Stéphane sobs while walking Caro down the aisle. He full-on cries, ugly tears, before letting her go to join Cletus at the altar. Bastien and I peer at each other past the lines of bridesmaids and groomsmen between us, a knowing silent laugh at our emotional brother. The ceremony is not as long as the traditional Catholic ceremony, but the vows are still religious and tedious. They both say a few words about how much they love each other. Bastien wipes away a single tear, and glares at me when I have to cover my mouth to avoid laughing.

Then, we all take photos. Cocktail hour is largely reserved to standing in lines on the grounds and in the barn. Stéphane gets called in for a few shots of just us as a family, and then we do some as a merged family. The crowd starts to smell of floral perfume notes and musk and sweat and I try just to focus on the high-pitched click of the camera's shutter.

We only have a few moments before we are forced to walk in. Caro and Cletus are taken off for private photos, and I talk to my brothers.

"So, Bastien has to tell Caro about our gift during the sibling dance," Stéphane lays out the plan for the rest of us. "They'll be loads of pictures going on then, and it's probably the best time for the reaction."

We all nod. We've agreed to give her five thousand dollars, with Bastien and I pitching in two grand each since we have more money. We also bought her a necklace. Well, I picked it out since I don't trust my brothers with jewellery, but Stéphane paid for it since he pitched in less overall.

"Do you have the necklace?" Bastien looks at me.

I look down at myself, "Seb, where would I-"

"I have it," Stéphane digs into his pocket, pullingout the small container. He passes it to Bastien. "Do not lose it, okay?"

"Absolutely, papa," Bastien rolls his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Don't step on her train," I tell Bastien. "The zipper broke and they had to sew part of her dress today and if anything else goes wrong with it, she might snap."

"The dessert also hasn't arrived," Stéphane says. "The wedding planner told me. So, Cole, don't announce it at the end of your speech unless I give you the thumbs-"

"Why would I?"

"Well, you're the last speech to go," Stéphane says.

"I thought I was first!" I sigh. "Traditionally, the father of the bride-"

"Well, Cletus' best man is already three drinks in and none of us have eaten since seven this morning, so we want to get him first in case he gets progressively drunk over dinner," Stéphane says.

"Also, there's been an issue with the hotel room Cletus' parents booked," Bastien says. He looks at me. "With your FBI money, you get something nice?"

"Yeah, they can take it," I tell him. "Reid should've checked in a while ago. Just have them take his keycard, we can drive back."

"Why can't you have him do that?" Bastien asks.

"Caro asked me to help her go the bathroom," I tell him. "She's sewn into the dress and so it's going to take three bridesmaids to help her pee. And that's if the train cooperates, which I've already mentioned the problem. Can one of you handle that while I deal with her?"

"I can," Stéphane offers. "And I'll see if I can find out about dessert early, so I don't have to signal you during your speech."

He puts a hand in the middle of the three of us. Bastien puts his on top of Stéphane's, and I go on top. We count down to three and raise our hands, going our separate ways.

Finally, after we help Caro use the washroom, we all enter. Bastien and I are paired up to enter together, since each bridesmaid and groomsman are forming a pair. Stéphane will be joining us, however. It makes more sense since he isn't the father of the bride, not even technically. He's been added to sit next to me at the maid's side of the table, as has Bastien. This way, Caro's side of the table will have one more person, which will make up for our lack of extended family in the audience. At the very least she has a lot more friends who have made it than Cletus.

The three of us dance in together, walking arm in arm and Bastien tries to trip me just to get a laugh. The crowd does, and I glare at him. Soon enough though, we are all sitting down, and dinner is being served. There are eighty or so people in this room. Reid is somewhere near the back, and I can only see him because he's so tall that he stands out.

Caro and Cletus dance, and it's sweet enough, but the song has too much country twang. Then, they are seated and dinner starts to roll out. I make myself eat since I might have a drink and I've made it to dinner without much besides a muffin, but my stomach churns in me.

The best man's speech is a shitshow, at least. It's reassuring, since I will not mess mine up so terribly. The man is sloppy, and brings up how Caro is better than Cletus' first girlfriend. Some people laugh, but I certainly don't.

"You ready?" Stéphane's voice is low.

"I will be the last sibling to cry, at least," I whisper.

Bastien tries to reach past Stéphane to flick me, but he puts a stop to it. It's difficult, all of this, the waiting. But soon enough everyone is clapping for Cletus' parents and then I'm standing up and walking over to the podium. I speak fine publicly, I had to do it to get through all my degrees. I even practiced this month at my bi-annual presentation. Still, this isn't just statistics that I've gathered, but me on display.

In the crowd, I find Reid. And then, I'm just presenting facts for him. He loves facts, could spit out all of the ones he's heard in his whole life. Just me and him.

"Hi everyone, I'm Caro's older sister, Cole," I smile, and a few people in the audience cheer. As much as I give flack to Cletus' family, at least they are a noisy bunch. "Although you wouldn't know it if you looked at my siblings. They tried to photocopy my twin Stéphane but the printer got jammed and that's how we ended up with Sébastien."

The laughter that comes from the crowd makes things easier. I dare to glance away from Reid to look at my brothers, who mock indignation.

"We wanted to thank you all for coming, and they sent me up here to delivery the speech because I'm the only one who could get through it without crying," I smile, and more laughter punctuates my sentence. "And as stone cold as I am, I'd like to cry. Giving Caro away to start a new life is one of the saddest things we've ever done.

"Caroline Julie Josee is the best sister anyone could ask for. As a child, she would always take the blame for Bastien whenever he got himself into trouble. Which was all the time. Once Bastien tried to steal a baby chicken on a school trip and Caro said it was all her idea even though she wasn't there," I take a deep breath in, smiling at my own little joke. "She was always cheering at the sidelines of Stéphane's hockey games, louder than anyone else. She even fought with the ref when Stéphane was given a penalty. He'll admit he deserved it, but Caro never will.

"Of course, she was artistic at a young age," I tell them all. "Drawing on everything except the walls, which Dad always appreciated. She was always there for me. When I got in trouble for pulling her hair, she'd console me. I don't think anyone who met Caro could deny that she is a strong and wonderful woman. One of my brothers is the army, the other is a firefighter turned park ranger, and still, if I were going to war, I'd bring Caro along with me. Not just because I'm afraid of her, but because I've shared a bathroom with all my siblings and she certainly smells the nicest.

"We are so proud of her for becoming the young woman she is today," I can feel myself tearing up, but I try to steel through it. "She's an early childhood educator, and even though I'm older, she teaches me every day to be patient and kind and honest. Older siblings are supposed to be the role models, but Caro is the young woman I'd like to grow up to be one day."

I bite my lip. Reid mouths something to me.

Breathe.

My breath is shaky when I inhale, "Cletus, you are a lucky man. Certainly, a brave one to marry a woman who speaks French when she's angry." More laughter comes in, and I sigh. "When we first met you, Cletus, I'm sure it felt like swimming into a shark tank. My brothers and I only want the best for our sister after all. She is so happy with you. As a statistician, I pride myself on forming my beliefs on the best available data. Somehow, you proved me wrong, since I never imagined Caro could be a better person. And yet, she's somehow braver and more forgiving and patient thanks to you.

"Caro, we all love you so much," I grip the edge of the podium hopefully so no one can see my hands shake. "We are more than happy to open our family to whoever you love... even if they don't speak French." I blink slowly as people laugh. "We hope the future brings you paintings on canvases and cars, adventures as far as Texas and perhaps even farther. We hope it brings you the joy that you've given us throughout your life. No one is more deserving of happiness than you.

"I don't know that there is any advice I can give you. Dad would tell you not to let Cletus draw on the walls," people laugh. "If anything, I hope you keep laughing. Keep yelling at referees too, since that's always fun."

I look at Reid, "most of all, I hope you do things together. Maybe you'll fight and cry at parties, but you'll also dance and laugh and make eye contact across rooms when you're supposed to be paying attention to something else. So long as you are doing it together, you'll be alright."

Finally, I look at Caro. She's got tears in her eyes. I laugh.

"And that's my cue, since I'm the only sibling who hasn't cried," I smile. "Thank you all for coming, and thank you Cletus for making my sister so happy."

People start to clap and I make my way down to my spot at the table. I sit down, and Stéphane leans in.

"I gave you the thumbs up," he says. "Dessert?"

"Oh," I look over, but someone else has already gone over to announces the mother-son dance. My eyes land on Reid in the crowd, who has spent weeks practicing his dancing capabilities. "Sorry. I was distracted."

~~~~~

I am OBSESSED with this chapter. Urgh. Like, on every damn level.