A/N: I got a little excited. So uh.....surprise?
July 1945
Kathryn made a face as Poppy readjusted her veil in her hair, tears blossoming in the corner of her eyes. "Oh aren't you just an angel in this?" She exclaimed, gesturing at the wedding gown Kathryn was dressed in.
"She's right about that, you know," Laura stated in amusement. Kathryn glanced over at her friends, dressed in a light blue maternity dress that showed off her bump.
Looking at the group of her friends, Kathryn couldn't help but be grateful that they had all come to help her. After the fiasco that was wedding dress shopping went down, she and her mother hadn't been on speaking terms. Now though, she had Poppy—who had ensured that her lipstick and makeup was perfect. She had Laura, who was absolutely bound and determined to make sure that everything turned out the way that Kathryn wanted.
She had Annika—and Annika was surveying the guests and ensuring that things were great on that front. She had Becky distracting her mother with her children. And she had Barbara, standing by if she needed a single thing. She had Helen and Tatty there, smiling at the sight of everything turning out for her. And most of all, Kathryn was happy.
This was her army of nurses and ladies and she loved them.
"Do me a favor?" Kathryn questioned, grabbing Barbara's hand.
"Anything," Barbara said, offering her a smile.
"Go check on my brother and make sure he's not causing trouble?"
"That requires backup!" Poppy exclaimed, tugging on Laura's arm. "We'll go with her!"
Kathryn could hardly stop them from rushing out the door of the dressing room. She just smiled at the fluttery feelings in her stomach. "You just need to relax," Tatty insisted, shaking her head at her. "Everything's gonna be perfect."
Meanwhile, Bucky was just barely adjusting Gale's tie as he looked his friend over. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they had met in basic training. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he was introducing saintly Gale to his angelic baby sister—and hoping that they would hit things off in some way. And now here they were, standing at their damn wedding. He wasn't sure where the time had gone, but he was glad that he got to be here.
"You're quieter than I thought you'd be," Gale admitted, giving Bucky a look.
"Savin' it for the speech."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Bucky gave a grin and then lightly patted Gale's face. "But in all honesty, you screw things up with my sister and I'll have to beat your ass."
Gale nearly rolled his eyes. "She's got a higher kill count than you, I'm fairly certain she could kill me herself."
"You got me there. I'll help her hide the body then."
"Nice," Gale had just managed to say—
And then Barbara was opening the door and surveying things. "Well you don't look absolutely awful—"
"Well that's not nice, Barb. It's his wedding day—" Bucky started.
"I was talking to you, Bucky," Barbara deadpanned. Poppy and Laura appeared on either side of her, frowns on their faces. "And as for you, Mr. Cleven—" She let out a huff of air. "Kathryn Egan is one of a kind and I won't have you screwing this up."
"What she said!" Poppy exclaimed, waving her arms emphatically.
Gale couldn't help but be slightly endeared by the entire thing. "Anything to add, Laura?"
Laura just stood there, arms crossed over her chest and she gave a shrug. "My husband's a lawyer and Kath will utilize that."
"Noted."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kathryn hadn't, admittedly, been nervous for the wedding. No, she had been looking forward to it the entire month. But what she wasn't wholly prepared for was the slew of people in the audience that she recognized— but most certainly did not invite.
"Bucky?" She questioned, tugging on his arm.
"What is it?"
"Why the hell are Bing Crosby, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Stewart all at my wedding?" Kathryn demanded, eyes wide.
Bucky couldn't help but glance out at the rest of the church. "Holy shit—they actually came?"
"What do you MEAN?" She demanded.
He gave a sheepish shrug. "Well you're kinda famous now—"
"Yes, I'm well aware."
"And I was a little drunk when you had me address invitations. Figured it wouldn't do any harm to include them on the guest list. What were they going to do? Say no?"
"Unbelievable, you're unbelievable," Kathryn mumbled. "I'm supposed to go out there and get MARRIED when they're out here looking—like that?!" She demanded, gesturing emphatically at the audience.
"Obviously." Bucky seemed to realize that his sister was now suddenly stressed at the thought of strangers and celebrities (that she happened to like) being at the wedding. He gave a frown and then set his hands on her shoulders. "Kath, it's not about them. It's about you and Gale. You just—focus on him and it's all gonna be fine."
Kathryn just sucked in a breath. "Yeah okay."
"And for the record," Bucky added.
"Yes?"
"You look beautiful," Bucky finished, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Kathryn Egan was by no means religious at this point in her life. But walking out into that chapel on her brother's arm, Kathryn felt like everything was absolutely fated to turn out okay. Because the minute that her eyes landed on the dozens of members of the Hundredth that had made the journey to be with them—the minute that her eyes landed on Gale Cleven up ahead—nothing really mattered except him.
She hadn't been flying before—this was flying and gliding down the aisle. He was unable to tear his gaze away from her in the same way that she wasn't able to tear her gaze away from him. This was love in its purest and simplest form.
And when Gale Cleven took his hand in hers and Bucky stepped off to the side—obviously both the Best Man and the Maid of Honor—Kathryn found light in its simplest form. If Gale Cleven was indeed gravity, then she was being pulled into orbit and finding her place in the universe and cosmos finally.
Staring ahead at his eyes—and the smile on his face—Kathryn wasn't truthfully listening to the priest droning on and on about the sanctity of marriage. And she knew that in this moment, they were infinite. They were fated to find each other and to be with one another. They were each other's person in ways that no one would ever understand.
Theirs was a love that was timeless.
It wasn't something that could be broken apart by heartbreak or war. No amount of plane crashes or personal tragedy, no amount of death or hardship could separate them. They always found their way back to one another—and it was with one another that they found themselves and who they wanted to be.
All of that time ago, she had forgotten how it felt to be held by Gale Cleven. She had forgotten the scent of his aftershave and the way that his hands felt on hers. But no more—this memory of his hand in hers and looking at each other as if the rest of the world had melted away—it was forever seared into her memory as the purest and most beautiful thing in her life.
Then it was time for the vows. "I, Gale Cleven, do take thee, Kathryn Egan, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, until death do us part. With this ring, I thee wed."
Kathryn was certain she had never smiled more than she was in this moment. "I, Kathryn Egan, do take thee, Gale Cleven, to be my husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward—for better and for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, until death do us part. With this ring, I thee wed."
And when Kathryn Egan was pronounced Mrs. Kathryn Cleven, she felt the change come over her in a way that she had never felt anything else. And when she kissed Gale—if she had been a candle the first time that he had ever kissed her, she was a burning blazing flame now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A light lunch and cake followed the wedding ceremony—and of course, the first thing that Bucky had done was wrestle the microphone from the band that they had booked and snatch it for a speech.
"Oh God, he's gonna embarrass us," Kathryn mumbled into her hands.
"Hello hello!" Bucky exclaimed loudly into the microphone, a grin on his face and a drink in hand. "You know—today is a damn good day! Today is the day that my sister marries my best friend, and I don't know if I've ever been happier! See, the thing about Kath is that she's always been my favorite person in the world."
Kathryn couldn't help the smile at his words.
"And I've never liked a single boyfriend. I scared them all off. None of them deserved my sister—she's the best person in the world. Even if she is a menace half of the time," he gave a wink in her direction. "And I knew that the person she married needed to be one hell of a guy in order to deserve her. And then I met this guy named Gale—what kinda name is Gale, anyway?" Bucky pointed out.
"And he didn't drink, he didn't like dancing, he didn't like sports, and he ignored all of the girls that threw themselves at him—it's a wonder we even became friends," Bucky admitted. "And then I started thinkin', if this guy is for real, then he might be the only person I ever trust with my sister. Well she gets all shy about things and I'm having to listen to hour long conversations about her hair and the way she smiles— God it was annoying."
Gale blushed at the words slightly. "You weren't supposed to know that," he whispered to Kathryn.
"It's sweet," she reassured him.
"Then they finally got together and I thought all my problems were solved! But NO!" Bucky exclaimed, nearly tripping over the microphone cord. "Then I'm trying to keep their grubby hormonal hands to themselves—"
"Oh please make it stop," Kathryn changed her mind.
"But these two, even if they are annoying with their pining and clear sexual frustration—they're sweet. They're my state of the union. And...well—without them, I'm not sure I would have made it through all of the shit that I did."
When he devolved into a drunken song, Kathryn wasn't surprised. She knew it was the most likely outcome of her wedding in any capacity. What she was surprised to see was Tina sitting at one of the tables. Kathryn couldn't help it—she made a dash to go over to her, a grin slipping onto her face.
"Tina!" Kathryn exclaimed. Tina flung her arms around the bride, a bright smile on her face. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in Oklahoma!"
"Well I was!" Tina explained a bit sheepishly. "Your brother invited me."
Kathryn glanced over at her brother's drunken rendition of Buffalo Girls Come Out Tonight . "Of course he did. Well I'm glad you're here. Are you—"
"I'm doing much better," Tina reassured her.
Kathryn glanced to the side, eyes landing on none other than DeMarco. And a plot hatched in her mind. "Have any of the guys seen you?"
"Well not yet, no—"
"You should go say hi to Benny! He'd love to see you!"
Tina blushed. "You think so?"
"I know so. That man didn't leave your side, according to Bucky."
"Well alright..." Tina really only did it to appease Kathryn Egan—but she wouldn't lie, she found Benny DeMarco to be absolutely wonderful .
"Well you're busy matchmaking again, I see!" Rosie tapped Kathryn on the shoulder.
Kathryn just grinned. "Guilty as charged. It worked for you, didn't it?"
He couldn't argue with that particular statistic. "It did, didn't it?" He sobered for a second, a tender expression crossing his face. "I'm really happy for you, Kath."
"You're a good friend, Rosie. Thanks. And thank you for getting me all those postcards," she added, a grin on her face.
"No problem. Dare I ask why you need them?"
"Bucky."
"Ah...yeah...him crashing your honeymoon wouldn't be fun."
"No it would not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The simple fact of the matter was that Kathryn Egan, had not in fact, been nervous about the actual marriage ceremony. The simple fact of the matter was that she was, in fact, nervous about what came after. The truth of it was simple—she had been raped and that had left deep mental and emotional scars on the situation that was about to take place.
She wasn't an idiot. She was a woman—and a doctor. She knew about sex. She just happened to be incredibly insecure and self-conscious about her own body for said act. It had nothing to do with her trust in Gale.
So when they arrived at the hotel for the night and they entered the hotel room, Kathryn couldn't help that there was a level of apprehension. In fact, she felt a little more than queasy at the thought of Gale seeing her as she truly was. It was one thing for him to have heard about the scars that Hausmann had left—it was another to actually see it on one's wedding night.
It was silent as Kathryn began pulling at some of the ties at the back of her wedding dress. Her shoes were already discarded on the ground. Realizing that there was no human way to get the dress off without some help, she glanced over to where Gale was setting down their suitcases.
"Gale?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you—" Kathryn couldn't even bring herself to finish the sentence.
He seemed to know what she meant though, and crossed over to where she was. Kathryn moved her hair out of the way and Gale's hands fumbled for a second with the buttons at the top of the dress. His fingers were light and gentle and she could feel his breath on her neck, causing goosebumps to arise on her skin.
The dress sagged against the ground and Kathryn heard a sharp intake of breath. She stepped out of the dress and turned around, finding Gale Cleven standing there, eyes wide at the sight of her. She suddenly felt very acutely aware that all she was wearing was her evening clothes and as if she were on display of some sort.
But as he took in the sight of Kathryn Egan standing there in a pale blue brassiere—lacy patterns all around the chest—bared stomach, panties, and half a dozen other things he couldn't even name. While she was focusing on the fact that he could see some of her scars, he was simply focused on the fact that this is what it meant to be drunk.
Gale Cleven had never been a religious man, it was true. But standing there and taking in the sight of Kathryn Egan, he thought he might have found religion. Because she looked like a goddess and something out of a dream—better than any dream or fantasy he might have had about this entire thing.
Kathryn tore her gaze away from him and she just picked up the dress, setting it over on a chair. But he didn't move, just kept his gaze on her. Finally, Kathryn found the words she was trying to say. "You've never looked at me like that,"
"Like what?" Gale's voice was deeper than she had ever heard.
"Like—" She couldn't even finish this sentence either, gaze falling on the ground, half out of shame, half out of shyness.
He just took a step forward, closing the distance in between the two of them in mere steps. He lifted her chin gently, bringing their eyes to meet. "Don't look at the ground," he murmured to her.
Kathryn was absolutely transfixed as she looked in his eyes. There was something there she had never seen before—certainly it had to be desire. It was altogether a new sensation and yet—one that she never wanted to leave her.
She fumbled with her hands as she reached for her own stockings—and then his hands were closing over her own and stopping her from even making a movement. "Let me." It wasn't a question and it wasn't a command. It was something said in reverence—something that Kathryn hadn't ever felt in her presence.
But Gale's hands started on her waist and she froze, eyes locked onto him. This was electric—heart beating and blood rushing in her ears. She wanted to touch him and be touched, but he was taking his time with things. He knelt reverently in front of her, gaze flickering somewhere between a man half-starved and someone in awe. He was slow as he removed the stockings, touch gliding over her legs and making her shudder. And then the stockings were gone, thrown somewhere behind him.
He was staring at the scars on her knees and Kathryn wanted him to stop that. Wanted him to look anywhere but there. She had no sooner reached for his shoulder that he had softly taken her left leg and brought it forward to brush his lips against her knee. Kathryn let out a surprised gasp and he glanced up, finding her looking at him in surprise.
"God, you don't know how long I've thought about this."
Gale had never known someone he loved as much as Kathryn Egan. He had loved her from the first moment he had met her—before he even really knew what it meant to love someone. Being able to call her his wife officially was one of the most freeing things he had ever experienced. But seeing her before him, bared not just emotionally as she had been a hundred times before, but finally in the flesh like he'd imagined—it was all he could do not to rush.
But he wanted to take this slow, and wanted to worship her like the goddess that he knew she was from the first moment he had seen her fierce strength and determination—the way she always protected and served the people around her. She deserved to be shown her worth and gloried in every waking moment. Gale knew that she thought she was broken for every mark borne on her skin but Gale had other thoughts.
When Hausmann predicted he would hate Kathryn the first time he took her, he would never know how wrong that he was. Gale's love was an ocean that could not be stopped, a passion that could not be quenched, and was intense and unparalleled in its singular focus. He moved from scar to scar, lips soft but intent as he said all the things he never could with lips against her skin.
You're perfect.
You're strong.
You're loved.
Nothing is wrong with you.
I'll always be by your side.
Kathryn found herself coming undone as he carefully kissed each cigarette burn on her knees, hands stroking over her lower legs. Her legs felt like jelly by the time that he rose to her waist, removing the garter belt with slight struggle. With that, she moved to help him with it—but once again, he just removed her hands.
This was Gale Cleven learning and memorizing Kathryn Egan in a way that he didn't know before.
Kathryn's rapid breathing and soft sighs, the way that her hands grasped at the sheets looking for something to ground herself at his actions only spurred him on to find more of the marks that had haunted her for so long and put to rest the ghosts of her life with his love.
He rose to his feet, eyes drinking in the brassiere—and the scars that peeked out from just above it. And so she really wasn't surprised when he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips—then trailed his lips to the scar on her forehead, then her jaw. And then he was working his way downwards and spending time on each individual scar.
Kathryn almost burst into tears—because this was love. Pure and unadulterated love in its most raw form. He didn't have to say much—he was showing her how he felt. How much he loved her .
When his teeth grazed against her throat, Kathryn shuddered against him—and then his jacket was coming off and she needed something more than just standing there patiently. He was taking his damn time and now there was a heat that was pooling between her legs in frustration. But any frustration that she seemed to show or impatience that was perceived didn't speed Gale Cleven up.
She couldn't help herself—she brought his head up from her chest and kissed his lips—and then down his neck—and then he was moaning and coming just as unraveled as she was. Kathryn couldn't help that she giggled at the sound and he broke apart from her with a look darkening in his eyes.
"What?" He questioned, voice raspy.
"I think that's my new favorite sound."
She should've known that saying that would have driven him over the edge. Because the next thing she knew, she was being backed up to the edge of the bed. And this time he was marking up the scars on her hips and up her thighs—
And before he could reach the place that she so desperately needed him, he broke away from her to prop himself above her for a moment. "You're the most beautiful person—you know that?"
They didn't break eye-contact as one hand entwined with hers. And in this beautiful intimate moment, Kathryn knew what it was to be loved and what it was to love another person. What it was to make love—and to not be war-torn. And she could confidently say that Gale Cleven was damn good at making her forget about everything else. He cradled her against him and any pain that was there at the beginning became pleasure—they clutched at each other in total desperation and hunger until they had come completely undone and unwound in every way possible.