[VicFuentes] Dance, If It Moves You

Fourteen, The End.

One Year Later – Third Person

Alana looks down at her dress, the intricate beading and lace that she could have sworn she didn’t want until she tried it on and tears flooded her eyes. Chewing on her lower lip, earning a groan from Bailey as she digs through a makeup bag for the lip gloss used on Alana’s lips, she looks down at Katherine, watching as she spins in circles, laughing as her dress flies around her. The bouquet of flowers sits on the table in front of her, and her stomach flips, the anxiety racing through her veins. Who knows, Vic may say no instead of I do and everything that she built her life around could shatter with one word.

Bailey knows that Alana wanted Mitch to walk her down the aisle, but he’s not here. He’s the reason Vic and Alana are together, because if Vic didn’t see the sensitive side of Alana, which isn't shown when she’s on tour, he would have never been interested in her. Mitch is looking down on them; she knows that he is, because Alana was like his little sister.

Instead of Mitch, she’s having the guys walk her down the aisle, all the guys in her band, because they are her brothers, no matter what. They don’t compare to Mitch, but they're pretty damn amazing.

“Hey, it’s time,” Mark slides the door open, sticking his head in, making sure that everyone is dressed, and she begins to realize how uneven the bridal party is. Vic has his band, and her band is joining them up there. Alana only has Bailey and Katherine. That’s it. There aren’t many people here either, just his family, the bands’ family, and close friends. About eighty people are coming, not including them, because Vic’s family is fairly large.

I would tell you everything that comes next, Alana grabbing her bouquet, Bailey fussing over the train of Alana’s dress, Katharine asking why daddy doesn’t have to walk down the aisle, people standing up as she comes into vision, the guys fighting over who gets to directly hold onto her. I’ll just resume the telling of this fairytale wedding with the look in Vic’s eyes when they landed on Alana walking down the aisle, towards him and towards their future together.

Tears swarmed his eyes, clouding them immediately, and his breathing gets caught in his throat. This is it, this is the woman of his dreams, the love of his life, walking up to meet make his future perfect.

&&/

“The first time I saw you, you were vulnerable. And I just thought, as horrible as seeing a woman cry is, she’s still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Alana Johnson, I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you. You’re my best friend. I couldn’t ask for anyone better than you. When I was younger, I told my mom about the girl I was going to marry. She would be beautiful, on the outside, but, most importantly, on the inside. You’re the most amazing mother, the most amazing best friend, and the most amazing person I've ever been blessed with meeting. I love you, with all my heart. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. And I promise to love you until the end of time.”

The rabbi smiles at Vic, trying to bite back his laugh as Katharine walks around Alana to hand him a tissue for his tears. “Now, Alana has written her own vows. Alana, go ahead.”

“When I look at you, I see everything that I've ever wanted. I don’t really know why, but you look at me with a shine in your eyes. It makes my stomach flip, the way you look at me. There are times when I don’t think that I deserve you, but I'm too selfish to let you go, because I know that you’re what is best for me and for my daughter. At one point I almost gave up on love, and all I needed was you to show me that I shouldn’t. You're my best friend. I love you, so much. I promise to love you, to be your best friend, to respect and support you, to be patient with you, to work together with you to achieve our goals, to accept you unconditionally, and to share life with you throughout the years. I promise to be the best wife I can be and the best friend I can be. I promise to cherish every moment I have with you and to love you each and every second of the days to come.”

At this moment, right now, life is wonderful, what Alana always wanted for herself, for Katharine.

Clearing his throat, the rabbi looks down at Katharine. “And now Vic has vows for Katharine and Katharine has vows for Vic. They argued about who could say their vows first so we had to flip a coin. Vic won, but he was being a gentleman and allowed Katharine to go first.”

Smiling, Katharine reaches up for her piece of paper, which by now she mostly has memorized. “Mommy helped me with this. The first time I met you, you took me and mommy to the American Girl Doll Store and I knew that I liked you because you bought Julie and Rebecca new outfits. And I love you, daddy. Mommy loves you, too. We’re a family. I promise to laugh at all your not funny jokes. I promise to be a good daughter. I promise to listen to you. I promise to hold your hand when I cross the street. I promise to cheer you on when you’re on stage. I promise to be your little girl. I love you, daddy.”

The rabbi smiles, looking at Vic under the chuppah, while directing him to say his vows to Katharine.

“Katharine, you’re my favorite girl, in the whole wide world, besides your mom. You and your mom are my world. And I promise, with all my heart, to be the best dad that I can be. I promise to love you. I promise to spoil you. I promise to cherish you. I promise that all the boys who like you have to pass my standards. And I promise to love you. I want you to know that you're a fantastic little girl, and I can’t wait to watch you turn into the beautiful, amazing woman I know you're going to become.”

And at that exact moment, even before the bride kisses her groom, the wife kisses her husband, Alana kisses Vic, the three of them are a family.

A perfect family.

Because they dance as if life moves them.