6Wedding Bells
The crowd in the pews rose as the bride appeared before the oak doors. A string quartet played the traditional bridal march in the background. Her bouquet consisted of soft white roses that were adorned with white satin ribbons at the stems. As for her gown it was simple and the pearl white silk gently brushed against the floor. Her veil gently covered the front of her face and it hung down to her shoulders.
"Here goes nothing." She took the first step forward down the rose-petal strewn aisle. She walked by herself as the onlookers looked on as she walked closer to the alter, and there she saw her future husband, standing in his black tuxedo with his hair neatly braided. She gave him a soft smile and softly whispered to him, "I can't believe today it's finally happening. It seemed to take ages."
"Like a year to be exact."
The reverend then began the ceremony, "Who gives this woman to this man?"
A woman dressed in white happily responded, "I do."
The bride then looked to her mother and whispered out, "Thank you." And with that, Duo lifted her veil, being careful not to ruin her hair that was curled around her shoulders. At that moment, he saw his future through her eyes.
-Flashback-
"Where's the box? Oh no, where did I put it? Calm yourself down, Duo, you know you bought the engagement ring." He searched himself and couldn't find the elusive box.
"What are you up to now? It looks like you lost something very important." He resumed his work on a batch of vanilla cupcakes.
"As if you knew, Wufei...why should I tell you? You traitor! You changed my lovely sign that was hanging on the outside of this bakery to Nataku's and Maxwell's Bakery! I mean it's still there for these six months."
"I can read you know." He picked up a pastry bag filled with chocolate frosting. "I think you might want to try that coat rack of yours. It looks like something is hanging from a hook."
Duo complied and headed over to his usual coat rack of where his chef's hat was hanging along with his apron that was stained from previous chocolate wars and strawberry jam fights. He noticed that a white jewelry bag was hanging on the far left metal hook. He peeped in and noticed that a box was in there. "Please let it be here...please let it be here." He slowly took the box out and opened the soft leathery case.
Wufei slowly counted down to himself and smirked, "In three, two, one..."
"AAAHHHH!"
"What's the matter, Maxwell?" He looked up from his masterpieces.
"The ring! That jeweler ripped me off!"
"You sure about that," he lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Are you instigating something?"
"Maybe." He then lifted something out of his cupboard, "Looking for this black box?"
"Give me that!"
"My...my...don't be so grabby." He held the box precociously in his right hand over a large bowl of melted chocolate.
"Don't you dare throw that box in that bowl." Duo's eyes widened with slight horror if he found his ring in melted chocolate. He needed to find a plan that would distract Wufei's attention from the ring. Right then a light bulb in his head went on. "Got it." He snapped his fingers and was about to grab a small dusting of flour.
"Now don't you even dare think about it. I have your ring held hostage right here."
"Why you? I can't stand playing this standoff between you and me right now. I got to be somewhere important right now." He was walking closer to Wufei, but at a slow steady pace. Another idea just popped into his head and out came the words, "Hey Sally! I'm glad that you could come today."
Wufei was then distracted as Duo lunged toward his mad partner, knocking the two off their feet. He watched in horror as Wufei let the box out of his hand and it fell in slow motion towards its chocolately demise. "NOOOO!" He quickly got up from the newly cleaned floor and made a dive on the counter and grabbed the bowl. But then he felt a tug at his left ankle and he too fell to the floor again.
A rain of chocolate sauce poured on the two bakers.
"AHHH! Look at this mess." Wufei was covered from head to toe in the sticky sweet substance. He nearly fell back onto the floor after trying to regain his balance.
"It serves you right for messing with the one and only Shinigami! I'm leaving right now." He quickly got up and sidestepped the chocolate spill. With that he grabbed the black box and grabbed one of Wufei's cupcakes that he was working on, along with a small pink box.
"Hey, you need to pay for that cupcake! It's not free...you know!" He called after his renegade partner, but in the distance, he heard the clanging of the bells from the front door of bakery. "It figures for him to leave."
Duo made his way to Sugar Lane and within fifteen minutes, he saw Hilde's apartment in full sight. He looked at his watch, which was smudged with chocolate sauce. "Oh no, she'll be home any minute." He then started to run and in less than a minute, he traversed the front steps and sneaked into her apartment with a key of hers that she had given to him a couple of months earlier. It just seemed like yesterday that he was baking powdered doughnuts for his loved one.
He began to fidget with the pink box and placed Wufei's cupcake into it. "Something is missing here. Hmm." He went over to her kitchen to see if she had any of the sugar letters used for decorating cakes. "Ah, here they are," he pulled a small package of the yellow-coated letters. "Lets see, I need two m's, one a, two r's, one 'y,' and one 'e.' He fumbled with the packaging, since the letters were hard to separate from their cardboard container. He then held the sugar-coated letters in his hand and went back to a small table he had placed the cupcake on. He systematically placed the letters in a bowed out arc at the top of the cupcake, "marry me." And right then, he grabbed the black leathery box out of his pocket and placed a ring in a small holder, and placed it in the center of the cupcake. "Perfect." He then placed it into the pink box and not a moment too soon.
A sound came from the front door.
"Hey Duo, what brings you here? You normally don't get off of work until eight, right?" She looked at him in an odd way, noticing that his shirt was stained with chocolate sauce. "I see you got into another chocolate fight with your crazy partner."
"Yeah I won. And besides, it can't stop me from missing our anniversary."
"You remembered."
"And how could I forget, after you made me bake all those powdered doughnuts for you." He gave her a kiss.
"Oh, Duo...I knew I could count on you." She noticed that he was holding something behind his back. "Are you hiding something from me, Maxwell?"
"Who? Me? Couldn't be?"
"I know your hiding something." She tried prying the object from his hands.
"Okay, I give up. Well, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" He gave the box to her and waited for her reaction. He looked towards his girlfriend and noticed that tears were forming in her eyes.
"Oh, Duo...it's lovely." She gingerly picked up a single solitaire diamond ring that was set in a silver slim band.
He then got down on one knee, and before he could say anything.
"Yes, I will marry you, Duo Maxwell."
"You will." His violet eyes lighted up and he then slipped the ring on her ring finger. He held her in his arms and kissed her again.
"I guess we should start planning for our wedding. Any people do you want to have included in the ceremony."
"I got a few." He smiled back to his fiancé.
A few weeks later, he called the embassy to see if Relena and Heero could stop by. After the bakery fiasco with Wufei, he needed to find a way to make up for all the trouble his partner and him caused for the two. Within twenty minutes, a black car pulled up at the street and with that both, Relena and Heero stepped out of the vehicle.
"I wonder what he wants with us now?" whispered Relena.
"I don't know." Heero then concealed a small gun in his back pocket just in case he needed it.
Relena then looked up at the sign, "Wasn't this called Shinigami's and Chang's Bakery before? It's now called Nataku's and Maxwell's Bakery."
Heero shrugged at her statement.
"Hi there, I'm glad that the two of you could come." He was perky as ever with a small grin on his face.
The two stood questioningly in front of Duo.
Relena then spoke, "Thank you for your wonderful doughnuts that you have been sending over to the embassy. The staff enjoys their sugar morning rush."
"That's terrific, I'm glad I can be of service." He remembered that six months ago he gave out a free six months supply of doughnuts for the embassy to make up for the fiasco at the bakery. "I know we didn't get off with the right foot the last time we were all here. Sorry if I tried to throw flour at you, Princess."
"No problem, Duo. I had a fun time actually. It was my first real food fight."
He cleared his throat and changed the subject, "Anyhow, would you two be interested in attending my wedding?" He looked at the two, who both showed a confused look on their faces.
Heero then spoke up, "Will there be a food fight involved? Because if there is, I'm refusing."
"Well, I'm not planning on having one," he grinned
The two then agreed to his request (a little apprehensively at first).
"You can come out Hilde, here are some people that I would like you to meet."
-End of flashback-
"May I have the rings, please?"
At that command, Heero produced the rings and gave them to the reverend. Alongside him, stood Quatre, who was on a constant look out for flour attacks on himself. Before the ceremony, he searched the groom's tuxedo to see if he had any special tricks up his sleeves, "I'm warning you, if you make one quick move or create a bakery war in this church, I know who I'm going to blame it on."
"Easy now, Quatre. I'm clean." To reassure Quatre, he emptied out his pockets and there was nothing there of any bakery related items.
"Hilde Schebeiker, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"Duo Maxwell, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"I now pronounce husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." With that, he took Hilde into his arms and gave her a long kiss. "And now may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Duo Maxwell." With that, the audience rose from their seats and applauded the newly wedded couple, along with Wufei and Sally.
The groom and the bride began to make their way down the aisle and passed by his baking partner, Duo then whispered into Hilde's ear, "I hope you're right about bringing him to the reception. If he makes one false move and starts a bakery war right in the reception hall, I'm heading straight for my flour bazooka that I stashed under our table."
"Duo!" She softly scolded at him.
The couple then exited the church along with the rest of the guests, where they were greeted with a shower of rice and rose petals from friends and family that had left ahead of them. At the end of the procession, Relena emerged from the church alongside Heero, but the two still concealed their little secret from the rest of the group.
Before Duo entered the white limousine, he made one remark, "It's time to party! The Mrs. And I will see everyone there!" He gave a wink to the crowd and hopped into the limo.
Two hours later, most of the guests came for the reception. It was held at a rented out dance hall. The MC cleared his throat and shouted into the cordless microphone, "Here comes, Mr. and Mrs. Duo Maxwell." The two came running in after a change of clothes. Duo was sporting a white long sleeved shirt with a black vest, while Hilde slipped into a white summer dress. The couple took their seats at an elongated table that faced their guests.
For the rest of the evening, the guests enjoyed a small meal that consisted of a buffet that included a wide range of meals from roasted chicken to steamed fish. With the night half gone, a guest made his way up to the podium.
"Can I have your attention please?"
All eyes focused on him.
"Where should I begin...um lets see here. Well, Duo... you finally took the plunge. After working with you for just three years, it has been fun with all of our nonsense going on in the kitchen...you take care of her."
"I will, Wufei," he called back to the podium.
"In honor of your marriage, I know you two had planned out a cake at our bakery and after watching the two of you try out various cake fillings, I took upon the liberty of paying for the bill."
Duo walked over to his non-insane partner and thanked him. "You're the best."
Wufei then saw Hilde make her way to him and heard her say, "Thank you, Wufei." He was left speechless for a minute.
After that, a couple of more well-wishing speeches were made and the two began their first dance of the night. The two danced in the center of the dance floor with a blue strobe light that encircled the two. Hilde gently laid her head on Duo's shoulders and the two slowly glided across the dance floor. Once their song was up, they invited the rest of their guests to dance.
The couple then went around to personally greet their guests and Duo eyed one in particular, who was cautiously looking around to see if anything was out of the ordinary. He quickly tapped the guest in question on the right shoulder.
"AAHHH!" The blonde jumped three inches from his original spot.
"I never have seen you so nervous like this Quatre."
"You know I scare easily."
"I hope you're having a good time."
"I am...but you better be careful you never know what happens. Expect the unexpected." He looked curiously about the room.
"Quatre just chill for a minute. You've been working way too much for her. R-E-L-A-X."
"I will and congratulations."
Duo nodded, "Oh, look at the time...it's time to cut the cake." He quickly made his way back to front of the dance hall. "Here I am"
"You ready, Duo."
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" The two grabbed hold the knife and slid it into the soft velvety cake. They made another incision and within seconds, a piece of white chocolate cake landed on their plate.
"I'm going to enjoy this very much." Duo grabbed a handful of cake with a huge pile of frosting.
"Don't you dare!" She shook her head side to side, trying to avoid the inevitable.
"Here it comes!" He smothered the cake near her mouth and added a bit of white frosting on her nose.
"You asked for it." Hilde did the same for Duo, while the crowd laughed at their funny antics. But in the end, the two kissed and cleaned the frosting off from each other's faces with licks and kisses.
It was nearly midnight before the traditional throwing of the bouquet and garter finally occurred. All the ladies gathered near Hilde, as they waited for her to throw her bouquet. She cautiously eyed the female crowd to see if everyone was accounted for, but she didn't see one of her bridesmaids there. She then went over to the MC and had him hand over the microphone, "Will a Relena Peacecraft please come forward?"
In moments, Quatre brought the missing ambassador to the crowd. "Here she is!"
At first, she tried to run back to her table, but Heero brought her back up to the dance floor. "I'm going to get back at you for this," and watched him side step the group of women.
"Here I go!" She tossed the bouquet and a swarm of hands then went up to try to catch it. Before anyone knew it, it landed in Relena's hands. She was left in shock and looked at Hilde, in which she was reaffirmed with a wink.
The floor was then cleared for the throwing of the garter. A chair was set in the middle for the couple and with that, Duo ordered all the bachelors out in the crowd to come up and see who would be married next. Quatre and Heero walked up to a corner where they would be sure that they wouldn't get the object. Hilde quietly sat in the velvet chair as Duo made his way to get the blue garter. "Got it!"
"About time," she quipped back.
"Three, two, one!" There was a mad jump in the air for the elusive garter, as bachelors jumped over one another to catch the fabric. Heero and Quatre were off to the sides staring at the group in front of them. Right when they were leaving back to their tables, Heero felt something on his shoulder. Anyhow, Duo noticed the fabric clinging to Heero's tuxedo. "We have a winner!" he called into the mic. Heero looked sideways of him and noticed that all eyes were focused on him. "Come on Heero, get up there." Quatre lead his friend up to the front, where Relena was already standing, since Hilde was holding her in place.
Duo then boomed into the microphone, "May I present you the future Mr. and Mrs. Heero Yuy!"
Relena and Heero somewhat turned a little red as the crowds applauded the two. Could this be a sign? They both pondered on that thought for a long time.
"Thank you for coming and good night! Well actually, it's good morning! " With that, the guests left the dance hall into the early hours of the summer morning. Hilde and Duo were left to themselves, "I guess it's time to start our honeymoon."
"I guess so."
"And now on to Honolulu."
TBC
And now the fun really starts! Stay tune...