Part One: Yuuri POV

     "I want to be a dad," Viktor Nikiforov, my coach, my lover, & most importantly, my husband said seemingly out of nowhere. I suppose we had been married long enough for both the thoughts of raising children & we had discussed adopting before but nothing had come of it. Raising a child was hard & either adopting or finding a surrogate would be difficult. Three years. It had been three years since we had gotten married. It had been a whirlwind of emotions & joy.

Throw Back:

     "My baby boy!" My mother always the enthusiast. "You look handsome! I never thought the day would come when you would be marrying someone...anyone! I had my hopes & Yuuri, I am so proud! Viktor is a lucky man." Mom gushed loud enough for everyone in the changing room to hear. She brushed imaginary dust off my shoulders & smoothed the wrinkles out my shirt front. She looked & played the part of the mother of the bride { or in this case the mother of the groom } so well that if she showed up to a wedding of a perfect stranger, no one would ask why she was there nor think twice when she calls herself the mother.

     For whatever reason, she had taken me shopping for the dress she was to wear for my wedding. As if I had any fashion experience. After ten different dresses & an angry store manager, we stumbled upon the perfect one.

When she looked up at me I could see the tears in her eyes. My mom stood on her toes & placed a kiss on my cheek. 

     My dad who had been standing behind my mom cleared his throat & I look at him. Unlike my mother who never dressed up, my father never was seen without a suit. He had always encouraged me to care about my appearance over just about everything else. "May I have a moment with Yuuri." He said as more of a statement than a question. When he said things like that nothing good was to be expected from the following question.

     My mom nodded reluctantly & I felt my muscles tense. I wasn't scared of my father but I had strived to make him happy & proud of me my whole life. I couldn't stand letting either of my parents down.

     Before I knew it, we were outside in a small outside area which I assumed was some sort of prayer garden. The chilly air made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up & goosebumps run down my spine.

     "I spoke to Viktor the night before you proposed to him," My dad paused & lead me over to a wooden bench. A little statue of Mary stood next to my feet & behind us, a large statue of Jesus loomed overhead. "I asked him if he was anticipating living with you for the rest of his life or if he saw your relationship like it was just a game to pass the time. I personally would have guessed his answer would be the later." His words hurt me in a way that I hadn't expected. They seemed to hit an insecurity of mine that even I hadn't realized was there. My dad had never been against Viktor & I being together but he had warned me on several occasions that I should tread lightly when it came to my feelings for my lover. Everything he was sating was to be expected. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if he chose to tell me that he didn't think it was right for me to be marrying Viktor. "Are you nervous for your wedding? To be linked with a single individual till death do you part?" When I reply to my dad, I look him in the eye & answer without hesitation.

     "I have never been so sure of anything in my entire life." He shakes his head & the look on his face almost resembles disappointment. Dad readjusted his cufflinks & straightens his back.

     "You should be." We sit there in silence as I am afraid of getting up & missing what else he would have to say whether good or bad. "Viktor responded with a longwinded love confession after I questioned him a year & a half ago. I spoke to him earlier as well asking him the same question & he gave the same response you did just now." He stood but maintained eye contact. The first thing Viktor had said to me after he met my parents was that I had my father's eyes. I didn't know then nor do I know now if I should have taken the compliment or not. "I believe with all my heart that you will make each other happier than any couple has ever been." These small words seem to melt away any anxiety I had over talking to him.

     Later that morning, my father walked beside me as I walked down the aisle to meet my love.

     "Is my flower crown on right? It doesn't feel right! I am the flower boy! I need to look perfect! for Otabek!" 

     "For Otabek," My sister teases & Yurio sticks his tongue out at her.

     "I'm not dressing up for that Pig & his good for nothing boyfriend, so I might as well dress up for Otabek!" My sister nervously laughs. "What's so funny?" Yurio asks defensively, cheeks turning pink all the while & try as I might I couldn't repress my own bubbly laughter. Yurio glared in my direction-

-but before he could say another word Otabek's arms wrapped around Yurio's tiny body making Yurio freeze. Otabek whispers something inaudible into Yurio's ear that made him blush even harder.

     "It's almost time." My mother moves a strand of my hair that had fallen out of place. I felt happy. Happier than I had ever felt. Everything was perfect.

     Viktor & I enter the sanctuary at the same time but on opposite sides with me on the left & him on the right. The light coming through the stain glass windows casts a dazzling multicoloured glow over the church. The music was swirling around me & everything was perfect. Or I thought it had been perfect. That was before I saw Viktor. He was dressed in white & even from where I was standing, his eyes shone with the same love & happiness that I felt for him. As soon as we were close enough, I slip my hand into his.

     "I love you," He whispers into my ear so that only I could hear him. Everyone here knew that Viktor loved me & that I loved him, but this moment was for Viktor & I, not the prying eyes of our loved ones.

     "I love you too."

     "We are gathered here today..."

***