"Annie..." my mom whispered excitedly, "you're on!"

        Tom and Brad had left, taking their positions with Steven and Joey in the line.  Julia, Terry, and Janet left too, taking the positions with the guys.  The guests were getting impatient.  Everyone started the procession down the isle.  Steven and Anne-Marie walked down together first.  Tom walked down with Terry, followed by Julia and Joey.  Brad went down with Janet.  Joe waited at the altar.  One of Joe's cousins threw deep blue (matching the ties and dresses) flowers from a little white basket, then skipped over to her seat.  My mother took my left arm, my father took my right.  The processional started; we went with Pachabel's Canon because it's beautiful.  A pianist and a violinist and a cellist.  Perks of being famous.

        The veil covered my face.  Everything seemed to be in slow motion as I stepped through those doors.  I took every step deliberately... Left, right, left, right, left, right... Until I reached the steps that would take me to Joe.  My mother and father flipped the veil back.  They each kissed both of my cheeks.  My mother had tears in her eyes.  My father was straight-faced (though beaming on the inside, like I'd said he would be so long ago) when he sat down up front next to Mama.

        I stepped up the steps, alone for those three short paces.  Joe immediately took my hands with a nervous little smile dancing on his face.  "Amazing," he whispered.

        "Why'd you leave?" I whisper back.

        He looks pained.  "I dunno, but I'm... Sorry.  Really, I'm sorry."  He smiles nervously.  I grin back. The priest guy says his things that he's required to say.  I don't really hear him, though (that's why I'm not describing it–I don't hear him).  I'm too busy staring right into Joe's eyes and trying not to be sick.  His hands are kind of sweaty.  Or maybe it's my hands.  Either way...

        Our vows were rather short.  I used a little note-card for mine–that's what you do: write 'em on a note-card and read it.  It was full of a bunch of mushy-gushy stuff, so I'll spare you the graphics.  But when Steven went to hand Joe his, Joe shook his head.

        He took my hands again.  "You have no idea how nerve-racking it is to be standing her right now about to make the greatest memory of my life," he says quietly with a smile. A few people sniffle.  Saps.  "It seems like every good memory I make, I make it with you."  Aww...  "Yes, there are a few... Unpleasant... Memories, but those only pull us closer together.  Annie, I never want to stop making memories with you.  I've only said it a million times, but one more shouldn't hurt: Annie, I love you so goddamn much that it hurts."

        The priest's eyes nearly bulge out of his head.  Joe just said goddamn in church!  He's going to Hell!

        Joe notices it too, and returns my smirk.  "I know I'm not the best person at times... Leaving at uncalled for moments, for example.  But I keep coming back.  And that's gotta mean something.  Nothing would–could–make me happier than what I am right now, standing here looking into your eyes, holding your hands in mine."

        Can I kiss him yet?  Can I please kiss him?  Please?  Can I just kiss him and never stop?

       The priest shoots a look at Joe when he finishes, like I never want to ever hear you say goddamn inside the church of God ever again you sorry little fuck.  Then he says: "Now.  Anne Michelle Capello, do you take Joseph Perry to be your lawfully wedded husband?  To have and hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?

        I grin, looking at Joe.  "I do."

        "And do you, Joseph Perry–" the priest glares at him: Any more expletives and I'll shove my foot up your ass and you won't be walking for days, you son of a bitch.  "–take Anne Michelle Capello to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better of for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

        What the priest really said: If you don't say 'I do' I'll shove both feet up your ass you dirty bastard.  Teach you to say 'goddamn' in my church.  Fuckin' rock 'n rollers with their damn dirty language and shit.  With their cocaine and heroin and marijuana and Jack Daniel's.  I bet you've banged her so many times.  You disgusting fiend, you weren't even married.  You're going straight to Hell.  Right down there.  Have fun burning, bitch.

        Joe glances at the priest nervously.  I try not to laugh.  But then he gets serious.  He looks me right in the eye, and whispers, "Yeah, I do."

        Good for you, asshole, the priest thinks.  Steven hands Joe another ring.  I had taken mine off before we left.  Janet hands me a ring, too.  Joe takes my shaking hand with a smile, sliding the ring on.  I do the same for him.  The priest nods.  "Then, by the power invested in me by the state of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you... Husband and wife."  We both look expectantly at the priest.  He seems to realize he forgot something.  "Oh, you may kiss the bride."

        Finally.  Kissing Joe never gets old.  I'm kissing my husband.  Husband.  I've got a husband.  I'm a wife.  The whole wanting thing behind the kiss is like a bajillion catrillion thousand times stronger than normal.  Like, if there weren't any people and if we weren't, you know, in a church...

--

When the guests cleared out, Joe and I headed off to the limo awaiting to take us to the after party.  We kissed a lot in the limo, but I guess that's what newly-weds do.  It was just the two of us... And the driver.

--

The after party thing is huge.  I change out of the wedding dress into something a little more comfortable–one of the bridesmaids' dresses, but it's a little more fancy.  Like, these are my bridesmaids, and this is me.  The bride.  Back off.

        There was a disco ball and a disc jockey jockeying up records like nobody's business.  Joe and I disappeared for a minute to the bathroom.  Good thing the reception wasn't at the church.  Is snorting a few lines a sin?  Probably.  Anyway, we did a few celebratory lines and went back out to join the party.  Most of the parental figures left around eleven, leaving us to party it up rockstar style.  I was dancing around, got too dizzy and fell back into a chair.  Joe came over to me and shoved his lips to mine.  This is where my favorite photo comes in (someone had a camera and was taking photos like crazy)...

        "Take it off!" someone yelled.  Probably Janet.  She was talking to us.  What was she talking about though?  Then the room started to chant take it off!  Take it off!

        "What're they talking about?" Joe asked drunkenly, lips brushing against mine.

        "I dunno," I say honestly.  Then it hits me.  The garter.  I look down.  "The thing around my thigh," I say.

        Joe frowns, but then his eyes light up and he grins devilishly.  Joe gets on his knees.  I stretch my knee out straight.  People form a circle around us.  Placing both hands on my knees, Joe gives me a wink, saying, "Alluring," with a lopsided smile before sticking his head underneath the dress.  Several people cheer, others (including myself) gasp in shock.  With his teeth, he grabs the garter and begins to pull it off.  I'm giggling and blushing furiously.

        He successfully gets the thing all the way off my leg, and then poses for the camera with this crazed look in his eye, clenching the thing between his teeth, still on his knees and gives a thumbs up.  Steven gives Joe a high-five when the whoops and hollers died down.

        Oh, guess who caught the bouquet?

        Julia.  She and Joey looked at each other and shrugged.

        Everything else was kind of a blur.

--

When we woke up the next morning (Joe and I) in a hotel somewhere in Boston (at least I hope we're still in Boston) hopefully in the same place as where the reception was, I just kind of stared at Joe and he stared at me.

        "Hello, Anne Michelle Perry," he said.  "You were quite alluring last night, may I just say."

        I giggle.  "Would you stop with that word?"

        "What?" he asks too innocently.

        "You make it sound so... So..."

        "So what, Anne Michelle Perry?" he asks, scooting closer.

        "So seductive," I say.  Joe flips onto his back, tilting his head back, and laughs.  Then he glances back and me, biting his lip (obviously both trying not to laugh and doing what I do when I want to kiss him), then goes back to laughing.

        "Alluring," he purrs.  "Me-ow."  Now it's my turn to laugh.  He pulls me on top of him, kissing me passionately.  "Alluring," he keeps saying, placing his hands on my hips.

        "Stop it!" I say loudly.

        "I thought it was seductive?" he asks, making 'seductive' sound seductive.

        "Just shut up," I say.  And kiss me.  But I don't even need to say it.

--

A little while later (after enjoying each others' company), Joe and I go downstairs, thankfully finding that we are, in fact, in the correct hotel still.

        The first thing I had eaten (like, really eaten) was my wedding cake.  Of course, we did the horribly cliché thing and smashed it on each other's faces.  I scooped a small plate of eggs and  snagged a muffin from the buffet before the workers could clean it up.  It was late morning.  Some of the people from the party were still leaving.  Janet was walking out the door with James and a few others.  The band and their girlfriends stayed behind to go home with us.

        "Good morning, finally," Brad muttered.  Joe tried not to smirk, I blushed, picking at a blueberry in the muffin.

        "Hey, it's the Perry's!" Joey shouted from the buffet, pointing at us.  The guys trying to clean up looked annoyed.

        "Are they ever gonna quit?" I asked Joe.  Joe shrugged with a smirk.

      When we finished breakfast, Joe and I headed for the car (it was brought to us after the limousine left).  He had just laced his fingers between mine (I could feel the cold metal of his wedding band against my finger and it made me smile), when Steven stopped us.  He looked at Joe.  "Congrats, man," he said, high-fiving Joe and giving me a curt nod.  "Erm, can I... Talk to Annie please?"

        Joe nods after locking eyes with me momentarily, walking away to get more bacon or something.

        "Uh," Steven begins nervously, "hi."  Why is he speaking to me?

        "Hi," I say back, already feeling awkward.

        "Congratulations."

        "Thanks."

        We stand there, I rock backwards and forwards on my toes like Joe, come back at any time now, please!

        "Listen, Annie," Steven begins finally with a sigh.  "I want to apologize.  For the way I've been acting.  For real, this time.  I apologize to you about my... Behavior... A lot––too much––but this time I really, really mean it.  Seriously.  I'm tired of this not speaking to each other shit, because I like you and I like to hear what you have to say.  I don't like not hearing your voice..."

        "Steven––"

        "Annie, please," Steven cuts me off.  "I'm happy for you.  Honest.  Incredibly jealous––not only of Joe, but––of how happy you two are together, but still... Happy.  I hate being mad at you and I really hate apologizing because it stabs a serious hole in my ego, but, I'm sorry."  His eyes flutter up to meet mine.  "You don't have to forgive me right now, but I hope someday that you do because I don't hate you, I love you––in a care about you, friendly sort of way," he quickly adds, turning a little pink.  "And I'm really, really sorry about the whole..."  He glances at my stomach.  "The whole... Baby thing," he says in a tiny voice.  "I wanted to congratulate you on having a baby, too, but..."

        I force the tear back into my eye with some serious willpower.  "It's okay," I whisper.

       "It's not okay, though.  Anyway," he says.  "I hope that someday you can forgive me for everything I've ever done, which could take awhile, and I hope that when––if––you decide to, that we can––someday––be friends again."

        He stares at me expectantly, very shy and timid.  "I'm no better," I say.  He's confused now.  "I didn't talk to you either.  I cheated, too.  I yelled.  I hit you as wel--"

        He cuts me off.  "You have no idea how horrible that felt.  That's one of the things I regret most."

        "Believe me, I know how horrible it felt.  I felt horrible, too," I say with a little laugh.  "Point is, I owe you an apology, too."

        "You don't owe me anything," Steven says seriously.  "I'm a horrible person to you, Annie.  I've realized it's because I'm... I'm jealous.  I've gotten used to it though.  Sorta.  It's difficult, seeing you two together after being in love with you."

        "You were in love with me?" I ask quietly.

        Steven smiles sadly.  "Yeah, you didn't know that?"

        "Well, I knew you loved me, but I didn't know you were... Wow," I say in disbelief.  He was in love with me, then.

        "I mean, I still love you because... I care about you.  You matter to me," Steven explains.  "And, well, since today––well, yesterday––was a day of starting a new life, kinda, I figured I'd give it a shot too and put our differences behind me and apologize and then maybe you'd eventually forgive me and we could be friends."  He smiles a lopsided smile, with hope in his eyes.  He's still blushing.

        I smile back.  "I forgive you," I say after we just stared into each other's eyes.  I could tell he was telling the truth.  "And I'd love to be friends, because I hate fighting also."  Steven sticks out a hand for me to shake with a little grin.  I open my arms.  "C'mere, Asshole," I say with a laugh.  Steven puts his arms out, too.  I step into them, hugging him tight.  "I love you, too," I say into his shoulder.

        And just like that, I notice Joe leaning against a wall with a plate of bacon and a smile on his face.  I call him over, ready to go, and I walk out of the reception place with Steven on my right and Joe on my left, arms around both of their backs, and their arms around my waist.  I was grinning.  I was married to my best-friend and the person I could not possibly love any more; I got a very important friend back; I was happy.  For the time being, there was absolutely nothing wrong.  I was very, very happy in a way I hadn't been in a long time.  And I felt like the feeling would last me forever.

        Joe, Steven and I stepped out into the harsh daylight, delighting in the warm sun heating the cold winter air.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky; even the weather was happy.

        I knew, in that moment, that everything was going to be alright.  It would all be alright as long as I have Steven and Joe by my side.  As long as I have the two people I love most by my side.

        The happiness is exponential, like a constant high you can't come down from.  And if I have those two people, then nothing can stop me.  Nothing at all.  Because, finally, I've put the bad behind me.  And that, my friend, is really all that matters in life: having the people you love by your side; there for you no matter what comes your way.  In realizing this, I want nothing more than what I have right now.  That's really all I need.  That's really all I want.