STF

New Orleans - Bordeaux Ranch - Here Comes the Bride Take Two

Posted Nov. 7, 2019, 12:24 a.m. by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) (Kate O'Neill)

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in New Orleans - Bordeaux Ranch - Here Comes the Bride Take Two

Posted by Lieutenant Christopher Robins (Stellar Cartographer) in New Orleans - Bordeaux Ranch - Here Comes the Bride Take Two

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in New Orleans - Bordeaux Ranch - Here Comes the Bride Take Two
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Lexi looked at herself in the mirror. Anyone in the room could see she was wearing almost the same expression she had at nine AM when she was planning on marrying Toby. The look on her face was one of deep thought. So much had gone wrong and yet her she was were everything was going right. Ian had said he would work miracles. Lexi trusted him but it had been hours since she had seen him.

A soft knock on the door pulled her attention from the mirror as Lexi turned to see her future sisters-in-law enter the room. “You look beautiful,” Jaime said entering the room with Meghan following in tow only at a much slower rate. Walking over Jaime stood behind Lexi and admired her in the mirror as Meghan found the first seat she could occupy and put up her feet.

The dress had been repaired from the dirt and snags of the tree incident. Her hair was not in the tight bun but a looser style where half was up and the other half cascaded down her shoulders. Around her neck was a single teardrop aquamarine pendant that Chris had given her long ago. “Thank you,” Lexi smiled at her. “I just feel like....like I should have a different dress or something to make it special and unique. You know something that is going to make him say wow she looks beautiful,” Lexi confessed what was on her mind. “He has seen me in this dress but,”

“But nothing,” Meghan said. “Don’t get in your head. I don’t think you ever see the way Chris looks at you. You could come in a paper bag and he would act as if you have never looked better; however, we do have something if you want it,” she handed Jaime a box. Walking over to Meg, Jaime opened the box and took out a white shoulder-length veil. It was not something Lexi would readily have picked out yet had a nostalgic quality. Jaime, however, answered the question Lexi had on her mind before she even asked it.

“Way back in the 1940’s my great great great something grandmother Judith was a war bride. She had know our great great great something grandfather Paul for years and when duty called Paul left but not before marrying her the day he shipped out,” Jaime said carefully removing the veil that was in Lexi’s hair and replacing it with the one in her hands. “As insane as this sounds we have used this,” she leaned around to look at Lexi’s face, “when the bride wanted to, for ten generations of women marrying into the family. I wore it and so did Meghan. No pressure but we would love for you to wear. Weddings are about the two people getting married but also about traditions,” she pulled the lace around Lexi’s shoulders as they talked. “Besides we were gaggling Jewish wedding traditions. In the Christian faith, it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding day. In the Jewish faith, the man is supposed to Bedecken the Bride. So Meg and I thought we could do it for him. Kinda like a hybridization of the two faiths.”

While the veil was archaic, it seemed to fit the dress Lexi wore perfectly. Turning around she hugged Jaime tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered to the woman.

==========
At the Altar
==========

Lexi couldn’t stop smiling as her father took her arm and her mother took the other. Behind the doors, Chris was waiting for her. Any reservation she had about getting married today disappeared as the doors opened. To Ian’s credit, the wedding venue was far more beautiful than the place she picked in San Francisco. Instead of being indoors, Ian had found a breathtaking spot on the river just behind the restaurant they would use for the reception. Large weeping willows, like the river bed on either side creating a canopy for her to walk down. Somehow, they had also created a force field floor so that everyone attending was seated above the flowing water without getting wet. The sensation was like walking on water as Lexi and her parents started down the aisle.

Kelly turned, like the rest of the people gathered for the wedding, the second the music started playing to see the bride. She was a sucker for weddings. As Lexi began the processional, Kelly tapped her comm badge and silently connected to Jacen. =/\=Your name is officially Miracle Jacen. I will be expecting far more after seeing what you did in four hours. Drayke you have been slacking on me.=/\= Kelly clicked off the connection. Her Irish engineering chief would have plenty of time to profess he could not so do something later.

The setting sun allowed both light and the first glimpses of Polaris to shine in the night sky. A deep sense of relief filled Lexi seeing it in the sky. She had zero doubts about the man she was going to marry. She had a lot of concerns about how the logistics of it would work on a starship so far from home with a child. Candles lining the aisle cast soft glows which seemed to make the area more ethereal than real as the Garfield’s walked towards the altar. There was almost too much to take in so Lexi stopped looking around the second her eyes found Chris. He had never looked more handsome or nervous. Her smile grew a bit larger as she locked eyes with him. Lexi always got lost looking in his eyes. Maybe Chris, if he looked hard enough, would see a strength in hers that said she would love him until the stars he loved so burned out in the heavens.

Leaning next to Ian Chris whispered as they watched Lexi come down the aisle, “How did you get your Jacen to do this… is he a wizard?” Chris said, the view had been near intoxicating as he saw, everything fit perfectly.

“Something like that, he is also a bit of a bastard… you’ll like him.” Ian replied back as the pair began to straighten up as the two got closer.

Sliding her hand into his, Kylie gave Noah’s a small squeeze. “She does look beautiful,” Kylie remarked at Lexi passed.

“Yes, but she could not hold a candle to you ever,” Noah kissed his wife. “And for the record, this wedding will stick in my mind forever because those two knuckleheads not only decked me but gave me a criminal record. I am just happy I got with the only sane one of the group.”

Ruth bucked her hips for the tenth time in the last three minutes babbling like crazy. Whatever was going on, Chris had a far better view than she did. Unfortunately, the woman named Aunt Jaime had a death grip on her.

“I am so glad they got their stuff together and worked it out,” Meghan leaned back in her seat. “He was never as happy as when he talked about her.”

“He was also never as terrified as he looks now,” Jaime joked. “You know that means true love. Right now he is thinking about his future with her and he doesn’t have a clue,” Jaime let out a small laugh and kissed Ruth’s cheek. She had been through so much with Paul and as the XO’s wife, it added a whole other level to a relationship. Lexi and Chris would figure it out. As she watched Lexi pass her and head to the altar one other thought passed through her head. “I wonder who outranks who.”

“Baby,” Levi spoke softly as people smiled and nodded as they passed, “all I ever want is for you to be happy. Marriage is not easy. There are ups and downs, happiness and sadness but as long as you love your spouse, there is nothing you can’t face together,” he gave his daughter the only advice he had. Lexi and Chris would experience so much in their life together. All Levi Garfield could do was hope the man he was giving his daughter to would love her like no other. Reaching the altar, Ester embraced her daughter and then took a seat in the front row. Levi took a long second and held his little girl for the last time. Turning to Chris he put Lexi’s hand in the young man’s waiting at the altar.

“Chris I am giving you one of the most precious things I have. Take care of her. Promise me that I can go to bed every night and know she is safe and loved with you,” Levi asked in a gentle tone.

“All I have ever wanted sir was to be able to make your daughter smile, and feel like she is the only woman in a room. I plan to continue making her feel as happy and loved for as long as I hold breath.” Chris said to Levi as he took Lexi and helped her up. The Rabbi who specialized somehow in joint Christian and Hebrew weddings seemed to be ready but Chris caught someone in the audience that he just couldn’t get his attention off of.

Hell ooooo. I am pretty sure I should be up there with you, Ruth went noodle like. Just…give me…a ....second, she muttered trying to get down to her mommy and Chris.

Lexi

“Before you say more Rabbi… one second… the whole party needs to be up here.” he said as he smiled as he looked at Lexi, he came close to her as he took the veil as he moved it over her head as he saw her fully as he felt everything melt in him. Leaning in he began to whisper in her ear before her nods let him know she agreed.

Lexi watched Chris acting out on the request he made of her. The one reservation she had about him now seemed almost embarrassing and showed just how far in the past Chris and Lexi lived in regards to each other. Chris always proclaimed that he was unsure about how Lexi felt towards him. That was an immature teenager just making excuses. Lexi never told Chris he had a child because she hid behind the false idea the man she loved was still nineteen and the idea of family and fatherhood was a death sentence. Lexi could sling the coward and Chris could sling the vacillating lover as reasons it took ten years to get to where they were standing. The truth was only they were responsible for this instead of external events.

“I know this is very unorthodox, but let’s be honest today hasn’t been the most orthodox to begin with. There is someone, very much part of this union that I feel needs to be up here, Jaime… can you bring Ruth here?” he asked his sister in law as she seemed shocked as he addressed her as she got up with Ruth in tow as Chris waited for her to make the journey up.

“Chris I am not sure this is the best idea,” Jaime whispered to him as Ruth almost bodily threw herself at Chris.

Of course it is. Do you see how I am dressed? I look like Mommy and the other girls up here so that means I should be up here, Ruth babbled excitedly kissing Chris with several open-mouthed kisses. Her reaction brought multiple laughs and chuckles from those seated watching the nuptials.

“I am not even sure how many know, maybe half of you, maybe less… at this point it’s hard to keep count…” he said as he held Ruth close as she began to nuzzle his cheek as her hands playfully grabbed his cheeks. “But this little one here I found out today is my daughter… our daughter.” Chris said as he looked over at Lexi smile plastered on his face.

Baby I think only you never knew, she thought to herself. Lexi had never hidden who the baby’s father was. Just that she hoped they would respect what happened and not turn it into conversational fodder. To their credit, not one person whom Chris or Lexi felt close to ever broke her silent request to not bring up Ruth.

The low roar of audience happiness was enough to make Ruth look around. The view shocked her. More eyes than she had ever seen were focused on her. This stopped most of the wiggling as she looked back. Chris, she babbled and instantly settled in his arms. The sound of his voice comforted her. The feel of his arms around her little body made Ruth feel safe. As long as he was holding her, Ruth was okay letting the people look at them. Somehow Ruth knew, that Chris would not let anyone ever hurt her. Laying her head on his chest, Ruth looked back at the audience as Chris continued to speak.

“I don’t know what our future holds… but it feels right for the whole family to be here as we do this, as long as you can behave… you can behave can’t you little one?” Chris said clearly switching his focus to Ruth as he kissed her cheek before getting a better grip as he looked back at the Rabbi.

Ruth was rarely shy but standing in from of two hundred sets of eyes all looking at her was rather daunting. As long as you don’t put me down we are going to be okay, Ruth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Some might have seen the gesture as Ruth being sleepy yet she was wide awake. She was just taking it all in.

“I’m sorry… Father… sir? I confess Lexi never told me what you call a Rabbi outside of Rabbi but… whenever you are ready we would be honored for you to continue our union.” he said as he felt his world come fully complete as starlight seemed to fill the room as everything just felt perfect as it all clicked into place.

“Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is fine son,” the Rabbi smiled at Chris giving him his name

Looking at the congregation Rabbi Schneerson began the service. “Friends, family, and loved ones, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Christopher David Robins to Alexandra Zelda Garfield. For those that don’t know the chupah is a Jewish tradition that demonstrates the couple’s commitment to establishing a home that will always be open to guests. They will need it because it took a lot of people to get them here,” Rabbi Schneerson let out a small chuckle. “This couple has been through a lot over the years to find love and happiness. Today they consecrate their love by giving themselves to each other before us and the eyes of God. As Christopher stated a few minutes ago, in a very unorthodox way.” The sound of chuckles rang through the group, each person having their own memory of how they got here. “Since we have skipped over a few parts I am just going to recap it.”

The subtle chuckles and soft laughter made Lexi blush. The wedding was supposed to be a mix of Jewish and Christian yet Chris had blown over a few sections due to both time deadlines and nerves. “Now from what I am told the groom’s sister bedeckened the bride. So I need to ask,” the Rabbi turned to face Chris. “This is the woman you are planning to marry correct because like we aren’t looking for the Abraham moment after the ceremony.” Whether or not everyone got the joke, was unknown but those that knew the story of Abraham marrying Sarah’s sister first because her face was shrouded in a veil were smiling.

“Now that we have that cleared up, Chris would you mind veiling her for the duration of the chupah ceremony so that she has her privacy at this holy time,” Rabbi Schneerson smiled at the groom.

After a few blessings and words from the Torah, Lexi handed her bouquet to Aubrey and slowly began to circle Chris. “So in a Jewish wedding I circle you seven times,” Lexi explained making the elliptical orbit around Chris. “It signifies we will have created a magical wall of protection from evil spirits, temptation, and the glances of other women. The other interpretation is that I am symbolically creating a new family circle. I think I like the last one the best,” she finished walking around Chris and took his hand as the priest began the Sheva B’rachot or Seven Blessings.

Lexi took the cup of wine and sipped it before passing it to Chris as the Rabbi performed the sanctification of the marriage thanking God for the blessing he had bestowed on the couple. Ruth for her part was watching wide-eyed in Chris’ arm as all the pomp of the ceremony was carried out.

“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, song, delight and rejoicing, love and harmony and peace and companionship.” The Rabbi began the service but Lexi could not concentrate on any of it. Her only thoughts were on Ruth and Chris. How she was lucky enough to find him and then make a baby as perfect as their daughter was a blessing just at the Rabbi proclaimed.

“Christopher,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson addressed the groom, “It is now time to place the wedding band on the Alexandra’s finger.”

Lt. Lexi Garfield


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