Todd was holding on to Winston's shoulder. This was it, it was time for the ceremony to begin. Todd and Wendy were standing next to each other, both dressed nearly identical, except Wendy's outfit was a fancy pantsuit instead of a tux. Her hat a bowl hat, compared to Todd's and Winston's top hats.
"You okay man?" Todd saw Winston shaking.
"I'm fine." Winston was sweating.
"Breathe Winston. You waited for this for a long time." Wendy whispered.
"Is he okay?" Ken asked.
"He will." Reggie saw how scared he looked.
"This is who you been waiting for, the woman you'll be spending the rest of your life with." Todd whispered.
"I know, I'm just nervous."
The small orchestra was playing Canon in D for the wedding party, but when they switched over Wagner's "Bridal March," everyone stood up.
Brooke looked radiant walking down the aisle. Todd had to hold on to Winston's shoulder, he was shaking back and forth.
"Relax Winnie." Wendy whispered as she handed him a tissue. Winston had tears streaming down his face. Once Brooke's dad handed his daughter over to Winston, he kissed his daughter on the cheek.
"I love you." Brooke whispered. Todd was smiling huge as she stands by Winston's side.
The priest opens the bible.
"Dearly beloved..."
Todd had to hold on to his emotions as Winston and Brooke exchanged vows. Their vows, they were written just for them, like how they met, how they fell in love, and they found each other when they needed it most.
"The rings please." Todd and Wendy each handed the rings to the minster.
"I Winston, take you Brooke, as my lawful wedded wife, I will always love you, now and forever." As he slipped the ring on her finger.
"I promise to love you for the rest of my life, for richer, for poorer, and promise to laugh whenever you tell bad jokes."
Todd laughed with everyone else. Winston was notorious for awful jokes. But he always made everyone laugh. He watched as Brooke slipped the ring on his finger.
"Now, before I continue, does anyone protest this union?" When he saw Brooke crying, he looked towards the entrance. Her mother Constance was standing by the entrance wearing her Mother of the Bride Dress. When she spoke, Todd wondered what she was going to say.
"Don't stop on my account. Please continue." She mouthed 'I Love You' to her daughter before she sat down.
If Brooke was happy before, she was practically bawling now. But her tears were pure joy. She grabbed Winston's hands. She nodded to the priest to continue.
"Ahem. Now that the couple had exchanged rings, Winston, Brooke. Having witnessed your vows in front of family and friends, and by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."
Todd and everyone clapped hard when they kissed.
"Everyone, may I present, Mr and Mrs Winston and Brooke Egbert!"
Todd and the wedding party follow the newly married couple.
"The Wedding March" was playing as the party walked out the doors, but seeing Winston and Brooke start skipping out, the entire guests were laughing when the bridal party joined in.
Todd watched as the newly wedded couple danced to their song, "Soulmates." Dana and AJ was singing, with Dana's former high school band, The Droids playing.
Todd clapped after they were done. When Dana announced that everyone join them on the dance floor, Todd walked over to his date.
"May I have this dance?" He held out his hand.
"I love to." Suzanne didn't know how to dance, she was in a chair. But when Todd swayed her around, Suzanne's fears flew out the window.
Later that night, the party was bumping. There was a DJ playing, Jeffrey French offered his services as a gift to the couple. He wasn't alone, his wife Robin French was dancing along with him.
"Having fun?"
"Whoever said being in a chair was relaxing, deserves to be punched." Suzanne was exhausted from dancing.
"Would you like a glass of champagne?" Todd was thirsty himself.
''A soda!"
"Coming right up." He leaves Suzanne to get her a can. When he got there, he saw Winston taking a selfie with the pig. "Really? Not even married a full day yet, and already checking out another. Shame." Todd teased.
"Big Bertha here lost out." Winston takes another selfie. "Todd, take a picture, the caterers will take her away soon."
"Later, I have to deliver this to Suzanne." When he turned around, he saw her dancing with the bridal party. Her and the twins were doing the Macarena.
"She looks she's busy." Winston flags down a waiter. "Todd, come outside, we're going to take some candid shots of the guys. The girls already did theirs, the waiter can take the pop to Suzy." He drags Todd away.
Todd waved to his old friends he hadn't seen since high school.
"Aaron! Glad to see you are doing okay!" Todd saw him at Winston's beach party, but didn't talk to him much. "Randy! How's things!"
Randy Mason, former nerd, was now a male model. He attended SVU on a science scholarship, but dropped out to do professional modeling. A far cry when he was made fun of by the Unicorns back in SVMS. The former Unicorns were now giving him lustful looks.
"Fine." He shook Todd's hand. "How's Jess?" He and Jessica had a brief fling in college, but their quickie relationship fizzled out after a few weeks.
"She's doing alright." Todd liked Jessica, but was still uncomfortable being around her. He and Jessica's one-night stand was something Todd wanted to forget. "How's things? Seeing anyone special?"
Randy shrugged.
"Nah. I don't have time. How about you? I heard you are starring on television."
"Yep. It's a show that showcases bar management."
"Really? That's different."
As Todd and Randy talked, he waved at Maria Slater, who flew in from New York. Once they were done talking, he goes to fetch his date.
"Goodbye! Bye! Happy honeymoon!" Todd and everyone else were blowing party horns, both Brooke and Winston said rice was poisonous to birds. Instead, everyone was using kazoos, party horns, or a vuvuzela. He waved goodbye to the limo, cheap cans and streamers hanging from the back.
Suzanne was sitting next to Todd, once the couple left, both were holding hands.
"Todd, I had a great time." She was looking up at him.
"Me too." The night ended way too early. Todd looked down. Gazing in her eyes, Todd wondered if it was inappropriate to ask the next question. "Suzy. I, um." God, he was nervous. "What are you doing afterwards?"
"Home I guess. The Sweet Valley Inn." Suzanne lived full time in Vermont, only coming down on business. She looked up, she was blushing at Todd.
Todd's face was pink.
"Suze, I. Ahem." Todd coughed. "Let's take a walk." He thought he saw Caroline and Amy listening. It was still early in the relationship, but he was hoping that Suzanne and him were ready to take the next step.
"Suzy, it's been how long?" As they walked through the gardens. The couple did good, Brooke's father had good taste. Both Todd and Suzanne walked for a few minutes till they stopped in front of a fountain.
"Junior year didn't seem so long ago." Suzanne mused. "You miss the old gang?" Suzanne cringed during her tenure at SVH. Mr Collins was an innocent party for her revenge on the school. She figured her getting sick was karma for almost ruining his life.
"Yeah. You still talk to them?" He knew she was talking about Vermont.
"We all went our separate ways." Once Suzanne was diagnosed, her parents pulled her out of school and took her overseas for expensive treatments. It helped, but Suzanne wished she stayed behind. She graduated in her parent's villa thanks to private tutors. She was too ashamed to reach out to anyone, especially Todd. "You?"
"Same here. Although Winston and the gang accepted me back with open arms." He looked deeply in Suzanne's eyes. "I never stopped thinking about you." He cared deeply about Elizabeth, his high school sweetheart, loved Gin-Yung, but she was gone. He dated, but all his short relationships were shallow at best. As Todd looked, he felt his heart fluttering.
Suzanne, with Todd's help, stood up.
"Let's not waste anymore time. Kiss me."
"WOOOOOO!" The couple pull apart with embarrassment. The wedding guests were cheering, most of their former classmates were watching, what neither noticed was there was a spotlight illuminating the fountain. Their silhouettes were showing on the tent where the guests were eating and dancing.
"You said you have a new apartment."
"You sure?" Todd was ready, but he didn't want to push Suzanne. "I don't want to hurt you." That was the last thing he wanted. He hurt every girl he was intimate with, even Elizabeth by proxy, by being with Jessica.
"I never been so sure." She pulled Todd's head down, not caring that they were getting recorded by everyone's cellphones.
