The Neighbors

I Can Handle This

"No. You are not ruining today. Get your sorry butt out of here." I said angrily, pushing Aviary's ex, Jake, away.

"No, Aviary I have been looking for you for ages and I still love you. So much." He said sadly, trying to get to Aviary. 

I rolled my eyes and pushed him a bit farther. "Well as you can see she's moved on. So get out." I glared at him.

"No." He said, crossing his arms like the child he was. 

He had always been stubborn, and we never got along. He would say yes and I'd say no. He was a total jerk to Aviary and when she tried to break it off he stalked us for three months.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say to me?" I asked, getting closer to him.

"I said, no." He replied, crossing his arms.

"Jenni, I can take care of this." I heard Dan trying to calm me from a few feet away.

"Love, I can handle this thank you." I said not moving my eyes from Jake. "Now, leave." I growled. I could hear Aviary curse under her breath. He was about to break that last string as we called it and I had only ever gotten pushed that far once and I got the cops called on me. Let's just say that I'm not as sweet and gentle as my brother.

"You can't make me do anything swine." He responded with a smirk. When we had met, I had been a couple pounds bigger than I am now and I was always insecure about my weight.

"Crap." Aviary said out loud and I could hear her heels clicking on the floor before I punched Jake in the face and he fell to the ground, unconscious. I knelt down and checked to see if he would wake up if I flicked him and he did. "Now, get out of here now before I get the chance to beat you up again." I said quietly, growling at him through my teeth.

"N-" He started but then he glanced behind us and back at me before he nodded and left the church.

My hand was bruising but otherwise I was okay. "Aviary I am so sorry." I said quietly before we continued the ceremony.

"As I was saying," The preacher said with a smile as he turned to Joe. "The woman who stands by your side is going to be your wife. She will look to you for comfort, for support, for love, for understanding, for encouragement, and for protection. You must never take her for granted, and always stand by her for good or ill."

Joe looked to Aviary and smiled. "Today in presence of God, family and friends, I pledge to join my life with yours. With God's help I promise to provide, protect, respect and support you through all that life has to offer. I promise to stand by you through both good and bad times, in happiness and sorrow, come riches or poverty. You are God's beautiful gift to me and I will cherish you all my life."

The preacher then turned to Aviary. "The man who stands by your side is going to be your husband. He will look to you for comfort, support, love, understanding and encouragement. You must never take him for granted and always stand by him for good or ill."

"Today in presence of God, family and friends, I pledge to join my life with yours. With God's help I promise to submit, respect, support and encourage you through all that life has to offer. I promise to stand by you through both good and bad times, in happiness and sorrow, come riches or poverty. You are God's beautiful gift to me and I will cherish you all my life."

"In the Bible, Paul wrote beautifully about the power of love in his 1st book of letters to the Corinthians, Chapter 13. 

'If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.'" The Preacher read from his Bible and I could feel tears rolling down my face. This was the moment when I truly realized that my best friend, my sister was getting married.

"Since it is your intention to marry, join your right hands and declare your consent. Do you take Aviary Grace Riviera to be your lawful wedded wife to have and to hold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

He looked to Aviary as a tear fell "I do." He almost whispered.

"Do you take Joe Graham Sugg to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

I could faintly hear her sniffle. "I do."

"Now they will exchange the rings." The preacher stated, and James walked up to give them to him. "Joe and Aviary you have given and pledged your promises to each other, and have declared your everlasting love by exchanging the rings. Your vows may have been spoken in minutes, but your promises to each other will last until your last breath. As they have pledged themselves to meet sorrow and happiness as one family before God and this community of friends, I now pronounce them husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." He finished with a smile and Joe dipped Aviary and kissed her like a dying man finally finding  life support. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Sugg." He finished with a smile. 

At this point, I was balling my eyes out and could barely see my way into the reception hall. I eventually found Aviary and ran to her to give her a big hug. "You got married." I said, wiping a tear from my cheek. I sniffled and turned to Joe. "Now, just cause you guys are married, doesn't mean that I won't still be checking up on you. We've now all seen how I get when I'm pissed off." I said with a light laugh. "Now, let's go get dinner eh?"

Aviary laughed and I cocked my head at her. "Mate, your Canadian is showing."

I laughed and responded right back with "Aviary, your Brit is showing." 

We all sat down and ate and then it was time for me to say a few words about Joe and Aviary. Wait, I was supposed to write a speech. I'll just wing it. "Hello everyone. So, I can say wholeheartedly that I have never met two people who are more perfectly fit for each other. I have known Aviary for as long as I can remember and I honestly thought that no man deserved her. Then Joe was being too loud next door and I came running home to tell her there were hot guys next door." Everyone laughed, and I got a playful glare from Dan. " But these two, they work. And if I were to choose a saying to describe these two, it would be one I read ages ago,' We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.' and these two weirdos will forever be in love. I love you both so much. OH, and I still remember the bet we made in eith grade you owe me five bucks." I said happily, glancing over to Aviary who just rolled her eyes at me. 

"Cheers!" We all drank some of whatever we had and then Caspar said his speech which I didn't really pay attention to, and we all danced utnil we were falling over from being exhaused or being drunk and I started to walk home with Dan. 

"Dan, we are gonna get married *hic* right?" I asked, stumbling around on the sidewalk. I was hammered.

"Of course." He said and flashed his dazzling smile. 

"D-Dan?" 

"Yes?"

"Will you carry me home?"

"Of course."