Avengers: A Wedding At Last

Love is Love

Dean walked out of the room with his brothers and dad and Rosie met them in the hall.

"You boys go and find your seats," Rosie said before taking Dean in her arms and hugging him tight. "I look at you and I still see that baby who couldn't take his eyes off of the lights," she sobbed. "And now you're getting married."

Jack pulled his wife and son into an embrace. Silence took the place of words, with only their crying to compete with it.

"Okay," Rosie finally said as she and Jack stood on either side of Dean. "Let's get ourselves together and give our boy away."

Dean linked his arms in theirs and for a moment in time he was a child again. Rosie looked at him and remembered the kiss she planted on his forehead when he fell from the jungle gym. Jack saw the little boy learning to ride without training wheels.

"I'm ready," Dean said.

Thor stood beneath the rose-covered pergola with the Asgardian officiant in front of a sea of faces that sat on either side of the aisle. But his eyes were fixed upon the little cottage in the distance. So much had gone so wrong in the past- much of it irrevocable. But today Thor knew that something so right was happening.

Then the music began to play and he knew it was time.

The door of the cottage opened up as the guests stood up. Dean walked out with his mother and father and Thor was made breathless. Artists could paint the sight that he beheld and poets could write about it; but none could capture the beauty of what he saw and felt in that moment. His heart swelled with joy, warring with the voice in his head that said this was too good to be true.

But it is true.

Dean walked onto the pathway that had been strewn with flower petals and Thor locked eyes with him and smiled so brightly. Dean returned the smile and the emotion that filled his eyes told the same  story being written in Thor's heart. That neither could believe the moment had finally arrived. That all of the pain, loss, death, tears and blood could deliver them to this.

This is real, Dean thought as the clouds overhead parted and a perfect beam of sunlight lit up the path to Thor. He felt the twins stirring in their womb and knew a joy so beautifully poetic that tears spilled down his cheeks.

When they had reached the pergola, Rosie hugged Dean and kissed his cheek. Then Dean turned to Jack and his father hugged him so tight he felt breathless.

"This is my youngest son," Jack spoke softly as Thor approached. "And I'm giving him away to you with my entire heart." Then he looked at Dean and saw him as that little boy on the bike again. He saw himself running beside him, holding onto him. And then, as he let go of him and watched him go to Thor, he saw that same little boy pedaling away from him. The day Dean had learned to ride the bike, Jack had felt a sensation he didn't understand. But he understood it now. His boy needed him less in that moment. Needed him less now.

Then Dean turned back to Jack and took his hand before he could go to his seat. "I'll never stop needing you, Dad," he said in a voice filled to the brim with emotion.

A tear trickled down Jack's cheek and he smiled as he took his place beside Rosie.

Thor held Dean's arm in his and they stood together before the officiant. The music faded and everyone took their seats.

"Today, on this day of spring- a time of new beginnings- I have been bestowed with the honor of uniting Prince Thor Odinson and Prince Thomas Dean Allen in marriage." He then turned his head to the side of the pergola. "May we have the rings?"

Dean and Thor turned and watched as Lockjaw trotted slowly toward them. Between his teeth there was a basket. Thor and Dean reached inside to take the rings- the uru ring Thor had presented for Dean, and the ring Dean had enlisted Eitri to forge out of the remains of Asgard for Thor.