The Center of My Universe

::14::

   "I don't know Alex, I think we should get married here. That way you don't have to take so much time off of work," Ellen said. Alex took a second to think about it.

"You're probably right. Everyone will have to stay in hotels," he said, thinking out loud. She nodded.

"Yeah, but then we can go on our honeymoon," she said with big eyes, trying to convince him that it was their best option. He smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. She laughed.

   "Okay. We'll get married in New York," he said. She cheered, happy that she had won the battle. He laughed and pulled her onto his lap. She put their foreheads together and they smiled at each other.

   "I wanna take your last name," she said suddenly, and Alex squinted.

   "Really? But you said that you might hyphen it?" He questioned. She nodded, playing with his hair.

   "Reed is my mom and dad's last name. My mom passed when I was young, and I wasn't even on speaking terms with my dad for years. But Keaton is the last name of a family who took me in. The last name of the man I love," she said. Alex leaned over to catch her lips in a  passionate kiss, her still sitting on his lap. When they separated, he pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

   "You don't know how happy that make me," he said with tears in his eyes. She tucked her head into his chest comfortably, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her hair lovingly, and closed his eyes, tucking his forehead over her head.
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Ellen wanted to be with her bridesmaids when she got her dress, so she and Alex decided to fly home so they could get some long term things, such as scheduling and organizing the guest list, done with his family.

   "Hey everyone," they said as they walked into the house. Everyone ran and hugged them, asking to see Ellen's ring and congratulating them.

   "So what's the plan?" Elyse asked.

   "We need to do guest lists and invitations," Alex said. "We definitely need your help."

"What about me! I'm the best man what do I do?" Andy asked. Alex ruffled his hair.

"You're gonna help us with a lot of the stuff at the actual wedding," Alex said.

   "But right now we have to do the boring stuff," Ellen continued for him. Andy nodded.

   "Okay," he said, running off to play. They all sat in the living room and Steven grabbed a few pens and notepads.

"Let's makes a list of people you want to invite," he said.

"Here. We can do Ellen's list on this paper, and Alex's on this one." Alex kneeled on one side of the coffee table, and Ellen sat on the couch.

"Okay," Alex said. Ellen moved off of the couch to sit next to Alex, who wrapped his left arm around her waist as he wrote. Ellen began to write down names as well.

   "I think that's it," Ellen said. She had written down her family, friends, teachers, and colleagues who she would invite.

   "I think I'm done too," Alex said as he set down his pen after a moment. Mallory looked over the list.

   "Don't forget Nick," she said.

   "Dang it," he replied, writing Nick's name. "I tried."

   "It was a solid effort honey," Ellen teased.

"Then you guys need to pick a venue to hold the reception," Elyse said.

"Already done," Alex said.

"Rented and everything," Ellen said.

"You guys are on top of things," Jennifer said. They then started to make lists of addresses, and who they needed to look up. Before they knew it, it was dark out.

   "I'm gonna go to bed," Jennifer said. She hugged her family goodnight and left the room.

   "I should go get our room ready," Alex said, standing my up. "Wanna come?"

   "I'll be up in a moment," Ellen said. He nodded and kissed her cheek, running up the stairs. Ellen stood up and sat on the couch, in between Elyse and Mallory. "You guys did a really great job."

   "Ellen we're so glad you're back," Mallory said, side hugging her.

"We swear, you're the only person who can balance him out," Steven said.

"We've tried to get him to go to women's marches for years," Elyse joked. Ellen looked at them. "Then you show up and he does it in. Heartbeat."

"Thank you guys so much," she said. She said goodnight and walked up the stairs to Alex's room.

"Alright. I think it's done," Alex said, folding his bedspread. Ellen sat on the bed, grabbing her backpack from the floor, and grabbing her pajamas and toothbrush, and handing Alex his.

"Feel good to be home?" She asked him. He sat next to him and gave her a slow kiss. They separated and he smiled at her.

"Yeah. It does."