Chapter 2

“Ma, stop it,” Brian admonished good-naturedly, as Debbie once again ran her hands over his shoulders as if to wipe off some dust that only she could see, then threw a pleading look in Ted’s direction, who was watching everything in amusement.

“Deb, I think Brian’s suit is clean. Or can you see him wearing a dirty Armani?”

Debbie nodded as if to herself, then looked at Brian, her gaze meeting his. “I am sorry. I’m just so emotional right now.”

“I thought you would be happy that I am finally making an honest man out of Sunshine.”

“I am,” she agreed, nodding her head up and down. “I am. I am happy for both of you.”

“But?” Brian frowned, not quite sure what had Debbie this emotional.

“No but. I am just happy. That’s it. Happy and relieved and so fucking proud. I never thought I would ever see the day that you would get married. And out of your own free will to boot.”

“Deb, I stopped being that man a long time ago,” Brian said quietly.

“I know, I know. And I am so proud of you. You have no idea. So proud of the man you have become. Of the father that you are. The business man you are. I am just proud of you. So fucking let me be proud and take it like a man.”

Ted snorted, then quickly hid the snort and faked a cough when Brian threw him a glare. “I am still your boss, Theodore.”

“Partner,” Ted immediately shot back, over the years having gotten a lot braver when it came to contradicting Brian than he had been at the beginning of their friendship.

“I am still the majority shareholder though,” Brian smirked, reminding Ted of who had the majority share in Kinnetik.

In recent months, since Vicky had started school, Brian had started to work some more while she was in school. Before, he had enjoyed being at home, spending time with her and Justin and his sons, but now that Gus was out of the house, Luke and Vicky were in school for most of the day and Justin was as busy as ever creating his beautiful art, Brian had felt himself getting bored with nothing much to do and had started taking more of an interest in his company again.

It had felt nice to work again, to have something to do that challenged him creatively and he had enjoyed coming back to Kinnetik more than he had thought he would. Apparently he had been the only one surprised by that as Justin, Ted and pretty much everyone else had been less than surprised when Brian had voiced how much he loved being back. Maybe it was true and they all knew him better than he thought.

“True, but we both know that you wouldn’t fire me,” Ted smiled sweetly, then turned around when he heard Emmett call his name.

“Everyone ready here? Oh my gosh, Brian! You look glorious,” he exclaimed, throwing up his arms in delight. “That suit looks like it was made just for you.”

“It was,” Brian muttered, making the people around him laugh. As if Brian Kinney would wear an off the rack suit to his own wedding. Ridiculous!

“Both you and Baby look absolutely fabulous,” Emmett just went on as if he hadn’t heard Brian’s reply. “How about we get this show started before anyone starts to change their mind?”

“No one is changing their mind if I have anything to say about it,” Debbie announced, looking at Brian sternly.

“What are you looking at me for? I am the one that asked him to marry me.”

“Just making sure we’re not encountering any last minute nerves,” she said, still eying him.

“Not from me,” Brian said seriously and smiled when he was saved by Daphne’s and Justin’s arrival. His whole face lit up when he saw Justin, who looked absolutely beautiful in his suit. Justin was giving him his best sunshine smile as he walked closer.

“Hey,” the younger man said, still smiling.

“Hey,” Brian replied, immediately pulling the younger man close for a kiss. After all he hadn’t seen Justin in a whole day which in his opinion was way too long.

“I thought the whole ‘You can now kiss the groom' thing only came later in the ceremony,” Emmett stage whispered, pretending to fan himself at the sight in front of him.

“I missed you,” Brian said quietly, still holding Justin tight.

“Missed you, too,” Justin gave back, allowing Brian to take hold of his hand before he pulled back a bit and turned to face their family.

“You guys know that you’ll still have the rest of your days for that, don’t you?” Debbie cackled, then made her way over to them, taking Brian’s arm. “This one’s mine for the next couple of minutes, Sunshine.”

Brian and Justin smiled at each other, then pulled apart. Brian went over to Debbie’s side while Justin waited for his mother to come over, who had been in a last minute conversation with her granddaughter.

“You ready, honey?” she asked, a gentle smile on her face as she took Justin’s arm and stood close by his side.

“More than ready,” he announced, his voice sounding absolutely sure and excited.

“I am so happy for you. For both of you,” she said sincerely before she leaned over and placed a kiss on Justin’s blond head. “Who would have thought, huh?”

Justin couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment. “Yeah, who would have thought? If only there was a time machine and I could go back to my 17-year old self and tell myself and you that one day I would marry Brian and that you would actually be happy about it.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you,” Jennifer admitted honestly, squeezing her son’s arm. “I guess I wasn’t ready to see my baby grow up and go out into the world.”

“And with Brian of all people,” Justin chuckled, knowing very well that he hadn’t really made it easy for his mother back then. Now that his own sons were both close to that age, he had a much easier time understanding his mother’s reluctance to accept Brian as the man in his life. He honestly didn’t know how he would react if Gus would bring home someone 12 years his senior. Even though it would make him a hypocrite, he was pretty sure that he would have his doubts as well. He would be worried about his son’s welfare as well.

“Yeah,” Jennifer nodded, then looked over to Brian and Debbie, who were also talking. “But I am glad that it worked out this way. I know that he makes you happy.”

“He does,” Justin smiled his best sunshine smile, before he turned to his mom and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. For always supporting me even though it wasn’t easy at times.”

“Honey,” Jennifer started, sounding emotional now. “I just wish I could have supported you more when it mattered.”

Justin knew that she was referring to the time when he had first come out and to the time when Brian had been pregnant with Luke. Those two times had been hard on their relationship and at times Justin hadn’t really known if there was even a relationship between them, but at the end of the day, he knew that Jennifer loved him and he knew that she had tried her best as his mother. Everyone failed, nobody was perfect and he was just glad that each time they had been able to save their relationship and fix it before it had broken completely.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, honey. Now let’s get you married. I think someone is more than ready to get her big moment,” she said, nodding towards where a very excited Vicky was standing, eager to get started so she could impress everyone as the flower girl.

Justin chuckled when he saw how excited his daughter looked and then nodded at his mother.

He turned to Brian once more and just asked him a simple word. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Brian nodded, holding Justin’s gaze and smiling gently at him.

“Oooh, I am so excited,” Emmett announced, before he bounced off and went into the room, sitting down at Drew’s side, but not before stopping at his goddaughter’s side and whispering some encouraging words to her.

“Ready, sweetheart?” Justin asked, turning towards Vicky who nodded eagerly.

“Okay, you can go then, princess,” Brian said next, nodding at his daughter and then watching with loving eyes as she walked into the room, gracefully throwing the flowers from the basket she was holding and covering the whole carpet with them.

Ted and Daphne as best man and best woman followed after her and went to the end of the room, where they joined the registrar who was standing on a small stage that had been beautifully decorated with white roses and other flower arrangements.

Next it was Justin’s turn to walk down the aisle at his mother’s side, closely followed by Brian who was walking down the aisle at Debbie’s side.

Both men had agreed that they didn’t want a religious ceremony, neither of them being very religious and both of them, especially Brian, having made rather bad experiences with religion in the past. They had also agreed that they both wanted to walk down the aisle with their mothers, or in Brian’s case the mother of his heart. Brian’s father had passed a long time ago and Justin hadn’t spoken to his father in more than 15 years, instead they had decided that they wanted to honour the women in their lives that had loved them, raised them and had been there for them and their family when they had needed them.

It had always been clear that theirs would not be a traditional wedding in the sense of what people expected of weddings, so who cared? It was what they wanted and what made them happy and so they just did it and went with it.

When they reached the small stage, both Jennifer and Debbie kissed their sons, wishing them all the best, before they sat down in the first row to watch the ceremony.

Justin leaned down and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “You were perfect. You looked absolutely beautiful and did great!”

Brian agreed and knelt down for a quick kiss to her cheek as well. “That was perfect! You did really well.”

Vicky’s whole face lit up in happiness, happy that she had done well and made her fathers proud and she was still smiling as she went off the stage and sat down with her brothers and grandparents in the first row to watch the ceremony as well.

Brian and Justin were standing in front of the registrar, who was going to marry them soon. They were holding hands and smiling at each other like lunatics.

“You look beautiful!” Brian said, his voice hardly above a whisper.

“So do you,” Justin couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t think he had ever been happier. Today he was going to marry Brian. Life couldn’t get any better than that!

The registrar started speaking and Brian and Justin both turned around to look at him.

“Today we have gathered here to be witnesses when Brian and Justin become one officially, when they become a married couple. We are here to be witnesses when they take their love to the ultimate level.

Brian and Justin have been together for a long time and have a beautiful family with their three children. They might already feel like a married couple and still, taking this step is something special. Making something you’ve felt and known for a long time already official is a big step. A step Brian and Justin are taking together today and they want to share this with you, their family and friends!

Brian and Justin wanted this ceremony to be as personal as it could be, so they decided to have their own vows.”

The registrar looked at Justin “Justin, you may begin.”

Justin cleared his throat and turned to look at Brian. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was, he hadn’t been all day, but now, now that he was about to tell Brian what he really meant to him, the nervousness appeared.

He cleared his throat again and took Brian’s hand in his and then began to speak.

“Brian…you are the light of my life. You are the love of my life, you are the reason I get up in the mornings and the reason why I make it through the day. You are always there for me and our children, always taking care of us first before thinking about yourself. And even though you would never see it that way, you are the most selfless person I’ve ever met.

I love the way you love me and can make me laugh so hard at times that I have to cry, which is something many people don’t know about you, but you have such an amazing personality, I was drawn to you immediately – and your body of course, no surprise there - and wasn’t able since then to let you go again. Which you had to learn the hard way, I guess,” Justin chuckled self-deprecatingly, making the audience laugh as well as he was obviously referring to their early days when he had turned into a stalker and stalked Brian.

“Even when we weren’t together, I was thinking about you all the time, remembering the way you loved me, took care of me, made me laugh, made me cry, the way you would hold me and the way I would get to see a side of you that not many people had seen at that time.

I guess, what I am trying to say is…” and here Justin’s voice began to break, “…what I want to say is…I…I love you! I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life, more than I ever thought would be possible. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be and I want to thank you for it! I also want to give you a promise…” tears started running down Justin’s face and Brian gently wiped them away, his own eyes very glassy as well.

“I want to promise you, Brian, that I’ll always love you. That I’ll always be there for you, will be a faithful, loving husband to you and a loving father to our children and will always be by your side, through better or worse and…through everything, really! I mean, we’ve pretty much covered all there is to cover where the worse part is concerned, so I am hoping that from now on we’ll only have to deal with the better part. I am so happy to be here with you today and to make you officially my husband…I love you, Brian!”

Brian gave Justin’s hand a comforting squeeze and smiled gently at him, being really moved by Justin’s declaration of love.

The registrar turned to look at Brian and quietly told him that it was his turn now.

Brian took a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control, but he knew that he was failing miserably. He was so touched by Justin’s words that he knew he wouldn’t be able to trust his voice. So in a broken voice, he started with his vows.

”Justin, I love you! I…I just wanted to let you know the most important thing first, I guess,” Brian could hear a slight chuckle behind him, coming from their friends and family.

“Every morning when I wake up and realise that you are lying next to me, I thank God for having you in my life. I…I know what my life would be like without you and I don’t ever want to experience that again. I can’t and I don’t want to imagine a life without you. You have been a part of my life for so long, the most important part, I don’t ever want to be without you again. I want to be with you 24/7, for the rest of my life.

Looking at our future together makes me smile, because I know that no matter what we’ll have to face, you’ll be by my side, that we’ll face it together and I know that we’ll be able to face anything that’ll be thrown our way, just as we have done so far! If we have proven one thing, it’s that we can face anything as long as we face it together.

I want to thank you for being there for me in every way. For being by my side whenever I need you. It means more than I can say…I want you to know that I’ll be there for you the same way you have always been there for me for the rest of your life. I’ll never leave you, Sunshine. You are stuck with me now…”

Again a chuckle went through the rows of guests and Justin was laughing as well through his tears.

“In the end it all just comes down to what I already said in the beginning. I love you! I love you and our family so much and today is the happiest day of my life and this ceremony makes me the happiest man on the planet. I honestly never expected that one day I could be as happy as I am now. ”

This time it was Justin who squeezed Brian’s hand reassuringly. “Love you, too.”

He knew how much Brian hated talking about his feelings and how much he hated talking about them in front of other people and it amazed Justin that Brian had actually said all this in front of all their families and friends without hesitation.

It had been Justin’s idea to speak their own vows and while Brian had agreed and not seemed to care all that much, Justin had known that speaking these vows would be way easier for him than for Brian. That was why he was even more impressed by all that Brian had said.

The registrar started speaking again and they both turned back around to be able to look at him.

“Now we’ll come to the official part of the ceremony. Justin, you go first:

Justin, will you solemnly promise that you will always protect Brian with your utmost care, that you will honour and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, and that in all things you will be to him a faithful and loving partner?

Respond: ‘I will’“

Justin looked at Brian and responded in a clear voice “I will”. He felt Brian squeezing his hand even tighter.

“Now you, Brian:

Will you solemnly promise that you will always protect Justin with your utmost care, that you will honour and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, and that in all things you will be to him a faithful and loving partner?

Respond: ‘I will’“

Brian took a deep breath and responded. “I will”.

Justin smiled through his tears at Brian. Even more tears were streaming down his face now. He didn’t think he would be able to ever stop crying again. He was that touched, moved, happy, relieved -he couldn’t even exactly say what he was feeling right now.

“I now ask you, Brian and Justin as well as your best man and best woman, to come over and sign the official wedding papers. This will only take a minute”

Brian and Justin both signed their names on the required lines and watched as Ted and Daphne did the same, acting as official witnesses.

After the papers were signed, they all went back to their places. The registrar gave Ted a sign, who gave a sign to Gus in the first row, beckoning him to come over.

Brian and Justin both watched their son come up to them, carrying a cushion with two rings on it - their wedding rings! They couldn’t help but laugh when Gus smirked at them as he walked up with the rings.

Gus stopped in front of Brian and Justin and held the rings up to them. “You made me wait long enough for this day,” he just said, smiling at his fathers, everyone thinking back to the wedding that had never happened so many years ago when Gus had been supposed to be their ring bearer.

Brian and Justin hadn’t known that Gus would be their ring bearer for this wedding, they had thought Ted would just carry the rings and both men laughed at this surprise. Finally Gus had gotten his big moment as well. It had taken them almost 15 years, but finally the day had arrived.

Brian took the smaller of the rings, slipping it on Justin’s ring finger while saying,

”I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and of our wedding today.”

Justin then took the bigger ring and slipped it on Brian’s finger, reciting the same vow.

Gus took a step back and quietly left the stage again.

The Registrar spoke up again. “As a token of the contract into which you have entered, these rings are given and received. You are now officially joined as partners and you may kiss the groom!”

Justin and Brian turned to each other again, smiling happily at each other, slowly leaning in until their lips met. Everyone started cheering, but neither Brian nor Justin noticed, being so lost in their first kiss as a married couple…