Looking over at the clock, Colleen sat up in the bed. She and Jon had texted till she fell asleep, the last text being that he’d see her at the altar. Of course, all the text weren’t all lovey-dovey, some of them were hot enough to melt her apple phone. He told her that he would replace her bed in the apartment if they broke it on their wedding night. This week of abstinent from sex was making him so horney, like a sixteen-year-old. He had said he had gotten reacquainted with his right hand.
Colleen heard a gentle knock on her door.
“Mom, are you up?” Stephanie asked as she slowly opened the door.
“Yes Stephanie, I just woke up,” Colleen smiled, Stephanie had been calling her Mom since the day they went dress shopping. If Jon had heard it, he hadn’t commented on it.
Stephanie brought in a tray, with two cups and a pot of hot chocolate, and two pastries. She set the tray on Colleen's lap and sat on the edge of the bed.
“You ready for today?” Stephanie asked Colleen.
“Yes, now I wished we had set the date earlier,” Colleen said as she sipped her hot chocolate. “We’d be married now and settled into married life.”
“I’m just glad that my dad found you, it was fate that you two would meet. No matter what Pop and Granddaddy say,” Stephanie laughed.
“Did your grandmother get in?” Colleen asked as she looked at Stephanie over her cup rim.
“Yes she rode in on her broom yesterday while we were at the wedding dinner,” Stephanie said breaking off a bite of Danish. “She ambushed Daddy when he got home.”
Colleen thought that was odd since Jon never told her anything. Maybe he didn’t want to upset her, or he handled it for them.
“Well, she got here, that’s the important part,” Colleen finished her pastry and hot chocolate.
“I’m happy we had this mother-daughter breakfast, your mom was going to bring this up and I begged her to let me do it. She told me to tell you, to get a shower and wash your hair, the car will be here to take us to the church to get dressed and pictures,” Stephanie said from the door taking the tray back to the kitchen. “Uncle David said he would see you there.”
Colleen stretched and headed to the bathroom, passing her mother in the hallway.
“This is my last time with you as a single woman, but Stephanie begged me,” Maggie said proudly.
“You want to sit in the bathroom, as I shower?” Colleen asked her mother.
“I haven’t sat in there while you had a bath since you were a little girl and I washed your hair for you,” Maggie sniffed.
“Come on mom, and you can wash my hair,” Colleen smiled and hugged her mom.
------->----@
Jon and the boys headed to the church around noon, he had to rehearse his song with Phil, Lema, and Lorenza. He had finally decided on an Elvis song, Can’t Help Falling in Love With You. He knew she loved that song. Phil was going to play an acoustic guitar, while he sang to Colleen, during the ceremony. Phil had left with Lema while he was finishing his shower.
His mom had cornered him again this morning, he had almost wished she had stayed in Miami. Was he sure Colleen was the one?
“Mom, I wouldn’t have asked her if I didn’t think she was the one,” Jon told her. “Please mom be nice to Maggie and Cullen, they’re my new in-laws.”
“For you Jonny I will,” Carol said with a smile that let Jon know today was going to be hell.
The rehearsal with Phil, Dave, and Lorenza went okay, something was missing. Jon sent Jesse to get Stephanie, he needed a stand-in. Stephanie looked beautiful in her maid of honor dress of deep burgundy. Explaining why he needed her, Stephanie smiled and held hands with her dad, as he sang Love Me Tender, by his hero Elvis Pressley. They ran through it twice with Stephanie wiping tears out of her eyes on the last time through.
“It’s perfect Dad, and I know she’ll love it, hell you could sing the phonebook and she loved it.” Stephanie reached up on tiptoes and kissed her dad’s cheek. “Now go back to the groom’s room so Uncle David can get pictures.”
Jon smiled at Lema, who was so happy when Colleen asked him and Lorenza to play at the wedding.
They weren’t in the room long before David Bergman was in telling everyone where to stand and who needed to smile. Jon took Romeo aside and asked if he was sure about what they asked him this morning.
“Hey Romeo, I need you to do something for me,” Jon said as they headed into the bathroom. “Ro, are you sure this is what all four of you want?”
“Yeah Dad, Stephanie has been doing it for over a month, and we boys want the same thing, and today would be perfect. Jesse wrote what we want to say and we talked to Father Mike at rehearsal and he agreed,” Romeo told his dad.
“Okay, now do me a favor, run this to Colleen in the brides’ room and give it to her from me, please,” Jon asked his youngest.
“You got it, dad,” Romeo said as he waited for his dad to get the small box and the card.
After leaving his dad, he walked to the other end of the hallway where the wide white door with the wedding bells on it and knocked.
All the giggling and talking stopped.
“It better not be Jon,” Maggie told the women in the room. Carol was in there with them, as it was her place as mother to the groom.
“It’s not his first go-around,” Carol said as she sipped her one glass of Champagne. John and Jon both admonished her not to get drunk and spoil the wedding,
Stephanie went to the door and opened it, seeing Romeo on the other side with a gift and a card.
“Dad said to give this to Mom,” Romeo said loud enough for everyone to hear him. He walked past his sister to where Colleen stood with tears in her eyes.
“Thanks, Romeo,” Colleen gave him a hug.
He handed her to gift and card.
“Will you take this to your dad,” Colleen asked as she turned and placed her presents and picked up a similar box and card to Romeo.
Maggie and Carol looked on in a stunned facial expression. “Did he just call you mom?” Maggie asked. Carol was just as shocked but she had heard Stephanie call Colleen mom, so she figured Jon had decreed it.
“He sure did,” Colleen said as she opened her card. It wasn’t the sentiment that caused her to blush but the note Jon wrote on the inside of the card.
‘I look forward to finally waking up with you in my bed. I love you so much my sunshine, my love. Do not plan on staying long at the reception, it’s been the longest week of my life. See you at the altar.’
“By that blush, I think Jonny,” Desi started to say something x rated but her girls and Carol were in there. “Said something blushable.”
Sarah, Nina, and Stephanie nodded their heads.
Colleen cautiously removed the wrapping paper on the package, so she could put it in the envelope with the card. Gasping she held the Tiffany blue box in her hand. Slipping the jewelry box out of the box she slowly opened it.
“Grandma Maggie was mom like this as a child?” Stephanie asked.
“Worse, that’s why we never wrapped her gifts up fancy. Maggie laughed.
“Oh,” Colleen gasped again as she brought out the diamond drop earring.
“Your something new,’’ Nina, Desi, Sarah, and Stephanie said in unison. Stephanie took the earrings and Sarah took off the ones she wore, and Stephanie handed them to Sarah to put the new ones in.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the bride’s room, meanwhile over in the grooms’ room. Romeo got there with Colleen's gift to Jon.
“Dad, Mom sent these to you,” Romeo smiled with a pair of lady's lip prints on his cheek, which David Bergman got several pictures of before Jon took a tissue out to clean his cheek.
Jon opened the card first then laughed, they had bought the same card. The only thing different was the note to him in Colleen's handwriting.
‘On this day we two shall be as one. You are my love, my mornings, my nights, and everywhere in between. I’ll see you at the altar just so you know, I’ll be the one in white and lace.’
The men in the room waited for him to open the gift, circling him. Jon ripped the paper and smiled at Tiffany’s box that was the same as his gift to her. Inside was a new set of cufflinks, a tie tack. Both were engraved with a twist design of their initials. Jon held out his hands so his dad could take out the rental links to put in the new ones, while Cullen took out the cheap tie tack and put the new one in its place.
David got more shots of the men of Bongiovi and when there was a knock on the door, Father Mike came in and told Jon it was showtime. They all had a prayer then Cullen left to go get Colleen with Jamie following them, His dad left to get Carol, and Matt and Tony went to walk behind their parents, and Jamie was to walk down with Maggie. That left Jon with his three boys, the Nutt crew, he was so proud of them and what they were declaring today. This was the beginning of a new life for all of them. They walked out with Father Mike and took their place in the front of the packed chapel.
