Of Lorenz Theory & Love

HMV: A Vera Manor Wedding

51: HMV: A Vera Manor Wedding

6:10 pm, Vera Manor Garden Trellis

"Fancy meeting you under the ivy trellis, Mr. Greenwood."

"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Vaughn," Harry replied in a throaty whisper that made Macy's toes involuntarily curl in her kitten-toe heels, which were thankfully hidden beneath her ivory gown.

"Ahem." Mel looked at both Harry and Macy. "It is time for the wedding ceremony to begin."

And so it did.

There were a few well-placed platitudes about finding love in the most hidden of places, various ceremonial recitations, and then a particularly well-chosen Beau Taplin quote from his Astronomy Anthology that went as follows:

"Do you want to know what it was? The moment I knew you were it? It was when I showed you the darkest parts of me and instead of running away, you rolled out a blanket, lay down on your back, and pointed out the stars."

The ceremony was still, at times, a blur due to Macy's and Harry's nervousness at being stared at by others in this momentous occasion of making their intentions to each other fully public. About three-quarters of the way through the ceremony, Mel motioned for Jordan, the best man, to come forward and present the wedding rings, which he did. Mel beckoned for Harry to recite his vows, as he placed a wedding ring on Macy's left ring finger, to sit flush against her three-stone emerald-cut moissanite engagement ring. It was then Macy's turn to recite her vows and place a platinum 5 mm plain silver-colored band on Harry's left ring finger. This part of the ceremony seemed to move at a tortoise's pace, but then quickly sped up, as Mel looked to Macy and Harry—she looked toward the expectant audience, stating, "I now pronounce you...Mr. and Dr. Valensi!"

Matias looked astonished—Macy mouthed, "Surprise!" She had not told him, nor anyone else, save Mel, of her and Harry's intent to continue his family line. Recovering from his initial shock, he grinned and gave two thumbs up. He approves, thought Macy happily, as she linked arms with Harry, stepped down from the trellis alcove, and proceeded through the throng of well-wishers.

7 pm, Vera Manor Garden

Maggie made quick work of instructing her assistants (namely, Goat Man and Chloe) to rearrange the wedding attendees' chairs into circles around newly-arrived tables. Ordinarily, this would take upwards of an hour, but magic helped move things along just a bit quicker. Macy looked around; she was amazed that so many in the magical community had shown up to the ceremony; to be honest, she thought that she would be proceeding up the aisle to an empty audience. Her parents were both deceased, and due to relocation of Vera Manor, nobody really knew that she and her sisters were very much alive. She didn't have any boarding school friends that she kept in touch with, and she spent most of the latter part of her educational career as a veritable hermit in the laboratory, so there was really no hard loss there to speak of.

7:30 pm, Vera Manor Garden

Maggie and Mel gave their sisterly speeches of how Harry had come into their lives as a Whitelighter, and gradually became their surrogate brother. Whether it was the pregnancy hormones or the sentimentality of their words, Macy felt her eyes well up with tears.

7:45 pm, Vera Manor Garden

Harry tapped her on the shoulder and offered his hand, which Macy rose from her seat to accept; it was time for their first dance as a newlywed couple, to the upbeat, staccato tune of Melanija Paradis' latest hit, "It Was Always You," which went something like this:

...I can't deny those sparks that flew,

Came from me, and met by you,

I couldn't say no forever,

Because where I stood, it was always you...

You-u-u-u-u-u-u (2x)

Tempering my feelings never worked—

Try as hard as I might,

I loved you then and I love you now,

And I can't let you outta my sight...

The person who sang the song sounded vaguely familiar—as Harry swung her around and twirled her, she noticed, with a sudden shock, that it was Maggie singing! Apparently, she had been practicing between her shifts at SafeSpace and wedding planning and had meant to surprise Macy all along. Macy laughed aloud and grinned; she couldn't have wished for a better family.