SEPTEMBER 1919

ERIK

I was awoken by the familiar sound of my son running down the hall to my room and tried to brace myself for the bombardment of when he arrived. It seemed my efforts were in vain, though, considering I hadn't expected him to start shaking me from my half-asleep state.

"Papa, wake up! I'm getting married today! Get up!" he exclaimed.

"I'm awake, I'm awake. Is there a fire? What's going on?" I asked as I peeled myself off the pillow that was feeling all too comfortable right about now. I don't believe I properly heard what he had said, but I did remember him yelling at me to get up.

When I looked at my son, he looked absolutely exhausted with me and it wasn't even eight o'clock in the morning. "Papa, that's not funny. Come on, we have to get ready! I'm getting married today!" he repeated.

He ran out of the room as quickly as he had run in and was already halfway down the stairs before I had even put on my slippers. Dear god, my son is getting married today, I thought to myself. I looked over to the other half of my bed, intent on saying what I had been thinking, only to find myself disappointed when I saw an empty spot beside me. What had I expected to see? Was I really delirious enough to think that I could turn over in bed and see her as I had that night when I had woken up beside her and just looked at her before I left? Had I actually thought I would see her chestnut curls spread across her pillow, a messy few having fallen into her face while she slept? That I would feel her laying next to me, ready to share the incredible day ahead with me? How could I have been so foolish?

Instead of her, the only thing that was over there was the nightstand where I kept most of my more valuable trinkets. I could hear Sasha's little paws scramble across the floorboards as she chased Gustave around the main floor, and I decided I still had a moment to myself before I was needed downstairs, so I got up, went over to the nightstand and opened the top drawer. The bottom one was larger and was able to hold the bigger boxed items, but the top was ideal for letters and photographs.

Carefully, I pulled out a well-worn photograph of one of the people who deserved to be witnessing what the day had in store today but couldn't; my Christine. I looked into her eyes and I couldn't help but notice yet again how similar Gustave's were. It felt wrong that I was experiencing this day and she wasn't. It felt like our roles should be reversed; I did not deserve the happiness I had been given and she deserved more happiness than she had had a chance to receive.

"Oh, Christine. My Christine, you'll never guess what is happening today," I said, running my finger over her cheek as I spoke, remembering the feel of her skin beneath my hand when I last saw her. "Our boy is getting married. It doesn't feel like he's old enough, I know; you've been gone longer than you think. I do believe he's ready for this, though. You'd have loved Lara; you and she would have become the best of friends, I am sure of it. She is smart and she knows how to balance out Gustave in the best of ways.

"I hope you don't mind but I gave her your necklace. You should have seen her in it; she looked beautiful. She loves him, Angel, I know that for certain. You know he wants you to be here with him so badly; it's eating him up little by little on the inside. He's just wishing you were somehow here again, and so am I, really. I know you're always with us, but I suppose I wish you could be here in a different way, for both of us. Nevertheless, I'll take good care of things today. I love you very much, Christine."

I carefully put the photograph back in the drawer after kissing my finger and placing it to her lips. There was a part of me that knew it was foolish to talk to a picture like I just had, but the greater part of me felt like Christine could hear me and that it was easier to talk to her if I could see her face. Her words were echoing in my ears as I went downstairs to find out what Gustave was doing. She had told me to take the love that I deserve, and though I knew that love would never come from another woman, the love of our son was more than enough for me.

I came down the stairs to find Gustave in the kitchen, seemingly having already fed Sasha and let her out. Now it seemed that he was trying to scarf down an apple and it looked like he couldn't feed himself fast enough. "Slow down. You don't need to choke to death on your wedding day," I warned.

He turned to face me, his cheeks puffed out from how full they were. "I need to get dressed!" was what I believe he said, though one could never be sure when someone talked with their mouth full.

I walked up to him and took the apple core from him before walking over to the kettle to put it on. "Gustave, the ceremony isn't for a few hours. Relax, please," I said.

"I can't relax. I'm part you, remember?" he replied as he gave me one of those matter-of-fact expressions that he was famous for when he tried to be sarcastic with me.

"I won't lie, that's a fair point," I remarked as I fiddled with the stove, the rest of my body not properly quite awake just yet. "But there's no need to get short with me. I'll make you a cup of tea; no coffee this morning, you're energized enough. Put some bread in the toaster and go change your pants at least."

"Okay, okay. I'm going," Gustave said. I turned away for a moment to get the mugs from the cupboard and I looked back to see him sliding across the tiled floor in his socks towards the door, only to fail to brace himself properly on his way to the toaster and nearly fall over.

"Gustave Destler, if you slip and fall and crack your skull, don't expect sympathy," I scolded him as I took off my slipper and whacked him on the head with it.

"I'll be fine, I am actually quite good at this," he said as he attempted to slide out of the kitchen, only to almost fall again. He didn't even look at me as he stood up straight and rubbed the back of his leg; I could only assume he had either almost or had actually pulled something. "Not one word. I am an adult. I can make my own decisions."

"If that decision is to die on your wedding day, so be it. Lara will not be pleased."

"Believe me, neither will Philippe."

"And yet you continue to do it. You never fail to baffle me, my boy. Never," I said to him with an incredulous look on my face. Sometimes he was so logical and precise, then other times that boy made absolutely no sense at all. I suppose that was only more evidence than ever that he and I were the same.

"What can I say? I live to entertain," he said as he stood up and did a little bow as though he just finished a performance.

"Would you go get ready? Your toast is almost done and it's going to get cold," I said, shooing him away by threatening to hit him with my slipper again.

"I'm going!" he said as he nearly slipped again trying to get away from me. "Weren't you the one insisting that I have time?"

A deep sigh escaped me as I realized he did have a point; his logic could be infuriating at times. "Yes, but I'm rushing you because I want this conversation to end."

"Wow, I'm hurt," Gustave said as he was walking back down the hall towards the staircase but I could tell by his tone that he was pretending to be wounded. "I thought you enjoyed our little morning chats. Especially because this is one of our last ones"

In all honesty, that realization hit me like a ton of bricks. The wedding day had finally arrived and he and Lara had already begun to get ready to move in together, after all. I had been avoiding the idea that Gustave wouldn't be living with me anymore and that it would be just me living in our home, I knew that. The thought occurred to me that the entire situation was ironic, considering that the house was only ever meant to accommodate me, but it would feel much too big being alone here.

"I do, and I will miss them. But not this one. It involves you being ridiculous. Now go or I'll eat your toast," I replied.

The footsteps I had been hearing came to a halt just before Gustave ran back down the stairs to point an accusing finger at me as he said, "Don't you dare touch my toast."

"If you aren't down here in two minutes, I might," I said, realizing I could use that as a tool to get him to start moving. "With that lovely jam Lara makes as well. I'm rather hungry, you know. Besides, you did already eat that apple."

He took a moment and I could tell by the look on his face that he was trying to figure out if I was serious or not, but he quickly realized that it was better safe than sorry and bolted upstairs. I didn't hear much from him until he came running downstairs. I was quite shocked to see that, in record time, he had gotten into his pants and undershirt.

"Where's my toast?" he demanded as he stumbled into the kitchen.

I decided it would be much more fun to toy with him so, very nonchalantly, I responded to his question with one of my own: "What toast?"

"Papa, my toast! I need breakfast to have the energy for today!" he whined. The look on his face was hilarious and partially pathetic; it seemed that everything was going to be dealt with similarly that day. "I got ready as you said. You promised you wouldn't eat my toast!"

"I don't remember promising anything," I said as I tried to mess with him a little more for my own amusement. However, the look on his face told me that he was having none of it, so begrudgingly, I picked up his plate from behind me and gave it to him. "I'm only toying with you, relax! Here it is."

Once he had it, Gustave practically inhaled his toast to the point where I wasn't sure if he was actually chewing. Not only that, but once his coffee was placed in front of him, he threw it back so fast that I was worried he would scald his mouth. The second he was done he stood up again and ran out of the kitchen. As he was going down the hall, he yelled back to me, "I'm going to go get the rest of my suit on. You have to call the boys and make sure they're on their way here, then get ready yourself!"

"Gustave Destler, get back here now!" I called with a roll of my eyes. He ran back in and looked at me, very confused, but I was about to make everything crystal clear to him. I had finally gotten the chance to look at the wall clock and I was absolutely exhausted by him already. "Gustave, look at the clock."

"Yes, it's nine o'clock. The ceremony starts at two. Not a lot of time!" He looked completely unphased by that fact and how ridiculous he was acting.

"That's five hours. Only the girls would need that much time to get ready. Face it; they have more to do than us. Believe me, I know the extent of it," I explained, remembering the days back in the opera house when I would watch the chorus girls fret endlessly over the rouge for their cheeks or their charcoal liners for their eyes; it never seemed to end. "Now, sit down and enjoy the morning a little longer. You're getting married, you'll be moving out! Enjoy the last morning of officially being my little boy, will you?"

He sighed, probably realizing that I had a point, and sat down again, only for him to stand right back up again and race over to the telephone in the sitting room. "Alright, fine. I'm still calling the boys, though, to make sure they're awake," he said once he was already over there.

"Yes, your friends might not be up. That would be best," I called back to him, smiling as I spread the jam across my own toast. Once that was ready, I was finally able to sit down with my cup of tea. I decided to pass my time by reading the morning paper, and when Gustave came back, he had somehow gotten into his full tuxedo.

"I can't wait to see Lara. I miss her," he whined to me as he finally sat down again.

"You saw her yesterday," I responded, not having the energy just yet to look up from the article I was reading. I did not have the stamina to indulge his whining, and I believed a small part of him knew that. "You know the tradition; you can't see her until you're at the altar. You'll see her in a couple of hours, you'll live."

"You were the same with Mother, what are you talking about?" He was playing a dangerous game and he knew it when he pulled the paper down to look me in the eyes.

"Not important. Again, you'll survive." He seemed to have forgotten that I had never been so lucky as to have my wedding day with his mother, though the basis for his statement was true; I was always ever so anxious to see Christine for a lesson despite having seen her the night before.

I needed to change the subject before I embarrassed myself. "Are your friends up and about?" I queried.

"If they weren't before, now they are," he said with a cheeky grin on his face. "Though, in all honesty, I believe a telephone ringing at nine o'clock in the morning is a much nicer wake-up call compared to a trumpet at five-thirty."

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of some of his friends being terrified by the ringing, though there was some truth in the comparison; I remembered the first few weeks after Gustave had come home when he would wake up at five in the morning just for the sake of routine. "Fair point. Who got scared awake by the phone ringing? At least one of them, I assume," I said.

"Almost all of them, actually. Especially Uncle Nadir."

So that's where the cocky grin had come from. Nadir had only just come back from Switzerland a few days ago with Madame Giry by his side; I assumed he had gotten used to a lifestyle where Gustave and I weren't calling him at all hours of the day.

"Surprisingly, it was actually Madame Giry who answered the phone," my son added.

I couldn't help but smirk slightly when I learned that she was staying at Nadir's home with him rather than in a hotel for her visit to London, but I vouched to keep that to myself for the moment. "When she worked as the ballet instructor at the Populaire, she ran things like a military officer. I'm not shocked that she was already awake," I attempted to explain, though I knew he would never understand just how frightening that woman could be. "I remember a time when just the tap of her walking stick could make a room fall silent."

"No wonder she and Uncle Nadir get along so well. I think she still scared the life out of him when she yelled at him to get up, though," Gustave said.

I didn't even look up from my paper; I simply shrugged and said, "He deserves it."

"What did he do to deserve it this time?"

"His existence makes him deserve these things. We're friends. I'm allowed to tease him like that."

"You two are ridiculous." I could practically feel his eyes roll as he spoke.

"We know. It keeps us young," I replied, the same cocky grin he had been giving me plastered on my own face.

I finished the article I had been reading, only to look up and see my son in his full suit properly for the first time. He looked much too grown-up for my liking. It truly hit me that he was a man; he was getting married and was going to move out. Thankfully, though, some things never changed; it seemed that he still had no idea what a hairbrush was, nor did he know how to tie his own tie. "You look very dapper, my boy. Your tie is crooked, as always, but still very handsome."

"Well, I never really figured out how to tie one," he said as he started fiddling with it again.

Seeing how helpless he was, I quickly went over and fixed it for him. I also took that opportunity to fix his mess of hair as best I could. I remembered when I had to do the same thing on his first day of school. One would think he would have figured it out by this point; I suppose not, though I couldn't really complain. I was grateful for the fact that he still needed me.

"You know I showed you as a child. It's your fault that you never retained it. But now you'll have your wife to help you. It's also going to be her job to make sure your hair doesn't look like a rat's nest. I swear, it's like the hairbrush is coated in acid and you're afraid of getting burned," I said with a laugh.

"I actually did fix it up a bit before coming down, thank you very much." I raised my eyebrow at him, and he immediately caught on to the fact that just because he was getting married did not give him an excuse to talk to me however he pleased. "I'm sorry, Papa. I just want everything to be perfect."

"And it will be," I said as I finished fixing his tie. "You are marrying your best friend surrounded by friends and family. Everything will be amazing."

Our little moment was interrupted by the phone ringing in the other room. Gustave made a mad dash for it but I was quicker and made it to the receiver first to hear a panicked voice that I believed belonged to Jane coming through the other line. I heard a lot of commotion in the background but I got the gist of what she was calling me about. "Alright. I'll be there in a moment, so just let Lara know. Don't worry," I said as I set the receiver down.

I turned back to my son to see the panicked look on his face; he clearly knew I had been on the phone with someone at his sweetheart's house and I could tell that a million different scenarios were running through his mind. "What's happening?" he asked, a slight tone of panic in his voice.

"The skirt of Lara's dress is about three inches too long. I'm going to get changed and run over to alter it for her," I replied, already walking up the stairs to my room as I explained the situation.

I heard him breathe a sigh of relief before he said, "Okay. As long as you're handling it."

"Don't panic, it's a simple fix." I wanted to try to reassure him that it was nothing but a simple hiccup and that everything was going to work out. "You'd be surprised how many times I've done something similar to this; I'll be there and back before you know it. You can make sure the boys get here so we can start getting ready."

"I can do that." There was panic rising in his voice, but of course, there was. Right after I told him not to panic, that was the first thing he did. My son, indeed.

"Gustave, I said don't panic," I sighed.

"We both know it's too late for that," he said as he walked back over to the telephone.

A second later, the doorbell rang. I saw the silhouette of only one person when I looked down from the top of the stairs, but I was already supposed to be up in my room getting dressed. "Go let them in!" I shouted downstairs as I made it to my room. Thankfully I had already laid my clothes out the night before so there was less work in getting it all put together. "It's probably Nadir because we both know your friends do not move that fast in the morning. I'm getting changed, I can't do it."

"I'm already getting the door," Gustave yelled back up to me.

After quickly getting changed and fixing my hairpiece, I went back downstairs to find Nadir in a sharp suit, though Adele was nowhere in sight; I could only guess that she would join him later on. I quickly stepped past him and got my shoes on, getting ready to head out the door.

"Alright, I've changed. Thoughts on the charcoal grey? I'm really playing with lighter colours," I said with a chuckle.

Nadir clapped and laughed at the same time and I could tell he wanted to make fun of me so badly. Gustave was in the other room calling his friends, and I could hear him scolding Anthony for going back to sleep, but he still managed to respond to me: "As long as it's not black. This is my wedding, not my funeral!"

"It's not, I listened to you. Believe it or not, I can follow simple instructions."

"I never said you couldn't!" he yelled back in between dialling the next person on his list. "And for that, I am grateful."

I took that opportunity to turn to Nadir to fill him in on what was happening. "Okay, I need you to make sure he doesn't have a heart attack while I'm gone. I'll be back."

"Where are you off to?" he inquired. There was a puzzled look on his face, seeing as I hadn't briefed him on everything that had happened over the course of the morning.

"Lara's dress is still too long. The seamstresses made a mistake," I said while I tried to be as quick as possible as I pulled my coat on. "Jane called me in a panic. I'm on my way to alter it at least slightly for her."

Gustave had come back to join us and he looked jittery, to say the least, but Nadir beat me to the punchline that I had in mind as he said, "Be quick. I think he may spontaneously combust."

"I know, I'm going, I'm going." I quickly said my goodbyes and made one last attempt to calm my son down, then turned back to Nadir, demanding that he explain everything that happened in Switzerland when I got back. As I made my way to Lara's house, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something, but I didn't have time to sit and stew on it; I had to keep moving.

~~~~~

When I arrived at the house, a sweet-looking maid opened the door. She seemed to know who I was, but I couldn't recall having ever met her. Regardless of all that, she led me towards where the ladies were getting ready. As we made our way there, we ran into Philippe, who looked almost as frantic as Gustave.

"Philippe, are you alright? You look like you're about to pass out," I said with a slight frown.

That seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he had been in to acknowledge me: "Oh, thank you, Erik, for coming so quickly. We have a member of the staff that is capable of fixing the dress, but Lara was adamant that she only wanted you to do it."

"Of course I came. Jane told me that I was needed," I replied, trying to affirm that it was not too much trouble for me to come. "I suppose Lara knows that I have done similar things before during my time in Paris and on Coney Island, so she knows I can do it."

"That must be it," Philippe said. He clearly was trying to put the pieces of my past together in his head, but it was obvious to me that some of them just weren't clicking for him. "Nevertheless, you're here and you can fix it."

"Just take me to her and I should have it done in about a half-hour, depending on how many layers of the skirt there are." I figured that the time approximation would help calm his nerves and it appeared that I was at least somewhat right, though he was still fiddling with his hands as he led me the rest of the way to the sitting room where the ladies were waiting for me.

"Hello, ladies. I'm Erik, Gustave's father. May I get your names?" I asked them all.

"Well, I would hope you know who we are," a familiar voice said from one side of the room. I looked over to the familiar sight of Jane and two other young girls, Peggy and Natasha. Those three girls had known Gustave since he and William started high school and their entire group, along with Lara and three of my son's groomsmen - Anthony, Stephen and Bruce - had been joined at the hip ever since. I had seen them all grow up, had hosted them all for dinner more times than I could count, and had witnessed little romances blossom within the group; Gustave and Lara, Jane and William, of course, but Peggy and Anthony had been courting since before the war, and he had mentioned the idea of proposing to her once or twice. Natasha and Stephen were a more complicated story when it came to their romance; for the longest time, Natasha had refused to give in to his feelings for her, but once he had returned from his military service, she had practically tackled him at the train station to kiss him. Sure, she had slapped him after for not returning sooner, but they were happily courting and working towards a marriage of their own. With all of their history, I should have guessed that Lara would ask those girls to be in the wedding party.

"Yes, yes, Peggy, of course I know I've met you three," I said as I gave her a look that was meant to imply that I wasn't talking about them. I then gestured to the other young woman in the room, seeing as I had never met her before. "But you, my dear, are new."

I was quickly told that her name was Amelia, Lara's other bridesmaid. I might have heard things about her from Lara while we were planning, given that she was one of her many cousins, but couldn't be quite sure.

Once introductions were finally over, I was able to turn my focus to the reason I was here; my soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

"Lara, you look beautiful." I simply had to say it because it was resoundingly true. The dress fit her body like a glove and the off-shoulder neckline was perfect for the necklace that I had given her. The sleeves kept things traditional and modern, seeing as they were of a three-quarter length. The lace of the gown was absolutely perfect and the skirt was neither too big nor too small in terms of volume. I dare say I couldn't have done better myself, though at least I would have double-checked the hem measurements before cutting the material.

"Thank you," she said smiling wide, though the panic returned within moments as she remembered her predicament. "I just wish those cursed people at the boutique knew how to follow through with a length requirement. Erik, please tell me you can fix it."

I quickly fished a handkerchief out of my jacket and gave it to her before the tears could fall down her face. "Okay, no crying. I can tell that makeup took much too long to do for tears to ruin it now," I said with a slight laugh.

"You're right," she said as she carefully dabbed the cloth near her eyes.

"Now, you are much shorter than me, even in your high heels, so I need you to stand on something so I can quickly hem the skirt, at least for now," I said as I scanned the room for something that could serve the purpose. "Is it alright if you stand on the coffee table?"

"It's fine," said Marguerite. I couldn't lie, I hadn't noticed her in the room, so when she spoke, it was rather unsettling.

"I may need some help getting up," Lara said as she tried to figure out if she could do it herself, but I did not want to risk the possibility of her tripping on the skirt and getting hurt. So, without hesitation, I lifted her - bridal style, ironically enough - and placed her on the table.

"There. Now I'll just grab-" I began as I felt around in my suit jacket, only to be shocked to realize that I had forgotten my small sewing kit. That was why I felt like I was forgetting something; I could practically see it sitting there on my dresser. "I need a needle and thread, please."

"I'm on it," I heard a voice that I believed belonged to Peggy say as she ran off.

My attention returned to Lara, who appeared to be getting teary-eyed again. I quickly stood up and dabbed away her tears myself. "What did I say about crying?" I said, trying my best to give her a comforting smile. "This is all going to be fine, Lara. Like I told Gustave, you're marrying your best friend. This is just a little hiccup that we can take care of. All will be well. If anything, you are only allowed to shed happy tears, alright?"

Lara nodded and genuinely smiled at me; I think I may have actually gotten through to her. It seemed I had better luck with her than with my own son.

Less than a second later, Peggy ran back into the room with a needle, a small pair of scissors and a spool of white thread. "Thank you, darling. Let's get to work, shall we?" I asked.

"Thank you so much," I heard Lara whisper to me as I knelt to begin my work. I hoped she knew that I would have come in a heartbeat if I could; she was my family and there were few things I wouldn't do for my family.

Just as I had predicted, the alteration took no more than a half-hour. The dress now stayed just above the ground so that Lara wouldn't trip on it as she walked down the aisle in a few hours. I then decided it was worth making sure that the bridesmaids' dresses were all properly tailored. Thankfully, though, the boutique wasn't completely ignorant and the other girls seemed to be alright.

I was just putting away my sewing supplies when I heard Lara curse from the other room. My heart stopped when I heard it; something bad must have happened if she, of all people, was cursing. Even her word of choice was one that I could never have imagined coming out of her; a small part of me was impressed. I quickly bolted to where she was and saw why she was so upset - she was looking out the window at the rain that had started to fall.

"Erik, can you fix it?" she asked, looking at me with such hope in her eyes that I wished it were possible for me to fix the issue at hand.

"Well, my dear, I'm afraid I'm not God, so I cannot control the weather, no. It'll lighten up in a moment, I'm sure. If not now, then certainly before the reception. All is well," I replied, only to realize that I had made the decision of walking and I was already in my suit for the wedding. "Is there an umbrella I could borrow for the time being, though?"

~~~~~

I made it home just as the rain was beginning to weaken; there were certain sections of the sky where I could see sunlight poking through. I could only hope that the development had calmed Lara's nerves. As I walked into the house, I announced my presence and my success all in one go: "Dress is fixed and the rain is letting up! Everything is fine!"

Instead of being greeted with "hello", "welcome back" or "thank goodness you were able to fix it," I was met with my son running at me with a pin and a flower. "Put this on, Papa!"

"Stabbing the father of the groom probably isn't smart, Gustave," I heard Stephen say. He could clearly see, just as I could, that my son was having no luck with the boutonnière and was about to stain my white shirt red if he kept going.

"Thank you, Stephen. I'd have to agree," I said before I quickly took the pin from Gustave and, within seconds, had it on my lapel. "You know, I still believe roses to be a more traditional flower for a wedding."

"Didn't Lara tell you why she chose tiger lilies, Papa?" Gustave inquired as he looked in the mirror to fix his own boutonnière.

"All she told me was that she really wanted them." I was actually quite confused; I hadn't been informed that there was a reason behind the flower besides the fact that Lara loved them and that there was a less stark contrast between them and her white dress.

"Well, Lara had recently read a book explaining that flowers have different meanings," he began as he walked back over to me, "and she saw that tiger lilies are symbolic of pride and positivity. She explained to me that she wanted something that showed how proud we were of how we had found a way to stay together, as well as to show our outlook on the life ahead of us."

I was taken aback, realizing how foolish it had been for me to argue with her about that topic when we had been planning the wedding. "That's a wonderful sentiment."

"Now you know why she was being so stubborn when you tried to debate her on this."

"I'll make sure not to question her anymore."

"Probably in the best interest of your health," Gustave remarked with a smile on his face.

I had barely had enough time to say hello to all the other boys when I was yanked hard by Nadir into the dining room.

"Madeleine gave this to me a while ago and told me not to open it until today. It's a best man speech," he said. He was speaking in hushed tones and I had no idea why, but the prospect of Maddie helping Nadir write a speech was something that entertained me, to say the least.

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it all. "She had to write it for you? Oh, Daroga, that won't do," I replied.

My witty remark was swiftly greeted by a hard smack on my arm, which I did not appreciate in the slightest. "No, you prick."

"Oh, you've spent too much time in London. You're using their slang." I still didn't understand why he was being so serious about the whole thing. Though I would have made fun of him if he had actually needed Maddie's help to write his speech, I wouldn't have held it against him; I'd never really known Nadir to be the best with sentimental words. Even still, what he said next pushed it all into perspective.

"This isn't a joke, Erik. William wrote it."

My heart dropped to the bottom of my chest. "When?" I breathed.

"Before he was deployed. Apparently, Gustave had talked to him about proposing before they left for the war," Nadir tried to explain, but it seemed that he was trying to say too much at once. He had to take a moment to redirect his train of thought before huffing and continuing: "Damn it, Erik, Madeleine was almost in tears when she gave me this envelope before I left for Switzerland and I had no idea why until now."

For a minute that felt like an eternity, I did not know what to say. Our William had a whole speech prepared, knowing that Lara and Gustave would have ended up together. Eventually, there was only one thing I could think of asking: "You're going to read it at the reception, then?"

"I don't know if I can do that to Gustave," Nadir said as he looked down at the envelope. I could tell that the decision was weighing down on him like a dumbbell on his shoulders. "This is supposed to be the happiest day of his life. Is it fair to him that I should bring up such a painful memory?"

"While I understand your concern, he wants William to be involved so desperately; he is insisting that a photograph of him be present at the ceremony. And William wrote this with the intention of it being heard." I was trying to rationalize the entire thing for Nadir, but a part of me needed to hear it as well. "As a writer, I understand that completely. He may not be able to present it himself, but we should grant the boy one last wish and let Gustave hear these words from the heart of his best friend."

Nadir nodded, realizing that I had made a point, and carefully tucked the speech back into his breast pocket. "I won't say my own speech then. It won't mean nearly as much after this."

I patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure he'd appreciate your speech, but we should give William the last word, I feel."

"Yes. Let him have that sense of satisfaction."

"We might want to keep this a secret until the reception," I pointed out just before I remembered that I had so many questions for him. "Something I don't want you to keep a secret, though, is what happened in Switzerland."

A deep sigh left him before he responded to me: "I was hoping that you'd forget to ask."

"You knew there was no chance of that ever happening," I scoffed.

"I know. But a man can dream can't he?" he began, hoping that he would be able to change the subject, but I immediately shot down that idea with a look that said it all. "Alright, alright. My time in Switzerland was very nice, actually. At first, it was a bit awkward to sit there and talk face to face instead of through letters, but eventually, we adjusted. I think we got to know each other on a more personal level than we would have been able to do if we had only kept sending letters. I believe I have grown to care for Adele very much and our visit only confirmed that for me."

"That's a very sweet sentiment, Daroga," I said. I knew it probably came off as sarcastic, but I was trying to be as sincere as possible. "But I was hoping for more of the fun details. Like something along the lines of the fact that she is staying with you rather than going to a hotel."

I saw the tips of his ears go pink and I just had to know more. "I was really hoping that Gustave wouldn't tell you about that," he said.

"Well, too bad, he did. Now explain yourself."

"Nothing has happened if that's what you're wondering." He was being reasonable by starting with that fact before continuing: "I simply offered my spare room to her so that she didn't have to pay for a hotel. She is my guest, after all. I wasn't going to ask her to come to a wedding for a boy she hadn't seen in ten years and make her pay for a hotel. It just made more sense."

I was about to continue with my interrogation, given that the colour of his cheeks did not correspond with the presumed innocence of his story, but we were called back into the living room by Anthony, who appeared to have poured everyone a drink. "Erik, Nadir, come back here for the toast!"

We were both given glasses and I gave it a quick sniff to try and determine what type of liquid it was. It took no time to figure out that it was cider; Anthony must have brought it knowing that Gustave was uncomfortable with alcohol. My boy really did have some good friends.

"To Gustave! The first one to marry a lovely lady. I hope you know what you're doing, my friend," Anthony said as he raised his glass. We all followed his example and downed our drinks, following that with applause.

When that was done, I put my glass back on the table, then walked over to Gustave and hugged him before realizing the time. Somehow, the clock had struck half-past noon and we were expected at the church shortly.

"Shall we get to the church and get ourselves set up, gentlemen? You wouldn't want the bride to beat you there and be waiting for you, would you, Gustave?" I asked. The groomsmen all began to make their way out the door then, but I called my son aside for a moment. Nadir gave us a look that told me that I should make sure I kept things brief. I nodded to him and made sure he left before I continued.

"I have a little something for you," I said as I took the gold chain off my neck and put it on him. The little ring that it held was far too small for either of us, so putting it on a chain made the most sense.

He seemed to have recognized it instantly and he looked at me with such confusion as to how it had come into my possession. "Papa, this is Mother's wedding band. How do you have it?" he asked.

"I've had it for years, actually," I admitted as I watched him run his thumb over the little piece of jewelry. "I kept it when I replaced it with my pinky ring at the funeral. It felt wrong to just put it in a box and out of sight, so I put it on a chain and wore it around my neck, over my heart. It was a piece of your mother that I would always have with me."

The puzzled look on his face persisted despite my explanation. "Why are you giving it to me, though?" he queried.

"Lara has a piece of your mother with her today, soldatino. It's only fair that you should have one too."

~~~~~

The ceremony was being held in a small church that stood in between both our house and Lara's. Although neither Gustave nor I was religious, it had meant a great deal to the bride to have the ceremony done in a church, so we had happily obliged her in that respect.

When we arrived, everything was set up in terms of decor, which was a relief, to say the least. The groomsmen waited in the front entry for the ladies to arrive, but I decided that it would be best for me to take Gustave inside and get him into position at the altar.

As we walked inside the main chapel, chills ran up my spine. The last time I had been in a church was when Gustave and I had stopped off in the town where I was born. Though there were some good memories tied into buildings like the one we stood in at that moment, religion and I had never truly gotten along.

When we made it to the altar, I was able to make sure he was standing where he was supposed to and I also got a chance to fix his hair one last time. His hair was another thing that reminded me of Christine; one was never sure what it was going to do next.

"Now. I want you to stand here and do not move. Just...stay in your place," I instructed him, hoping he would listen to me for once.

A look of confusion washed over him; it seemed that he could not possibly comprehend why he had to stay in one spot for so long. "But what if there's a problem?" he asked.

"I will handle it. Just don't move." I was actually able to pacify him with that before I went to take my seat in the front row. Maddie had beaten me to it, but it was only a matter of about thirty seconds of peace before an usher approached us with some dangerous words.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this but you can't sit here. This row is only for immediate family," he said, and something in my head snapped immediately. Of course this was happening; he must have been told by someone that I was the one family member attending for Gustave. A fact when discussing bloodlines, certainly, but completely and utterly false when Maddie was in the equation.

"Now hang on a moment. First off, please don't call me ma'am. Besides that, though, I am certainly family!" Maddie retorted. She was getting angry, and if there was one thing I knew about her, it was that she didn't get angry often, so when she did, it was safest to just move out of the way. I looked over to Gustave to see that he was about to rush over to try and sort things out, but I quickly shot him a glare that told him to stay exactly where he was.

"What is your relation?" asked that poor unfortunate soul of an usher. He was just trying to do his job but was in way over his head; I could tell by the look on my friend's face that if someone didn't step in soon, there was going to be a funeral after the wedding.

"My relation is-"

Without a second thought, I ran with the first idea that came to mind; I came up from behind and grabbed her hand before telling the usher, "She is my wife. The mother of the groom."

The look of confusion on Maddie's face was warranted, I will admit, but she seemed to catch on to what I was trying to get away with. She quickly looped her arm through mine and I made sure that my left hand with the gold wedding band was in the usher's line of sight the whole time. "Yes, this is my husband. Our son, Gustave, is getting married today," she said.

"Yes, so you see, my wife belongs in this row with me," I added.

"Your what?" a familiar voice called out to me from behind and my head dropped. Of course Charles had to show up at that precise moment.

I turned back to him, showed him my wedding band and tried to get him on board with the lie. "My wife, Madeleine."

It seemed that I would have no such luck. "Wait a minute, someone-"

"Just go make sure Lizzie is okay," I said through gritted teeth. What was there not to understand about the situation at hand? All I needed him to do was walk away and he just would not take the hint.

"Is something wrong here? People seem confused about this," the usher remarked. I was sure that, by that point, he was confused out of his mind and wanted the conversation to be over just as much as we did.

"Oh, he's already had a little bit to drink today," I tried whispering in an effort to make it seem like it was something that should be kept between us so that Charles didn't come off as a drunk to every member of Lara's family. "Just ignore him."

Unfortunately, Charles just couldn't keep his godforsaken mouth shut. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked with a frown.

"Just go check on Lizzie," I said, keeping my voice low. I was trying desperately not to curse inside a church, but my restraint was beginning to fail me.

"Okay, fine, fine." Charles put his hands up in surrender and I was finally able to take a solid breath as he walked away.

I turned back to the usher and wrapped my arm around Maddie's shoulders to hold her close, trying to sell the lie in any way, shape, or form. "Anyhow. Now that he's settled, there is no issue here and my wife and I will be taking our seats now." I really needed him to leave and for the entire issue to be all settled and done with. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gustave looking at me with a similar confused expression to the one that Charles had given me just moments ago. I tried to give him a look that told him that I would explain later, but my message seemed to have been lost in translation.

"Come on, my dear, let's get comfortable for the ceremony," I added, and just to put yet another nail in my coffin, I kissed the top of her head.

"Yes, please do. My mistake, sir." I could tell that the usher barely bought a word of our little charade, but it at least got rid of him without Maddie having to kill him.

"Well, that was interesting. But it was nice being married to you for five minutes," Madeleine said as she shook my arm off of her shoulder and burst out laughing immediately; I could tell that she had been holding it in for a while.

I couldn't help but join in her laughter as we sat down. "Truly the most interesting five minutes of my life," I replied.

Charles took that moment as an opportunity to rejoin us, little Lizzie in tow, looking absolutely adorable in her flower girl dress. However, instead of sitting with us, she ran right up to Gustave, who proceeded to pick her up and begin a full conversation.

"Okay, can someone explain to me what just happened? When did you two get married? Madeleine, when did we get divorced?!" Charles exclaimed.

"You signed the papers in your sleep. It's a shame that you slept through the ceremony, it was beautiful. Gustave cried," I said. I figured it would be more fun to keep messing around with our little lie. Given how Maddie had gotten on board with it so quickly, it was no surprise to me that she jumped on board with our backstory as well. "You have to understand something, Charles; Maddie and I are more than just friends. You've just been too oblivious to notice."

"Truly, I'm surprised it took you that long to notice," Madeleine added. She and I must have been sharing one brain at that moment because the entire scenario was playing out perfectly. "Yes, it really was lovely, Charles. It's a shame that you missed it."

Charles must have realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the two of us so he simply gave a shrug of defeat. "Well, maybe I'll get an explanation later on," he said.

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't. In any case, though, you can have your wife back now," I said as I gestured towards Maddie, who was still giggling at the ridiculousness of the whole scenario.

"I would greatly appreciate that. It would be an awkward conversation with Lizzie," Charles pointed out.

Realizing how uncomfortable a conversation like that would be with someone of Lizzie's age, I couldn't help but agree: "Yes, it really would be. We don't need that to happen."

"We really don't. But I will admit, the look on that usher's face was worth every second," Maddie said as she gestured towards the poor unfortunate soul who had to witness all of that.

"Oh, it was. And who knew that we would pass as a married couple so well?" I said as I thought back on how seamlessly our story got put together. "You caught on so quickly to the little coverup, unlike some people," I quickly added, making it quite clear that I was talking about her actual husband.

"I thought that you were going to blow it for us all, Charles," Maddie said, clearly agreeing with me. "I didn't think we had it in us to pull off that type of improvisation."

"No, neither did I. I thought I lost it for a moment when I showed him my ring." I made a point of fiddling with it as I spoke. "He looked so confused, as if he didn't know that married people have rings."

"I'm surprised you still carry your father's ring with you. I suppose it did save us at that moment, though," Maddie said. I was confused for a moment; I had almost forgotten that I told her that the ring had belonged to my father.

"As I've told you, I do it to conform to at least one aspect of social constructs; I suppose it did assist us with selling the story. And honestly, I've gotten used to having it on my finger." The ring had become a comforting object for me over the years, it seemed. It had also truly saved Gustave and me socially, at least giving off the illusion that I was a widower who just never remarried. It saved us both from having to tell people the truth. "It is a piece of a parent I never knew and have no reason to be upset with. Not to mention that it gives me something to fidget with when I'm nervous."

"It's mostly for the fidgeting," I heard Nadir say, and I turned to watch him walk over to us with a wide smile spread across his face, which I thought was a result of watching the whole interaction with the usher. I was quickly proven wrong, however, when a woman walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek before taking his arm. It took me a moment to realize that it was Madame Giry; I wasn't used to seeing her in something other than black. She was in a lovely plum dress that kept true to her conservative style. Even though it wasn't actually that cold outside, she kept her high collar and sleeves. Her hair was in its usual tight updo and she wore simple jewelry. She looked quite nice in her pop of colour.

"Dear god, Madame, I almost didn't recognize you," I said as I got to my feet to greet her. "You look lovely. It is nice to see that both of us are capable of dressing like we aren't about to attend a funeral."

"Erik, please. We've known each other for so long, you can call me Adele," she said with a smile.

I thought about it for a moment, but I realized that that was the first time I had ever seen her speak with a smile on her face. She and Nadir really did seem to make each other happy.

"I will continue to call you Madame because we've known each other for so long. You know I'm a creature of habit," I replied.

"Fair point," she said before turning to Nadir. "You're right, nothing really has changed."

"Well, sorry to intrude, but something has definitely changed," Carles said, being the one who had the courage to vocalize what he and Maddie were both thinking; the latter was too preoccupied with her jaw being on the floor from shock. "Nadir, would you care to introduce us to your friend?"

"I thought I told you," I said. I could have sworn I had told them both about the fact that Nadir was bringing a date.

Maddie proceeded to smack me on my arm, which gave me my answer; I clearly hadn't told them. "I think I would remember you telling me that Nadir was bringing someone," she retorted.

Madame Giry laughed at how Maddie had scolded me. "I think you and I will get along wonderfully. My name is Adele Giry. I've known both Erik and Nadir for a very long time."

"I think the words 'long time' is an understatement. I think it would be about thirty years now." Nadir said. I could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to do the math; he might have been slower than me, but he still managed to be right with his estimation.

"Well regardless, it's lovely to meet you. I am Madeleine and this is my husband Charles," Maddie said as she reached out her hand and offered it to Adele to shake.

Nadir took that as a prime opportunity to bring back what had happened moments ago. "Oh really? Judging by what I saw, I thought Erik was your husband."

"You really heard all of that? Did you enjoy our little performance?" I asked Nadir.

"Oh, it was better than some of the theatre I've paid to see," he responded as he tried to hold back laughter.

"You truly came out of your shell as an actor. Some of your best work," Adele said, following the train of mockery.

"Now I remember why I never associated with the two of you at the same time," I pointed out, knowing that that level of mockery was only the base of what was bound to come later. "Well, Maddie, we are a talented pair who play a good married couple, it seems. I was worried I was pushing it when I kissed the top of your head, but I suppose not."

"By the way, you're not allowed to do that again. It felt sort of strange getting physical affection from you," Maddie teased. I truly could not escape being made fun of.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind. I'm sorry," I replied.

She kept laughing even though I genuinely felt like I had overstepped my boundaries. "Oh, don't worry about it. It was the spur of the moment, and it truly brought it home."

"Good, good. I'll just remember that, outside of pretending to be your husband, no more kisses because it's that strange for me to give you affection like that."

It was then and there that I felt a small person tugging at my pant leg. Looking down, I saw that it was none other than Lizzie, who appeared to be asking me to pick her up. Needless to say, I obliged her request; it was easier for me to pick her up than it was for me to bend down to hear her.

"Hello princess. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Lara getting ready?" I asked.

A nod of her head was the response I got. "I wanted to see the new lady," she replied.

"Oh, I see," I said as I glanced over at Nadir and Madame Giry. That definitely would have been a new sight for her. "Well, why don't you introduce yourself like the little lady you are and maybe you'll find out?"

I put her back down, carefully making sure that the tulle of her dress was in order, and once she was ready, she toddled over to Adele, who was already watching her intently. She was probably partially amazed by the fact that Lizzie was so comfortable around me. In all the years that Madame Giry and I had known one another, I don't believe she had ever seen me interact with a small child like my goddaughter.

Walking up to Adele, Lizzie gently tugged on her skirt to get her attention, although she really didn't need to.

"Hello there. Who might you be?" Madame Giry asked as she knelt to the little girl's level.

Lizzie looked back at her parents and me before shyly saying, "I'm Elizabeth."

"That's a beautiful name. My name is Adele." The smile on her face was quite fun to see; I imagine there was still some maternal instinct in her to the point where she knew what to do.

"Why are you holding Uncle Nadie's hand?" Lizzie inquired. I couldn't hold in the little chuckle I had in me when I heard the nickname that the girl had bestowed upon Nadir. He told me that he hated it but I knew there was a part of him that adored it. I could tell that Adele was trying her best not to laugh as well but my friend, on the other hand, looked like he was cursing every god he knew over the fact that his lady friend had been made aware of that nickname.

It took Adele a moment to try and put her answer in language that Lizzie would understand, but eventually, she said, "Well, your mother and father love each other and they hold hands. It's like that with me and your uncle."

"Oh, okay. I like your dress, Adele," Lizzie said with a smile. I adored how quickly she had accepted that answer; it seemed to make perfect sense to her that her Uncle Nadir had fallen in love.

There was a small bit of laughter from Adele and it was probably for the same reason I wanted to laugh. "Thank you, Elizabeth. Purple is my favourite colour. What's yours?"

"I like purple too." Lizzie was slowly gravitating more and more towards her the more they kept talking, and it was actually quite refreshing to see. I didn't know how long it had been since Madame Giry had a chance to talk to a child like my goddaughter, but it was easy to tell from her face that she had missed it.

"That's amazing. Are you excited for dinner when all of the dancing happens?" Adele asked.

Instead of responding verbally, Lizzie gave a small nod, and it looked like she was about to ask another question when Jane came towards us.

"Hello, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have to steal Lizzie now," she said. When she arrived, Lizzie seemed to get very excited; her role as flower girl was very important to her. She said goodbye to everyone, Madame Giry included, before she took Jane's hand as they walked away.

"She is absolutely precious," Adele said as soon as the little girl was gone, standing and turning to her new beau. "And you didn't tell me that Erik actually bonded with a child, Nadie."

"Believe it or not, although I look like a gargoyle, I have emotions," I protested. The mockery was getting out of hand and I was determined to defend myself. Even still, at least I wasn't the only one she had targeted with her remark; she had also brought Nadir's newfound nickname into things.

"I have a feeling that name is going to stick," my friend said with a sigh.

"It's already stuck," Adele replied, kissing his cheek.

"Let's go back to making fun of Erik, shall we? That is both an easy and fun pastime." Nadir was clearly desperate to make sure that nobody dwelled upon the fact that Adele had just kissed his cheek for the second time. "Nobody ever said that you didn't have emotions, my friend. It's just strange for you to use them."

"Oh, stop it. This is why I don't like talking to you," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Since when has that stopped me before?" I rolled my eyes, hating the fact that he had a solid argument.

"It should stop you. It's going to get you in trouble sometime when you hear a conversation you don't want to hear." I thought of bringing up some of his time adjusting to Paris all those years ago. To put it simply, he was not the type of person to enjoy winter. I also had some especially fun stories from when he would visit me beneath the Opera House.

He raised an eyebrow at me and I remembered how much dirt he had on me, along with the fact that I might not even remember. "You're one to talk."

"If you reference one moment from Persia right now, I might hurt you," I threatened, but he gave me a look that told me that he was ready, willing and able to destroy me at a moment's notice.

"I might have some fun with that, actually," he said.

"Be nice, Nadir, or I could share some stories about you," Adele said, trying to make sure he didn't embarrass me.

"I hope you still do," Charles piped up. He and I had the same idea, considering that, at the mention of the stories, Nadir turned a shade of red that I didn't think was possible for someone of his complexion.

After Adele got a good laugh in, Nadir retracted his earlier statement: "Alright. I'll hold onto that for now."

"An intelligent decision. I'm impressed," I said with a smirk, pleased that it was finally my turn to have the one-liners.

"Oh, as if you can talk about making good decisions." Once again, I hated the fact that he had a valid argument in that statement.

"You know he has a point, Erik," Adele said, immediately backing him up.

"I made a good decision today," I remarked in an attempt to defend myself. "I kept Maddie from committing murder. Though she probably would have done it quite efficiently. Maybe better than me."

Maddie looked confused and concerned at the same time and I realized I had misspoken. "Erik, what do you-" she began to say.

"I mean better than I think I could do because I have not committed murder before. I am a child of God, obviously," I stuttered, but I knew I had overdone it the moment the words left my mouth.

Nadir looked completely baffled by my statement and I knew he was going to have some fun with it, regardless of whether or not Madame Giry told him to be nice. "You, of all people, could not be further from a child of God," he replied.

"Just because I abandoned him doesn't make me any less his child." I was too far down the rabbit hole to start trying to climb out so I figured that it was safer to just keep going with it, no matter how ridiculous it was to do so.

"Alright, sure," he said, giving in to the fact that I did have a decent point there, only to immediately present a follow-up argument that was harder for me to crack: "But have you not committed a list of sins that the Bible outlines? Or am I wrong in thinking that?"

I couldn't come up with a response, so I tried to get the topic to change instead: "That's not something you need to get into."

"Oh, it's no trouble. Let's see...extortion for one. Oh, theft is a big one. Isn't there a passage about honouring your mother and father? If there is, you've fallen short, but you get a bit of slack for that considering your situation. What else...now, hang on." He took a moment and he seemed to be trying to collect his thoughts. In all honesty, I was impressed with how much he knew of the Bible, considering he had never read it, to my knowledge. "For lack of a better term, isn't Gustave a 'sin'?"

We were all truly shocked by the bluntness of his statement, and he was given a well deserved, albeit light, tap from Madame Giry. "That's a lovely sentiment to be having while we are at his wedding. Honestly, Daroga! There's a time and a place," I pointed out to him while also gesturing to the fact that we were in a church and a priest was not too far away and was probably willing to throw me out if he heard all of that.

"I was making a list and it came to mind, what do you want from me?" he queried as he looked around at our group.

There was a sigh of complete exhaustion when he said that. I couldn't help but think of the fact that that was what it must feel like to deal with me on a daily basis. "A little decorum would be nice. To think, you and I were a royal court at one point," I scoffed.

"Yes, at one point. We are no longer there, are we?" he said with a very matter-of-fact tone. "And whose fault is it that we're not there anymore?"

"We both know that that argument is irrelevant right now. I've already admitted that it's my fault," I said while trying to get things back on track. "I had hoped that some things we practiced there would not be so easily forgotten. Such as the fact that there is a time to say things and a time when we should keep them to ourselves."

He raised his hands in surrender and quickly made sure with a simple look that I knew that the discussion wasn't over; he wasn't about to let me win an argument concerning my moral compass: "Alright, I'll stop. We'll finish that chat later because I know you won't let me get over what I just said."

"Definitely not."

"Now, if the married couple could take a seat, the ceremony is due to begin soon," Charles said as he noticed that everyone on Lara's side of the family was quickly filing into their seats. Once again, I felt a pang of guilt at the fact that Gustave didn't have as many people here as Lara did, but there was no time to dwell on that; he had the people that mattered most to him present and I knew that that meant everything to him.

"We are not a married couple," Nadir and I said in unison, which did nothing to help our cause.

Adele burst out laughing and I couldn't blame her; Maddie and Charles had gotten used to the fact that there were times when Nadir and I shared a brain, but it was entirely new territory for her.

"My god, it seems that some things never truly change. You two still practically share a brain," she said, echoing my thoughts perfectly.

Then to our dismay, Nadir and I proceeded to groan in unison as well, which, of course, prompted Charles to turn to his wife and say, "They're so in sync. Why can't we do that?"

"Because you're a peasant," I said without hesitation.

Nadir, on the other hand, decided to stay on topic: "When you're around each other for as long as Erik and I have been, it's almost inevitable, unfortunately."

Even though I believe Charles heard what my friend had said, it was clear that he wasn't really focused on it. Instead, he was looking between me and his wife with a baffled expression. "Wait. Can we circle back to when I was called a peasant?" he demanded.

"Well, you are," Maddie quickly affirmed for him.

"She is not wrong in any capacity," I said, backing her up in the same way that she had done for me earlier. She and I truly seemed to be on a roll in terms of being on the same page.

There were so many emotions on Charles' face that it was hard to decipher through them all, but two that were dreadfully obvious, though, were shock and hurt. Maddie noticed that fact too and got up on her tiptoes - despite the fact that she was already wearing high heels - to kiss him on the temple before saying, "Don't worry, dear. I still love you."

"Yes, yes, I love you too." There was a slight eye roll that indicated to me that he had gotten used to being made fun of over the years.

I hadn't even noticed it but Nadir had left to go join the rest of the groomsmen to get ready, so I figured that we needed to get to our seats as well. Madame Giry was about to go sit in a different section near the back, but I invited her to come and sit with us at the front. It didn't make sense to me to have her sit so far back given that she was the guest of the best man. Maddie leaned over to me then and told me that I had better explain everything about Nadir and Adele or I wouldn't like how things ended for myself. It was one of those moments where my healthy fear of Maddie was reassured to be valid because I knew that she was capable of doing something to make me regret forgetting to tell her.

We all took our seats, being mindful of the fact that William's picture was sitting just in between Maddie and Charles so that he was still present at the ceremony; I knew that the same photo would be coming with us to the reception to sit where the best man should be. I looked over at Gustave who was bouncing slightly in his place, clearly anxious for the ceremony to begin.

His silent prayers were answered as the wedding march began to play.

I immediately looked back to the entrance of the chapel to see that the doors had opened and the procession was beginning. First down the aisle was little Lizzie with her basket of flower petals; she looked absolutely perfect in her peach-coloured dress and little white shoes. The second she began her little march, I felt Maddie and Charles tense up; I knew that they had been nervous for their daughter during the entire process, but it seemed that their anxiety wasn't needed because she did a great job. I could tell that she had gotten a little nervous when everyone was staring at her, but I saw that she made eye contact with her mother and things seemed to work themselves out. She tossed her mixed petals on the ground and somehow managed to keep perfect time with the music.

Not far after her was one of Lara's young cousins, who was playing the role of the ring bearer. He apparently treated Lara as his older sister, similar to how Lizzie looked at Gustave. I wasn't exactly sure who he was, but he looked rather dashing in the little suit he was wearing.

The wedding party entered the chapel after that. Traditionally, the parents walked down the aisle before that point, but we had opted against it. Gustave had asked me at one point if I would be comfortable with doing something like that, and after a small argument and a bit of interrogation, we had decided that we wouldn't be following that tradition. I would have done it, but I knew it would have been very embarrassing for me to walk down the aisle with my mask and have everyone staring at me. It probably wouldn't have left a good impression with Lara's family either.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle in their little pairings; the men were in sharp black tuxedos that were very similar to Gustave's, with flowers on their lapels identical to the one I had on my own, while the girls were in fairly simple offset gold dresses that had sweetheart necklines and full-length sleeves. Everything about their outfits was simple and elegant; their hair was in buns, and their jewelry consisted of pearl accents. Their small bouquets of tiger lilies went with the dresses perfectly, and now I knew better than to question Lara when she had something picked out. I could tell that everything was just like what she had wanted; she was never one for the overly flashy style.

The last of that group was the maid of honour and best man. Nadir looked like a tower next to Jane, although she was wearing the same silver kitten heels as the other girls. It truly made me realize just how short she actually was. Nadir, on the other hand, stood proud as he walked. I could tell that he took the opportunity to serve as Gustave's best man as a great honour. When they all arrived at the altar where Gustave was still anxiously waiting, the music changed, and quite frankly, I could have done a much better transition if it were me doing the music.

We all stood up and looked to the back of the chapel as Lara and Philippe began their walk down the aisle. She looked absolutely stunning in her dress, and now that the skirt was the right length, it moved like a cloud with her. Now that her veil was on, I noticed that there were small lace details that connected the dress to it. Regardless though, both looked like they were made with nobody else in mind but her. I could tell by the look on Philippe's face that he was barely holding it together; I was surprised he made it all the way to the altar without shedding a single tear. His willpower astounded me. When they made it to the front, Philippe kissed his daughter's hand one last time before he gave her to Gustave, who was standing with his hand out for Lara to take.

Seeing the two of them together like that was something special, to say the least. There was so much love radiating off of them it was impossible to imagine that the lofty confines of the cathedral could contain it all. I watched the priest perform the religious aspect of the ceremony, but I wasn't really taking it in. He was an elderly man who looked like he had been performing those ceremonies for the majority of his life. It wasn't until it came to the vows that I actually started paying attention.

"I have been told that the bride and groom have prepared their own vows that they would like to share today." My attention piqued at that just as the little boy came up and delivered the rings. I was particularly interested in the vows; I had heard bits and pieces from when Gustave had been rehearsing in his room, but he always shooed me away before I could hear the whole thing.

"Lara de Chagny, I remember the day that we first met," Gustave began. "When I first saw the girl I could not forget. Every detail of that music room and that piano are as crystal clear to me now as they were all those years ago. You had this insatiable curiosity that I adore with all my heart. You make me feel like such an idiot sometimes compared to how smart you are and you should know that I love every second of it. The look in your eyes when you are trying to figure something out is something that I look forward to seeing every day for the rest of my life." He then took the small golden band he held and carefully slipped it onto her finger. He told me that they had taken the rings to an engraver and put messages inside each, so I knew what was inside both of them; for Lara, there was a little image of the sun, along with a promise Gustave had made years ago.

"I made you a promise before I left for the war and that was that je reviendrai toujours, which means that I will always come back. Though it's not that I ever believe we will be parted again, I want to remind you that no matter where we are on this earth, I vow that I will always find my way back to you. With this ring today, I am making the promise that I will love you for the rest of my life. No matter what happens, you are the sun and the light of my life and without you, I remain in darkness. I need you in my life because I don't know what I would do without you. Even though I cannot put everything I want to say into words right now, I swear to you that I will try and show you every single day of my life."

Though she was teary-eyed and a bit choked up, Lara smiled and started to recite her own vows: "Gustave Destler, you have no idea how much you have changed my life for the better. You brought me a sense of confidence in myself that I didn't know I needed until our lives collided. That day in the music room seems like it was only yesterday, but every moment since then has been like a dream. You make me laugh and you know when to push me to be the best version of myself. Did you know that you were one of the first people who encouraged me to want more out of life than what was expected of me? With the way you look at me, you have made it possible for me to believe that someone would actually love me for something that made me feel like an outsider for most of my life. Your asymmetrical smile is something that I not only look forward to seeing for the rest of our lives; it is something that I don't think I can live without anymore." I couldn't lie, I had started to tear up. What they had was so special and it was on display for everyone to see at that moment.

Lara then took the silver band that had been made for Gustave and put it on his finger, which had an engraving of the moon, along with what Lara felt that he meant to her. "Gustave, I am told that some of the best dreams happen when you are awake, and if that is true, I believe that I am having the best dream ever. The best part is that it won't matter if I wake up because I know that you will be there to help me through the night. With this ring, I not only give you my vow, but I give you my heart, my love and my life. I know you will keep them safe because you have been for years; you have become those things for me and so much more. There is nothing that you have to prove to me because I trust you beyond words and I don't need a ring on my finger to prove that to me; I know that I will have a steady hand to hold and that you will walk beside me anyway the wind blows."

They both looked back to the priest to show that they were ready for him to finish the ceremony. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," he said with a warm smile.

Gustave took that moment to lift the veil from Lara's face and one could truly see how happy she was. Without any hesitation, Gustave pulled her close and kissed her, dipping her in the process. Everyone cheered and clapped and we could barely hear the priest through all the noise as he declared, "I now present to you for the first time, Mister and Mrs. Destler!"

The newlyweds walked back down the aisle, hand-in-hand, as the rest of the wedding party followed, I joined Philippe and Marguerite as the first ones to follow before the rest of the guests. It was nearly impossible to believe that after so long, it had actually happened.

My son got married.

~~~~~

updated: 12-14-20

word count - 13,857

THE BEANS ARE MARRIED YAY

Buddy_2002 and I have been waiting for this chapter for SO long and even though it is SO long, we love how it came out.

we hope you enjoyed <3