Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They are not mine because I did not create them. Therefore, I can not call them mine. They are someone else's. Not me. I do not take the credit for them.

Author's Notes: In retrospect, part of me wishes I had waited to post this until a little more mourning time for our country's tragedy had passed. But at the same time, I understand the importance of laughter. If I'm able to crack a smile out of one person affected by this tragedy, it's been worth it. Laughter is the best medicine...and we all are in the process of healing.

Dedication: We write for ourselves. We write for our readers. We write because we have to. But let's not forget, that we also write because we can. We can write what we want, when we want. Let's never take that freedom for granted.

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Going to the Chapel
by Kristen Elizabeth

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10:25 AM

Relena glanced down at the eggs and bacon on her plate. "I don't think I can do this."

"You have to eat, Relena." Hilde buttered a muffin and looked at her friend. "You'll be sick later if you don't." She paused. "Wait, you were talking about breakfast, right? Not the wedding....please say you weren't talking about the wedding."

"Of course I was talking about breakfast." Relena poked at her food with her fork. "My stomach is all twisted into knots and I think I'm going to be sick anyways."

Across the room, Noin sipped a cup of very weak tea, her feet propped up on a footstool. "Maybe you're pregnant."

Relena stuck out her tongue at her sister in law. "I'm not pregnant. I'm just nervous." She pushed the plate away. "Do you think Quatre needs any help? I feel really bad, heaping all of this onto him."

"He's fine," Hilde assured her. "Last time I saw him, he was arguing with the ice sculpture people."

"Why arguing?" Relena looked worried.

"Apparently, they sent the wrong sculpture, but they won't take it back." Hilde bit into her muffin.

"Oh no", the bride moaned, putting a hand to her head. "Just what sort of ice sculpture am I going to have at my reception??"

****

10:26 AM

With a heavy heart, Quatre looked up at the six foot ice sculpture resting comfortably in the walk-in freezer. He had to give the artist some credit; Micheangelo's David had never looked better.

He glanced at the list in his hand. The sculpture in front of him was supposed to be two swans, beak to beak, their necks shaped like a heart. Heero would have hated it, but certainly it was better than having a naked ice man at his wedding reception.

Sighing in defeat, Quatre sat down on a crate of champagne. He propped his chin up on his elbows. "This is a disaster."

His breath swirled around his face in the cold freezer air. He leaned back and studied the sculpture. "You're supposed to be a pair of swans. Why aren't you a pair of swans?? Do you even care that you're the wrong sculpture?? Do you care that every diplomat in the solar system is going to be eating pate and shrimp underneath your giant, icy..." He stopped. "Well, you know."

The David said nothing, only continued to stare off to the side.

Quatre shook his head. "I knew Miss Relena shouldn't have trusted me with something as important as her wedding reception. How quickly we forget the incident at Duo and Hilde's wedding." There was a pause. "Oh, you haven't heard? You're the only person!" Quatre brushed his bangs aside. "How was I supposed to know that the lock on the bride's dressing room was broken? And is it my fault that he looked so good in that tuxedo? No one was ever supposed to know....Trowa and I were just going to disappear and then come back to the party....but then that priest just barges in...." He trailed off.

The David was silent.

"I'm glad you don't judge me," Quatre told the ice man. "Not that anyone else really did. Except for the priest. If I were Christian, being condemned to hell might have hurt a little. But it seems as though Allah has found his own way of punishing me. Sending you instead of two swans!!" His voice softened. "Not that it's your fault. You're just the creation, not the creator. And you are a great listener."

The David waited patiently.

"Yes, I know. I shouldn't get so worked up. But it's just..." He looked down at his clipboard. "I'll never have this kind of day. So I suppose I'm living vicariously through my friends." Quatre sighed. "I'll try to relax. I'm sure you'll look just fine on the buffet. I bet Miss Relena doesn't even notice you."

A minute passed. "I am talking to an ice sculpture," Quatre realized out loud. He quickly stood up. "This never happened."

The freezer door slammed behind him as he left.

****

11:00 AM

"Duo...that's completely disgusting."

"I'm flexing my lips, babe. Watch. I bet I can blow up this balloon in one breath."

Hilde reached for another rubber balloon. "This is what we have a helium machine for, Duo."

Her husband was too busy stretching his mouth in preparation. "Watch, babe." He put the balloon between his lips. His cheeks puffed out with effort as he blew his entire air supply into the pink balloon. It expanded slowly, until it was perfectly round.

"Congratulations." Hilde removed the balloon from his mouth and tied off the end. "I'm so proud."

"You try it." Duo held out a balloon. "You're good at blowing. And I mean that in the best way possible," he quickly added.

Hilde smiled slyly. On the table in front of them lay a heap of balloons that they were supposed to be blowing up for the reception. But Duo had a point. There was really only one thing she felt like wrapping her lips around. Her hand snaked into his lap. "Do you feel like being naughty?"

He nodded solemnly.

Still smiling, Hilde slid down her chair and ducked underneath the table. There was just enough light filtering through the long tablecloth for her to see what she was doing. She made quick work of undoing his jeans.

Duo gripped the edge of the table when she took him into her mouth. He bit his lip to keep from crying out. There were people all around the house. Anyone could walk in at any minute and although they wouldn't be able to see Hilde, the extreme pleasure on his face had to be visible.

Her tongue slid up and down, teasing him as she knew he loved. "Shit," Duo whispered. "You're so...so good at this."

Hilde smiled at the muffled compliment and continued with a gentle sucking motion. She almost came to a complete stop when she heard a voice that definitely did not belong to Duo.

"What are you doing?" Heero entered the room like the walking dead. He approached the table and picked up a balloon.

Duo dug his fingers into his palms. His voice was just on the edge of shaky. "Um...balloons," he said. "Blowing...balloons."

Heero pulled on one floppy piece of rubber, stretching it. "For the reception?" Duo nodded. "Why are they pink?"

"She ordered...pink." Duo bit his lip, nearly drawing blood, as Hilde nibbled around his erection. She was enjoying this way too much. "Can I...um...help you with something...um...." He fought to remember the other man's name. "...Heero?"

Much to his dismay, Heero showed no signs of leaving. Instead, he pulled out a chair and sat down. Hilde moved out of the way, lest his foot or knee bump into her. Heero lifted the balloon to his lips. "Just blow?" he asked.

Duo nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Just blow!" he yelled. Hilde grinned and did just that.

Heero placed the balloon between his lips and quickly blew it up. It wasn't a round balloon, like the others, but a long, skinny one. He stared at the very suggestive balloon. "How long until the wedding?"

"Um....a couple hours..." Duo guessed. He briefly closed his eyes as Hilde sucked harder. "Not soon...enough?"

His friend released the balloon without tying it off. It rapidly deflated, falling to a flaccid little heap on the table. Heero stood up. "I need another shower."

As soon as Heero was gone, Duo let his head fall back against the chair. His hands went under the table cloth to find his wife's head. Quickly, he wound his fingers in her hair as he tumbled over the edge of ecstasy, swallowing back a groan. A moment later, Hilde crawled out from under the table, licking the corner of her mouth.

Duo laughed, spent and satisified. "I almost picked Heero up and threw him out of the room."

Hilde sat on his lap. "Can we continue this somewhere else?" Her hips rocked against him. "Somewhere private?"

Her husband thought for a minute. "Grab a sweater. We can cross walk-in freezer off our list."

****

11:37 AM

Noin stood at the bottom of the grand staircase. The task ahead of her was monumentous. Somehow, she had to get up the stairs to find Relena. The reporters were arriving and camping out on the lawn, desperate for any glimpse of the wedding party. It wasn't every day that a major politician and former monarch was married.

She lifted her foot, preparing to place it on the first step, but the task was too great. Placing a hand on her belly, she lowered the foot. Trying again with the other foot only ended the same way. Noin sighed. Millardo could skip up the stairs if he wanted to. But she was the one who had to carry the kid who's head would probably be just as big, if not bigger than his father's.

Noin took a calming breath. The baby stirred inside her, kicking hard and fast. "Keep that up, kid and we'll see who gets a car on his sixteen birthday."

Her old friend, Sally, appeared at the top of the stairs. "You had better not even be thinking about climbing those stairs," she said in her doctor's tone of voice.

"I have to find Relena," Noin replied.

Sally started down the stairs. "She's actually asleep right now. Poor thing was up all night doing last minute things and some idiot woke her up too early this morning." When Sally reached the bottom, she put a hand to Noin's stomach. "Everything all right?"

"Kicking like crazy. Other than that...a-okay."

"He's turning," Sally guessed.

Noin's face paled. "Does that mean...it'll happen today?"

Sally shook her head. "Doubtful. Babies sometimes start turning a day or so before they decide to make an appearance. It's a good thing. If he weren't moving, then there would be cause for worry."

Trowa appeared from the general direction of the dining room. "Have either of you seen Duo?"

"He was supposed to be blowing up balloons with Hilde. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her in the last hour or so either." Sally scratched her temple. "Funny."

"Well, if you see him, tell him Heero's looking for him. His sexual frustration is making him very edgy and he wants to know where the ring is at all times." The girls looked blank. "Duo has it."

Noin smiled. "Did Heero fall and hit his head? Who in their right mind would put Duo in charge of a solid gold wedding ring?"

"That's harsh," Sally said, amused. "Duo's grown up a lot in the past few years. I'm sure he's taking very good care of the ring."

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11:43 AM

"Ow....something is digging into my hip! And it's not the right thing..."

Duo pulled his lips away from his wife's long enough to stick his hand in his pants pocket. He pulled out a small, but hard velvet box. "It's the ring. Heero gave it to me to..." Hilde nibbled on his ear. Her mouth was hot against his neck in the cold air of the walk-in freezer. "...to...um...to keep. Or something."

Hilde was working frantically at both of their jeans. "Put it down...," she whispered. "But let's not..." She freed his throbbing length and sandwiched it between warm hands. "...forget about it...."

With his eyes closed, Duo felt around for a solid surface on which to lay the box. His fingers found ice. Cracking one eye open, he turned around to see a six foot tall ice sculpture of the David. "Babe...has that always been here?"

"I don't..." She positioned her body over him. "....care. Come on, Duo...please..."

Almost carelessly, Duo dropped the box in the general area of the floor. He didn't see it fall into a perfect little space created by David's foot and the base of the statue. His attention returned to his wife who was sliding down onto him with excruciating slowness.

Long minutes passed as they made love. Their breath, choppy and short, swirled around the air between them. Duo wrapped his arms around his wife as he released himself inside of her. She came a moment later, crying out in bliss. It was a moment before either could move.

"Duo," Hilde whispered.

He nuzzled her neck. "What?"

"I'm freezing."

He laughed and lifted her off his lap. "Me too. Come on...let's take that hot shower now. Together."

They put themselves back together as much as possible before leaving the freezer, hand in hand. Neither one gave a second thought to the little velvet box, resting at the feet of the David.

****

TBC