An Angel's Fix Pt. 03

Ashley smiled, looked in his eyes, and said, "Joe, I take this vow seriously, and I hope you do, too." She glanced at the crowd for effect. "I swear to you with all my heart...that this is the last song I'll ask you to play today." The crowd and even the priest laughed and clapped. Jasmine handed Ashley her violin, who in turn gave it to Joe. He retrieved his from Cindy and likewise gave it to Ashley.

He looked at the priest and said, "Can we go now? We just exchanged violins."

Laughing at the lame joke, the reverend shook his head. Joe looked apologetically at Ashley and said away from the mic that he at least tried. She grinned her response and tucked his rest under her chin. He nodded upstairs to Reena, who had moved to the piano to accompany them. They played a moving duet of All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera. When they finished, they had to fight against the instinct to kiss each other, settling to touch foreheads instead.

Their priest complimented the performance, and then welcomed all who had come to witness the occasion. He reflected on how fitting it was that their love be cemented together, recalling Joe's action to save Ashley in a horrifying accident that almost cost his own life. He also recounted how Ashley nearly sacrificed her diploma by insisting on being with Joe to aid him and be his pillar through the tragic loss of his parents. "Your love for each other has kept you two alive, both physically and emotionally. That love is readily apparent in the songs you performed, and I wanted to thank you for sharing that with us." He led a round of applause before reciting the opening prayer.

The rest of the wedding proceeded with the traditional ceremony. Ashley's voice faltered during the Profession of Intent when they were asked if they would bring their children into the teachings and faith of the Church. Joe squeezed her hand reassuringly. Their vows were exchanged, with Joe and Ashley opting for the easiest method by answering "I do" to each question. The answers were barely audible, choked with emotion. It was even harder for them to find voices to repeat after the priest their ring exchange vow. The Rite of Marriage concluded, and it seemed to take forever before the priest presented them to the congregation as Joe and Ashley Smith. Joe was given permission to kiss the bride, and Ashley stepped toward him, tilting her head up. He held her face in his hands a moment before their lips met to caress each other tenderly.

They held hands throughout the following Mass portion of the ceremony. When it was over, the seven ladies in the wedding party proceeded out in pairs as Reena played The Wedding March. After the priest headed down the aisle, Ashley and Joe remained at the top of the steps and shared a lingering kiss to a thunderous applause. They turned to walk down the aisle together, and Mike added his guitar to the organ. The applause held through their exit, each guest knowing the history of their story, and what it meant for the couple to be together.

Only about a third of those who attended the ceremony showed up for the reception, which was perfect, since the house and large pool deck could comfortably entertain about as many. Dinner was exquisite, and the cake cutting was fun. Despite the egging on from guests, the first pieces were fed politely in each others mouth. The second piece however, was a different story. Joe cut a large one out of the cake and made a show of wanting to save it for later, but didn't know where. Then, of course, he eyed Ashley. She made a bunch of "don't you dare" pleas to no avail. He grabbed the front of her dress and down the piece went. Open-mouthed, she went to his cake and didn't bother cutting. She grabbed a hunk, made a quip about boys always wanting to "pad their stats", then sent the clump down the front of his pants. Their guests rewarded the fun with howls of surprise and laughter. They kissed and made up, of course, and Ashley excused herself to clean up. Joe offered to help with an exaggerated wink. She responded with her middle finger, to which Kim called out, "I thought that was supposed to be later!"

While Jill and Cindy went to help Ashley retrieve the cake, Joe also disappeared to fetch his own. The tables were removed, and the chairs were rearranged to the walls of the media room, patio, and pool deck. Ashley's band mates had been set up on a temporary platform constructed over the back half of the pool, and Reena announced the return of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Their first dance was the next event, and while they swayed and turned on the patio, Ashley softly sang "From This Moment" in Joe's ear. They kissed sweetly as the song ended. Reena transitioned and played the chords leading up to Van Halen's "Jump."

Ashley called out "AWW YEAH!" while she surprised everyone but Jill by tearing free the long swooshing bottom of her dress to reveal a matching Tinkerbell cut skirt underneath. At the same time, Joe shrugged off his jacket. Jill was ready for the sudden wardrobe change, and gathered up the discarded items to take to her room. Ashley's freed-up legs kicked the party up a couple of notches by leading a series of fast-paced dancing.

The band eventually slowed down for the father-daughter dance that was just as emotional for Joe as it was for Ashley and her dad. Seeing them dance close was a reward for his bold efforts to repair their relationship months ago. The mother-son dance paired Joe with Mrs. Roberts, during which she thanked him for saving Ashley.

After he said she was welcome, Mrs. Roberts clarified, "I'm not just talking about the cheerleading or car accidents last year. Ashley was heading down a dangerous path with her choice in boyfriends before you came along. Always unhappy, and often abused, but resigned to the notion that they were as good as she was going to get. Now she's been the happiest I've ever known her to be, and it's because of you. Thank you."

"I'll do my best to keep her that way." He didn't know what else to say.

"I know you will."

The party lasted well into the night, with Ashley and Joe rarely leaving the dance floor. Ashley finally was running out of fuel and gave Reena a look that said as much. After finishing the current song, the interim lead for the band announced that the couple would be departing soon and asked everyone to head out front for the farewell. Ashley and Joe retreated to their room to pick up their night bags.

At the front of the house, Joe reached up Ashley's skirt to get the garter. As his hands kept running up her thigh, he called out, "Did you even put it on?" A series of whistles and cheers from the male guests erupted. His hands kept going and he kissed her knee before peeking up her skirt for show. Once he found it nestled against her panties, he called out again. "Top floor, fellas!" It renewed the hearty cheers. He fiddled around with it, intentionally brushing his knuckles against her underwear. One of the guys shouted for him to not forget the garter when he came back out. Ashley's face turned deeper and deeper red, and Joe asked in a whisper "then why did you put it so high?" She responded that she'd tell him later. He smiled and brought down the elastic and showed it off to the applause. He shot it into the air, and the married men laughed when most of the single guys scrambled to get out of the way. One of their classmates gallantly reached out and caught it, mostly because Jill screamed out that it was bad luck if it hit the ground. Of course he got razzed because supposedly he now would be the next to get married.

The bouquet toss was the opposite, as it usually was. Ashley picked out three roses and handed one each to Joe, her mom, and her dad. She turned her back and pitched it over her head. What ensued was the closest thing to a mud wrestling event as a formal party can get. The single girls launched themselves into the fray, trying to get in the best position to catch the arrangement. It looked like Sally was going to win, as she had climbed over Jill's back to reach it. But it glanced off her hand and Cindy surprised everyone by outstretching Jasmine after the tip to claim her prize. Doug groaned theatrically at the result.

Goodbyes were said, hugs and kisses were given, then Ashley and Joe dashed for the waiting limo, pausing to wave before dipping inside.

"I am beat," Ashley declared when she plopped in the seat beside him.

The car pulled past the gates and turned up the street when Joe picked her up and deposited her in his lap. "Not too beat, I hope."

"Joe!" she giggled.

Her thoughts turned to sitting back down and putting on a seat belt, but the spacious room and his hands' attention made her cast the thought aside. Joe reached over and hit a button that rolled up the privacy shade behind the driver. Ashley changed her position, hiking up her skirt before settling back down in his lap to face him.

Kissing him every few words, she asked, "So, will you have and hold me the rest of the days of my life?"

He looked into her eyes. "Yes, ma'am! Will you honor and obey me?"

She gave him a curious look. "That wasn't in our vows. What are you getting at?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"Joe, I'd do anything you ask, but you should know that wearing a dog collar isn't my thing. Figuratively or literally."

"I'm sorry, Ashley. I was trying to be witty, and it was the first one that popped into my head. You know, from all sorts of movies."

She wasn't mad, but the idea that this might be how he viewed their marriage frightened her a bit. "You sure?"

"Yes. God knows that I'd be the one doing most of the obeying."

Ashley started regretting sitting on his lap. "Are you saying that I wouldn't honor our vows to be faithful to you? To love you? You're not making sense."

"I guess I should stop talking when I'm tired."

"Good. Maybe so."

"Although, Ash...thinking of you in a red nylon collar could be pretty hot."

She swatted his head. "I'll try anything once...so long as you go first." Then she kissed him, both knowing neither actually thought it was hot at all.

The limo chauffeur let them out at the hotel, saying he would pick them up later in the morning. Joe got them checked in, and the desk clerk smiled sweetly at Ashley, who had cradled her head in her arms on the counter while she waited. They followed the directions to their room on the fourth floor. Joe rattled off what he got for features in the room, but all Ashley was interested in was the word "bed".

Near noon, the couple met up with their house mates, Cindy, and Doug, as well as Kim and Ashley's parents for a brunch buffet. Once everyone had their food, Jasmine at the next table asked if they had fun last night. Ashley and Joe nodded and said that they did.

"Thanks for the note, by the way, Jazz," he said. "It was beautiful."

"I'm glad you liked it! So? What happened?" Jasmine pried.

"Please, do we have to hear this while we're eating?" Ashley's mom quipped.

"What? They're married now. Besides, we're used to hearing them." Ashley darted a look. "I mean, hearing about them."

Ashley threw a napkin at her friend. "Oh yeah, Jazz...that correction is soo much better."

Her dad laughed at Jasmine's faux pax. "Eh, it'll do some good to hear about two young married lovers."

Joe grinned. "All right, I'll give you a tasteful play-by-play." He checked, and both mothers nodded reluctantly. "We got to the room, and all Ashley wanted to know was how big the bed was. Ignoring everything else, we undressed each other, some parts with our teeth." Jill, Kim, and Jasmine egged him on with whistles. "So we hug and kiss for a while, telling each other how happy we were to be husband and wife. She backs me up until I fall on the bed. Then, she crawled over me, looking deeply into my eyes."

"What then?" asked Cindy to everyone's surprise.

"She fell asleep."

"NO WAY!" The exclamation came from both Kim and Jasmine.

"What do you mean 'fell asleep?' Like after?" Jill asked.

"Like crawled half-way, and fell asleep on my stomach...didn't even turn down the covers."

"Way to throw me under the bus, Joe. Two can play that game...you left out the part that you didn't know I crashed mid-seduction until you woke up and found me that way."

Their tables were roaring in laughter by now. Ashley excused herself to the bathroom, and Jasmine followed her. Both were standing at the vanity touching up their makeup after reappearing from the stalls.

"You really fell asleep mid-stream?" Jasmine asked.

"Mmm...before we even got started."

Jasmine giggled. "Hard to imagine that would happen with you. You're so aggressive when you're turned on." She paused while putting some pieces together in her head. "Or were you?"

"Turned on? Yes. But we were both so tired, it was a long day. I made it up to him this morning, though."

"I'm sure you did."

"How's your butt? We've been so busy, I hadn't checked on you."

Jasmine unbuttoned her pants and showed Ashley the yellow bruise in the shape of Ashley's hand.

Ashley flinched. "I'm sorry I did it that hard."

Jasmine pulled the pants back up and fastened them. "No, you're not. Besides, I deserved more than a blistering smack. I don't know what got into me that night."

"Joe."

"Ha flippin' ha. No way am I sorry about that wonderful experience, and I suspect that neither are you. But to intentionally make sure you were watching when I first kissed him that way...I'm still beating myself up over that."

Ashley put away her lip gloss and faced Jasmine. "It's been forgiven. I'm sorry my hand hurt you that bad. What did Jill say? Or have you been with Kim?"

Jasmine gave a smug smile. "Different nights, different girls. Kim was tender and kissed to make it better. Jill just sided with you since she saw the whole thing, too, and said I deserved a matching print on the other side. She didn't though." She took a deep breath. "Are we still good? You and I?"

Ashley smiled. "Yes, of course. I told you so the morning after, why would you think otherwise?"

"Because I'd hate to lose you." She meant to say 'your friendship', but kept going anyway. "All because I wasn't thinking and just acting with my hormones. I love you Ashley. More than Joe, more than the other two...though don't tell Jill."

Ashley hugged her tight. "I love you, too. Jill already knows, by the way."

Jasmine learned of the conversation at the club that took place when she left with Joe. She was embarrassed and horrified that so many saw through what she thought was a stoic wall, so she offered to leave after the Hawaii trip. It took some time for Ashley to convince Jasmine that it made her happy, not uncomfortable and that she should stay.

They returned to the group, finding everyone all smiles, the biggest on Kim's face. Ashley asked what was going on, and Joe informed her that Kim's parents accepted the offer to join them on the trip. Doug found a military flight, and even though Cindy was not his spouse, the Carter transition wasn't finished, so she could join him as a civilian contractor. Ashley thought it was cute when Doug patted Cindy's knee while he explained that there would be several stops and aircraft changes to get them there, but they would end up meeting the group in Pearl Harbor only a few hours after everyone else. Ashley thought that seemed like a lot of work and offered to buy the tickets for Kim herself. She also said she didn't want to see Cindy tangled up in a cargo net on a C130. Doug laughed and explained that the military branches had their own versions of airliners, and the final leg would be on a plane very similar to the executive jet the Smith's personally owned before Joe sold it to Carter. Besides, he had business in San Diego, and Cindy wanted to see the city, even if it was only for a couple of hours.

The party had already been cleaned up by the crew who came to pick up the tables. Cindy and Doug left straight from the restaurant to get going, since the first leg of their trip was departing that night. Ashley's parents took Kim's out to go shopping for their extended trip, while the others worked on packing. Joe was done with his suitcase inside an hour, and so was able to enjoy Ashley modeling outfits for him. His favorites were seeing her in a bathing suit or underwear. It was hard for her to choose what to bring, and she just changed in front of him, so he got plenty of what he liked. So much that he started helping her get into and out of each outfit, and he even gave suggestions as to what to wear under each. To Ashley, there just was something white-hot about Joe doing something as stupid as buttoning up her jeans for her. Because of that, the decision period got extended twice as a result of "distractions".

This plane trip with Joe was much more enjoyable to Ashley than the few before, especially the first one. Before the fall, she had only flown once. Since then there were five trips, three were on the private jet he had. The first was the frantic flight to Denver in an attempt to be with his injured parents. Joe was all but a rock then, devoid of much emotion other than intense worry. Ashley had to all but hand feed him to keep his strength up. Despite leaving school without permission, the racing speed he drove to the airport, and the pilots' best efforts to get the plane there quickly, they still arrived too late to say goodbye. The two other trips on that plane were for her to perform at the Carter IPO road shows. Those were fun, but Ashley was still recovering from her emergency surgery to repair an unseen injury from her own accident that had brought her into Joe's life for good. Those trips took her mind off being barren, which was the goal of why Cindy had arranged them. The last two flights were on commercial planes when Tales of the Blind had invited her to perform with them before she had put together her own band.

Of all the ways to fly, she liked the private jet best, of course. But, even though Joe had lots of money from the life insurance and inheritance, and was to get even more if he sold a hefty portion of his share in the newly public company, he just didn't have need for the plane and it was expensive to keep up, not mentioning the payroll involved to keep that staff full-time, so he sold it and the helicopter to the company. She hadn't flown first-class yet, so she couldn't rank that experience. However, Kim got that luxury when Cindy used her own money to fly her down for the funeral in a successful effort to cheer Ashley up. Kim said that it was really nice, but she couldn't really enjoy it between the reason for the flight and her guilt that Cindy was paying for it.

Ashley found out soon enough that she did NOT like the puddle-jumper they boarded for the 45 minute flight to Atlanta. Between the turbulence caused by the rain that came in when they left (although she considered the rain close enough to the wedding to count for luck), and the tight quarters, she felt like the last Tic Tac left in it's box. The only good thing about the small aircraft was that since there were 9 in their group, only 9 others were on board. The seating arrangements were agreed to be rather loose, and everybody had fun needling Ashley about her tense state. She took it in good humor, but, as soon as they stepped into the terminal after landing, Ashley broke her hand free of Joe's and rushed off to the restroom. Jasmine went to follow, but since she had instigated much of the jokes, Ashley warned her off with a stern finger point. Kim and Mrs. Roberts did follow after her and asked if she was alright. Ashley just wanted a minute alone to collect her frayed nerves, and said so through the stall door. After freshening up with some splashed water onto her face at the sink, she returned to the group in a much better mood and eased their concerns.