Page 36 of Past and Present

Marissa grinned at Austin through tears. “How long have you guys been planning this?”

Austin laughed. “You’re not going to believe me, but we haven’t. Lance got Elijah, Patrick and Hunter, and Samuel and some of the other fellas in on the planning. Then we got woken up at the butt crack of dawn to help finish turning the dungeon into a chapel so none of the kinky furniture shows up on the cameras.”

“Cameras?”

Bethany nodded while she fussed with Marissa’s hair. “Your mom and sister are waiting to watch it on some live stream thing Lance set up. He’s not sure if the weather is going to cooperate, but we’re filming the whole thing just in case.”

Austin snapped a finger at her. “Stop crying. We have to do your makeup.”

Marissa wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “I think I’m a little overwhelmed. I can’t believe he did all this.”

“Girl, Jasmine stayed up half the night turning out a dress for you and everything. He was determined to give you your Christmas wedding.”

“God I fucking love him.”

She sat back and let the women work on her hair and makeup while she tried her best not to cry and make a blubbering mess of her face.

“Wait a minute,” she said as Lana pinned something tiara like into her hair. “Who’s performing the ceremony?”

Austin grinned at her in the mirror. “So it turns out, that our good friend Dr. Mallincoat is also an ordained minister with some woo-woo non Jesus church. I don’t get it but she’s legally allowed to perform weddings so there you have it.”

Marissa just shook her head in disbelief.

Dakota clapped her hands. “Alright ladies. We’ve got like thirty minutes to get this woman into her dress and get her downstairs.”

Marissa had to fight back the tears all over again when she saw her dress. It was gorgeous and not at all something a princess would wear. It fit her personality better than anything she would have picked out with her mom or sister tagging along to shop.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go get you married,” Austin said when she was dressed and ready to go.

****

Lance

“Can you see everything, Daph?” Lance said.

“Yep. Now get out of here and go marry my sister. We’ll see you two whenever the weather lets up.”

Lance blew out a nervous breath and went to the front of the converted dungeon. He was pretty sure Marissa’s sister knew where they were, but there was no her mother did, so they’d worked hard to convert the dungeon into something more respectable.

Now he just had to wait for ten when the wedding was supposed to start. He stood at the makeshift altar with Dr. Mallincoat and Hunter by his side.

“Congratulations, Lance. You’ve pulled off an amazing feat here. And you saved my ass while you were at it.”

Lance gave a nervous nod to the woman. “Happy to do it. Thanks for helping us out today.”

There was a flurry of activity at the back of the room and he knew Marissa was just beyond the double doors based on the amount of female squealing that was happening.

His heart beat sped up when the music started and the doors opened. She looked like a snow queen or something. He didn’t know how Jasmine worked her magic so quickly but he would give her three times the amount she charged him for the rush order on the dress.

He could tell Marissa was nervous and he fought the urge to go to her and take her from Samuel who had offered to escort her down the aisle if she wanted it. It seemed she’d accepted his offer.

“I found her wandering the halls,” Samuel joked when they got close enough for Lance to hear.

Lance grinned and held his elbow out for Marissa.

“Hi,” he said as he led her to stand in front of Tamara.

“Hi,” she said, her voice sounding shaky. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“I would do anything for you.”

Tamara cleared her throat and the couple turned so she could begin the short ceremony. Lance barely heard any of it. It felt like their troubled past was finally fading and they could move forward with the life he always knew they were meant to have.

He repeated the generic promises that came with wedding vows, because they didn’t have time to write anything new. But the meaning with which they spoke the words was all that mattered.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss each other.”

Lance gripped her waist and pulled her close to him. “Mine forever, Mrs. Moss,” he murmured just before his lips closed over hers.

****

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