Chapter 41

“I can’t believe I’m getting married today,” Laura breathed as A.J. pulled the black ribbon around her waist tight to complete the dress.

“Laura, relax,” she sighed, “You’ve been saying this all day.”

“Well, it’s kinda hard to fathom!” Laura laughed, glancing over her figure in the fill length mirror.

She was dressed in a flowing white satin gown, black ribbon around her middle. She was holding a large bouquet of various flowers, vines curling around the outside to the floor. Her long auburn hairs was pulled away from her face in a mass of curls at the back of her head, her bangs swept to the side out of her eyes.

A.J. moved into the reflection and studied her own gown since she was the maid of honor. She was clad in black, the skirt sweeping to the floor. A forest green ribbon adorned her waist and she held a small bouquet of roses.

“Stop worrying about the wedding, Laura and concentrate on Jeff,” A.J. advised.

Laura stared at her in the mirror, her eyes wide, “How are you so calm? You’re acting like this is nothing.”

A.J. sighed and waited for Laura to move away from the mirror before pushing Jessie in front of it to fix her bouncing curls. “Although I’ve never been married myself, I have been to quite a few weddings and I learned that being calm with an overly excited bride is key.”

“I bet you twenty bucks she won’t be calm at her wedding,” Jessica giggled as A.J. pushed her away, handing her the flower basket for the ceremony.

A.J. rolled her eyes and glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. She let out a long sigh and placed her hands on Laura’s shoulders firmly.

“It’s show time, good luck.”

Laura let out a nervous whimper and Jessie led the two down the stairs toward the music. She was the first to walk through the doors, a happy smile in place. She began to toss her flowers along the aisle, her eyes searching the crowd for something. She seemed to find it as she stopped at the alter and smirked, stepping out of the way for A.J and Randy.

He smiled down at A.J. before they stepped through the doors. She narrowed her eyes at him curiously but did not ask, knowing Jeff’s family had eyes on them. Instead she smiled back and let him lead her down the aisle as Ashley and Matt followed.

A.J. kept her eyes on Jeff’s face when the music changed and Laura stepped through the doors. Everyone’s jaw dropped, including Jeff’s and she grinned nervously. A.J. beamed at the mesmerized look on Jeff’s face as Laura took his hand, her eyes roving over her figure as the priest cleared his throat to start the ceremony.

“A.J.,” a small voice whispered beside her.

She rolled her eyes and glanced down at Jessie, her eyes popping to shut her up, “What?”

“Look at Randy.”

“What?”

“Look at Randy!” Jessie hissed, nudging her knee.

A.J. resigned and looked across at Randy. His hand was shoved in the pocket of his pants, his fingers playing with something in his hand. A.J. felt the butterflies jump at the possibilities of what could be in his pocket but she thrust the excitement aside, focusing her attention on the wedding ceremony taking place.

“And do you, Jeffery Nero Hardy, take Laura Elizabeth Anderson as your lawfully wedded wife to have an to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Jeff beamed, making A.J. giggle.

Laura sniffed, blotting under her eyes with a tissue she’d hidden just in case. Jeff grinned even wider and wiped a few tears away with his thumb. The priest seemed to take no notice and plowed through the rest of his long monologue before looking up at the couple.

“I now pronounce you man and wife, Jeff, you may no kiss your bride.”

A.J. clapped happily as Jeff scooped her into his arms, kissing her passionately. Randy and John whistled and Jessie danced around cheerfully, tossing the rest of her flower petals. Randy took A.J.’s hand and led the procession out of the church to the waiting limos. They reception was to be held at Jeff’s place. Randy, Jessie and John all slid into one limo and sped off toward the house, aiming to be the first ones there for the excitement.

“I bet ten bucks A.J.’s gonna cry tonight,” Jessie wagered, her eyes on A.J.’s calm face.

John shook his head and held out his hand, “Ten bucks says she doesn’t.”

“You’re on,” Jessie grinned, her eyes showing she was hiding something.

A.J. glanced down at her sister as Jeff’s house loomed into view and set her jaw, “You’ve been betting an awful lot of money tonight Jessica. I suggest you cut it down, you don’t have this kind of money.”

Jessie grinned and flashed a glance at Randy, “I don’t need any money, I’m winning tonight.”

Before A.J. could question her sister the limo stopped and the door swung open. John scooped Jessie from the back seat and Randy and A.J. followed close behind. Music was already pumping from the back yard and the group rushed toward it, the Harris sisters stumbling over their dresses.

“My goodness woman, it’s as if you can’t even walk!” Randy laughed, scooping A.J into his arms as they moved through the back gate to see the slowly growing crowd.

A.J. batted her eyelashes at him and he let her down so she could adjust her gown, “Hurry up, they’re getting introductions over with first!”

Sure enough, the DJ called for order as the guests settled down for food. Jeff and Laura appeared at the back door just as he called out for silence.

“Introducing first our lovely flower girl and her escort, one of Jeff’s best men, Jessica Harris and John Cena!”

The two strode to the middle of the dance floor and John scooped Jessie into a hug, kissing her on the cheek with a grin.

“Next the main Best man along with bridesmaid, Mathew Hardy and Ashley Massaro!”

The two followed John and Jessie, kissing quickly before moving off to their respective tables. A.J. could feel the jitters as she waited for her name to be called.

“And now Maid of honor along with the third of Jeff’s best men, Arielle Jasmine Harris and Randy Orton.”

Randy pulled A.J out into the middle of the floor and dipped her, kissing her with a smile as she straightened. He swept her off to the side and they two sat down at their table for the final introduction.

“And last but certainly not least we have our newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Nero Hardy!”

Laura was practically glowing as she stepped out into the middle of the floor with Jeff. He bowed handsomely before planning a long kiss on Laura’s lips, to the amusement of everyone. When they pulled away Laura grabbed a microphone, giggling magnified as she held it to her lips.

“I just want to thank everyone for coming, this is the happiest day of my life. Instead of doing the garter and bouquet toss after dinner I thought we might get it over with now so we can dance the rest of the night.”

Jeff leaned close to her to use the mic himself and waved for all the women to come forward, “Come on ladies, it’s your turn.”

A.J. hesitated until Randy shoved her enough that she almost fell out of her chair. She laughed and joined the throng of jostling women, taking a spot next to Ashley. Laura stepped up onto a chair and turned away from them. Jeff held the mic and grinned counting to three before the huge bouquet was in the air.

To her surprise, A.J. reached the flowers first, catching them smoothly as they tumbled from the air. She held them up as the rest cheered and her eyes fell on Randy. To her he looked strained, his eyes not a warm as they usually were. A hand on her shoulder distracted her attention, however, and she turned o look into Laura’s beaming face.

“Looks like Randy’s not ready for commitment,” she muttered. “We’ll see about that.”

“Laura please,” A.J. frowned at the determination in her gaze.

“Trust me, I won’t hurt him,” she smiled innocently over her shoulder before Jeff was herding the men, Laura’s garter in his hand.

“Alright fellahs take it easy,” the two heard Jeff call as they moved to the head table.

A.J. looked slightly uneasy at the look in Randy’s eyes as he stood a bit back from the crowd. He did not look stunned when he ended up with the garter, he had just barely made an effort to touch the thing. John had shied away from it and it had landed in Randy’s path because of him.

“Looks like he has no choice now,” Laura grinned at the put out look in his face.

A.J. gaped at her, “He might just be thinking, Laur, I’ve seen that look before.”

“Let’s hope,” she winked and sat down, welcoming the first course as the chatter heightened.

“I’d like to make an announcement,” Randy’s voice broke A.J. out of her light hearted conversation with Ashley and Laura.

The small group looked toward the now quiet dance floor to see Randy standing uneasily on the middle of the floor, Laura’s garter hanging over the side of one pocket while his hand was shoved deep in the other, his fingers slowly playing with something.

Jessie let out an excited squeal behind A.J. and everyone shushed her making the three women smile.

A.J. felt the butterflies erupt in her stomach when Randy turned to her, pulling his hand out of his pocket. Laura squeezed her hand reassuringly as A.J. stared at Randy with wide eyes, not believing what he was about to do.

“Well, A.J. we’ve gotten this far and haven’t gone insane, which is a surprise. I’ve been thinking about this long and hard and I want you to know how much I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Arielle. Will you marry me?”

A.J. was frozen. The shock and joy was too much for her to handle. She swallowed hard as Randy held out the box he had been playing with the entire wedding. The diamonds glinted brilliantly in the sunset, making A.J.’s eyes even wider. She slowly got to her feet, the numb keeping her movement slow. It seemed to take ages to get to Randy and he cautiously held the microphone out to her.

“Randy, I-,” she started, the lump in her throat catching her voice. She swallowed hard, trying to calm her nerves. “Oh God, I will, Randy, yes, I will,” she gasped, the tears springing to her eyes.

Jessie gave a loud whoop pf joy and turned to John as Randy slipped the ring on A.J’s finger. She grabbed the front of his shirt with a sly grin and beckoned for the money.

“I won, I told you she’d cry today.”

John frowned and forked over the cash, “You knew didn’t you?”

“Yep,” she grinned, stuffing the cash into her clutch and laughing as A.J. swayed in disbelief.

Randy kissed her passionately and raised his eyebrows at Laura as the two approached her.

“How’s that for fearing commitment, huh?” he challenged, flashing his perfect grin.

Laura stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed Jeff, whispering something in his ear. He grinned, brushing a strand of purple hair from his face and took her hand.

“Well, I believe we have a honeymoon to attend to. Randy, A.J. enjoy your engagement, congratulations. Jessie, John we’ll see you in three weeks!”

Both John and Randy saluted Jeff as he dashed across the lawn with a laughing Laura. Randy then turned to A.J. with a wide grin and winked at her.

“John, I hope you’ve planned some time with Jessie, A.J and I have some celebrating to get to,” Randy mumbled.

John nodded in understanding and grinned, “Got gett’em tiger.”

“A.J., let’s go,” Randy smirked and pulled her back toward the limo for a long night of celebrating, John and Jessie laughing behind them.

Okay, it’s done, I’m done, no more from me. No sequel, sorry, but I don’t like them. Hope you all like this though. This is one of my faves. Review and tell me what you think!

Sadie