There's Things That Aren't Worth Giving Up

Natalia stood at the back of the church, getting ready to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid. She could hear the music playing, and she slowly began walking towards the front of the church. She saw Marty already standing at the front, right between Patrick and Dave, looking as handsome as ever. Natalia couldn’t help but smile at him as she walked towards him. All she could think about was how she couldn’t wait until it was her wedding, and she would be marrying the love of her life.

As she reached the front of the church, she moved towards the side, standing next to Dave’s wife, Lily. She gave her a small smile before everyone turned to the back of the church once again to see Summer standing there, getting ready to walk down the aisle as the maid of honor. She had a bright smile on her face, and it was obvious she was excited that her best friend was getting married.

Summer smiled at Jonathan, who was anxiously waiting for it to be Olivia’s turn to walk down the aisle. Four years ago, he never would have expected to be getting married today. He couldn’t have predicted that he would be in a steady relationship at this point in his life. But, he had been fortunate enough to find Olivia and fall in love with her. They had had their ups and downs, but it was obvious that they were meant to be together.

Summer moved to the side to stand next to Natalia as everyone stood up as Olivia appeared at the back of the church. Jonathan inhaled sharply when he saw his soon-to-be wife, as he had never seen her look as beautiful as she did now. She smiled nervously at him, but as soon as he smiled back at her, she knew that everything was going to be okay, and all of her fears and anxiety left her.

As the music continued to play, Olivia slowly walked down the aisle. She saw her mother sitting on one side of the aisle, about ready to burst into tears at any minute. Olivia turned her head to the other side to see Jonathan’s parents sitting over there, and they both smiled at her. Olivia reached the end of the aisle and passed her bouquet of roses to Summer before turning to Jonathan.

Natalia watched on, holding back tears, as the priest talked about Olivia and Jonathan. “And, now it’s time for the vows.”

Jonathan turned towards Olivia before reciting the vows. “I, Jonathan Toews, take you, Olivia Martin, to be my friend, my lover, the mother of my children and my wife. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and to stay with you, for all eternity.”

“Olivia,” the priest said.

“I, Olivia Martin, take you, Jonathan Toews, to be my friend, my lover, the father of my children and my husband. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and to stay with you, for all eternity,” Olivia recited, tears in her eyes.

“If anyone has any reason why these two should not be wedded, please speak now or forever hold your peace,” the priest continued. “Then, by the powers invested in me by the state of Illinois, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

Jonathan didn’t waste any time in closing the gap between them and kissing Olivia full on the lips. Everyone cheered for them as the two slowly pulled apart. “I love you,” Jonathan whispered in her ear.

“I love you, too,” Olivia told him.

***

“So, do you feel any different, Mrs. Toews?” Natalia asked Olivia when she found her by herself in the corner at her wedding reception.

“Not really,” she admitted with a laugh. “But, then again, it’s only been like two hours. Maybe I’ll feel differently during the honeymoon,” she said.

“Oh, you’ll be feeling something during the honeymoon,” Natalia joked.

“God, you sound like Summer!” Olivia exclaimed.

“Is that a compliment?” Natalia questioned.

“Take it however you want to,” Olivia replied. Someone was yelling her name, and she turned around to see that it was time to throw the bouquet. “You planning on catching this thing?” she asked Natalia as she walked back towards the middle of the room.

“I’m already engaged. I don’t need to catch a bouquet to tell me that I’m going to be getting married,” Natalia told her.

“Very true,” Olivia told her. “You’ve got a pretty good fiancé as it is, don’t you?”

“He’s the best,” Natalia agreed with a nod of her head.

“Well, I’ve got to go throw this thing,” Olivia told her as she walked over to where all the single woman were standing. “You girls ready?” she asked, and a bunch of them cheered, obviously already drunk from the open bar. “Here we go,” she said, throwing the bouquet.

Two of the women, who Natalia didn’t recognize, started shoving each other out of the way, but neither one of them caught it. Instead, the bouquet took the perfect path to Annabelle Marquis, Andrew Ladd’s girlfriend. Natalia turned around to Andrew, who was sitting next to Marty talking to him, neither of them paying much attention to the bouquet being thrown. “I guess you better start looking for a ring,” she informed him with a smile.

“What?” Marty asked.

“Ladder,” she clarified. “Annie just caught the bouquet. Looks like you’re next in line for a wedding. Unless Annie has another guy she’s thinking about marrying,” Natalia joked.

“Not a chance,” Annabelle said, coming up behind her and handing the bouquet to her. “I think these belong to you. I mean, you’re really the next one in line to get married,” she told her with a smile before she sat down on Andrew’s lap since there were no available chairs near them.

“What?” Natalia asked. “There’s really no wedding planned for you guys in the not so distant future?” she questioned. “You guys have been together for how long now?”

“There’ll be a wedding,” Andrew promised, and Annabelle quickly looked over at him, not having heard him talk about getting married before. “I’m just not sure when,” he added.

“Well, don’t forget to send me an invitation,” Natalia smiled.

“An invitation to what?” Olivia asked, walking up beside them, hand-in-hand with Jonathan.

“Annie and Ladder’s wedding,” she replied. Olivia looked at her curiously, but Natalia shrugged her off. “Nevermind,” she told her. “So, are you guys headed out?” she asked her.

“Yeah, we’re getting ready to go straight to the airport.”

“Have fun on your honeymoon,” Natalia told her.

“And, use protection,” Summer called out, walking over to them. “We don’t need any little Tazers running around just yet,” she smirked.

“Thank you guys for coming,” Olivia told them, ignoring Summer’s comments.

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Natalia said. “Now, give me a hug because I won’t be here when you get back,” she reminded Olivia.

“I still can’t believe you and Marty are going to be in Minnesota. I’m going to miss you guys so much,” Olivia told her, giving her and Marty both a hug.

“I’m going to miss all of you, too,” Natalia said. “But, we’ll see you when we play each other, right?” she asked.

“Of course,” Olivia told her. “Bye,” she said one last time before she and Jonathan headed off towards the airport.