Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy - 17. Our Wedding

The party lasted until late and we’d been…well, sort of busy. Planning and showing people around. Everyone wanted to personally see every room which we gladly showed them. There were drinks served, the champagne of course, and other drinks including a red and a green punch that did and didn’t have alcohol. And don’t forget the eggnog. There was also dancing! But the first dance was a waltz to which Colin offered me his hand and we danced the waltz and it was recorded and played on Susan’s show later! George and David were staying while here, but we made sure everyone got home. Especially those that may have drunk too much.

It was almost dawn when Colin and I got to our room. Colin sighed slipping his jacket off and sat down on the bed and watched as I got his serum ready. “That was a nice party.” He said plopping back.

I nodded. “It was!” I agreed as I filled the syringe. “Are you tired?”

“Absolutely.” He grinned. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”

I gave him a sardonic look. “Ha, ha.”

He rolled on his side to see me better. “You were great tonight.”

I chuckled. “So were you.” I motioned for him to get rid of the shirt. “I was surprised when George showed up with David.”

Colin pulled his shirt off. “What surprised you exactly?”

I shrugged. “I just was. George is a nice guy and I just…I’m as bad as everyone else. I was surprised he played for our team.”

Colin nodded. “He’s a switch hitter?” He pulled his pants off and just like always, just put them aside. “He plays the game! He doesn’t care what team he’s on.”

I shook my head. “Enough with the sports metaphors. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” I grinned as I came to him and kissed him gently. “I love you, Colin.”

“I know.” He said presented his arm. “I love you, too.”

“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely and sadly as I inserted the needle. I shot the serum in his arm and then ran my fingers in his hair.

“It just hurts a little while.” He smiled as I released the tourniquet and he grimaced with pain. I took his hand as the pain grew as it always did.

I knew it had to be done, but I hated that he was in pain. The serum hadn’t hurt me except that first dose! But as I understood it, the venom was trying to stop my heart as the venom began to make me into a vampire, too. Once George had gotten there he replaced my blood getting rid of the venom, the serum no longer hurt me. My heart never stopped. Colin’s heart stopped a century and a half ago, the serum was causing his heart to keep going. Knowing it had to happen didn’t help. It was the results that had to happen if I had a future with him and I wanted a future with him. I put my head next to his as he suffered wishing to take a little his pain for him. I counted the seconds and waited until I heard his sigh as the pain eased. Using a cloth, I wiped his face as I always did as he gave me his usual smile. He reached up bringing my face toward him. “Thanks, baby.”

“I just hate Brett for doing this to you. I’m glad George at least found something to stop the venom. I hate that you hurt so because of it.”

He gathered me closer. “It’s a much, much better life than I had for a century and a half. This is better. I promise you.” He rubbed his face against mine. “Having you with me makes it better.”

“I just don’t like to see you suffer.”

“You don’t have to watch.” Colin pointed out.

“How can I not?” I asked. “You’re the most important person in the whole world to me.” I finished getting undressed and stretched out beside him. “Do you think your message got through to the others?”

Colin shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

We celebrated Christmas and New Year’s. Now the plans for our wedding was the focus. Gabriella and Mom were planning and were indeed, going over the top. The theme was a wedding in the old South. There were caterers, chairs, and flowers…not to mention our wedding outfits. I sat tasting foods and listening to bands with their music. The wedding cake! We were having one made for us, but how were they decorating it? We weren’t just buying clothes, no, we had designers come to us to make them for us! My problem was I had to watch my weight, Colin’s dimensions didn’t change that much. The wedding rings! We had a jeweler come to us to design unique rings were would wear. There were people that wanted to come and film the wedding. People from Logo, Advocate and other regular news magazines both print and TV, wanted to be there and Susan Hendricks was promised to be allowed there. There were invitations! Who did we invite? The list was growing, but we limited it to two hundred. We lived in a big house but had only so many bedrooms. George and David were coming and staying here. It was a drive from Charleston to Wentworth Manor. Hotels were asked and rooms set aside, but it would be an hour or more to and from the manor. There would be drinkers and we planned for that, too.

There were times it became a bit much. Both Colin and I wanted the wedding, but there were times we just had to get away. We often just vanished, telling security that we were going to eat. They were concerned when we did it the first time, but we had a purpose in doing that. We wanted to be noticed and we were. There was a potential danger was out there. We knew that, but staying at Wentworth Manor was…okay, boring for me. There were things to do, but my job managing the property was pretty much done. Mom didn’t really do much real estate wise and Gabriella…she was Gabriella! She continued to learn about the world. Finding entertainment wasn’t hard for any of us. The house was created so that we didn’t have to go anywhere, but it’s human nature to have something to do. The wedding plans did take up time, but there were down times that I was getting antsy.

Colin looked up after I involuntarily sighed again. We were in the media room/study were Colin worked! He had a job! Holms Laboratories needed monitoring and Colin did the business part. His eyebrows rose. His elbow on the desk and he rested his chin on his hand. “Bored?”

I groaned. “It’s not your fault, but…yes!” I got up with a huff and came over to him. “There are only so much TV or movies I can watch, books I can read, games I can play. The life of the idle rich is just…boring!” I threw my hands up in frustration.

Colin nodded. “We were busy getting this house together and now you want something to do.” He grinned. “You’re a young man and used to working.”

I nodded sitting on his desk looking at him. “There are things I can do, but I’m not. Charities always need volunteers and fundraising. Can I go into town? Can I work? It’s like…you only appreciate a warm day when you’re cold. You enjoy a meal when you’re hungry.”

Colin smiled. “There’s no reason you can’t go into town. You can volunteer and do all those things, even get a job, if you want.”

I blew a breath. “I’m going to work out,” I said getting up.

Colin’s eyebrows rose again. “You did this morning!”

“I’m doing it again! Some of us gain weight easily and I have a wedding outfit to put on!” I said walking out and headed downstairs to the converted Hunting Den/Game Room we made into a gym. I heard Colin hurry to catch me.

“Wait!” Colin said taking my arm and pulling me back to him. “Give me a few hours. Work out if you want, but we’ll go into town, have a good meal and just do whatever.” He looked seriously. “We both know why we haven’t been anywhere. There is someone out there. We can go around the world! Take a vacation anywhere you want. We can discuss what you can do. We may be contacted, we may not. Our lives shouldn’t be on hold because of it.” He kissed me. “Does that sound good?”

I kissed him back. “It sounds like something to do.” I nodded. “I’ll go, work out and then go up and shower.”

Colin chuckled. “Maybe I’ll join you in the shower.”

I grinned. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“We also need to talk about where to go on our honeymoon.” Colin’s eyebrows danced. “Anywhere you want to go.”

I froze when he said that. “Honeymoon!?”

He chuckled. “That’s what people try to do after they get married.”

“I…we…” I sputtered. “In the time we’ve been together, we’ve gone to New York and here. I consider us married now. I never even thought about a honeymoon.”

“So, now think about it!” Colin said smiling, kissing me and went back to the study.

I watched him go back admiring him and watched him walk. He had a great butt! I shook my head to clear it. I’d see and touch it later. And I did!

We had gotten a limousine. Not one of those super stretches, but it was a stretch. I didn’t claim to know much about them except they were flashy. That was the point. We were told to attract attention. Colin had gotten a Bentley something or other. It was the two-toned black and silvery gray. In TV and movies, you saw the window that slid up to separate you from the driver to give privacy. We had one of those, too. We had everything else! A bar in the car. There was a fold-down screen to watch TV! WiFi for a computer that rested on the fold-down desk from the seat in front of you. All of this sort of bothered me. I remember when he showed me the limo.

“I’m just not…” I waved at the limo. “…a limo guy! I drive! What if Matt has something to do?” Matt was our driver/mechanic.

Colin frowned. “Like a job? This is his job!”

So, I let it drop. This was just to catch people’s attention. It did that. Wherever we went, we were stared at.

“That’s what we were told to do.” Colin reminded me.

I grumbled. “Yes, we were. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” I groused.

We rode in the limo to downtown and went to this nice restaurant. This night we went to Magnolia’s. This was not a diner or buffet. This was fine dining. Meaning reservations, china, silver and cloth napkins on a table clothed table in a hushed environment. It was often crowded with people, but the tables weren’t so close together you heard what anyone else was saying. They knew Colin by now and knew he liked a lot of food. His portions were bigger than most customers.

Colin looked at me a little cautiously. “How are you feeling?” He asked carefully.

I munched on some calamari. “Like I’m on display.” I shook my head. “This is good.”

“It’s Magnolia’s. Of course, it is.” Colin sighed. “I’m sorry, baby. I know this is not you, but…”

I reached over taking his hand. “I’m fine. We’re fine. I love you, Colin. I am marrying you. I will be your husband, partner and life mate. This has just been so fast. I need time to adjust.”

Colin chuckled. “It’s not me, either.” He admitted. “You know my past. I mean after the serum. I wasn’t flashy or going out and being seen. It’s new for me, too.” He grinned. “Have you thought where we can go on our honeymoon? The sky’s the limit. Even that’s negotiable, they’re often taking people in orbit now. We can go there!”

“We’d have to go to Russia!” I said. “We’d have to train and…”

He nodded. “I’m kidding, but I would look into it if you wanted.”

“They don’t really like us gays in Russia. They don’t love us in the United States that much.” I growled and then brightened. “Europe would be nice. We can go through vampire history in the Eastern part of Europe!”

Colin’s eye narrowed. “Can we think of something else? We can go for a long time, so anywhere else. Nothing to do with vampires.” He pointed as he said it and growled to which I chuckled.

We finally decide on a trip through Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. Rome, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna.

Before long, we were coming up on the wedding day. Things at Wentworth Manor became once again chaotic. Chairs draped in white cloth were set up on the green lawn with a platform where Colin and I would marry. The reception was in the ballroom with a sit-down dinner being served outside. We couldn’t fit tables in the ballroom and have dancing there as well. The band would play at the reception and the party would be there and the TV crews. The groundskeeper was treating the area for bugs and those pesky mosquitos. We had a backup plan in case it rained, but the forecast was clear. Final preparations were done on his and my suits. We didn’t need tickets to go to Europe, Holms Laboratories had a plane. Security was doubled as securing the event was an issue as people would be coming all day! TV crews for Susan Hendricks, Logo and other networks were coming. More servers were hired. Colin and I both agreed, if these beings were going to get on the property, it would be for the wedding. Security would be relaxed as unknowns would be able to come and go. There was a lot going on to get ready! Mom and Gabriella were the directors, telling people where to go and what was expected. We had no bachelor party, just the wedding. That was enough.

The day of the wedding dawned sunny and warm as the sunlight came into our bedroom windows.

We were not a traditional couple. We’d lived together a while now. That was not uncommon. We didn’t separate the night before. Why would we? I had told Colin before, I thought of us as married already. Colin did, too. This was more legal and to let others see us get married. Witnesses. We had no bride’s maids, just two witnesses to stand up. My mother for me and Gabriella for Colin. I had friends before, but no one I felt extremely close with to ask to be the best man or woman. I was marrying the best man in my life.

I woke and realized I was alone in bed. Rolling over I looked and saw Colin staring out the window below. I smiled as he stood there naked reminding me, he was a handsome man. Nothing wrong with looking at him. We usually slept naked. It was easier. I pushed the covers off and got up and walked over to him and put my arms around him from behind. We were in tune with each other and I couldn’t startle him. He reached back and brought me around hugging me.

“Good morning.” Colin greeted kissing me. “You slept well.” It was a statement, not a question.

“So did you,” I said.

“We’re getting married today,” Colin said more to remind himself we were really doing this.

“It’s on the napkins and invitations. There’s a banner and…” I began.

He chuckled bringing his face next to mine. “I’m just saying it to get it in my mind. Today at three o’clock, you and I will exchange vows and become married.”

I grinned. “I’ll be there.”

He sighed. “I want you to know. I have bad memories. I lived a life that was pure hell…but now…I’ve never been as happy and content as I am now. I waited a long, long time for you. My life is starting to make more sense. That’s because of you. I love you, Devon.”

I smiled kissing him gently. “I love you, Colin.”

“I’ll make you happy,” Colin said.

“You already have.”

There was a knock on our door and Mom’s voice came. “Whatever you two are doing now, you’re getting married in a few hours. You need to dress and eat breakfast!”

Colin grinned at me and we both said. “Coming, Mother!”

Colin kissed me again, this time longer and deeper. “I guess we’d better do this.”

I touched his face, rubbing his cheek with my thumb. “I love you letting me see you like this, but we’d better dress.”

There was no bride, so no bride’s breakfast or anything like that. We dressed and went downstairs where men and women were going about tasks to get things ready.

As promised, it was going to be a wedding that had…well, it was a traditional, old Southern wedding. Wentworth Manor was taking on the look that one hundred and fifty to sixty years ago. There were those big white magnolia blossoms everywhere even in the water garden and pool. There were roses of white on display in arrangements at the end each row of chairs and in garlands draped and hanging in the ballroom and on the grounds. The ground before where we would come to marry had a long white carpet runner down the center. Men and women were dressed that were serving later in period clothing. Women’s dresses were those wide full dresses of the light color of pink and light blue (Gabriella’s choice) and trimmed in white. The big skirts and big hats; hats you hate to be behind in church because they blocked your view. Men were in the high waisted pants of black with the vest over a shirt that was period. The guests were dressing nicely but in modern clothing. There were the mint juleps that were being served as well as champagne and punch at the reception. It was 1850 in the South.

Colin and I dressed in suits that were also period, but they had been made. They were white. The high waisted pants and jackets were white, but the vest was white and sparkled silver in design, the silver shimmered over a light grey and silvery full tie that filled the space below our chins below our short collared white shirts. We were Southern gentlemen. There was music, thanks to the sound system that played music softly as the guests began to gather. Mom and Gabriella also wore the Southern dresses but laced the blue with that shiny silvery white that shimmered in the sun.

Colin and I stood at the exit from the ballroom ready to proceed. The wedding itself would be short, it was the reception afterward that would be spectacular. The processional began and Mom and Gabriella walked to the podium and stood at the step up and turned, bouquets of white magnolia blooms and white roses in their hands. The processional changed and became more dramatic, but it wasn’t “Here Comes the Bride.” Neither of us were brides. Guests rose as we walked down the aisle. Hands were joined as Colin and I proceeded to the front of a woman dressed in a white suit we had chosen to officiate. She was in her mid-forties with frosted blonde-gray hair and she smiled at us as we approached and rose to the top of the platform to stand in front of her.

“Friends and family. We were all asked to be here to witness the joining of two souls that wish to spend their lives together, joined by love and matrimony. The joining will be short, but the souls joined will be together for eternity. As an officer of the court, I was asked to perform the joining and I am so pleased to have gotten to know these two. I rarely have seen two human beings that were so connected and in love as Colin and Devon. But I must ask, is there any reason these two should not be joined, speak now.” The question asked and no one said a word. “Colin and Devon both wished to say something first. Colin?”

He took my hands in his. “Devon, when I met you. I was incomplete. I waited a long time for you.” He chuckled. I understood what he said more than anyone about a long time, but maybe Gabriella and a little by Mother understood. “In a few days, I went from interest to love. And I do love you, Devon. I want us to be partners, lovers, and friends forever. To be your husband. I will do whatever I have to, to protect you and love you. I’ll make you happy, Devon. This I swear to God and our friends and family.” He smiled at me, but his eyes held love and were beginning to shine with tears of happiness.

“Colin, we met almost two years ago right here.” I pointed to the place in what had been abandoned fields where we met that summer. “I knew, within the matter days, two days if I recall, that I was in love with you. You have a good, good soul and I wanted to be in your life. When you asked me to marry you, I couldn’t believe it. You’re an incredible man, Colin. That you loved me. Having waited as long as you did. It seemed impossible. I want us to be partners, lovers, and friends forever. I will be your husband. I will protect you and love you. I’ll make you happy, Colin. This I swear to God in front of our friends and family.”

Our officiator smiled. “Who gives Devon McGee to Colin Wentworth?”

Mother smiled at me when I looked at her and tears came. “I, Elizabeth McGee, do give.”

The Officiator smiled. “Who gives Colin Wentworth to Devon McGee?”

Gabriella smiled. “I, Gabriella Wentworth, do give.”

“Devon McGee, do you take Colin Wentworth, in sickness and health as your husband? Forsaking all others, for richer or poorer, in happy and sad times forever?” She asked.

“I will,” I replied.

She nodded. “Do you, Colin Wentworth, take Devon McGee, in sickness and health? Forsaking all others, for richer or poorer, in happy and sad times forever?”

Colin looked at me and literally bounced. “I will.”

“The rings?” The Officiator asked, which Gabriella and Mom offered her.

“The ring is symbolic of love. Eternal with no beginning or end.” She said holding up the rings. She held out her hands with the two matching rings. Colin and I took the rings. “Please move your promissory rings to each other’s right hands.”

I pulled Colin’s off and put it on his right hand. Colin did the same for me.

“Now, place the symbol of your eternal love on the left hand, telling others what they are witnessing.”

I slid his wedding ring on his left ring finger and he slid mine on me.

“Repeat after me.” The Officiator said. “With this ring, you are my husband.”

“With this ring, you are my husband.” Colin and I repeated.

The woman smiled. “Then, by the power granted by the state of South Carolina, and blessed by God. I pronounce you married. Welcome to a new life, Colin and Devon Wentworth.” I already was a Wentworth legally as we had the paperwork done and ready to file. She smiled. “You may kiss your husbands to seal this before God, friends, and family, symbolizing you are joined.”

Colin grinned. “With pleasure. I love you, Devon Wentworth.”

“I love you, Colin Wentworth,” I said back as we came together kissing gently.