The Cost Of Winning

FIANNA'S POV :

"Where Daddy is, Mommy? Me wants he to sees mine pwetty dwess!" Bren exclaims, as she twirls around in her lavender flower-girl dress, holding a little gold shoe in each hand. "Yous cans show he yours dwess, too!"

"Daddy's with Uncle Ryan, and Aunt 'Kaela's brothers, getting ready for the wedding. He'll get to see our dresses when we all go out there," I tell her, as I pick her up and put her in one of the chairs in the dressing room. "Now be still and let me put on your shoes and your jewelry, so I can finish getting ready."

I get her shoes on, and put on the little jewelry set I made for her, and she hops off the chair and runs to the mirror to look at herself. "Wook, evvybody! They's so booful!" she exclaims, as she uses her fingers to flip the little butterfly charms dangling from her earrings. This is something of a novelty to her, since these are the first earrings we've let her wear that drop below her ears. "Me gots big-girl pwetties now!"

"Yes, honey, you're both very cute," Miki's sister-in-law Laura responds, as she puts matching earrings on her four-year-old daughter, Avery, who is Bren's co-flower girl.

"Is Daddy with Uncle Ryan, and Bren's daddy, too?" Avery inquires.

"And Uncle Cade, Uncle Matt, and Uncle Shane. And Uncle Ryan's friend Doug. They're helping him, like we helped Aunt 'Kaela."

As I go to the mirror to check my hair and put on my own jewelry, I see everyone else reflected along with me. Miki is standing by the window, as Shane's wife, Jessica, touches up her hair, while Matt's wife, Diane, and Cade's girlfriend, Paige, take pictures of everything going on, and Miki's cousin Taylor waves her hands, trying to dry the nail polish she had to redo. They're all wearing long, Grecian-style dresses, with halter-style tops that criss-cross in the front, with Laura and Paige in pale green, and the others in peach, and the jewelry I made for everyone, made of cream-colored coin pearls and crystals to match the dresses, with either flower or butterfly charms. My dress is the same style, but instead of being a solid color, it has a multicolor pastel floral design, which almost looks like a watercolor painting, against an off-white background.

After they found out Miki was pregnant, they decided not to move the wedding, since they had already sent out invitations and booked the venue and other things, so she had to rethink her wedding dress. We'd gone back to the bridal shop, and they had managed to find her a sort of Renaissance-style dress, with a high waist, and a skirt with enough flow to minimize her "bump", so she didn't, in her words, "Look like a parade float going down the aisle."

As Jessica replaces the medieval-style beaded headpiece I made to match the dress, there's a tap on the door, and Pauline pops her head in. "Is everybody ready? We've got less than fifteen minutes before you're supposed to walk out with your daddy, Mikaela."

"Yeah, we're ready. Where's Mom? I figured she'd be in here fussing over my dress."

Pauline shook her head and snickered. "No, she's out front fussing at the photographer for running late, and readjusting the flower arrangements. Web is out there trying to wrangle her into her seat, since Grant is otherwise occupied."

She steps back out, Miki hands the girls their baskets, and we all line up at the door, waiting until Miki's dad knocks to let us know it's time. We go out into the hallway, and I manage to give Ash a quick kiss before I go to stand by Ryan's friend, Doug, who flew in from New Jersey to be the best man. Then everyone else lines up behind us, in order of the brother's ages: Diane and Matt, Laura and Damon, Jessica and Shane, Paige and Cade, and Taylor at the end with Ash. The girls are in front of us, along with Matt and Diane's little boy, Dawson, who's four months older than Smidge, holding the rings on a little lavender pillow. The music starts, and I motion for the kids to go ahead, and we follow along, splitting up to stand on either side of the altar, where Ryan is already waiting. He's wearing a charcoal gray suit, with a cream-colored shirt and a lavender tie, while Ash and the others are wearing a lighter gray, with black shirts, and cream ties.

Then, the "Wedding March" kicks in, and Miki comes down the aisle with Grant, who walks her to the altar, puts her hand in Ryan's, kisses her, and goes to sit with her mom, Yvonne. The minister begins the ceremony, and I stand next to her, holding onto Bren's hand to keep her from getting restless and wandering, glancing at Ash a couple of times, and he smiles and winks at me when he notices. I smile back, and then refocus my attention back to the ceremony, to be sure I'm ready to hand her Ryan's ring, which I've taken off of Dawson's cushion.

The ceremony goes perfectly, and we all leave the church to drive to the restaurant that Miki's folks booked for the reception, after Laura, Diane, and I get the kids changed into regular clothes, so they don't get food on the dresses, or Dawson's suit. They've set up a buffet, so everybody manages to find something they want to eat, and Bren tries fried clams for the first time, and actually likes them. However, she flat-out refuses to have anything to do with the shrimp, even after Ash eats one, because she says they "wook wike ucky bugs". Afterward, they bring out the cake, which the kids are especially happy to see, and they all giggle madly when Miki and Ryan dab icing on each other. "Is them goin's to gets yelled on?" she asks us. "It naughty to puts food on peoples, Miss Kim say so." We explain that it's okay when somebody gets married, because they're just doing it for fun, but I'm not sure she totally understands.

They open gifts, and then Web lets everyone know that they have a band, and we hang out and dance for a couple of hours. Ash even gets onstage and sings a couple of country songs with them, which gets huge applause. Then, just before they get ready to leave, Miki gathers everyone together so she can toss her bouquet, which one of her co-workers winds up with, and Cade catches the garter. Everyone hugs them, and follows them outside to fling birdseed, before they drive off, and not long after that, Ash and I find Grant and Yvonne and excuse ourselves, so we can take Bren home.

Ash is kind of quiet on the way home, but I figure he's just tired, because I know I definitely am, and I don't expect to have any trouble getting Smidge into bed tonight. But, when we get inside, he says, "Fi, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for awhile, and I was thinking about it again today, when Bren was running around with the other kids."

"Babe, you can talk to me about anything, you know that. What's bothering you?"

"I wouldn't say it's been bothering me, exactly, but I was wondering ... Would you have any objections to changing Bren's name from Chandler to Purdy? Or, we could hyphenate, if you'd like that better."

I walk to him, wrap my arms around his waist, and kiss him, then say "Why would you think I'd object to that? Technically, that's how it should have been all along, so I'm perfectly fine with it."

He calls Bren over, and we sit down with her and explain what's going to happen, which confuses her at first, but we finally make her understand. Then, he gets up and walks into the music room, coming back out a couple of minutes later, walking back to the couch, and crouching down in front of us. "I've also been thinking that it would be even better if we were all ... a matched set, I guess you'd say," he announces, and I see that he's holding something in his hand.

"I'm not entirely sure I'm following you." I tell him, and he gives me a grin, and snaps open the box he's holding. I look in his hand, and I see a gorgeous gold and opal ring, with tiny diamonds all the way around the stone, and partway across the band on either side.

"What I'm trying to say, Fianna, is that I love you more than I ever thought I was capable of, I want you in my life forever, and I would be incredibly honored to have you share my name, along with Brenna. Fianna Chandler, will you marry me?"

I stare at him for a second, not sure I heard him correctly, but then it finally clears my brain, and I practically leap off the couch and wrap my arms around him. "Oh my God, yes, I will marry you, Ash ! I can't think of anything in the world I'd rather do than be with you for the rest of my life!"

"Why yous cwy, Mommy?" Bren asks anxiously. "And Daddy, too. Am yous sad, or am this happy cwy?"

Ash puts his arm around her, and we end up in a group hug. "This is definitely happy crying, cutie," he explains. "Mommy said that she'll marry me, like Aunt 'Kaela just married Uncle Ryan, so we're very happy."

"So us can has more pwetty dwesses, and more party? And yous wills puts cakies on yous face, too?"

"That's exactly right, Smidge. And then we'll all have the same name as Daddy, and we'll all be together forever."

"How long that is?"

Ash kisses her, then turns his head and kisses me again, before replying, "Hopefully a very, very, very long time."

Notes