Deserved to be Alive

Adele and Evgeni woke early the next morning, their alarms going off at seven o'clock. They quickly took a shower together, to save water of course, before dressing. Adele pecked her Russian on the cheek as she slid one of his many t-shirt's from hockey over her head. The baggy clothes she wore hung off her thin frame, making her look much smaller than she actually was. Evgeni grabbed his dry cleaning before he planted a loving kiss on the lips of his girlfriend. The couple walked out of the apartment, fingers laced together, and went their separate ways once they reached their cars.

Adele turned right, heading off to the church. She quickly made her way into the room that her best friend was waiting anxiously. As soon as Emma saw Adele's figure walk through the door, she jumped from her seated position beside her mother and threw herself at Adele. Adele laughed as she took her in her best friend's appearance.

“You look gorgeous Em,” Adele said, admiring the French beauty, “I like the new hair too by the way.”

Emma blushed, “Thanks Del. I had this copper red color when I first met Max so I figured, you know, why not go back for a while, for old time sake.”

Meanwhile, Evgeni turned left, heading off to Maxime's shared apartment with Emma. He quickly made his way to the bedroom that his best friend was waiting nervously. The second Evgeni walked through the door, Max jumped up off the foot of his bed and began pacing.

“I'm so nervous Geno, am I making a mistake marrying Emma?” he asked his friend helplessly.

Evgeni shook his head placing a comforting hand on his nervous friend's shoulder, “Is not mistake Max. Mistake is not marrying her.”

“Right right, of course.” Max said, nodding his head in agreement.

The large clock struck noon and the church bells began to chime. A large crowd of people began to file into the church. As the rows of seats began to fill up, behind closed doors, Emma began to become more and more anxious. Her father did the best he could to calm the nervous bride, but not much progress was made. Adele stood before Emma and her father, Evgeni's arm linked securely with hers.

The music was the cue to begin the precession. First out was Lauren next to Jordan. Following was Sidney with his plus one hanging onto his arm. After was Adele and her Russian. Finally, the last long awaited pair, Emma and her father. Step, pause, step, pause. Emma took a deep breath with each step she took. Looking up, there he was, the love of her life, the man she would soon be married to, Maxime Talbot.

The ceremony was flawless, no objections or interupptions. The happily married couple made their way to the limosine that would take them to the hotel ballroom. Just like the wedding itself and the rehersal the previous night, all the decorations were perfect, not a single imperfection in sight. Jordan, Evgeni, Lauren, and Adele were all dancing beside eachother when the newlyweds arrived. Everyone made an open circle in the middle of the floor for the couple to share their first dance as husband and wife.

As the song began to come to an end, more couples began to join them. Evgnei not knowing how to slow dance forced he and Adele to sit down at their table. Adele was perched on the strong hockey player's lap, his arms wrapped securely around her midsection. She watched the couples before them, taking in the scene before her. She adored the way Jordan and Lauren looked together. They were just a match made in heaven. Jordan looked down at Lauren, their eyes locked. They were truly madly in love.

Jordan looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms as they swayed back and forth. Lauren was the only person to ever make him feel whole and complete, besides his mother of course. He loved the way she got along with his three brothers and his parents. He adored the way she interacted with little children and admired her understanding and support for what he did.

Lauren looked up at Jordan. He was the only person she saw in the crowded ballroom. He was all that mattered to her. She never felt so safe in her entire life after spending a second in Jordan's toned arms. She loved hanging out and spending time with the entire Staal clan and adored his enthusiasm to start a family of their own together.

“What is wrong?”

The thick Russian accent broke Adele of her thoughts. She shook her head side to side, “Nothing babe, I'm fine.”

Evgeni may not sound very intelligent because of his thick accent, but he was not an idiot. He knew that Adele was upset they were not dancing amongst the other couples and pairs of two. For a moment, Evgeni studied the movements of both the man and the woman before he stood before Adele, his arm outstretched, waiting for her to grab his hand.

“Am quick learner.” He said in reply to her confused expression, “know you want to dance so I watch them.”

Adele smiled wide, “Awe, that is really sweet of you.”

Evgeni pulled Adele close, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. He wrapped both of his muscular arms around his tiny waist. Adele had to go on her toes, even in shoes that made her several inches taller than she normally was, just to be able to get her thin arms around his neck. She closed her eyes, allowing the soft classical music to take over her body as she just swayed with the rhythm. Evgeni being the leader.

After the slow dances were finished, Emma jumped up on stage beside the deejay and took over the microphone. Looking into the large mass of people, Emma smiled, “Are you ladies ready to catch this bouquet?”

All the women in the room, including Adele and Lauren began laughing and shouting, hoping to be the one lucky girl to catch the bride's bouquet which usually is a sign that that woman will be the next to get married. Emma handed the microphone back to the deejay and turned her back to the crowd. She closed her eyes and held her breathe, secretly hoping that one of her friends caught the bouquet rather than a family member. Turning around, she opened her eyes to see, there standing before her, her best friend with a bouquet of roses in her hands.

Adele smiled up at her friend, the flowers in her grasp. She had caught the dozen roses in the air, women around her envying her. She sauntered over to her loving boyfriend of nearly nine months looked back at her with horror in his eyes.