chapter 13

       A few minutes before the ceremony is about to begin, Maddox walks into the room I'm waiting in now that I'm all ready. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I'm paying my brother twenty bucks to be a security guard during the ceremony," Maddox says.

       I furrow my eyebrows. "Why would you do that?"

       "Because we can never be too safe," Maddox says. "What if your family decides to try to sneak in during the ceremony?"

       I didn't even think of that and honestly, I wouldn't put it past my parents to try to pull some shit like that. They might even try to sneak in during the reception. Even if I now know why they wanted to come to my wedding in the first place, they're stubborn people. They might try to come in during the ceremony or reception to try to convince me to lend them money.

       "He brought two friends with him," Maddox says. "They're going to take this job very seriously."

       I can't help but smile at the fact that Maddox thought to get a last minute security guard after the whole fiasco not too long ago. And because he and Mo decided to act as security guards beforehand, they were able to prevent my family from coming into the venue to begin with.

       "Do you think they'll be willing to act as security guards during the reception as well?" I ask.

       "Uh, I'm not sure," Maddox says. "I did say I'll pay my brother twenty bucks for the ceremony. I don't know if I'll be able to pay him for the reception as well..."

       "Don't worry, Daisuke and I will gladly pay them if they're willing to stay for the reception as well," I say. "And since food will be buffet style and not pre-plated for the guests, they'll be more than welcome to help themselves to the food and drinks as well."

       "Okay, I'll go ask them," Maddox says before leaving to ask his brother and his brother's friends if they can stay during the reception.

       "If they don't want to, I'll stick Archie at the door," Ray says. "He looks scary enough to be a security guard."

       "I'm pretty sure Archer wouldn't want to be separated from you all night, though," I point out.

       "That's true..." Ray says. "He is clingy... Oh, but being separated from me would make him even more grumpy which would make him love even scarier."

       "Thanks for the idea, but it will be fine."

       As it turns out, Maddox's brother and his friends are more than happy to continue being security guards during the reception, saying that they, "Love to spite homophobes." Not that I'm complaining. I've met Maddox's brother a few times and he's just as annoying as Maddox, in a good way. If my family were to show up again, he and his friends will definitely be able to drive my family away.

       Before I know it, it's time for the ceremony to begin and I swear, my heart is going to jump out of my chest. I'm so nervous but even more excited because soon enough, Daisuke is going to be my husband. I can't believe that after all the years I've been in love with him, I'm going to be marrying him. I couldn't be happier.

       And thankfully, the ceremony is able to go smoothly without anyone interrupting it or anything going wrong. Once I'm standing at the end of the aisle, holding hands with my fiance as I face him, I finally realize that I don't need my parents and siblings to be happy. It's like Ray said; I'm creating a new family with Daisuke, and that's all that matters.

       The moment the officiant pronounces me and Daisuke as husbands, I feel as happy as I ever have been. I feel like I'm walking on clouds once Daisuke pulls me in for a kiss and all our friends and family cheers. The wedding couldn't have been more perfect.

       The reception is set up in another room of the venue, so most of the guests head there. The only ones that stay behind are those who are going to be in some of the wedding pictures with me and Daisuke, which are all of our groomsmen, which is basically everyone on our baseball team, as well as Daisuke's parents and sisters. Even taking pictures without my parents and siblings isn't making me feel bad. Nothing could make me feel bad now that I'm married to the most amazing man.

       It's then time for the reception, which starts off with my and Daisuke's first dance as a married couple. We chose a perfect song for our dance, and just dancing with Daisuke has been making me smile the whole time.

       "Are you feeling better?" Daisuke asks me as we dance. "You know, from what happened before the ceremony?"

       I continue to smile as I nod at my new husband. "Yeah, I really am. I don't care about them anymore. I'm just so happy being with you and their attitude isn't going to change that. I love you so much, Daisuke."

       Daisuke smiles back as he says," I love you too, Mason."

       As the reception goes on, I'm starting to completely forget about my parents and siblings. I'm having too much fun with my husband, my friends, and my family that does support me. Why should I care about four people that don't?

       At one point during the reception, Maddox's brother, Andre, walks over to me and Daisuke. "Someone is trying to get into the reception, claiming to be a friend of yours," he says. "I don't know what your brother looks like, so it could very well be him trying to pretend to be a friend."

       So much for forgetting about my family.

       But thankfully, as Daisuke and I walk over to the entrance to double check, it truly is a friend of ours. I sigh as I say,  "Andre, that's Scott. You've met him before."

       Andre looks at Scott before his face lights up with realization. "Oh! Scott! Right. How can I forget someone so hot and muscly?"

       "Aren't you straight?" I ask.

       "Uh, yeah, but what's wrong with appreciating another man's beauty?" Andre asks. 

       Andre and his friends step aside to allow Scott inside the venue. I give Scott a hug. "It's so good to see you again."

       "You too," Scott says. "I'm so sorry I'm late and that I missed the ceremony."

       "Don't worry about it," I say. 

       "We're just happy that you were able to make it at all," Daisuke says.

       "Yes, and as much as I would love to catch up to you, I think you should go see Nico," I say. I gesture to one of the tables were Nico is sitting at, just slowly eating some food on his plate. "He has been moody all day. He's been trying to hide it, but he's not fooling us. He really misses you."

       Scott hesitates. "Are you sure he's not going to dump me?"

       "One hundred percent," I say. "You two just need to talk things out." I give Scott an encouraging push towards Nico. 

       Scott walks towards Nico, who first looks shocked to see him, but then his eyes fill with tears as he hugs Scott tightly. I really hope things continue to work out for them.

       I pull Daisuke back to the dance floor, wanting to spend more time having fun with my husband. As we're dancing, Ray walks over to us with a bit more pep in his step than normal. "Mason! Daisuke!" He throws his arms around the two of us. "I am so so so so happy that you're married now. I love you both sooooo much."

       "We love you too, Ray," I say.

       "Are you drunk?" Daisuke asks.

       "Pssh, no," Ray says. "Why would I drink? There's no alcohol here."

       "There is alcohol here," Daisuke says.

       "Oh!" Ray says. "Hmm... Maybe that's why I feel funny."

       Archer has followed Ray and sighs. "I'm sorry. I tried keeping him away from alcohol because he gets too energetic."

       "Let's just hope he's not too hungover tomorrow for the Christmas party," I say.

       "Which is why we should have had the date a few days later," Daisuke says.

       "Who wants a Christmas party after Christmas?" I ask. "Not me."

       "It's okay, Ray miraculously never gets hungover," Archer says. Ray notices Archer is here, so he slings him arms around Archer's neck, hugging him tightly. Archer wraps his arms around Ray both to hug him and because Ray is almost at the point where he can't stand up straight. "Remember how drunk he was at the Christmas party last year? He woke up perfectly fine the next day."

       "Damn, I wish that could be me," I say. 

       "Archie, let's dance!" Ray says, no longer hugging Archer but instead trying to dance, only to nearly trip over his own feet.

       "Let's go sit down instead," Archer says, grabbing his hand and leading him to a table. Ray doesn't complain and just happily follows his husband.

       "Remind me not to bring out the alcohol at the party tomorrow," I say, being reminded of the chaos at last year's party because of our drunk friends.

       "Way ahead of you," Daisuke says.

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yay my second favourite couple from this series is officially married <3 next chapter will be their friend christmas party and it MIGHT be the last chapter. idk, we'll see.