Baby Just Say Yes

"Brian! Get out of here!" Val screamed at Brian as he tried to sneak into the back room of the church where Rayleigh was waiting for the wedding march to begin. She heard Brian protest, and what sounded like something thunking him in the head, and then she heard him storm off, muttering something about Val being insincere. Val came back and grinned at her.

"I got rid of him." She smiled smugly, putting a few stray strands of her blonde hair back into place, studying her dress in the floorlength mirror before turning to Ray.

"Did you really have to?" Ray asked with a grin, knowing that Val would reply with a 'yes.'

"It's tradition that the groom doesn't see the dress until you begin the march!" Val told her. Rayleigh laughed.

"Yeah, well, nothing else is traditional about this wedding. Why that?"

Val laughed at her and hugged her friend. "Because it's going to make him weak at the knees, and everyone in the church wants to see the great Synyster Gates speechless for once." Val grinned at her. Rayleigh snorted a laugh, but nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." Ray agreed. Val studied Ray, and made sure her dress was absolutely perfect, before squealing slightly when they heard Zacky and Matt start playing the wedding march.

"It's time!" Val squealed excitedly. "I have to go. Don't you dare get any prewedding jitters on me, Ray."

"I'm not. Believe me." She said, smiling vibrantly. With a final hug, Val walked out of the room, and walked down the aisle with her cousin Cody, because Matt was at the organ. Lacey, of course, was walking down the aisle with Jimmy, and Gena was walking down the aisle with Ray's cousin Shane, since Zacky was playing the guitar accompanying Matt. Followed by them was Britney, Ray's seven year old cousin, who was throwing the lily, lilac, and rose petals on the floor, doing her best at being a flower girl, with Brian's cousin Alex, who was just five years old, at her side, gingerly holding the pillow bearing the rings. He sat on the foot of the alter, and everyone in the church began to chuckle lightly. Britney went and sat with her mother as soon as the flower petals were done being thrown, and then finally, McKenna made her entrance as the Maid of Honor, her escort Dustin, a distant cousin but close friend of Rayleigh's, at her side, blushing. Finally, all stood in waiting for the bride. Papa Gates stood on her left side, and Adam on her right, and she began to walk the aisle, her wedding dress gathering many stares, and lots of smiles. When she reached the altar, she smiled at Brian, who, she had to admit, was getting her worked up simply by looking so hot in his tux. She smiled at him, and couldn't take her eyes off of him as the Father began speaking.

-x-

"It is with great pleasure that we gather today to witness the joining of two hands, and two hearts in holy matrimony. These two people, Brian and Rayleigh, have fallen in love so deeply, so completely, that today, they make a bond, a sacred covenant before God, whereby their hearts, their bodies, and their souls shall be united as one in marriage for the rest of their days. Brian's and Rayleigh's respective families, together with their friends, each represent a circle of love. A circle of love where members care for, and nurture each other, in times of joy and in times of sorrow. It is here today that we will see these two beloved join their lives in holy matrimony."

Everyone looked at Alex as he lay asleep on the pillow, snoring lightly as the Father talked. With a smile, he continued.

"A good marriage must be created. Within your marriage, the little things are not little, but they are truly the big things. A good marriage is never being too old to hold hands. It is never going to bed angry with one another. It means to have a mutual sense of values and morals. It means standing together and facing the world if it be against you. It means speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating love and gratitude in thoughtful ways to each other. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving the other some room to breathe. Marriage is not only marrying the right person, but being the right partner." He spoke, looking up as he finished saying it with a smile. Everyone was smiling warmly at the couple, who could not take their eyes off one another. The Father continued again, starting where he left off.

"The sacred covenant of marriage is one that can be entered into only by persons who are both free to offer themselves to each other. Therefore, in the presence of God and in the presence of all of the witnesses here, I will ask Brian and Rayleigh to state their intention. Brian and Rayleigh, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in the holy state of matrimony?"

Brian and Ray kept their eyes on one another, not bothering to look at the Father as they spoke in unison. "Yes, we have."

"So be it. Brian and Rayleigh, join your hands together, and thus your hearts, as one." The father told them. They nodded, and did as the Father asked.

"Brian, please repeat after me. I, Brian, take you, Rayleigh, to be my lawfully wedded wife."

"I, Brian, take you, Ray, to be my lawfully wedded wife." He grinned at her, purposefully not calling her by her full name. It was something he'd rarely ever done in their life together, and he wasn't going to start now just because they were getting married.

"To have and to hold, to love and to cherish. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, from this day on, until death do us part."

Brian smirked at her as he repeated the words to her. "To have and to hold, to love and to cherish. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, from this day on, until death do us part."

"Rayleigh, please repeat these vows after me." The father said, smiling at her. "I, Rayleigh, take you, Brian, as my lawfully wedded husband."

"I, Ray, take you, Brian, as my lawfully wedded husband." She smiled at him.

"To have and to hold, to love and to cherish. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, from this day on, until death do us part."

"To have and to hold, love and cherish. For better or worse, for richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, from this day on, until death do us part." She repeated to him in barely an audible voice.

"Do we have the rings?" The Father asked, looking at Alex, who was still sound asleep on the pillow, thus asleep on the rings. His mother walked up to the altar and gently grabbed the pillow from him, leaving him asleep on the carpet. She handed the pillow to the Father, and took her seat again, sneezing audibly as she went to sit.

"Brian, please look into the eyes of your beloved, and place the ring, a symbol of your love for Rayleigh on her hand, and say, “With this ring, I thee wed”."

"With this ring, I thee wed." Brian said to Ray, who looked ready to cry.

"Rayleigh, please look into Brian's eyes and and place the ring on his hand, and repeat after me, “With this ring, I thee wed”.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Rayleigh said to Brian, slipping the ring onto his hand.
The Father looked at the people sitting within the pews, and spoke. "Now that you have heard Brian and Rayleigh recite their marriage vows, do you, their family and friends, promise from this day forward, to encourage them and love them, and to help guide and support them in being steadfast in the promises they have made?” If you agree, please say, “We do.”"

"Aye, aye!" An old friend of theirs, Benji, said from the middle of the church, while everyone else opted to say 'yes'. Rayleigh and Brian began to chuckle lightly, until the Father looked at them again.

"Brian and Rayleigh, with the support of your families and friends, by the vows you have made to one another, by the strength of your covenant, and in the presence of God, by the power invested in me by the state of California and God, it is my pleasure to pronounce you 'husband and wife'. You may now kiss the bride." He said. Without further ado, Brian wrapped his arms around Rayleigh's waist, and placed his lips on hers, not being shy in front of all their family and friends. The Father coughed after a few minutes, and Rayleigh blushed, while Brian just smirked.

"Get a room!" Adam called from the front pew. Benji whooped, as did everyone else in the church, and Brian and Rayleigh took off down the aisle, wanting to get some decent privacy before the reception.