You are my life

Wedding Day

(Alex's POV)

It was the morning of June 7th.
Piper's birthday.
Oh, also our wedding day.
I'd managed to convince her to have our wedding day on her birthday because then she could actually celebrate June 7th for once.
She may hate her birthday but if she ever hated our anniversary I may kill her.

I was already dressed and ready so Nicky and I were both in our suits in Central Park making sure everything was set up perfectly.
It was exactly how I'd envisioned it.
The weather was perfect.
The aisle was Bank Rock Bridge with white, pink and red roses tied to it.
The chairs were all set up at the end of the bridge on either side of it and Pipes and I would get married under the canopy of trees with the lake and skyscrapers in the background.
There was also a large gazebo close by where we'd hold our private reception.

Piper didn't know we were getting married in Central Park. In fact she didn't know where we were getting married at all. When I left this morning I told her to just go with Bill when he came to get her.
Nicky was wearing a black suit while I stood in my tailored white one. My vows in one pocket of my blazer and the rings in the other.
The guests were filing in and taking their seats as they came over the bridge Piper would soon walk down as an aisle. Zelda was in the front row on my side so she could be close to Nicky, at least her advances on Piper had stopped thanks to mine and Nichols' genius.
Then I saw my Aunt Pearl and cousin Victoria come towards me.
"Oh Alex look at you! Your mom would've been so proud!" Aunt Pearl says, tearing up.
I smile.
"Thank you. If I'm honest Aunt Pearl, I really wish she was here right now. She loved Piper." I say, beginning to tear up myself.
"She's here honey. She's watching us all from above right now. But most importantly, she's in here." Aunt Pearl tells me, touching my heart.
I smile at her then she goes to take her seat beside Zelda in the front row on my side while my cousin Victoria came to hug me and whisper a congratulations before also taking her seat beside Aunt Pearl.
Carol, Neri and Cal were sitting in the front row on Piper's side so I thought I'd go over there and speak to them. They were about to become my in-laws for real after all.
When Cal saw me, he jumped up from his chair to hug me.
"Congratulations!" He says happily.
I smile,
"Thank you."
"No problem, but hey, soon to be sis-in-law, as Piper's brother I'm required to tell you-" He starts but I knew what he was going to say so I cut him off.
"I know, I should run."
He laughs,
"Well yeah but not from me, from Dad. Mom and I had to convince him to walk Piper down the aisle today."
At this I gulp.
Bill refusing to walk Piper down the aisle had been a fear of mine.
Cal sees this and pats me on the shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry, he agreed. My sister will be your wife soon enough." He smiles reassuringly and sits back down to which Carol stands up to give me a polite hug.
"Alex, congratulations." She says.
"Thank you Mrs Chapman." I smile.
Carol sighs, "All I'm going to say to you is as long you make Piper happy you're fine by me but if you decide to step out of your marriage again, well, I'm sure Piper has told you about me in the past and I've just heard my son tell you about my husband." She warns me.
I nod.
"I know but that's never going to happen again Mrs Chapman. I love Piper. I always have." I assure her.
"Good. Keep it that way." She smiles and sits down.
Nicky then taps me on the shoulder.
"Ehem, Vause, it's time." She tells me so I take my place at the altar.

Piper and I wanted violinists and a harpist playing as Piper, her bridesmaids and flower girl walked down the aisle so as soon as I heard them start, my head, including everyone else's, turned to the bridge in anticipation of my bride.
Polly, as Piper's maid of honour, came down the aisle first, followed by her niece who was her flower girl then the bridesmaids who were a few of Piper's colleagues and cousins.
Then.
My baby came walking down the aisle on her father's arm.
I teared up.
I've been waiting so long for this moment.
I'd actually honestly gotten to the point I thought it was never going to happen.
I'd fucked up too many times.
Albeit so had Piper.
She looked breathtaking.
Her hair was pinned up perfectly, her dress hugged her perfectly, her dress was outstanding and she was grinning.
The only grin to match hers in the whole park was mine.
Then our eyes locked and if it was possible, our grins grew even bigger.
When her and Bill reached the altar where I was standing, our officiator asked,
"Who gives this woman away?"
"I do." Bill answered before giving Piper a kiss on the cheek, giving her hand to me and sitting down beside Carol and the rest of his family.
"Before we begin, I must ask if anyone here has any just cause or reason why this couple should not marry today." The officiator asks.
There was none.
"Then shall we begin?" The officiator asks Pipes and I.
We look at each other with megawatt smiles and nod,
"Yes."
"Okay. The brides have chosen to write their own vows so Alex, we'll start with you." The officiator tells me.
I exhale nervously, taking out my vows.
"Okay. Piper. This feels a bit like deja vu but I promise to you today that this real marriage will be nothing like our prison marriage. Back then I promised to make up to you everything that I'd done to you in the past. But instead, I only did more to hurt you. So. If you'll let me, I want to re-make that promise and keep it this time. My promise to you is to love you, to cherish you, to keep you, to trust you and to make it up to you everyday for as long as we both shall live. I've know it for 12 years now Pipes, you're the one. You're my person. You taught me what love is and I love you." I finish, smiling, with tears running down my face. Thank God for waterproof mascara because both I and Piper had the same problem.
"And Piper?" The officiator asks her.
She too exhales before starting.
"Alex. For years I bounced from guy to guy looking for the perfect life then you came crashing into my life in the most beautiful way. You also taught me what love is. We can argue that love is beauty or love is pain but in the end, love is beautiful pain. Years ago, I did a cruel thing to you and left you when your mother died. So my promise to you today is to never leave you again. To always wear your mother's ring on my finger. That I will always be by your side through hardships and happiness. You're my person and I love you." She says, smiling and crying, like me.
The whole way through the ceremony so far we hadn't let go of each other's hands. Now was the time to though.
"Who has the rings?" The officiator asks, looking at Nicky but I speak up.
"Oh. I do." I say, pulling them out of my pocket and giving them to our officiator.
"Okay Alex, if you could place this ring at the tip of Piper's finger and Piper if you could fill in the gaps." The officiator starts.
"Do you Piper, with this ring, take Alex to be your wife to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death parts you?"
"I do." Piper grins so I slide the ring firmly on her finger.
We'd gone for matching diamond encrusted bands.
"Now Alex, if you could repeat after me." The officiator asks me.
"Piper, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you."
So I do.
"Piper, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you."
"Good. Now Piper, if you could place this ring at the tip of Alex's finger and Alex if you could fill in the gaps."
"Do you Alex, with this ring, take Piper to be your wife to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death parts you?"
"I do." I grin, also crying.
So Piper slides the ring on my finger.
"Now Piper, if you could repeat after me." The officiator asks her.
"Alex, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you."
She does.
"Alex, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you."
"Well, I can now say by the powers vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you Mrs and Mrs Vause-Chapman. You may now kiss your bride."
Pipes and I grin then go in for the happiest kiss we've ever exchanged as our guests cheer for us.

X

After taking our intimate wedding photos, having dinner and going through the speeches, Pipes and I found ourselves slow dancing on the dance floor for our first dance as a truly married couple.
We'd chosen Cher's song with Peter Cetera "After All".
It just seemed so perfect.

'Well, here we are again
I guess it must be fate
We've tried it on our own
But deep inside we've known
We'd be back to set things straight
I still remember when your kiss was so brand new
Every memory repeats
Every step I take retreats
Every journey always brings me back to you
After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all

When love is truly right
(This time it's truly right)
It lives from year to year
It changes as it goes
Oh, and on the way it grows
But it never disappears
After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all'

"So, you going to tell me where we're going on honeymoon?" I ask her as we dance.
I was dying to know.
She laughs.
"No. It's a surprise."
I playfully squint at her,
"Now that you're a lawyer I'm never winning anymore arguments am I?" I ask.
She laughs again and says,
"No. But on the bright side, you will be better at negotiating your way out of trouble now that you're a business woman."
I laugh happily and we continue to dance.
Together at last.