Chapter 25
Lauren awoke to a high pitched scream. “Damn it’s cold!” she heard and immediately pinpointed the voice as Chrissy’s.
“Chrissy, Shut the fuck up! We know it’s cold.” Another voice said and Lauren realized it was Carla.
“Okay, girls…hush! If we wake Lauren up she is going to kill us. Remember her saying not to wake her up a second before we just had to. By my watch she can sleep another hour.” The third voice said, Shannon.
Lauren stretched and rolled over in her bed. Forgetting that for the first time in a month Lance was not sleeping beside her, she started to lay her hand where his chest would have been, but only came in contact with a fluffy pillow. A little startled Lauren looked around her room for him. Still half asleep she saw all the packed luggage and boxes. Finally waking all the way up she let a small gasp. “Oh my god” she said. Everything quickly came back to her as she realized it was her wedding day. She looked at the calender Justin had gotten her for Christmas the year before. He had gone to a printing place and had them put one picture of the group on each month. But not only was it just a picture but each picture had a special meaning. The last picture for the year was one of just Lauren and Lance and they were kissing. It had been taken when they had first gotten together but it was her favorite photo. Lauren looked at the date; “Yep it’s December 24th” is all she could say. She had waited for a year for this day. Getting out of bed she quickly slipped on her robe and slippers and walked into the kitchen.
“Morning all”
“Lauren!” Chrissy said as they all turned to face her.
“What are you doing up, you have another hour to sleep?” Carla asked looking at her watch.
“Well…. let’s see…About ten minutes ago I heard Chrissy scream and then a couple more yells and then I just gave up going back to sleep.” Lauren said laughing. “Besides it’s my wedding day.” She said in a little kids voice which made all the girls laugh. “Okay, off to grab a quick or long shower. I’ll be out sooner or later.” She said as she ran to the bathroom leaving the others in the kitchen.
She quickly showered and put on her robe then wrapped her brown hair up in a towel. Grabbing the cordless phone off the cabinet, Lauren walked to her room dialing the phone. As soon as she heard the other line click she said “So what time are you going to be at the church?”
“Hell, not even a hello for your best friend” the voice joked. When the phone had rang she knew it would be Lauren. Whenever anything big was going on Lauren would call and make she hadn’t forgotten and make sure she knew what time to be there. This was just something she always did. “I am going to be there at 2 just like I promised.” The voice reassured her.
“Okay, just needed to make sure you hadn’t forgotten. Suzanne it’s finally here. I am going to get married today.” Lauren said dancing around her room.
“I know it is. Okay girl I gotta get my baby ready and fix lunch and all that. Why don’t you go for a walk and calm down. If not you might explode or something. I will be there on time. I am not the one that is always 15 minutes late.” Suzanne said jokingly as she looked at the baby sitting next to her. She was 8 months old and a sweet heart. The best baby in the world.
“Okay, I guess!” Lauren whined. “By the way…love ya! Talk to ya later!”
“Yeah yeah…bye” Suzanne said and hung up the phone. She picked up her daughter and asked, “What are we going to do with that god mother of yours?” and then went to get ready for the day.
Lauren threw on some Jeans and a sweatshirt and decided to take Suzanne’s advice and go for a nice long walk. It always cleared her head and relaxed her. She told the girls where she was going if they needed her and that she would be back in about an hour. Walking out the door she zipped up the leather jacket she had taken of Lance’s and shivered “Brr” as the air hit her face. Lauren had been walking for about 30 minutes when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw Justin walking towards her. Lauren stopped where she was to let him catch up. “Hey Justin!” she said.
“Hey Girlie!” he said as he gave her a quick hug. “What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, just clearing my mind.”
“Oh okay, well I just wanted to talk to you before this day got super busy and I missed ya.”
“Shoot! What’s on your mind?”
“Oh, Lauren I am so happy for you and Lance. You are perfect together. I can’t imagine a better guy for you or a better girl for him. I’m so glad you found each other. You want to know when I realized you two were made for each other, soul mates?” Justin continued without waiting for an answer “The night of the fight. Before you had told everyone. When Lance held you in his arms and you cried. That was when I could look at the both of you and see that you were made for each other. There was no doubt in my mind. I knew you had found your soul mate. Any everytime you two are together I am reassured of this fact. I can only hope that Chrissy and I will be as happy together as the two of you are. I know you don’t need reminded of this, but never let your love fade. For this past year and a half you’ve both been extremely happy. I don’t know what I’m trying to say, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m so happy for you. And that I will still always be here for you. Man I can’t believe my little Girlie is getting married!’
“Okay, now you sound like my family.” Lauren joked, as she looked at her best friend. “Listen Justin, you’re one of my best friends. You and Suzanne have always been there. I won’t forget you. We’ve been through too much together and I know you’ll always be there. I appreciate you more then you could understand. You have always been the little brother I have always wanted, and the older brother I always need. You maybe younger then me, which always kept me on my toes, but you have always been very protective of me like an older brother would. You’ve always protected me when I needed and when I didn’t but you thought I did. I love ya like my brother, and that’s not going to change. Thank you for everything” They hugged and he kissed her forehead. Then they walked back to her house. “This is it Justin! Today I get to marry the man of my dreams!” Lauren said in a little kids excited voice. Justin just smiled at her when he saw the glow on her face as she talked about Lance. At the house Justin said goodbye to everyone and went back to the hotel where the guys had spent the night.
The girls spent the rest of the morning packing Lauren’s things and getting showers. They left for the church a little after 1. The four girls ran inside when they pulled up. They had about 5 hours to decorate, get ready, and have pictures taken. Lauren smiled as she thought about how perfect this was. Lance had told her that he wanted to get married exactly a year after he proposed. But since that was on Christmas Eve they weren’t sure if they would be able to get a church or even if anyone would come. Lance had finally came up with the idea to get married at 6:30, exactly a half-hour before her church held services on Christmas Eve. Then they could all stay and go to services and have the reception after that. They knew it would be a busy day but they decided to try to pull it off. Everyone that heard the plan gushed about the originality of it and thought it would be perfect. Her pastor agreed to help plan everything and said that he even thought it was a good idea. Finally now the day was here. Lauren put out a few candles and flowers then tied a few ribbons on the ends of the pews marking her families’ seats and looked at the sanctuary. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Which helped, because she had less to worry about. In one corner was a baby grande piano with a tall Christmas tree beside it. It was done in Victorian decorations and had all white lights. On the other side of the room stood a small manger set. There was Garland all over and lights. Christmas was always a favorite time of hers in the church. Everything was beautiful and the room was lit up with lights. Lauren smiled and added a few more little decorations she had, then went to see how the other girls were doing in the fellowship hall where the reception would be.
Lauren was surprised to see a strange man walking through the church hallways. “Can I help you?” She asked. No one was suppose to be there until at least 5 except for the wedding parties and their families.
“Well, I’m looking for a girl named Lauren!” the man said.
“You just found her,” Lauren said.
“Oh okay…these are for you.” He said as she handed her a box of flowers, then turned and walked away. Lauren looked at the box then opened it to reveal a dozen red roses.
She picked up the note and read.
“Hey babe! This is driving me CRAZY. I can’t wait to see you again. I love you more now then I ever have. I was just sitting here in the hotel and thinking about you. Then I realized how much I hate being away from you. And I can’t call or come see you…all those dang wedding rules…. So I thought this would be the next best thing. I miss you. I couldn’t sleep last night. I am so used to having you in my arms that it wasn’t right. I love you and only a few more hours until I can hold you in my arms and never let you go. Love ya babe!
Love, Lance
P.S. Oh yeah…try not to be late. I know it’s hard for you. Chrissy really has rubbed off on you with being late. Just try to be on time. Love ya!”
Lauren smiled and thought of how much she loved him. Then went to the nearest phone and dialed his pager. At the beeps she left the number 1224. It was their code for ‘I love you’. She hung up the phone and went to look for the girls.
Finally at about 3:00 she started to get dressed and fix her hair. Her family arrived at 3:30 and brought with them the wedding cake her dad had made. He had made a cake for each of his girls when they got married. Lance and Lauren had given him complete rein over what the cake looked like and just told him to make sure there was enough for the whole church. When he had the cake together in the fellowship hall, he lead her into see it. Lauren looked at the four-tear cake and smiled. It had her dad’s roses on it, and ruffles made out of icing. Everything was perfect. The man and woman at the top were smiling and the bridesmaid stood on the stairs leading from one level of the cake to the other. In the middle of the cake there was a small fountain which had lights in it. Lauren smiled at the cake and hugged her father. He had spent more time on it then she knew. But he wanted it to be perfect for his baby. Going back to her dressing room Lauren continued to get ready. At 4:30 she was almost completely ready to have the prewedding photos taken. She put on the last of her make up and lipstick then walked out to where her bridesmaids and maid of honor were standing. She looked at each girl.
First was Shannon. She was still with JC and they were happy. They were never apart unless they had to be and tried to make those times few and far between. Lauren had grew to be friends with her and asked her to stand up with her about three months ago when one of Lauren’s friend had told her that there were family problems and that they would be flying to Japan for 4 months to take care of it. She had apologized and said she would miss the wedding. Lauren acted quickly and thought of Shannon. She had been more then happy to fill the place. Now Lauren was happy to have her there with them.
Pam, Joey’s now steady girlfriend, was also in the room. She was doing the registration books and helping in many other ways. She had also become close to the group and was the only girl Joey looked at now. They loved each other and could see themselves together still in 50 years. Pam had decided to go on tour with the guys as a nurse for when there were injuries. Which had come in handy a few times. But now she was there with the girls getting ready for the big day.
Carla was who Lauren looked to next. ‘Man what hadn’t we talked about’ Lauren thought. They were always doing something to get themselves into trouble when the other one was around. It had become the group joke that Carla and Lauren weren’t allowed to be near each other. They would get lost in stores just to make the others look for them. And on occasion they would be known to go out and get drunk just to have fun. They definitely had some good times. Lauren laughed at all the times JC would get mad at them because they had disobeyed what they were told to do. It was definitely fun to be around them.
Next to Carla stood Chrissy. Chrissy was the one that had taught Lauren how much fun it was to always be late. They never made it anywhere on time unless one of the guys dragged them. Chrissy and Lauren spent many nights talking and joking. They were good friends who always knew what to say to cheer the other one up. When Lauren was in college last year they would talk on the phone about how miserable it was to be that far away from the ones they loved and not be able to do anything. They always seemed to be in bad moods on the same day, which wasn’t always good considering they both apologized for it over and over the next day. But they had stayed friends and developed a closer friendship.
Lauren finally looked to her best friend. They had known each other since first grade. She walked over to her and they wrapped their arms around each other. Since neither had sisters their own ages, Lauren’s sisters were much older and Suzanne was an only child they had become each other’s sisters. They told each other everything. Suzanne was the only one that knew everything about Lauren. She knew more then Justin or Lance did, and definitely more then her family did. They had always been there for each other and that never changed. “Fifteen years” Lauren said.
“Yep, fifteen very LONG years.” Suzanne said. They used to spend hours on the phone talking about nothing in particular and everything important in the world. Whenever one of them cried the other one was soon crying too. It was just an effect they had on each other. Lauren was there when Suzanne had married the love of her life and then again when she had her baby. They were always there for the important stuff; even when they had to be apart they knew they were still there for each other. Suzanne was the first person that Lauren learned to trust after the years of verbal abuse. They pulled away from each other and smiled and then both started laughing at the same time. They both had mascara running down their faces and looked to have black eyes. They quickly reapplied their makeup and went to get all their photos taken.
By the end of the prewedding photos Lauren felt like her face was going to break if she smiled once more. She was happy but you can only hold a straight smile for so long. She had photos taken with everyone in her family, all her bridesmaids together and separately, all the guys, and then anyone else that was around, except for Lance. She was finally allowed to go back to her dressing room. She sat alone, having asked for sometime to clear her mind, when she heard a knock at the door. “What?” she asked slightly annoyed. “Oh, hey” she said a little calmer as she saw it was her uncle.
He pulled out the camcorder and sat it on the tripod. Then explained “ I just want you to talk to the camcorder like I am not here. You can say anything you want and only you and Lance will see it. I have already talked to both sets of parents and am going to talk to Lance before the wedding. Are you ready?” Lauren nodded her head and he turned the recorder on. “Okay Lauren, it is about thirty minutes until your wedding starts. How are you feeling? Is there anything you want Lance to know right now that maybe you haven’t told him before?”
“This isn’t fair,” Lauren said as the tears began to form in her eyes. It was only the fifth time that day that she cried and it was becoming apart that she wasn’t going to make it more then 30 minutes with out the tears. “Well baby, it’s finally time. I finally get to have you forever. I’m scared, but not of you or scared that I am making a mistake. I’m not scared of you leaving me or being apart. I guess I am scared about what the future holds. But I also know that with you there I can face any obstacle and we will over come it. I also know that for every ounce of fear I feel, I feel five times as much joy and happiness. I love you more then should be possible and I don’t want you to go anywhere. In a little bit I will get to hold you in my arms forever and that makes me the happiest woman ever. Thank you for all you’ve ever done. I love you and can’t wait to take your last name as mine forever.” Lauren’s voice slowly faded as she said the last few lines and the tears fell down her face.
“Is there a memory you can think of right now that you want Lance to think of?” he uncle asked.
“Just about a zillion come to mind. But the one I will always remember is the first time you said I love you, I will never forget it because it was the first time I realized what true love was. That day in the clearing I opened my heart to you and you took it in your hands and gently and slowly mended it. Thank you Lance.” Her uncle thanked her and hugged and then went to find Lance leaving Lauren with her thoughts.
Once the tears finally stopped falling she fixed her makeup again and was surprised by a knock on the door. She turned and saw both of her sisters, and her parents enter the room. They all paused at the site of the baby of the family standing before them in her wedding dress. She saw her mom start to cry immediately and hugged her then told her to stop crying. Not listening, her mom walked to a nearby chair and continued to cry. She hugged both her sisters who until this point had kept from crying.
“Lauren, I am so happy for you.” Her middle sister Pamela said. “You have really grown up into a great sister and woman.”
“I owe it all to you two. I had great role models what can I say.”
‘The baby’s not a baby anymore. Wait can I still call you a baby?” her oldest sister, Tammy asked trying to fight back the tears. Tammy had called her baby and her baby sister since she was born. And when Lauren turned 16 it had become a big joke that Tammy shouldn’t call her, her baby sister anymore. But she still did.
“Yeah you can. Like it would matter if I said no. You are going to call me baby until I am 90 years old. We both know that.” Lauren held tightly to her oldest sister. She was Lauren role model through all her life. She was the one that Lauren went to for straightforward advice. Tammy never held anything she told you how it was and if you didn’t like it that was fine with her. “Tammy thank you for ALWAYS being there.” That last comment sent Tammy over the line and the tears flew out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She pulled away and smiled to her sister. Her father saw the tears in Lauren’s eyes and tried to help by shoeing everyone out. They all knew it was his turn to talk to his daughter. He had made sure at all their weddings to have a few minutes alone. This one wasn’t going to be different.
“Well kiddo, it’s time!”
“Oh daddy!” she said as she hugged him.
“Honey, I am so proud of you. You know that, I try to tell you every chance I get. I just wanted to let you know one last time. Do right by this young man. He is a good guy and will treat you right through everything. Treat him right back, love him always and never forget that your family comes before everything. I love you Pill!” her dad said the last thing with tears in his eyes. He had only cried in front of his daughters three times now. , at each of their wedding. Lauren knew how hard it was for her father to just come right out and saw I love you. He had been taught that men don’t say those words. So she knew when he did say them to her that he really meant it. She felt the tears fall down her face as she buried her head into his shoulder. “Come on Pumpkin let’s go get you married. Don’t want you late for your own wedding!” he said “Well hey just look at it this way…” he dad said as she started to wipe her eyes and reapply make up and mummble something about crying so much “I have made all three of you cry at your weddings. I think I am too good at this.” This made Lauren laugh as she finished her makeup. She walked out and picked up her flowers then took her daddy’s arm and started to the door.
“Lance, sit still!” JC yelled. He had been watching Lance wiggle around in his chair all morning and it was driving him crazy.
“I can’t!”
“Well, figure out how to or we will tie you to the chair!” Justin said.
Lance looked around the room. There were his four best friends in the world. The sleep he didn’t get the night before was not bothering him one bit. He was cheerful and had actually been quite hyper all morning. Everyone was about to bet him if he didn’t sit still for a few minutes. Lance glanced out the window. He thought back to the last year. They had spent most of it on tour and when ever they got a break and were to go home he would fly to Indiana just to be able to spend time with Lauren. She had even went back on the tour bus that summer with them. It wasn’t until last week when they had their last concert for two months that he realized how real this was. Lauren had rejoined them for part of the last month touring and then they spent the last week in Indiana getting stuff ready for the wedding. Now they had two months together. Two months to love and hold each other. Part of him wanted this day to fly by so that he could hold her whenever he wanted and part wanted it to go slow so that he could remember every detail. Hearing a knock at the door Lance was surprised to see Lauren’s uncle enter and ask everyone to leave. He set up the camcorder like he had with Lauren.
“Well, Lance’s it’s about 15 minutes until you will be at the front of the church and watch as Lauren walks to you. How are you feeling? Anything you want to say to your bride-to-be?”
“Oh man!” Lance said, “There’s so much I could say but Lauren you know it all. I love you more each time I see you. I’m sure that right now you are scared and happy at the same time. When I see you today in your dress and veil I hope you know how much I love you. I can’t live without you. Thank you so much for making me complete. I can’t wait to hold you and make my empty arms and heart feel full. I love you babe!” Lance said as he looked up to the camera.
“Is there a special moment that you would remind Lauren of if you could right now?”
“There’s so many. But remember before Carla and Chris’ wedding when we were jealous because they got to be together all they wanted. Well it’s finally our turn. Remember me saying sooner or later that will be us. Well the sooner parts here. It’s time. I can’t wait to take your hand in mine and tell the world that I love you more then anything and to make you my wife.” Lance finished and blew the camera a kiss.
“Thank you Lance!”
“So when will she see this?” Lance asked.
“I will give you the tape before you leave tonight and you can watch what everyone said whenever you want.” With that he left Lance. Lance sat alone in his thoughts of the love of his life and smiled remembering how they had stuck together through so many good and bad times. There had been a few arguments but nothing was ever earth shattering. Even in the planning of the wedding when both were stressed they managed to over come what ever it was the problem to come up with a solution they both agreed on. Hearing a knock on the door Lance knew it was time to go. He stood and slipped his tux jacket on then walked out the door. Walking down stairs and down the long hallway, Lance paused outside the door her knew Lauren was behind. “I love you” he whispered.
Lance continued down the hall until he reached the back of the sanctuary. He heard the song “Sunrise, Sunset” start to play and took both mothers arms and escorted them down the aisle. He walked them up to the altar then they lit their candles and came back. Lance seated Lauren’s mom first and hugged her. Then seating his mom by his dad and Lance hugged both of them. As he walked back up the aisle he looked at all the people there. Some of them he knew well and some he barely recognized. But he realized they were all there because they loved them and they wanted to be there to support them. Lance walked around the side of the church and took his place in line with the groomsmen to wait on the music to start as a cue to enter. Once the music started he followed Pastor Jerry to the front of the church. A few minutes later JC, Justin, Chris, and Joey turned and went back to the church to meet the bridesmaids and walk them down the aisle.
At the back of the church stood five very excited girls. They were all talking and Lauren tried to thank them all individually. She thanked Shannon for being there and told her how excited she was. Shannon’s only response, which Lauren grew to expect was “Coolio!” Lauren laughed and moved onto her other friends.
As she reached Carla, she thanked her for listening to her gripe all the time and Carla told her “What are friends for?”
Moving onto Chrissy, Lauren laughed as she saw Chrissy doing little circles with her dress flowing around her. She thanked Chrissy and was about to move on when she heard. “Hey, Lauren…You owe me one!” Chrissy said. Looking at her with a confused look, Lauren started to ask why but Chrissy continued “I was here and ready on time. You know how hard that is for me.” Lauren laughed at her friend and hugged her.
Walking up to Suzanne she smiled as she thanked her for always being there. “Well, girl we made it to adult hood. And this isn’t half bad.” Suzanne said. They hugged again and then the music started that the girls would walk in.
Shannon walked up to the door as she saw Joey approach, followed by Chris and Carla, JC and Chrissy, and finally Justin and Suzanne the eight walked down the aisle. Lauren smiled as her nephews walked down the aisle and acted like the perfect gentlemen they were. Lauren slipped her arm through her father’s arm as the wedding march began. Everyone stood as the doors opened and Lauren and her father walked through. They started down the aisle as Lauren looked around. She looked at her father first, he was smiling widely and looked about ready to pop. He was always so happy at his daughters’ weddings, which made the girls happy. Lauren looked next to the 300+ member congregation around her. There weren’t enough seats for everyone and people were seated in fold up chairs around the outside edges of the church. She smiled at her friends and then let her eyes slowly drift to her mom. She was still crying but she was also smiling. Lauren looked away before the tears could form. Next to her mom, were her sisters and their husbands. They were both crying and smiling. She knew they were happy for her. Next her eyes drifted to Lance’s parents. They looked overjoyed and excited. They had already taken her in as part of their family. Next Lauren let her eyes drift up to the ten people standing at the alter. They were all smiling and looking at her. Suzanne was the only who was crying. But her tears were happy and she smiled the whole time. Seeing tears in her eyes, Lauren started to cry and her dad squeezed her hand tighter. Lauren let her eyes drift to her pastor. He was smiling widely as he always did at weddings and looked on happily as they continued to walk down the aisle. Finally Lauren’s eyes settled on Lance. A smile broke across his face when their eyes met. He mouthed “I love you” to which she nodded her head in agreement.
As she reached him her dad lifted her veil and kissed her. Standing as he had at her sisters’ weddings her dad looked about ready to bust from happiness. The wedding began with a prayer and continued in the normal fashion with Lauren’s arm in Lance’s. She felt safe and warm with him like this. Pastor Jerry spoke to the people gathered and asked them to always watch over this couple as they developed, then after exchanging vows he moved to the left side of the stage and Lance and Lauren moved to light their unity candle. Lauren’s hands shook as she picked her candle up. Seeing this Lance gently placed his hand on hers and they lit their candle. Taking the two roses on both sides of the candle they turned and walked to the front row. They handed each mom a rose and hugged them. Then they went back to the center of the stage and held each other’s hands looking into each other’s eyes as the song, “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden continued to play. Lance sang the last stanza to her as they stood there.
“I’ll be your dream,
I’ll be your wish,
I’ll be your fantasy,
I’ll be your hope.
I’ll be you love,
Be everything you need.
I’ll love you more with every breath, truly, madly, deeply doo.
I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever,
until the sky falls down on me.”
As the song ended Pastor Jerry came back to where they were standing and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “ By the power vested in me, by the state of Indiana. Under the presence of God, I know pronounce you husband and wife. What God has brought together let no man turn asunder. You may kiss the Bride.”
Lance gently pulled Lauren into his arms, he lifted her veil and they both leaned together embracing each other in the most innocent kiss they had ever had. Turning to face the congregation Lauren took her roses from Suzanne and Pastor Jerry said.
“It’s now my great honor and privilege to present to the family and friends gathered here on the Eve of our Lord’s birthday Mr. and Mrs. James Lance Bass!”
Thats it no more story thanks for reading it...but why don't you email the writer here cjharmon@indiana.edu and let her know what you thought of the story!
