Ana. She's a sweetheart, Christian. We all love her. I just don't want to see either one of you rush into anything…"
"Carrick, shut the hell up," Grandpa told him.
And amazingly, he did, just before Mom returned with Patrice, who was struggling with her crutches and looked a little green. Shit, I hoped she wasn't sick on top of having a broken ankle. Mom could see immediately that something was wrong with me. I needed a breather, so I walked across the room and looked out the window at the snowy scene. The sun had already set, but it wasn't completely dark yet. The view from here was breathtaking.
I turned back to the room and saw Mom and Grandma whispering worriedly. The next thing I knew, Mom had taken Dad by the hand and led him back to their room. Was she going to straighten him out? I certainly hoped so.
The next few minutes passed slowly as everybody took their seats. Ana had told me that Kate wasn't going to march in like traditional bridesmaids would, mainly because she was also our photographer. I hadn't realized that Mia was also a bridesmaid until I saw her in her green dress, but I assumed that she wasn't going to march in either. She was already in the room, and I didn't think she'd go anywhere. I wasn't surprised, then, when Kate and Sebastian walked downstairs together. Sure enough, Kate was wearing a green dress just like Mia's. Sebastian was wearing a suit, which looked normal for him, and a green bow tie, a darker shade than Kate's dress, with red polkadots. Somehow, it worked for him. I was surprised to see that Sebastian was carrying a video camera.
"Are you the photographer's assistant?" I asked my CFO humorously.
He nodded with a smirk. "I am today. Call it a wedding present."
Elliot spoke from behind me. "OK, so the shock has worn off a little, so tell me what I'm doing here, bro. I take it I'm your best man?"
"Of course, you are, El," I replied. "Who else would it be?"
"So… what do I need to do? Am I supposed to hold your rings or something?" He sounded nervous.
"Nah, this obviously isn't a traditional wedding," I told him calmly. "I have our rings in my pocket. I mean, she's already wearing her engagement ring, but I have the little band that goes with it."
Elliot nodded. "So… if there isn't a minister on the way, then who's going to marry you? Is there a judge on the way?"
"Nope, no minister. No judge. Just me and Ana," I answered. "In the state of Colorado, the bride and groom can solemnize their own wedding."
Grandpa commented, "What? What will these young people think of next? No officiant at a wedding?"
"They don't need one, Theo, so let it go," Grandma told him.
He smiled at her. "I'm just saying I've never heard of it, not that I have a problem with it. It's your son-in-law who has issues, not me."
"No, your daughter has straightened me out, as usual," Dad spoke from behind me.
"I hope so, for your own sake," Grandpa told him.
Dad ignored him and turned to me. "Christian, I apologize, son. You caught me off guard, and I put on my lawyer hat and failed to put on my father hat. Your mom pointed out how often I've done the same damn thing in the past, leading only to failure. I don't want to fail you today, son. I'm sorry. I adore Anastasia, and I know you love her very much. I believe the two of you are going to be very happy together. I didn't mean to imply anything. It was just… the lawyer in me."
I nodded. "Apology accepted," I told him. "Now… can you let it go? This is a happy day, Dad, and I want to focus on my bride."
"I'm letting it go, Christian," he promised. "And… I love you and am proud of the man you've become."
If he tried to hug me right now, I was going to have a problem. Before he had a chance, I shook his hand and said, "Thanks, Dad."
Kate walked over then and said, "OK, I noticed a bit of tension, so I didn't start filming yet. Is everything OK now?"
I didn't answer her, but instead asked, "Is Ana OK?"
"She's gorgeous," she replied. "She sent you a message. I don't know what it means, but she told me to just tell you anyway. So here it is. She said to tell you that since everyone else was getting dressed up today, that Matilda wanted to get dressed up, too, so she did. I'm not allowed to ask you who Matilda is."
I stared at Kate blankly for a moment, just processing her words. Had Ana seriously sent a message to me about her pussy through her best friend?
I started giggling then, and I just couldn't stop. After the tension that my dad had just created, I needed this comic relief. Ana always knew how to make me laugh just when I needed it. Whatever could she have meant, that Matilda wanted to get dressed up? How do you dress up your pussy, you crazy girl? Did she mean she'd groomed it? Had she shaved it for me? Was she going to be bare on our wedding night? I wasn't sure how I felt about that prospect. I liked her little puff of pubic hair. Maybe she was wearing sexy panties. Maybe she'd dressed up Matilda in a pair of lacy panties. Or maybe it was both. I could hardly wait to find out.
"So, whatever's so funny, let me in on it," Elliot told me. "You've got me all nervous, and I don't like being nervous. I mean, am I supposed to stand somewhere with you? What the fuck is a best man supposed to do, anyway?"
I smiled and answered, "It's an inside joke between me and Ana. And no, Elliot, just relax. We aren't doing anything the traditional way. You're standing up with me symbolically, but you don't even have to stand at all. You can go sit by grandma."
I smiled at grandma as I said that, and she winked back at me as she patted the empty seat next to her and motioned to Elliot. He went and sat beside her, and she whispered something that made him laugh and look at me. Shesh, if Elliot was nervous at my wedding, how was he going to be when his turn came? I didn't take too much time to think about that, because I was too worried that Ray Steele was trying to talk his daughter out of coming downstairs. No, he wouldn't do that. Would he?
Ros and Gwen appeared last of all, both dressed to the nines in green dresses, not exactly the same shade as the bridesmaid dresses, but coordinating enough that I guessed that they'd talked with Ana about their dresses. Everyone except Ray, Ana, and Sophie were in the room now. Gail was standing near the stairs, ready to help Sophie if she needed it.
"Are we ready to get this show on the road, boss man?" Ros asked. She had been given the task of calling us all to order when the time came. Ana and I would take it from there.
"Almost, Ros. You didn't, by chance, see Ana, did you?" I asked.
She smirked at me. "I might have," she replied. "And she might have sent you a message."
Holy fuck, if she sent any more messages about Matilda through Ros, I wasn't sure I could handle it. But that would be better than any messages that she was getting cold feet. This had all been her idea, so she wouldn't get cold feet, would she?
"What message, Ros?" I asked tentatively.
Ros answered, "She said that you should wait about five minutes and then start 'What a Wonderful World.' I take it that's the song she's walking in on?"
I nodded absently. She was ready early, and we didn't need to wait for the playlist. In five minutes, I would skip ahead to that song, and she'd be here. Holy shit!
The next five minutes were the longest of my life. I glanced around the room at the people gathered here. Everyone was taking their seats, and everyone looked excited and happy. Even my dad was smiling now, thank God. Once again, I marveled at the change in my life in the past three months. To think that I almost ended my life, when I had this day to look forward to… Well, I didn't know that then, and I couldn't see how it could ever be possible. Ana was my miracle. She loved me! And I loved her and my life with her in it.
I decided that it had been about five minutes, so I stopped the music in the middle of the Taylor Swift song that was getting on my nerves, found the Louis Armstrong one, and played it. His gravelly voice sang out, and I had to agree. Life really was wonderful!
Sophie walked slowly down the stairs first, sprinkling rose petals on the floor as she walked towards the floral arch. I didn't watch to see what she did next because my eyes were on the top of the stairs, waiting for my Ana.
And then… there she was, on her dad's arm. Total perfection. She looked like an angel, with that crown of flowers on her head. Her hair was in loose braids, and the flowers were woven into the strands of her hair, looking very beautiful. Her makeup wasn't too dark, and she was wearing that pink lip gloss that I loved. As expected, she was wearing a single strand of pearls, and the earrings I'd given her earlier. She was going for simplicity, but she wasn't plain. She was perfect.
And that dress… Wow! It was off her shoulders but had lacy sleeves down past her elbows. The front was low-cut enough to show off her luscious tits without being slutty looking. The high waist accentuated her tiny figure , and the long gown ended at her feet, where she was wearing simple white ballet slippers. Yeah, she'd warned me that she wanted to make sure she had on comfortable shoes. Whatever. I would have dressed her in Louboutins, and she would have then been worried about turning her ankle walking down those stairs. It didn't matter. She looked perfect. Everything about her was complete perfection. How the hell had she purchased that magnificent dress off the rack, and it fit her like that? Holy shit! She was a dream. A miracle. My dream come true.
"You're drooling, bro," Elliot told me quietly.
Everybody was standing now, I realized, watching Ana reach the bottom of the stairs.
I couldn't stand still. Before I even realized what I was doing, my feet were moving towards the stairs, meeting her at the bottom.
"Ana, holy shit," I muttered. "You're… angelic. You're perfection."
"Get your ass back over there so I can walk my little girl down the aisle," Ray growled at me.
OK, then. I might have been slightly scared of him. At any rate, I did as I was told. I went back to the arch and watched them walk towards me, not taking my eyes off Ana, who was laughing. Oh, yeah, she'd enjoyed watching her dad put me in my place.
"OK, now, you can take her hand," Ray permitted me as he placed Ana's hand in mine and took his seat next to Patrice.
I stopped the music without letting go of Ana's hand, and Ros stood up and said her part, just as we had asked her to. "Well, folks, you've all figured out by now that you're at Christian and Ana's surprise Christmas Eve wedding. If you were wondering before why Christian decided to bring along his COO and CFO for a family Christmas, now you know. We wouldn't miss this day for the world, and I would have kicked his ass if he hadn't included us. So here we all are, here to celebrate the marriage of these two, who are not only head over heels in love with each other, but also ready to spend the rest of their lives together. I can promise you this, none of us has ever been to a wedding quite like this one before. Christian and Ana are going to take it from here."
I hadn't taken my eyes off Ana, nor had she taken hers off me, and her smile was so radiant that all those Christmas lights weren't really necessary. Before addressing the others, I leaned in for a kiss.
"Bro, aren't you supposed to wait until the end for that?" Elliot teased me.
Only after kissing Ana did I respond, "I told you, Lelliot, there's nothing traditional about our wedding. I do want to tell you all, though, that we didn't want to do this without all of you here. It was important to us to celebrate this day with all the people closest to us."
Ana jumped in, just as we'd planned. "And in case anybody is wondering how this all came about, I'll admit… it was my idea. You see, a few weeks ago, Christian asked me to move in with him. He thought I would refuse because we hadn't been dating long enough. And I know that, even then, he wanted to ask me to marry him, but he was afraid I would think it's too soon. I agree that it is awfully soon in our relationship, and that some of you might be afraid that we're moving too fast."
"It's your life, Annie," Ray reminded her.
"Thanks, Dad," she responded. "But I want you all to hear this from me, because you probably think Christian was the one to twist my arm to get us here to today. But once I realized that the only thing stopping me from giving Christian my heart was… my fear of getting hurt… I decided to jump in with both feet. To not allow fear to dictate my life. When I agreed to move in with him, I knew that I was agreeing to more than just that. I was jumping in with both feet. All the way. And we both knew we wanted to get married, so why wait?"
"So who really proposed first, and when?" Mia asked.
Ana and I looked at each other, not really sure how to answer. After a brief hesitation, I replied, "I'd say that was Ana when she got down on her knee last night by my piano. We'd planned for me to propose to her last night, but she surprised me. We decided together about… three weeks ago… that we wanted to get married this weekend."
Ana agreed, "We did. And now that we've begun, we wanted to explain that in the state of Colorado, the bride and groom can sign their own marriage license, so we didn't need to get a judge or minister to officiate for us."
"I explained that when you were upstairs," I told her.
"Good," she said. "So Christian and I are going to say our vows to each other now, with all of you as our witnesses. We've written them ourselves, and we agreed that this way would be a lot more meaningful for us, rather than having a stranger get us to repeat words after them."
"Yeah, and Ana won the coin toss, so she's going first," I added.
"That's right," Ana agreed. She took a deep breath, took both my hands in both of hers, and looked into my eyes. "Damn, now I'm nervous. I wasn't nervous before, but now I am."
"I've been nervous this whole time," I admitted.
She took another deep breath, smiled angelically at me, and began, "Christian, I love you. And I vow to continue to love you, unconditionally, for the rest of our lives. I promise to always do my best to be the person that you need me to be. In a very short time, you have become my best friend, my soul mate, and I promise to cultivate our friendship, to keep growing in love with you, and to continue to be your best friend for the rest of our lives. I vow to be patient, kind, and forgiving, through the good times and bad times. When we face difficulties, as I'm sure we will, I will stand by you and walk with you through it all. And I like these traditional words, so I'm sticking with them… 'in sickness and health, forsaking all others, until death do us part.' And know this, Christian Grey, no matter how many trials we face in the days and years ahead, I will always love you, and I will always fight for you. I will be your faithful life partner. And well, I know I had a few other things that I was going to say, and I had this entire thing memorized last night, but I'm nervous, and that's all I can remember. I love you and I'm so grateful that I have you in my life. OK, it's your turn."
"That was perfect, Ana," I told her honestly.
"It was a mess," she disagreed. "It wasn't at all how I practiced it."
"I loved it, and I love you," I told her. "And I promise you, my dear Ana… Anastasia Rose Steele… to always love you and be your faithful partner in life. I pledge my heart, my love, and my devotion to you today, tomorrow, and for all eternity. I belong to you, Ana, and everything I have belongs to you. I promise to share everything with you, from my deepest secrets to all of my wealth. Life isn't complete without you in it, but with you, life is worth living. Everything is better. You've brought color to my life, and I want to keep adding color to yours, for the rest of our lives. I will make you happy, my Ana. Because you are the most important person in the world to me, and you always will be. I will respect you and make sure that your dreams come true. I will make it my goal to see that you reach all of your goals. And yeah, I agree with you about the traditional vows. I planned to say them, too. I, Christian, take you, Ana, to be my amazingly beautiful, magnificently wonderful, angelically perfect wife."
Ana interrupted me with one of her sexy snort giggles, but I kept going, even with a smirk, because she was just so damn cute.
I continued, "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish always. You're the love of my life, Ana, and nothing can ever come between us. We are going to grow old together. And you, and our children, will never want for anything."
I was finished with my vows, so I turned back to our family and friends and told them, "Ana and I are going to exchange rings now. We decided to use a script for this part." I took the paper from my pocket, along with both of our rings. I knew remembering my vows to Ana would be hard enough. Even though the ring exchange was short, I didn't want to get the words wrong.
"Since Ana went first with our vows, I'm going first for this part." I look Ana's delicate little band, which was platinum with a band of tiny diamonds on the front that wrapped artfully around her engagement ring. I placed the ring on Ana's finger and read from the paper. I knew Ana had found the script online, but I wasn't sure where. I agreed with her, though, that the words were perfect for us. "Ana… you are more precious to me today than yesterday, and you will be more cherished tomorrow than you are today. Please wear this ring, as a symbol of my eternal love for you, a love that transcends all our yesterdays, all our todays, and all our tomorrows."
I handed Ana my ring and held the paper so she could read the script. She took my ring and slipped it onto my finger. "Christian, you are more precious to me today than yesterday, and you will be more cherished tomorrow than you are today. Please wear this ring, as a symbol of my eternal love for you, a love that transcends all our yesterdays, all our todays, and all our tomorrows."
I smiled at Ana and glanced at my finger, where she'd just placed my wedding ring. Holy fucking miracle, I was wearing Ana's ring on my finger! I got choked up over that.
Ana glanced at me with a question in her eyes. "Are you ready?" she asked silently.
I nodded at her, and together, we turned and faced our family and friends again.
"And that's it," Ana announced. "We're married!"
I added, "We now pronounce ourselves husband and wife! And Ana said that nobody has to give me permission to kiss her because I already have her permission, and that's all I need!"
Our family and friends clapped as I kissed my wife in front of them all. My wife! Holy shit! And I would not have changed one thing about this ceremony. It was exactly what Ana and I wanted to do, exactly how we needed to do it.
And then, it was time to party. Well, first, we had to take pictures, according to Ana. Kate made us stand under the arch with Elliot and Mia. She had a camera on a tripod with a timer, so she could be in most of the photos herself. Way to multitask. It certainly beat hiring a stranger to photograph us, though, as long as the pictures turned out good.
They took so many damn photographs. Ana with Ray. Me with Mom and Dad. Ana and I both with Ray and Mom and Dad. Me with my siblings. Ana and I with Sophie, then one with Jason and Gail, too. One with my parents and grandparents, then one with just Ana and me with my grandparents. We even took one with Sebastian and Ros.
Finally, it was time to eat. By the time we had finished taking photographs, all of the dining chairs had been moved back to the table, and the table had been set for all eighteen of us. As I had requested a couple of weeks ago, Gail had made her famous French onion soup, complete with her homemade croutons, ahead of time, and she'd given the catering staff the instructions for reheating it and serving it. So I got to enjoy my favorite soup on my wedding night, followed by the salad we'd agreed on, and my favorite main course, pot roast with potatoes and carrots. Everything was delicious, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Well, everyone except Patrice, who seemed to be feeling worse as the evening progressed.
"Dad, is Patrice OK?" Ana asked him worriedly when Patrice had gone to the restroom again, which she'd done several times already."
He answered, "She's not feeling great, but she'll be alright, sweet pea. Don't worry. I'll take care of her, just like she's been taking care of me. I have a question about this marriage license thing, though."
"It's perfectly legal, Dad," Ana assured him. "All we have to do is mail it in. We're legally married."
"So… what you're telling me," Ray pressed, "is that Patrice and I could go by the registry office tomorrow, get the marriage license, sign it, mail it in, and we'd be married. Just like that?"
Ana looked shocked. "Do you want to marry Patrice, Dad?"
He nodded. "As soon as possible. I love her, sweet pea. Yeah, I want to marry her. Very much."
"Does she know that?" Ana asked "Have you asked her?"
"We've discussed it," he replied. "I'm not sure whether I can talk her into moving as quickly as you did, but I hope to. We've talked about eloping. You know, going to Las Vegas for a weekend. She's not as keen on the idea as I am, but I think she does want to marry me, just not in Vegas. But what you've done here seems easier than eloping."
Ana told him, "Well, you still have to apply for the license in person, and no, you can't do it tomorrow because they're closed for Christmas. You'd have to wait until they're open. Honestly, I think it's almost as easy to get married in Washington. But you need an officiant there."
Ray nodded thoughtfully. "Patrice would probably want that anyway. That's her biggest argument against Vegas. She wants her parents' minister to marry us. Apparently, that will be important to them. I don't really mind either way. I just want to marry her."
All this time, I had been texting back and forth, so I wasn't surprised when the doorbell rang. Ana was, though. Good. Time for a big surprise, baby!
"Who could that be, on Christmas Eve?" she asked.
I smiled at her lovingly as I answered, "That, my love, is our wedding singer, right on time."
"Merry Christmas, neighbors!" our guest announced from the entrance, where our security had just welcomed her and her entourage inside and taken their coats. "I heard somebody got married here earlier tonight."
Ana's jaw was dropped open. It was Ray who asked, "Is that really who I think it is?"
"It really is, Ray," I said as I got up and walked over to welcome Ms. Carey. She was smiling broadly and greeting her fans, who were gaping at her in shock.
I announced, "Everyone, would you please welcome our special guest, Ms. Mariah Carey. She kindly agreed to come and sing a few songs for us."
Ana turned to me with wide eyes and exclaimed, "You got the Queen of Christmas to come and perform at our Christmas Eve Wedding?!"
"Well, I mean, I live just next door," Ms. Carey responded good-naturedly. "It was the least I could do."
Neither of us mentioned how much I was paying her to stop by and sing a couple of songs. Instead, we chatted about her own Christmas plans as her band came in and set up. She explained that she didn't have a full band tonight, just a few friends who were in town. Whatever. She had musicians with her, and she was ready to perform for us. Life was good.
The couches had already been moved against the walls after our ceremony to make room for a nice dance floor. Perfect. Ray had gone and gotten Patrice, who seemed to have perked up now that a famous musician was in the room. My grandparents looked excited. They liked Mariah Carey, too? That surprised me, for some reason. Elliot looked like he was about to pee his pants in excitement, and Mia just smiled at me delightedly. Yeah, everybody was happy. And none of them were happier than me.
I told everyone, "Ana thought I was joking when I told her I wanted our wedding song to be "All I Want for Christmas Is You," but I remembered who our neighbor was here in Aspen, so I hoped this would work out." I turned to Ana, who had finally picked her jaw up off the floor and had joined me in conversation with the Queen of Christmas herself.
"Wife, will you dance with me?" I asked Ana as I held out my hand towards her.
She took my hand just as Mariah Carey walked over to my piano, where her band members had already set up. She began to sing, and Ana and I danced to the same song I had played here last night, just before Ana had proposed to me. "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Our family and friends watched, and they all cheered loudly when we finished the dance.
Mariah Carey announced, "Christian asked me to sing this next one for the father/daughter and mother/son dance. This is for all four of you. Christian and Ana… you're all grown up now, but you'll always be your parents' babies." She began to sing "Always Be My Baby," as Ray made his way to Ana, and I took my mother's hand. The four of us danced, and my mother stopped even trying to control the tears falling from her eyes. She promised me she was happy, and her smile looked happy, but I wasn't sure why she couldn't stop crying. Ray wasn't crying. He only had eyes for his daughter, and he looked prouder than hell. They talked quietly for most of the dance, and I have no idea what he said to her, but she looked happy. All that mattered to me was that Ana was happy.
And Mariah Carey did not disappoint. She followed almost immediately with "We Belong Together," and then, "Emotions," and then, "Without You," and of course, "Dreamlover." She even added "Endless Love," which I hadn't even known she sang. One of her band members who I didn't know sang it with her and sounded great. I mean, he wasn't Lionel Richie, but it was good. With that song, she'd sung more than twice as many songs as I'd paid her for. But she wasn't done yet.
"OK, this one is for both of you. It's the happiest day of your life, and you're going to have a lot more happy days ahead. It won't all be easy, though, and when the hard days come… and believe me, they will come… I want you to remember this one. Be there for each other, as I'm sure you promised earlier today that you would. But remember who you are, too. Don't forget your own worth. You're the hero."
She sang, "Hero," then, and I held Ana as we moved to the music. And I marveled once again at the truth of the words. There's no question that I saw Ana as my hero, the one who had saved my life that night when I almost ended it all. But this song… it was about how I could look inside myself and see a hero. Well, I wanted to be Ana's hero. And yes, I wanted to be healthy for myself, too.
As I held Ana, I closed my eyes and quietly sang along:
"And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you."