Petrichor: Chapter 6

MARLEY

Not a lick of nerves took over me when I finally put on my wedding dress. I was ready. Michael was ready. This was it. The longest ride down the exhilarating road of love. It's been a long time coming and I was sure nothing could ruin it at this point. I could hear everyone gathering outside for the ceremony while I finished getting ready, and I couldn't help but peak outside the second story window of the beach house. Michael hadn't arrived yet but he still time to get here. Not that I was worried he wouldn't show. Nothing short of God could stop that man from marrying me.

Smiling, I retrieved back to stand in front of the mirror, reaching for the veil Jesse had left for me on top of the dresser. I had heard her earlier bossing people around, taking her role of maid of honor seriously, making sure things were running smoothly while I put the finishing touches to my wedding makeup. Brief sadness prickled my chest as I remembered all the times Serena and I had talked about this day, how she'd dump my body in the river if anyone but her did my hair and makeup, how my wedding dress had to be stunning but practical, just in case my groom-to-be and I wanted to have a quickie before the ceremony began or if I had decided to become a runaway bride last minute. It was ironic how I spent the last five years hating her for leaving, and now I hated her even more because she wasn't here.

Focusing on slipping my feet into my classic white heels, I took a breath and shed all of my thoughts of my ex-best friend as I pushed up the bust line of my dress, giving myself the necessary cleavage I needed.

"Knock, knock," the familiar voice who I knew belonged to Danny made me sigh in relief. I honestly didn't think he'd show up today. But now that he was here, I could finally say things were going the way I had planned. He'd been dodging my calls all week, and I would've shown up at his place again to nag but I had been too caught up in last minute wedding plans to follow through. Which worked out perfectly seeing as neither Michael or I wanted to call Freddy to stand in for Danny. Freddy had been keeping his distance for a while now. No one knew why and he refused to talk to me about it. I decided figuring out what was wrong with Freddy wasn't my job anymore. It was his wife's. He had met Lynn at a farmer's market outside of town and apparently it had been love at first sight. Which I didn't buy because wasn't the type to fall for someone so quickly. Not that it mattered now. He married her despite all of us warning him not to rush into things.

"Danny," I greeted him with a hug when I gave him permission to come inside the room, and he smiled brightly at me for the first time in a long time. Something was definitely going on with him. He was wearing a brand new suit, sporting a new haircut and a trimmed scruff and he looked... lighter, as if the dark cloud that had been pouring nothing but darkness onto him these past few years had disappeared. I would've asked him what was going on if I weren't running late for my own wedding.

"Where's Michael? Is it too late to give him the talk?" he jested and I hit his arm playfully.

"He's not here yet?"

"He's taking care of something for me. But don't worry, he'll be here soon," Danny explained mysteriously, forcing my eyebrow to raise in suspicion.

"Danny, what are you up to?"

"It's a surprise," he answered with another grin. This one brought back the nerves I swore I didn't have before and he rolled his eyes at me when I began to bite my newly manicured fingernails. He apparently forgot how much I hated surprises.

"Stop. Are you finished up here? Your dad is downstairs waiting for you," Danny urged and I nodded, taking a deep breath as I hooked my arm over his and he escorted me out of the room. Jesse met me at the foot of the stairs, her eyes watering as she took in my dress and covered her mouth with her fingers.

"Stop! I don't think I have waterproof mascara on," I insisted, sniffling as she waved off her emotions and helped me drag the train of my dress all the way to the entrance leading to the deck, where my father was waiting on me. For someone who disapproved of my choice of future husband and who rarely showed emotion in general, he sure looked like he was about to bawl his eyes out as he kissed my cheek and opened the french doors as the ceremony began.

Giselle headed out first as the flower girl, sprinkling the white and red rose petals along the white carpet leading to the altar. I had insisted she wear whatever she felt comfortable in since she would most likely do it anyway, and she managed to surprise me when she actually wore a delicate white V-neck lace overlay knee-length dress. No baseball cap in sight. Just her beautiful honey brown hair tied up in a low bun, with soft ringlets of hair dangling from her hairline. The only thing that looked out of place with her wardrobe were the converse shoes she had insisted on slipping on her feet instead of the flats I had picked out for her. I smirked at her sense of style and turned over towards Danny and Jesse, who were next up to walk down the isle as the best man and maid of honor. Jesse had come alone and Danny as well, which was a good thing, considering I've been trying to get those to together for a while now. He needed someone stable and healthy to look after him, despite Michael's protests. He insisted Jesse wasn't the one for him, considering Danny didn't do well with nice girls. The last one he dated ended up spiraling and overdosing on drugs.

All thoughts aside, I focused on creating my own happy ending this time, and tried not to get emotional as my father turned me towards the entrance of the deck, and the wedding march began playing. The sky was as blue as it could be, and the spring breeze combining with the scent of the ocean a couple of yards away was an added bonus to the ambiance. Not to mention how good Michael looked in that black and white tuxedo as he turned around to look at me. I caught his gaze and held onto it as the entire world disappeared around me while I made my way towards the altar.

"Hi," I breathed, while he smiled brightly as his gaze trailed down my strapless dress, which included a laced bodice topping off the lower lace embroidered half that stopped about three feet away from my actually feet. The dress was stunning, but it did nothing to distract him from blinking away his tears of admiration.

"Hi, dollface," he replied with a slow grin, his voice cracking as he tried to gather himself when the priest opened his holy book. Michael and I kept sharing secret looks as the priest went on with his speech and when it was finally time for Giselle to come out with the rings, I wondered why it was taking her so long to come out.

"Do you think she lost the rings?" I panicked, whispering the question over to Michael and he shook his head, sharing a look with Danny before he turned to look at me.

"I'm sure its in the right hands," Michael said cryptically, and when his smile returned, I turned to follow his gaze and was taken aback when I noticed the set of well-dressed twin boys, who resembled Danny in every way, made their own trip down the isle, each holding white velvet pillows with rings centered in the middle. Gasping, I covered my mouth as they each gave me a version of their father's cheesy smile and I dropped my bouquet of flowers onto the floor to hug them tight.

"My babies! Oh, wow. Look at you two..." I tried to hold back the tears but they kept on flowing as I held them tight against me, and Michael took the pillows and rings from them.

"Surprise," I heard Danny say, with his usual wolfish grin, while the crowd of friends and family in the audience began to chatter among themselves. Looking up, I found the subject of all their conversations as Serena made an entrance in a blush colored gown, emerging from the inside of the beach house.

I had no idea what to feel but irritation when Michael stepped out of his position at the altar and went to fetch Serena, whispering something into her ear that convinced her to follow him. She avoided my gaze as she stepped in behind Jesse, holding a spare bouquet of flowers and I turned to Michael and Danny, and realized none of them looked shocked by Serena's sudden return. Which made me think they've known about her being back home for a while now.

I was going to throw something soon if I didn't get an explanation.

"Go on father. The wedding party is complete now," Michael urged and nodded towards Serena, and gave the boys a wink as they walked towards the two empty seats in the front row, next to Giselle, Freddy and Lynn. Now Freddy looked just as surprised as everyone else did, and I wondered why he wasn't in on whatever scheme was happening on my damn wedding day.

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"Why did ya'll think her coming here was a good idea?" I scolded at my new husband and his soon-to-be-dead best friend and apparently my maid of honor as well. I couldn't believe Jesse had been in on it too. I tried to keep my voice down considering we had a house full of guests wandering around beyond my office, but it was growing harder by the minute when they all decided to keep their mouths shut like a bunch of five years old's.

"Maybe we should hear her out first? Not aim for the jugular just yet," Freddy, who'd been as quiet as a mouse all day long, finally spoke and his words only made me raise an eyebrow.

"Who's side are you on?" I countered angrily and he rolled his eyes as he turned to walk towards the window while I resumed to glare at the three conspirators in front of me.

"She didn't want to ruin your big day. Which is why we didn't tell you she was back," Danny began to defend her, which didn't surprise me at all. He turned into a big puddle of stupid when she was around.

"Why is she back anyway?" Freddy inquired, keeping his gaze on whatever he was looking at outside where we all should've been instead of being couped up in here while I cursed them all out.

"Does it matter? She can't stay," I reminded them all of the agreement we made the day we found out she had left and taken the kids with her. She was not to be welcomed back in any way shape or form, for Danny's sake. Not that I wasn't glad the boys were here. They turned out to be the only surprise I've ever enjoyed in my entire life. It was their crazy mother I had a problem with.

"Marley's right. She's caused enough damage," Jesse agreed, stepping in beside me as she held my hand for support.

"Of course you're on her side. She's your one way ticket to Daniel," Freddy snickered and we all turned towards him again, while I wondered what the hell his problem was.

"Someone's fucking upset that he didn't get to marry Marley today," Danny countered, hitting below the belt as usual. I took a deep breath, trying to smooth over the migraine forming at the base of my skull.

"You're such a fucking pendejo, Daniel. No wonder Serena left your ass," Freddy argued angrily, causing Danny to square up to him, while Jesse and Michael stepped in between them.

"Can I have a minute alone with Freddy please?" I asked them, Michael hesitating as he glanced back and forth between us. I pulled at his hand and kissed him deeply, caressing his cheek as I pulled away from his lips,

"I love you. Now scoot. I'll be fine," I ordered and he nodded, placing a kiss on the back of my hand then followed the others outside and closed the door behind him.

"Mind telling what the hell your problem is today?" I cornered him until he took a seat on the bench by the window, crossing his arms as he stared up at me.

"No problem. I just think we should give Serena the benefit of the doubt. We've all made mistakes we wish we could go back and change. I'm sure you understand that," he pointed out calmly, but the rage in his eyes contradicted his tone.

"Freddy, we agreed we wouldn't talk about that night," I reminded him, referring to the night Michael had decided to propose to me, shortly after Freddy and I had a moment of weakness and shared a heated kiss at Giselle's sixth birthday party. Michael and I had been going through a rough patch at the time, arguing almost every day about everything and anything. Freddy had always been a good listener and we had gotten caught up in sharing old memories and overwhelming each other with nostalgia. Michael had popped the question barely an hour after we kissed and I said yes, causing a rift between Freddy and I once again. Four years later, and he brings this up now? Something else must be bugging him.

"Yeah well, maybe things would've turned out differently if you hadn't—"

"Freddy, cut the shit. What's wrong? Is it Lynn? Are you two having problems?" I asked, genuinely concerned despite him being a complete asshole as of late. He sighed, placing his head in his hands as he tried to contain whatever pain he was in. I hiked up my dress and sat next to him on the bench, holding his hand for comfort.

"Lynn and I have been trying to get pregnant. Nothing's been working so we went to a specialist. We got the results a few weeks back, and apparently, I can't have any kids," Freddy explained, bringing tears to my eyes as he tried his best not to break down. I held onto him until he got everything out of his system and gave him a much needed hug.

"Is this why you've been such a dick lately?" I asked, making him chuckle as he pulled away and shrugged.

"Probably. I'm sorry, Marley," he apologized, slipping away from me as he stood up and helped me get off the bench.

"Hey, we're still friends, okay? Don't ever think you can't come to me for anything," I reminded him and he nodded in agreement as he escorted me towards the door and helped me pull my dress out of the room.

"I need a minute," he claimed and I nodded, sympathizing with the man as he closed the door. I couldn't imagine how painful it was to be so close to having everything you want, and then losing all hopes of obtaining it all together.