Note from SweetPoyzin: This post is mega picture heavy. Penny is by far my favorite member of this legacy. I put a great deal of time into these photos and into the text. Sorry for the delay. I wanted to savor this memory privately for longer than is possibly sane.
I decided to treat my wedding day like any other day. I was not going to Bridezilla over this thing. I’d leave that to Liv.
I woke up and did some gardening. The end of the season was right around the corner and I wanted to stock up on as much as I could.
I wasn’t the only one taking the wedding day chill pill approach.
Xander spent most of the morning sleeping. I was concerned he might not wake up for the wedding.
Adam is becoming quite the prolific writer. His comic books are bringing in huge royalties. He spent the morning working on his newest comic.
Right before the wedding Adam volunteered to grab the wedding cake so I could take a bubble bath and get ready. He’s a pretty awesome kid. I’m going to miss him when he heads off to college in a year.
So I did the whole bubble bath thing and woke up Snorlax so we could head to the venue.
We all piled into the car so I could go get married. It sounded super weird even to me. I was already getting cold feet.
Liv was right. She does know me better than anyone. When she decided to be serious in Bridgeport she found the most sunning dress for me.
Despite my excitement about marrying Xander I really needed a break from the whole deal. The wedding wasn’t going to be for several hours anyway so I headed down to the beach for some alone time.
“I can’t believe my baby girl, my first-born, is all grown up. You’re even more beautiful today that you were the day you were born.”
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice Dad had been watching me.
“It can’t be that hard, Daddy. I was a small wrinkly prune baby who screamed day and night.” I smiled sheepishly.
“Daddy?” I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say, “Am I marrying the right man? Is everyone always this nervous or am I really making a bad decision?”
“I think Xander has his faults but I think he’ll be a damn fine husband.” Dad said with conviction.
“If he does turn out to be a bad guy he will have to answer to me. I’m sure Adam, Mike, Oliver, and Vic will also come a-callin’ if he steps out of line.” I didn’t doubt him for a second that there would be an ass whooping if need be.
“Thanks, Daddy. You always know what to say.” I sniffled into his shoulder as I hugged him.
“You will be fine, kiddo. No matter what happens you will always be ok.” He gave me one more good squeeze and went off to find Mom. No doubt to shed a few tears of his own. I wasn’t alone for long though…
“Well, if you aren’t the most beautiful bride! How are you holding up, my dear?”
It was that long ago that I was standing in my parents’ bathroom asking Liv the same thing on her wedding day. How time flies. Back then I was still in med school and Liv was pregnant with Bug and neither of us quite knew what to say.
She’s always been the maternal one. I’m glad I have her to take care of me when I need it.
I still didn’t know what to say. It’s nice having a twin because sometimes I don’t have to say anything and she knows exactly what I am thinking.
Live pulled me into a hug. “You know he’s not perfect…but he’s perfect for you, right?”
“How can you be sure, Liv? How do I know this is what I’m supposed to do?”
“Penelope. You know what? I’m not the one you should ask. Why don’t you ask Xander yourself?”
She wandered off to grab her camera and before I could protest Liv had reappeared with Xander.
“You’re breathtaking, Penny,” Xander mumbled as he embraced me.
The way he held me in that moment sealed the deal. He was head over heels for me. I was just being silly. Probably lamenting my loss of freedom or something.
No, I was getting married today.
“Look, if you are having second thoughts…” Xander shrugged as if to say I could make this all disappear with one word.
I cocked my eyebrow at him in mock thought.
“No, we should get married. I mean, we paid a fortune for this whole get-up. And I love you and all that jazz. Come on, it’s 4:30pm already. It’s nearly showtime!”
And with that we headed up to the venue where everyone was already waiting for us.
Mom and Dad sat in the front row looking beautifully young and trying to keep it together. You’d think after Liv’s wedding they’d have this down but I guess this is just proof I am the favorite.
Uncle Oliver and Lucy sat together. Lanya didn’t get to come because the twins were sick. She also said she had the flu but I’d bet dollars to donuts there is another little Lox on the way.
We had a sit wherever policy. We’re all family now so Mike sat with Xander’s dad Isaac. Adam was the best man and Liv was maid-of-honor/photographer so they got to sit up near the wedding arch.
Despite being divorced you can tell that Isaac and Staci still cared for each other. They didn’t sit next to each other but they didn’t bring their significant others to the wedding either. Seraphina was also able to make it to the wedding but Isabella was studying at boarding school still.
I stood under the wedding arch and stretched, “Are you ready? Cuz I got my game face on…”
“Yes, my precious. I wants the precious in holy matrimony.” Oh we were a match made in heaven. Either that or we were just too weird to marry other people.
Next thing we knew, it was sunset and it was showtime.
“Penelope, the moment I laid eyes on you in the university commons I knew I wanted to marry you. I’ve always known it was you. And even though you haven’t always been sure I was the one who would be your husband, I’m so glad you finally came around and decided to jump in with both feet. I love you more than life itself and I will give everything I can to make you happy.”
“Xander, I knew you were the one I was going to marry the night we went cosmic bowling in college. You fell face first in the bowling lane and instead of being absolutely humiliated, you giggled like a squirrel on crack. I knew then that I wanted to spend my life with you. I want someone by my side who can make me laugh no matter what even during life’s darkest moments. I may have made you work to get to this wedding arch but I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else.”
From somewhere in my mind I heard justice of the peace say “I now pronounce you husband and wife” but I was so lost in the moment it didn’t register. I was standing at the altar with my best friend while our families joined us in celebrating our union as one.
We stood under the wedding arch a while longer while our family and friends cheered us on.
At sunset the justice of the peace finally said the words everyone was waiting for:
“I now present to you Xander and Penelope Sutton!”
Xander snagged one more surprise kiss under the arch. It was perfect, the cheers from our family, the sunset, everything was perfect.
We went inside to cut the cake. Our family had signed their wishes onto a photo matte with a print of Xander and I holding hands in one of our engagement photos. It was a total surprise and all I could manage to do was smile dumbly at Xander.
Finally I came to my senses and cut the cake.
Liv and I stayed upstairs eating cake long after everyone had wandered downstairs to dance. We deserved that damn cake. We had both dieted and exercised for months. We were going to enjoy us some cake.
Finally we headed downstairs to dance. Liv followed everyone around like a creeper taking photos non-stop all night.
I had to admit, despite my reservations I was thrilled. It was a wedding for the books, really. Everyone had a blast.
Xander and I danced long after everyone went home. That night it was just us. We’d deal with the world in the morning.
