“I remember every look upon your face, the way you roll your eyes, the way you taste, you make it hard for breathing…”


They had made it. One year of keeping Sofia alive had been a success. They ushered in the celebration with just the three of them, presenting her with a cake, which she gladly smashed her hands through. It had been the perfect, stress-free day that both Marie and Marco needed, given that the wedding was a month away.

The days blended together, as most usually do. In what felt like a blink of an eye, September was upon them. In the middle of working out on the daily to keep in peak condition for the upcoming hockey season, Marco got fitted for a suit, and made sure that the suits for his groomsmen, Giulio and Matt, not only matched but fit them as well. That was all he was responsible for in terms of planning the wedding, and that’s how he preferred it. Although his money was partially being used to pay for the event, as long as Marie was happy, he was happy.

They were just two days away from it now. After spending most of the days apart, due to workouts, time at Scandy’s, or just putting the finishing touches on the wedding, they hadn’t seen each other all that much. Nighttime was when they spent the majority of their recent time together, and most of that time was spent sleeping so they could prepare for another hectic day apart.

But what was done was done. Marie could stress and panic about every tiny detail, but panicking and worrying wouldn’t change a thing. Tomorrow, they’d spend the day at the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. From there they’d spend the night apart, carrying on the long-standing tradition of not seeing each other until the wedding day. So today they decided to slow things down and spend the day together, just the three of them.

Stealing food from Scandy’s, they headed off for the park for a picnic. The weather was just about perfect, and Marie hoped it would stay that way until the wedding. Everything was going to take place outside, and if the world decided to rain, then there’d be a shit ton of problems.

Sofia sat on the blanket, engrossed with her cloth bunny. The floppy ears kept her preoccupied on a regular basis. Marco and Marie pulled the food out of the basket they’d brought along. Mostly pastries that was easy to carry along, with tea for them and milk for Sof. She had since graduated from a bottle to a sippy cup, and carried one around incessantly. Just as one might carry around a purse, Sofia wouldn’t be caught dead without a sippy cup.

Marie put together a bowl of bite-sized waffles, and set it down in front of Sof. She watched as her daughter picked one up and shoved the entire thing in her mouth.

She reached forward and grabbed part of it out of her mouth so she wouldn’t choke, “Sof how about we take bites, okay?” Sofia fussed before chomping off a piece of the waffle, and Marie set the other half back in the bowl. “We have to be at Camrose Hill by four tomorrow for the rehearsal,”

“The Canadian cotillion is already in town. Who am I calling to make sure knows?” Marco grabbed an Italian wedding cookie from the bowl Marie had set up.

“Your mom, siblings and their spouses, the priest and his wife. Call Matt too, he needs to be there,” she paused and went to take a sip of her iced tea, but then held up her hand, “oh and make sure Giulio brings his daughters. As ring bearer slash flower girls, they have to be there too.”

“Got it.” Marco looked to the side as another family walked through the park; a mother and father pushing a stroller. “Have you talked to Ryan yet?”

Marie smiled, “he doesn’t think he’s worthy. But as the guy who literally brought me on ice so you could propose, I think he’s more than worthy of giving me away. Ideally, I’d want your dad to do it,”

“No, ideally your dad would be doing it.”

“Well we knew that was never going to be the case.”

Marco lay back on his side, setting his hand on Sofia’s back. She looked down at him and set her hand down on his cheek, curling her fingers in his beard. It had grown considerably as he waited to clean it up for the wedding.

“I can’t believe we’re two days away from being married. I get to call you my hubby,” she said, stealing a waffle bite from Sofia’s bowl when she wasn’t looking.

“And in three days, we’ll be on our honeymoon. And then in three weeks, I’ll be in training camp.”

“Wow you really know how to make this so non-romantic,” Marie grinned and took another sip of her tea, resting her free hand on her stomach. “Where are you even taking me on this crazy honeymoon?”

“It’s a surprise,”

“I want to know,”

“You’ll find out when you see the boarding pass as you’re getting on the plane.”

“So it’s not in Minnesota…” She joked and laid down too, resting her head on Marco’s thigh.

“Fine. It’s to Nebraska. I thought we’d check out the potatoes there,”

“Potatoes are Idaho. Nebraska is wheat. If you’re going to lie to me, at least know your geography.”

“Okay, smartypants.” He reached down and tickled the sides of Marie’s neck, giggling as she tried to get away from his touch.

It nearly sent her reeling. Any other time, him tickling her would’ve seemed like a childish game, but now it was just torture. In the effort of making their wedding night feel particularly special, they made a pact to forego sex for the two weeks leading up to the wedding. Now every touch felt like the spark of something getting started, and every kiss was like a threat to break the agreement.

After lunch, as Marie was packing up their things, Marco followed Sofia around as she explored the park. She went as far as her little legs would take her, and when she tired and sat down on the grass, Marco was there to pick her up. He kissed her cheek and bounced her in his arms as they closed back in on Marie, who was now standing ready to leave. Marco reached for her hand and they made off for the car as the afternoon wore on.

When nighttime took over, it sunk in that by tomorrow, they’d be sleeping alone. Granted it was only a night, but considering they had shared a bed for nearly two years now, it was going to be different. Marie came out of the bathroom, having showered up, in one of Marco’s t-shirts. It hung low on her, almost like a dress. And when she made it out to the living room, she saw Marco on the floor with Sof. She was sitting on his chest, giggling wildly as he held her hands and danced them around.

Marco stared at Marie as she walked to the couch and sat down on it. It was also at that point, he saw she wasn’t wearing any underwear. “You’re making this no sex thing incredibly difficult for me,”

Marie rolled her eyes and flicked on the TV. In terms of this, she was by far stronger than him. Two weeks was nothing. “You’ve survived this long. What’s an extra day and a half?”

“My sanity,” he offered, but Marie didn’t bite. “C’mon just let me eat you out,”

“I’m not having this conversation in front of Sofia,”

They both looked at Sof, who was totally oblivious to everything going on around her as she played with the buttons at the top of Marco’s t-shirt. In an instant, Marco was up and carrying Sofia off to bed. It was around her bedtime anyways, but Marie’s comment was added inspiration to put to her bed.

By the time he came back and sat on the couch, Marie was already settled on a Twins game. He leaned forward and brushed her hair away from her neck, leaning in to press his lips to her neck. He was testing her. When she didn’t push him away, but didn’t reciprocate either, he slid his hand between her thighs, trying to wiggle his fingertips to her center.

“You know I rarely turn down sex, so do not be offended when I say this…” Marie waited for Marco to pull back and look at her. “Fuck off,”

He smiled and pulled his hand away. Like an obedient child, Marco sat with his hands tucked in his lap. “I miss the way your pussy tugs at my cock, urging me deeper. The feeling of your tight wetness that sends shivers through my body,”

Marie blushed and tried to ignore him. He was trying to get a rise out of her, and if she wasn’t careful, it would work. She side-glanced at him as he reached into his boxer briefs and pulled out his dick. “Marco!”

“I agreed to nothing in terms of masturbation,” he set his head against the back of the couch and curled his fist around the head of his dick, giving it a slow series of short tugs.

She thought she could ignore him and let it be, but the harder and more turned on he got, was impossible for her. His quiet moans and grunts sent her reeling and she was overwhelmed with the feeling like she had to get out of the room.

“Please,” Marco blurted when she went to stand up. “Don’t leave… please,” he didn’t even pull his hand away, but instead, increased his pace.

Marie watched the way his abs flexed with each stroke, fighting the urge to come with each pass. He was right, they hadn’t laid down any rules when it came to masturbation, so as long as she didn’t touch him, she felt there was no harm in it. She twisted over and curled into his side, immediately being encompassed by his right hand, as his dominant hand continued its work.

He clutched at her hip like his survival depended on it, and Marie opened her mouth around his earlobe, kissing and sucking on it gently. She moved her way down his jaw and neck, leaving behind a light hickey. “Fuck,” Marco seethed out between clenched teeth. She flicked her eyes down to his waist, and then shut her eyes again. Moving her lips down to his shoulder to kiss the protruding end of his collarbone, Marco squeezed and stopped moving his hand in a way that was all too familiar to Marie. She kissed him softly as he came over his stomach.

Even after he pulled his hand away from his shaft, his member twitched involuntarily. Marie set her hand on his chin and turned his head towards her, pecking him quickly. “Clean yourself up and come to bed,”

---

“You’ll all be waiting for the coordinator’s cue, in which the procession will go as follow,” the minister began. When he had made an appearance, Marie nearly had to laugh. She recognized him as the priest that had delivered the sermon the first time Marco and Marie went to church in Montreal. “Mother of the bride… you’ll take your seat in the front row. Next will be Matt and Jess, taking their spots by the altar. Then the best man and maid of honor, Giulio and Elizabeth; Giulio will have the rings…”

Marie looked around at the venue. Camrose Hill turned out to be the most beautiful place she could’ve imagined, and with everything set up for tomorrow, Marie could hardly believe it was for her.

“Marco comes next. I’ll be right after him. Then we have Giulio’s daughters, and your little one,” he nodded towards Marco and Marie, “as flower girls. Once they get to the front, they can take their seats, and after that I’ll have everyone stand and Mr. Suter will lead Marie down the aisle.”

Marco elbowed Ryan playfully. He was getting a kick out of his teammate playing such a significant role in his wedding. Ryan was still apprehensive about the whole thing. He understood why Marie’s father wouldn’t be the one doing it, but he also didn’t feel adequate.

As the minister called them, Marie and Marco approached the altar, staring at each other as they would be doing tomorrow. “The ceremony will proceed, thank you for being here blah, blah, blah,” Marco giggled as the minister said that. “See if anyone objects, if not, I’ll go into an abridged version of a passage, and then we’ll get into the speeches and vows, which I am told you’re writing yourselves,”

Marco’s face dropped and his eyes darted between Marie and the minister.

“I told you about that three months ago, Marco,” Marie smiled and shook her head.

“Yeah of course baby. I got it,”

The minister grinned, “then we’ll do a quick prayer, the I do’s, Giulio will hand you the rings, blah, blah, blah…” He looked down at the notes, “I will pronounce you husband and wife, you’ll kiss, and you’ll go on your way. After you leave,” the minister nudged them off the altar, “the bridal party will leave, along with the parents. You’ll do photos, and then you’re ready for the party,”

Marco let out a nervous breath, “you went through that pretty quickly, father.”

“I assure you, it will be just as painless tomorrow.”

Marie took Sofia out of her mom’s hands and kissed her cheek gently. “Before we head in for our dinner tonight, I would just like to say thank you on behalf of Marco and I.” She curled into his side, “we couldn’t have done this if it wasn’t for every single one of you. In particular, we know there’s one special man who didn’t get the chance to see this day…” Marco cleared his throat and pressed his lips to the top of Marie’s head. “But we know Francesco would’ve been so proud that this is finally happening,”

Marco chuckled and held onto her a little tighter. The group applauded the short speech, and then made their way towards the small banquet hall inside. The rest of the night would be easy and calm. No one would have to do toasts, they’d just get to eat and enjoy each other’s company.

That is, until Marco noticed Bill standing at the threshold of the building. He made his presence known to Marie, and as he lifted Sofia out of her hands, she frowned. “Let me give her to your mom, and I’ll be back to help you deal with this.”

He bounded away, and Marie took a deep breath in. It was now or never. Bill had been explicitly left out for a reason, and now that he was here, it angered Marie more than she could’ve ever expected.

“What are you doing here?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she approached her father.

“I didn’t get an invitation…”

“You weren’t invited,” she spat back, disgusted.

“Baby, please listen,”

“I’m not your baby.”

Marco came up and took his place by Marie’s side. He didn’t have to put an arm around her in a territorial way. He knew just being there would put Bill on edge.

“Mr. Scandella… It’s been a long time,”

“Should’ve been longer,” he was being short as well. In his eyes, Bill didn’t deserve an explanation.

“You said no more surprise visits to Minnesota. So what is this?” Marie moved her hands to her hips.

“I want to apologize…”

“I don’t want your apology! Your words are empty. They mean nothing.”

“Can’t I at least just see you get married?”

Marco looked down at his feet. As much as he hated Bill, it was a simple request. And it made him think of his own father, who wanted nothing more than to see his children be wed.

“No,” Marie stared at him unwaveringly. She turned on her heels in haste and entered the banquet hall.

But Marco stayed back, in front of Bill, with his hands in his pockets. “You can sit in the back.” Both men stared at each other. “Last row, and I don’t hear a word out of you. Not even an amen. I don’t want your blessing. And you’re to leave immediately after the ceremony. If I see you afterwards, I will have you escorted out. If you so much as think about taking advantage of my kindness and ruining Marie’s day, I will finish you.”

Marco turned his back on Bill and entered the banquet hall. Marie was already in her seat with Sofia in her lap, in the middle of a conversation with Becky and Jess. When Marco came up and took his seat beside her, she leaned over and kissed him quickly, before jumping right back into her conversation.

The night progressed in a cycle of food and drinks. Slowly everyone began to drift off, some going home, and some retreating to their hotel rooms. When everyone had left, Marie, Marco, and Sofia exited too. Sof was already passed out, using her dad’s shoulder as a pillow as he carried her back to the car.

Once at the hotel, Marco walked Marie up to her room. She opened the door swiftly, and turned to take Sofia out of his hands.

“Invite me in,” he whispered, reaching for the sides of Marie’s dress, trying to hike it up her legs.

“If you come in, you’ll never leave.”

“Then don’t make me leave,” he smiled and tried his feeble attempt again.

“It’s just one more night,” she leaned in just barely to kiss him. “I love you,”

“I love you too.” He seemed unwilling to go, but eventually he backed up some, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Scandella.”

Notes

"Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls

AH THIS IS HAPPENING :D