CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"I have the shoes!" Nyx calls as she walks in the front door of the Boarding House. "Who loves me?"

"I do!" Jo yells as she rushes over to her.

"Now, now. I believe those words are reserved for Ric." She says, and the other girls all laugh.

"Your sister's offering me a nonalcoholic mimosa. Save me from the insanity." She says, and Nyx looks at her twin.

"You do realize that that's just orange juice, right?" She asks, and her sister smiles at her sarcastically.

"Nyx, my Winchester sister." Caroline runs over, and the brunette chuckles as she turns to her, clearly amused. "Thank you for bringing Jo's shoes, now go deal with the boys. Make sure they're all getting ready and not drunk. Especially ours." She says, and Nyx nods.

"She means especially mine." Nycole says as she looks over at Jess, who's currently helping Bonnie with the steamer for Jo's dress. "I'm on it."

"Thank you!" The blonde calls after her.

"But if they drive me insane, I'm taking you with me." She narrows her dark eyes at Caroline before closing the front door behind her.

Nyx gets in her car that her friends all chipped in to get for her — a black 2008 two-door Challenger. Forty-five minutes later, Nyx knocks on the door to Ric's apartment. He opens it and the brunette smiles up at him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asks.

"Caroline sent me to make sure that Dean isn't getting anyone drunk. Or Damon, now that I think about it." She shrugs as she then walks into the apartment. "Please tell me that someone picked up the suits."

"Yup." Matt nods.

"We got 'em." Carter tells her.

"And I picked up the rings." Tyler adds, and she sighs in relief.

"Ric." She turns to look at him. "Vows?"

"Yes." He picks up the card from the table.

"Hey, it's Caroline's little helper." Dean smiles as he walks up behind Nyx and wraps his arms around her. "What are you doing here?" He asks as he leans down and kisses her cheek.

"She's checking up on us." Damon tells him, and she smiles. "Apparently they think we're gonna get the male half of the wedding party drunk before the ceremony."

"Caroline's a control freak. I simply go where I'm told." Nyx says defensively as Sam walks past her. "Your girlfriend scares me." She says, and he smirks as he glances at her.

"Our whole lives." Tyler laughs.

"Shut up."

"Hey." Carter gets everyone's attention then, and they look at him as he holds up a bottle of bourbon. "So, are you enforcing Caroline's rules or can we have a drink?" He asks as he looks at Nyx.

"As long as no one ends up drunk before we actually get there, I don't really care what you guys do." She tells them.

"Hey, where are the twins?" Dean asks as the other men start to sit around the coffee table in the living room.

"With Jenna and Ellen." Nyx says as she turns to face him, he keeps his arms around her, and she wraps hers around his neck. "I was supposed to be helping Jo, so I asked them to babysit until later. But now I'm here, and it doesn't really matter. They both love watching the twins."

"I've noticed." He nods.

"Come have a drink." Carter calls, and Dean looks at him.

"Come on." Nyx chuckles as she pulls him over to the guys.

"To Alaric Saltzman..." Tyler says as he raises his shot glass. "...who, after today, will have sex with only one woman for the rest of his life."

"Seriously, just one. You can't even look after this." Matt adds.

"Not that chicks are throwing themselves at an occult studies professor, but—" Carter adds.

"Yeah, actually, you should probably lock this down while you can."

"Mm. Glad I'm here for this." Nyx shakes her head at them as her phone vibrates. She pulls it out of her pocket as the boys take their drink. She starts fake crying. "Why?"

"What's wrong?" Dean asks as he looks down at her phone.

"I may have to take a break from all these chores to kill your girlfriend." She says as she tosses her phone to Sam.

He presses a few buttons on phone and then his own makes a noise. "I just forwarded the list to myself. Let me take charge on this one." Sam says, and her eyes widen as she looks between Matt and Tyler.

"Dude, it's probably a good idea to let Nyx handle this." Tyler tells him. "Caroline's neurotic, and you—"

"Plan to spend the rest of my life with her. I should probably start preparing for it now." Sam says, and Nyx looks at Matt.

"You've got a truck. You think maybe you could tag along?" She asks, and Matt nods as he stands up. "Help him move all of the centerpieces."

"Yeah, you got it." Matt nods as he starts to follow Sam. "I'll grab Bonnie too." He whispers, and she smiles.

"Good man." She nods. "Lockwood, pick up your girlfriend and head over to where the ceremony's taking place. It needs a little decorating, and Jess should be good with that one." She tells him, and then tells Carter to go with him.

"Yes, our little slave driver." Tyler pats her head as he walks past her and Dean, and she glares at him.

"And what should Salvatore and Salvatore do?" Damon asks, and Nyx looks at him.

"You, as the best man, are staying with Ric and not getting him drunk." She tells him.

"And me?" Stefan asks, and she looks at the list of chores on her phone.

"Bonnie's helping Sam and Matt with centerpieces. Tyler, Carter, and Jess are on decoration duty. Elena's helping Jo with the dress, shoes, and make-up... Why does being a girl have to come with so much primping?" She mumbles that last part to herself, and Dean chuckles. "Dean and I are going back to the motel to get the twins ready, and— Oh my God." Her eyes widen as she looks up at Stefan.

"What?"

"Jeremy. His plane gets in in an hour, and Ty was supposed to pick him up."

"I'll text him, let him know it's gonna be me there instead." Stefan says, and she smiles.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Breathe." He says as he walks past her, squeezing her shoulder for a second.

"Come on." Dean says, but then she looks over at Damon.

"Do not ply him with alcohol." She says, and he smiles at her as he takes another drink from his glass. So, Nyx turns her attention to Ric. "Don't let him get drunk."

"I thought I was the parental here." Ric says.

"Not today. Today you are the groom, and I am Caroline's puppet." She reminds him. "So, dance, monkey, dance."

"Alright, let's go." Dean then grabs the top of her pants and starts pulling her out of the room.

—

"Well, look at you." Damon smirks as he walks over to Nyx. "Isn't a bridesmaid dress supposed to make you look like a freak of nature?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"Just another reason to love Jo." She says, and he nods. "Are they starting?"

"Yeah. Ric's going up to the altar now, and everyone's in their seats." He tells her.

"It's weird, isn't it?" She asks, and his eyebrows furrow as he looks down at her. "After all this time, and everything that's happened to us, we've finally found some piece of normalcy in our lives. Children, and a wedding... Humanity for most of us."

"No, I don't think it's weird. I think it's been a long time coming — some of us longer than others." He says, and she smiles at him. "Let's go." He says, and they walk over as the music starts.

Damon holds his arm out to Nyx, and she rests her hand in the crook of his elbow as they walk down the aisle. She smiles at Ric as she and Damon move to either side of the altar. He stands behind his best friend.

Everyone turns as Jo and her dad start down the aisle. Ric smiles when he sees his fiancée — soon-to-be wife. Her dad leaves her at the altar and then goes to sit beside Liv.

"Welcome family and friends, on this magical evening, to the wedding of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin." The woman officiating the wedding says with a smile. "Josette and Alaric have prepared their own vows."

Jo turns and hands her bouquet to Nyx, who smiles as she takes the flowers from her. The older woman then turns back to Ric and places her hands in his. He clears his throat as he gets ready to say his vows, a smile on his face.

"Neither one of us should be here right now." Ric begins. "We've spent our lives dodging fate, and beating the odds. But because we did... I got to meet you. The most beautiful, hilarious, and intimidatingly brilliant woman I have ever known. You inspire me. You've shown me that happiness is actually something that I can have in my life."

Nyx's eyes settle on Dean, who has their daughter in his lap. She's smiling as he looks at her, and he winks. He's been watching her from the moment that she walked down the aisle with Damon.

"And, so..." Ric continues. "I promise to be with you, and to love you, and to dodge fate with you...for the rest of our lives." He places the ring on Jo's finger, and she has tears in her eyes as she looks up at him.

"Josette?"

"Oh, God." The raven-haired bride chuckles as she carefully wipes tears from her eyes. "That's a tough act to follow." She says, still smiling, and everyone laughs.

—

After the I do's, they continue with the party to celebrate. They do speeches, and cake, and toasts, and everyone has a great night.

"Now, if I can please get everyone's attention," Jo calls, and everyone turns to her. "I need all of you beautiful women to gather up here for the traditional bouquet toss."

"Come on!" Vicki pulls Nyx, and she groans.

"I can't wait until you get a boyfriend and end up pregnant so that I drag you around." Nyx says, and she chuckles as she pulls her to the front of the small crowd.

"Ready?" Jo asks as she turns her back to the girls. She makes the motion like she's going to throw the bouquet, but then she turns around and quickly makes her way over to Nyx.

"What—" The brunette looks at her, confused as she takes the flowers from her.

Jo smiles as she turns Nyx around, and the younger girl's expression changes from confused to one mixed between surprised and happy. Dean's on one knee in front of her with the most beautiful engagement ring that she's ever seen. He has the twins on either side of him, and none of the other girls are there anymore.

"I told you once that you were it for me. Nyx, you have completely changed my life, and the way that I see the world since the day that I met you. You and our babies are the best things that have ever happened to me, and I'm grateful every day that I get to wake up next to you. Nycole... Will you do me and our kids the honor of sharing our last name?" Dean asks, and she nods with tears in her eyes.

"Yes." She says, and he slides the ring onto her left ring finger.

It fits perfectly, though he already knew what size to get because of her daylight ring. It's the only time that he's ever been grateful for that part of everything that they've been through.

Dean stands up and wraps his arms around her, picking her up as he hugs her. They then each pick up one of the twins, and Nyx hands the bouquet of flowers to Everly. The tiny brunette smiles as she shows them to her dad.

"Mommy, no cry." Alex says, and she chuckles as she looks down at her son.

"It's okay, my love. They're happy tears." She tells him.

"You happy, Mommy?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm happy." She smiles as she looks at Dean, and he leans down to kiss her.

"I love you." Dean says against her lips.

"I love you too."

"Me!" Ever yells, and Dean chuckles as he looks down at her.

"You?" He lifts her up higher and starts kissing his daughter's cheek, making her laugh.

Nyx looks over at Jo and Ric. She smiles, knowing that both of them were in on this one. Dean never would've done it here without talking to both of them about it first, and getting their permission to propose during their reception.