There Will Be Freedom

12. Philosophy of War

Justin's POV

I held Maddie's small hand in mine as we cut our massive, five-tiered, gold-embellished wedding cake that stood on a table in the middle of the room.

There was a loud roar of applause from around us.

"Do you want some?" Maddie asked me, holding up a small piece of cake.

I took a bite and chewed before feeding her some.

To my surprise, I was actually having fun at my wedding. This was a time for me to forget the stress and all the bullshit. Olivia was making it incredibly easy to just enjoy the wedding. She was a beast with the preparations, and nothing was out of place as the ceremony drifted seamlessly into the reception under the large white tent on the other side of the yard. Everyone took pictures, and I had seen some of them already. A rare smile was on my face, and it was kind of strange to see.

It looked like Maddie was enjoying herself as well, which was my main goal. I would have given her the big, white wedding if that's what she wanted, but I was glad she didn't. This was better; small, intimate, and personal. This was also the first joyful occasion after Niccola's funeral and to have it amongst the family was special to me.

All the normal rituals were kept from our first dance to the speeches, to a fancy Italian dinner that was done superbly, and then Jeremy's important wedding toast, which was very profound and heartfelt. It was perfect.

Sometime around midnight, I took my bride's hand and led her out of the tent with the party still raging inside.

"That wasn't too bad," she said, swinging our hands between us.

"I think it went quite well. No one died, and I actually kept my cool."

"And Freddie was there. That made it special. Did he talk to you?"

"Not really. I think he wanted to but then chickened out. He said he wanted nothing to do with me, so I guess that's fair."

I hated to admit that I was like a normal, newly married, son-in-law. Should I try to impress him? Should I just let him warm up to me? Should I just have "the talk" with him now? I didn't know any of the answers.

"He's just in shock," Maddie assured me. "I'm just glad he came, even if he wasn't too happy with my choice of groom."

"That can't be helped. I'm not going anywhere." I stopped walking and pressed my lips to hers.

"I'm an official Bieber now." She grinned. "What do you think of that?"

"I think the name suits you."

"It finally happened. We're married." We continued to walk back towards the house. "Did you ever think we would get there?"

"I knew we would. It was just a matter of when."

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "You sound confident now, but I distinctively remember you being just as nervous as me at one point."

"I don't think so," I protested. "You must be remembering wrong."

"Okay, Mr. Bieber."

We walked through the back door of the silent house, and I flipped on the lights, illuminating the family room.

"Maddie, Justin!" I heard being called from the backyard.

Pattie ran into the house, out of breath.

"Hi, Mom," I said.

"I just wanted to come in here and tell you how sorry I am about what I said in Italy. I had no right to say those things. I was mad and...I'm sorry."