Gravensnod (manxman)

Chapter Nine

Philo 

"I now pronounce you husband and husband, you may kiss."

When Ari and Fyn kissed I started cheering extra loud. Alexei caught my eyes from his place besides Ari, giving me a smile. When Fyn asked me to be his best man I accepted automatically. Ari of course asked Alexei and now our little family was complete.

Four months had passed since the coronation, Ari and Fyn not wanting to wait any longer to be married. Ari and I had planned the wedding together and honestly it was a lot of fun. In my spare time I would want to be a wedding planner. Except, as the king of Gravensnod, I didn't have a lot of spare time. But, ruling with Alexei had been the greatest honor of my life so far. I really expected the country to rise up against us and not accept having two kings, but honestly everything went back to normal. Everyone was really accepting of us and even though it had only been four months, everything was going well.

Alexei's father was back to almost perfect health, he'd been spending a lot of time out in the countryside with Alexei's mother. The fresh air really seemed to do wonders for health; it was so nice seeing him getting back to normal. His parents had been king and queen for quite some time now, so we all thought it was going to be really hard on them once the transition of power happened. There was only one meeting when his father seemed to forget that he wasn't actually king anymore. But he snapped out that pretty fast, chuckling off the confusion. His mother seemed to be happier now too, she had more time to spend with Agatha and Max.

Speaking of them my eyes wandered to the front row where our children were. Agatha was happily bouncing up and down on her feet as Max politely clapped next to her. I never thought of myself ever having children but I couldn't imagine my life without them now. Without them or Alexei I don't know what would have happened to me after Louise died. It also warmed my heart to know that one day Agatha would stand up in front of the country and rule. We had already explained to her how the future would be, especially after the coronation. She was getting more curious and seemed excited to become a queen. Max on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with any kind of spotlight. I think he only wandered around because Agatha pulled him with her, talking about the book they were reading. Their bond reminded me of the bond Louise and I had which really warmed my heart. I loved that they had each other; everyone deserves to have a bond like that.

I was brought out my thoughts when Ari and Fyn made their way down the aisle, flower petals fluttering around them in the wind. Alexei then walked forward and held his hand out towards me, making me instantly grab onto it. We followed them down the aisle before the four of us wandered away to take pictures.

By the time we got back to reception everyone was already dancing. Ari and Fyn set their wedding up pretty similar to ours; their ceremony was only family and close friends. Their reception though was open to anyone in Gravensnod. Ari may not like to think of himself as royalty but since he technically was, he had a lot of people who loved him. People seemed to really like their love story as well. Growing up together and reconnecting later on, never losing that love. Of course there was a lot more to their story than that, but the entire country didn't need to know every detail. But everyone seemed to love that both Alexei and Ari married someone who wasn't royal, who were just 'regular' people. That's probably why basically the entire country showed up to the reception.

We all ate probably way too much cake and danced well into the morning. People started to drift home once it hit two A.M, all giving Ari and Fyn a hug. By the time all the guests left I felt myself start yawning and growing tired. Alexei and I hugged the newlyweds before leaving them alone to dance just the two of them. I couldn't resist taking a picture of them as we were walking away. Just them on the dancefloor together surrounded by twinkling lights was one of the most romantic pictures ever. I couldn't wait to frame it and give it to them.