“I wasn’t going to leave you high and dry,” Molly grumbled unhappily, shoving a hand through her hair as she gazed longingly up at the window again.  “I was going to call you.  It’s just… this isn’t going to happen, Dev.  Not the way I wanted it to happen.  I hoped that it would, but maybe this was doomed from the start.  I mean, what we had must have been the definition of an unusual engagement.  Why would I expect to have an easy wedding?” she asked with a sniffle, her voice breaking on the question. 

Damn it, she could feel the water works priming behind her eyes again.  She wasn’t a freaking crier.  She was a strong, self-assured young woman capable of handling anything life threw her way.  She’d just hoped that she could have one day without drama.  One day where she could live out her little-girl fairytale of the perfect wedding.  One freaking day!  Was that too much to ask?

“Molly,” Devil whispered as he stared down at her bent head.  She looked incredibly pale, and he’d have to be an idiot not to know that she was fighting a wave of tears with everything she had.  Wrapping one hand around the nape of her neck, he pulled her against his chest and wrapped his other arm around her waist.  Backing her toward the table in the center of the room, he gently pushed her down to sit before crouching in front of her.  “We’ve had some unforeseen obstacles, honey.  That’s all.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Molly shook her head furiously.  “They’re signs, Devil.  A single blip, I could have handled.  Maybe two.  But I can’t even get in my wedding dress,” she wept, tugging at the open bodice of her gown, once again cursing the seamstress who had confused her alterations with another bride.  “My parents and brother are stuck on a freeway somewhere in Atlanta.  The caterers bailed.  The minister is currently hurling his guts up.  And the wedding cake is more like wedding mush after being dropped twice.  These are not obstacles.  They aren’t even hurdles.  They’re more like portents of the oncoming Apocalypse.  The Lord took out a man of God to make sure this day wouldn’t happen, for crying out loud!”

“Sweetheart, Pastor Martin ate bad sushi.  He doesn’t have the plague.  He’s not at death’s door; he’s hanging over a toilet.  There’s a big difference.  I’ve already talked to Pastor Davis, and he’s agreed to perform the ceremony,” Devil assured her, trying desperately to soothe her ragged, tangled nerves.

Molly lifted her head to stare at him in complete shock.  “Travis?  You hate Travis!”

“I hate the fact that he was hung up on my bride; I don’t hate him personally.  Besides, at this point, I don’t care if Mannie gets ordained online to marry us.  Nothing is going to stop me from putting a gold band on your finger.”

“Devil…”

“I’ve already handled the catering disaster.  Their company subcontracted to another and is already in the process of delivering food to the reception hall.  A new cake is being delivered, too.  I’ve dispatched employees to get your family here.  And I will be more than delighted to help tuck your lovely breasts into your dress because while I love looking at them, there’s no way in heaven or hell that I want anybody else to ogle them – especially the pastor presiding over our wedding.  Yes, this is a wedding redo, but it will work.  I know how important this day is to you.  It’s important to me, too, but it’s not the most important thing.  In the scope of things, this is just a day, babe.  It’s one day.  I want the marriage.  I want all the days.  This wedding is window dressing, honey.”

Oh sweet Jesus in heaven, he was going to make her cry again!  And more than that, he made sense.  When looking at a lifetime of days together, this really was a blip on the radar.  Somehow, he’d taken a situation that was totally out of control and ordered the chaos.  Resting her forehead against his shoulder, she mumbled, “Is it too late for Vegas?  Elvis or Liberace could marry us in five minutes in one of those tacky little chapels on the strip.  Then we could just move on to the honeymoon lickety split.”

“If I really believed that’s what you wanted, I’d have you on a private plane in the next hour, Molly,” he whispered against her temple.  “I just want you today, however I get you.  You want your church, your family, and your friends, though.  I want you to have what you want.  Therefore, we’re gonna get you tucked into this dress,” he murmured, carefully pulling up the beaded satin bodice of her gown and tucking her breasts into the material.

“Only you would figure out a way to cop a legitimate feel in a church on our wedding day,” Molly giggled as his fingers stroked her breasts one last time.

“What can I say?  I’m a creative guy,” he chuckled, palming her shoulders before drawing back to look in her eyes.  “Okay, all your lady parts are successfully covered now, babe.  You good?”

Sliding her fingers against the lapel of his tuxedo, Molly smiled weakly as she let out a tired sigh.  “I’m good.”

“Not gonna leave me hanging at the front of the church?  No more trying to climb out the window?” he questioned suspiciously, stroking his fingers against her smooth cheek.

“Nope.  I’ll be there.  I want the marriage more than the wedding, too,” she whispered.  “I just forgot that for a minute and turned into Bridezilla.”

Cupping her cheeks, Devil pulled Molly toward him and kissed her gently.  “I can handle Bridezilla.  What I can’t handle is the thought of losing you.”

“I love you, Devil,” Molly whispered tremulously before he kissed her again, deeper this time. 

Devil groaned as someone pounded against the closed door.  “What?” he barked, tightening his grip on Molly as she leaned against him.

“ETA for the rest of the wedding party is 15 minutes,” Sami called through the closed door.  “This wedding is a go, people!  Vivian says that everyone needs to assume their positions.  Get out here before I cram her damn wedding checklist down her throat.”

Molly and Devil laughed and exchanged a look between them.  “I think this wedding might have affected us all a little in ways we couldn’t expect.”

“Like turning the meek, mild corporate attorney gal pal into a fire breathing, man-eating, clipboard waving bit- …”   Devil’s diatribe was interrupted by Molly slamming her palm against his mouth.

“She wants me to be happy.  In the midst of chaos, she does that by exerting order over the details.  Today has been one massive cluster of details…. she’s stressed.  Vivian is very traditional, and you’re determined to break all the rules.  Be nice.”

Pulling her hand away from his mouth, Devil grinned.  “You realize that you were willing to crawl out a window to escape those details, right?  And there’s no rule that I wouldn’t break if it meant keeping you here with me.  I don’t care if I did see you before the wedding.  Bad luck be damned.  You and I make our own luck.”

“I was panicked,” Molly grumbled, wrinkling her nose pertly.  “Brides are allowed to panic.  I think even Emily Post would agree with me.”

“You’re right.  They are, but this groom is never going to let somebody stand in the way of him calming his panicked bride.  I don’t care if they are scary attorneys carrying a clipboard around like a loaded weapon,” Devil declared, rolling his eyes as someone else knocked on the door.

“Seriously, mi amigos, the dark headed vixen is going to blow the vein in her forehead if you don’t come out of there.  This little scene is better than a telenovela, but I can smell violence is now in the air,” Armando warned outside the door.  “It is turning ugly out here in the hallway.  I think the hermanas are going to throw down out here!  Now, I adore a good catfight as much as any gay man, but I do not think God would approve of His house being the location of a bridesmaid royal rumble.”

 Molly laughed against Devil’s neck as she leaned heavily toward him.  “Heaven preserve us against well-meaning friends.”

“Amen.”  Tilting Molly’s chin, he waited until her sparkling eyes lifted to his.  “I’ll see you at the front of the church, darlin’.  You’ve got half an hour.  Any longer than that and I come looking for you.”

“I’ll be there.  I promise,” Molly vowed, meaning every word.

With one last soft kiss, he was gone and she was surrounded by her friends.  Beaming at them, she sighed.  “Let’s get me ready, gals.  I’m getting married today!”