Parenthood Chapter 3: Wedding, a parenthood fanfic

Hank

Jabbar picked up one of the cameras.

"Careful." Sarah warned him.

"He's got a little assistant. I like that."

Jabbar handed Max the camera.

"I like it, Max."

He took a picture of Sarah and me.

"Aunt Sarah, move to the right more." Max instructed.

She moved to the right.

"Into the light. Further, further." He instructed.

"Don't be so far away." Max pointed out.

"Does he come with me or-?"

"Yes. He should come with you."

"I think- Uh- I think- I'm not toally in the light right now." I told him as he was taking pictures.

"It doesn't matter. Nobody cares about you. It's all about the Bride." Max pointed out.

Sarah laughed.

"Kid's right. Kid's right."

"Haddie!"

Haddie, Adam, and Kristina were greeting each other.

"Get that, Max." I ordered.

"I thought-"

"Let me just- Let me make sure he gets this."

I stepped away from Sarah.

Adam

"I'm so glad you're here!" Kristina told Haddie.

Hank

"Aw. This is great. Get in close. Get all that. That joy. All that crap is good. Get all that." I instructed Max.

Adam

Kristina was holding Zeek.

Haddie kissed him on the forehead.

"Honey, you look beautiful!" She told her.

Amber hugged Haddie.

"Oh, hello. I was just making out with your baby."

"Oh, he's too young for you."

"Mm, well."

"Honey, give me a hug."

Kristina hugged her.

"Stop. Ah." Haddie told her when she kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry!"

Hank

"Pretty good. Let me see."

Max showed me the picture.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"I know."

He went back to taking pictures.

"You're pretty good at this, Max."

"I learned it from you."

"Yeah, well... I learned a lot from you too."

"That doesn't make any sense."

Max walked closer.

Adam

"No, no!" Amber said.

"Oh. We're getting our picture taken!" I told them.

Amber was on the left side of me.

Haddie was on the right side of me.

Kristina was next to her.

She had Zeek in her arms.

"Alright, Max."

Hank

"Are you coming back?"

Adam

"Max. Max, look who's here!" Kristina told Max.

"Max, can you come give me a hug and not be a weird paparazzi?" Haddie questioned.

Zeek

"Hey."

Crosby joined me at the table.

"You doing okay?" He questioned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm doing okay. Just- Uh- You know- Taking a breather."

Crosby sat down.

"Look at your Sister."

He turned around in his seat.

"Yeah."

Sarah fixed Hank's tie.

"She's so happy."

Crosby turned back around.

"Yeah."

"It's nice."

"She is happy. And I'm really proud of her."

He sighed.

"It's hard for me not to focus on the fact though that The Luncheonette is in the crapper. And I'm going back to punch a clock next week at a studio I hated."

"No. Wait a minute. I thought you were going to stay with The Luncheonette." I pointed out.

"What happened to that?" I questioned.

"Well, Adam's out. He's done. He'd been waiting to do it, so-"

"Yeah?"

"That's- That's that."

"So?"

"I can't do it without Adam." Crosby pointed out.

"How am I gonna?" He questioned.

"The hell you can't."

I sat forward.

"Lookit."

"I don't know."

"Crosby, come on, man. I mean- You're more than capable of doing this."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Max

"Max!" It was Haddie.

"What?"

She stood next to me as I was fixing the eyepiece on my camera.

"Um... I want to talk to you."

"I have no time. I'm the official Wedding photographer."

"Uh... Yeah. And I'm your Sister and I never get to see you and I wanna talk to you."

"Okay. I have a very short window."

"Great."

I was switching out the memory cards.

"You know, it has been really weird for me to not be, like... In the same house as you. I miss you."

I put the lens back in my bag.

"Can you look at me?"

"Yes."

I looked Haddie in the eyes.

"It would have been really easy for me to, like, grow up and resent you for being a drama Queen and, like, hogging all of Mom and Dad's attention and I just realized now that I was totally wrong and I am a much better person for being your Sister and I think you're special and cool and weird and wonderful and the best brother and I love you."

"Weird" and "Wonderful" are contradictory. I can't be both at the same time."

"I think you are both at the same time." She told me.

"Can we take a selfie with this giant camera?" Haddie questioned.

"We cannot take a selfie. Selfies are ruining my industry."

"Can we, please?" She pleaded.

"I'll do it. I'll just probably break it."

I picked my camera up.

"You can't touch my camera."

"Okay. So you can do it then."

I took a selfie of us together.

Haddie had tried kissing me on the cheek.

I had pulled away from her in the picture.

Sarah

Adam, Crosby, Julia, and me got pictures together.

Mom and me got pictures together.

Mom, Julia, Crosby, Adam, Dad, and me got pictures together.

Jasmine, Julia, Mom, Kristina, and me got pictures together.

Hank

Ruby and me got pictures together.

Crosby, Joel, Zeek, Adam, and me got pictures together.

Haddie

Nora and me got pictures together.

Hank

I took the camera from Max.

Nora, Haddie, Kristina, Adam, and him got pictures together.

Amber

Haddie and me got pictures together.

We had done multiple poses.

Jasmine

Mom, Jabbar, and me got pictures together.

Crosby

Jabbar, Jasmine, Aida, Renee, and me got pictures together.

Drew

Natalie and me got pictures together.

Julia

Victor, Sydney, Joel, and me got pictures together.

Joel and me got pictures together.

Hank

Drew, Amber, Haddie, Max, and Victor were standing in the back.

Sydney was standing in front of Max.

She was holding Nora.

Jabbar was standing in front of Victor.

He was holding Aida.

I got the pictures of them together.

Sarah

Amber, Drew, and me got pictures together.

Amber, Drew, Ruby, Hank, and me got pictures together.

Dad and me got pictures together.

Zeek

Camille and me were looking on.

"Boy, we did good, didn't we? Camille?"

"We sure did."

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Crosby questioned.

"Oh, Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad!"

It was the picture of Sarah, Hank, Natalie, Adam, Kristina, Crosby, Renee, Haddie, Ruby, Max, Joel, Julia, Drew, Amber, Jabbar, Victor, Jasmine, and Sydney.

Drew was holding Zeek.

Jasmine was holding Aida.

Sydney was holding Nora.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Crosby called.

We walked over.

We joined the picture.

Sarah

Everybody stood up.

Dad was walking me down the aisle.

We hugged when we reached the end of the aisle.

Dad and Hank shook hands.

Amber took my bouquet from me.

Dad stood next to Mom.

She put her hand on his arm.

Dad wrapped his arm around Mom.

He kissed her on the forehead.

"Hank Rizzoli, will thou have this woman to be thy wedded Wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony so long as ye both shall live?"

"I do." He answered.

"Sarah Braverman, will thou have this man to be thy wedded husband so long as ye both shall live?"

"I do." I answered.

"And now, Hank, would you place the ring on her left hand?"

Hank slid the Wedding band on my left ring finger.

"Repeat after me."

"I, Hank."

"Take thee, Sarah."

"To be my wedded Wife."

"Till death do us part."

"Would you place the ring on his left hand?"

I slid the Wedding band on his left ring finger.

"I, Sarah."

"Take thee, Hank."

"To be my wedded husband."

"Till death do us part."

"By the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you, Hank, and you, Sarah... Husband and Wife. You may kiss your Bride."

We kissed.

"Now, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Hank Rizzoli."

We walked up the aisle together.

Crosby

Jabbar was dancing around.

"Shame that our son's having such a terrible time." I told Jasmine.

"I know. Poor kid."

"Hey. You were on record saying that you believed in the business when it was me and Adam."

"Mm-hmm."

"What would your opinion be if it was just me?"

"Well, I told you I believed in you and I meant it- With or without Adam."

"So... Is this what you want?" She questioned.

"Yeah. It's what I want."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Okay, then. I guess we're back in business."

Jasmine and me were dancing.

Ruby

"You know what we should make?" I questioned Lynne.

"The twinkle lights black lights."

"Exactly."

"And then, you know, see how it goes."

We both laughed.

"It'd be awesome."

Max was taking pictures of us.

"Hey! Hey, Max."

He continued taking pictures.

"Max?"

Max paused.

"Hey."

"Hi, Ruby."

He took one more picture.

"Congratulations on your Dad not being single and alone anymore."

"Thanks."

I laughed.

"So, are you the Wedding photographer?" Lynne questioned.

"Yes."

Max continued taking pictures.

"That's really cool."

"Thank you."

"I'm Lynne, by the way."

"Hello, Lynne." He greeted.

"Um... Do you want to go on the dance floor?" She asked me.

"Okay. Sure."

We got up.

"Hey. We're gonna go dance." Lynne told Max.

"Okay."

We both laughed.

"No, no, come on!"

Kristina

I stood next to Max.

"Bud?" I called to get his attention.

"She was cute."

"Don't you think she was cute?" I questioned.

"I think she thought you were-"

"I have a very important picture to take."

"Max, I want you in the picture!"

Amber

I took a sip of my drink.

I had Zeek in his stroller.

"Hi, Sweetie. Hi." Grandma greeted.

She sat on the left side of me.

Grandpa sat on the right side of me.

"Baby sleeping?" Grandma questioned.

"Yeah."

I sighed.

"We're both exhausted."

They settled into the chairs.

"We're just gonna park it here for the evening."

"We got your gift today. The baby glider." She informed.

"Oh, no."

"We found it online. It's beautiful. I think it's the perfect one for you. You're gonna love it."

"You didn't have to do that. That's too nice."

"Yeah. We just can't figure out what address to have it shipped to." Grandpa told me.

"What do you mean? You have my address, don't you?"

They looked across the table at each other.

"We just keep picturing you playing with the baby in our backyard."

"Yeah. We live near the wharf and- I was thinking about taking Zeek down to Golden Gate Park and teaching him how to play Baseball. You know?"

Grandma nodded her head.

"Wait. What- What are you guys suggesting?"

"We want you to come live with us, Amber." Grandpa answered.

He placed his hand on top of mine.

"No- Not- Are you serious?"

I looked between them.

"Oh, guys, no. I couldn't- I couldn't do that to you. This- This is your big third act!" I pointed out.

"I mean, we would ruin any semblance of peace you had in your home. I couldn't do that to you guys." I tried to reason with them.

"Grandpa and I have talked about it and... We decided that we want this to be our third act."

He smiled at me.

"Wow."

Grandpa hugged me.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. You have to cook and everything. I mean-"

I laughed.

"Earn my keep?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

Adam

Crosby joined me.

"Cooling down after that show you just put on the dance floor?" He questioned.

"Hey. Oh, yeah. The fever's gotta put himself on ice."

"The fever got above 104."

"Yeah."

"Brain damage."

Crosby looked down.

"I wanna talk to you about something. Pretty sure that you're gonna think it's a terrible idea and you'll probably have 30 really smart reasons why it is but, um-"

"Bet I won't. Lay it on me."

"I wanna keep The Luncheonette open... On my own. I was thinking, maybe, I could rent out the upstairs, you know, the office space and the extra studios, collect a little rent and then keep the downstairs for myself and then, you know, if things come back, maybe I'll take over the whole shop again but until then it seems like maybe it would be a way to-"

I nodded my head.

"It's a really good idea."

"You think so?"

"I do. I wish I'd thought of it."

"I'm shocked."

I laughed.

"You like my idea?"

"It's a great idea."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry."

"Brothers?"

"I'm sorry. Brothers. Friends."

We hugged.

"What about you? You had an interview at that water place?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Second interview coming up. I think I'll probably get it."

"It's a good job?"

"So- Yeah. It pays decent, so-"

"Don't oversell it."

I laughed.

"Any job that pays decent right now is a good job."

"Well, whatever you take, I- I hope it makes you as happy as you were the other day when I saw you teaching those kids."

I smiled.

"Yeah."

Sarah

Drew was up on stage.

"Um... Hi, everyone. My name's Drew. I am the best man tonight."

"Whoo!" I cheered.

"Thank you, guys."

"Best man ever. Yeah!"

"The world's best man!"

"Um... Hank, I very much enjoyed getting to know you. And I think that you make a nice addition to our family. And I'm, uh... Honored that you asked me to do this, so thank you. Uh... There's a lot of things that, uh... We can celebrate tonight. I have a nephew! There's a new family member. We have baby Zeek."

Everybody looked towards the stroller.

"And then, um... And then Grandpa... Um... I know that you've been through a lot this year and we're all just really happy that you got to be here with us and celebrate this."

Dad nodded his head.

He had his arm around Mom.

"Uh... And then to my Mom. Um... Mom."

I smiled.

"I know that, um... When we were growing up you didn't have a lot of time to focus on yourself because you were so worried about us. And, um... I'm just really happy that you- You found somebody like Hank that you're happy with because that's all that I could ever want for you. Um... So, yeah. Cheers."

"Cheers."

"Cheers!"

Mom and Dad were dancing.

Natalie and Drew were dancing.

Sydney and Jabbar were dancing.

Victor was dancing with Nora.

"When's everybody going home?" Hank questioned as we were dancing.

"Why? You're having fun?"

"No. It's great. No. I am having fun. I just- I'd have more fun alone with you right now."

I smiled.

"I'm having a lot of fun. I'm very happy. I've never been this-"

"Really? On your Wedding day. Imagine that."

"Yeah. Well- I never thought I could get crazy happy like this."

We kissed.

Amber

Uncle Crosby had pulled me out on the dance floor.

"I brought you to this dance floor to tell you something very important."

We were dancing together.

"You can't propose to me. It's not appropriate."

"I'm not gonna propose."

He laughed.

I laughed.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"I'm gonna keep The Luncheonette open and it's gonna be very tight."

"Oh, my God."

"But we're gonna make it work."

I was so surprised.

"And I'm gonna be the new Adam. And I want you- I want to know. Are you up to being the new Crosby?"

"You're not serious."

"I'm dead serious."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious!"

"Oh, my God!"

I hugged Uncle Crosby.

"Yes! Oh, that's a yes."

"Oh, thank God! Yes, yes."

"Let's go tell your mother."

"I won't let you down."

I was squealing.

Julia

Joel and me were dancing.

I sighed.

"Hey."

He looked down at me.

"What are you thinking?" I questioned.

"What am I thinking?"

I smiled.

"I'm thinking- Um- I'm thinking we never expected to adopt."

"Mm-hmm."

"And when we adopted, I never expected it would be an eight year old boy."

I laughed.

"But look at him."

We looked over at Victor.

Nora and Victor were laughing as he spun in a circle with her.

"Look at our boy."

He had done it a few more times.

"Look at our family."

I laid my head on Joel.

"Yeah." I said softly.

I lifted my head.

"I don't know what to do. Cause I was up all night. And all I kept thinking was- "She's Victor's Sister."

I nodded my head.

"She's already ours."

I nodded my head.

We joined hands.

"I really want her." I confessed.

I laughed.

"Me too."

I nodded my head.

"So, we're deciding?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

We kissed.

"This is crazy."

We both laughed.

Max

I approached Lynne.

She was on her phone.

"Will you dance with me?"

"Of course."

We walked inside together.

Kristina

I laughed.

"Don't! Because I've had way too much Wine."

"Okay. Alright."

Max walked pass Adam.

He had the girl with him.

Max

"Is this okay?" I questioned as we were dancing.

"Yeah. This is nice." Lynne answered.

"Good."

Kristina

"He's... He's dancing with a girl." I whispered to Adam.

"He asked her to dance."

"Like a real girl."

"I know. I see."

We continued dancing.

Joel

Sydney had walked off the dance floor with a boy.

Julia had laughed.

"The apple don't fall that far from the tree."

Crosby groaned as she hit him.

"Exes are bad news."

"Especially when you work with them."

"You two are not helping."

"Daddy!" It was Sydney.

"What is wrong with boys?"

"Daddy!"

Zeek was on the floor.

His chest wasn't rising and falling.

"Shit!"

"Grandpa!"

Victor pulled Sydney back.

"Get all the kids outside. Now." Sarah told Amber and Drew.

"Who wants to play "Hide and Seek?"

"Or Baseball." Drew added.

"Ooh. Fun. Come on."

"Can I hold the baby if I go outside?"

"If you're careful, you can hold him."

They ran outside.

I was pressing down on Zeek's chest.

"Come on. Come on. Come on."

I continued doing CPR.

"Come on!"

He gasped.

"God damn it, Zeek."

I helped him up off the floor.

"The next time that happens, nobody will be able to start your heart again. Keep that in mind."

I walked off.

"He's right, Dad."

"Of course I'm right, Adam."

"What would you advise me to do, Joel?"

"Get the damn surgery. Of course, there's risks. There's risks to very surgery. But you need this. Or you're gonna die."