"We're just working the muscle," he said, glancing up at him. "Frequent use can establish those connections we were talking about."
"There," Poppy heard Clara say as she stepped back. "Perfect." She took a deep breath, looking up at her sister with a small smile, her eyes bright with nervousness. "This is... scary. This is supposed to be scary, right?" "Right," Clara confirmed, fixing a stray daisy. "Don't worry. Everything's as it should be." Poppy's face fell slightly and she bit her lip. "He hates the wheelchair," she said quietly. "I know that his therapy was helping, but... I think he really wanted to make it all work out." Clara sighed, sweeping invisible dust off her dress. "He's not worried, Pops. He's happy. Don't worry. You'll see."
Francis stood uncertainly in front of the mirror, his hand on the chair. He was alone at the moment, and his legs were shaking slightly until he finally sat down, brushing his hair back nervously.
"Okay, Pops," Clara said. "It's time." Poppy nodded slowly, standing up gingerly. "Okay. Okay. Okay. Is he out there?" "Not yet," she replied. "But he will be. Everyone's lining up now."
Poppy waited outside the door as the music started, her heart pounding in her chest. When she felt an arm hook in hers, she jumped before she recognized her own father. "Oh. Oh. It's you." He grinned shyly, patting her back reassuringly. "Don't worry, Pops. This is good. This is the good kind of scary. You look beautiful." Her free hand went to her hair distractedly, but she gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Papa." The cue in the music swelled, and Poppy took a deep breath. "Ready, Pops?" She nodded slowly, looking at the door with a strange sense of apprehension. "Ready."
Francis stood at the altar, his hands folded in front of him. He looked a bit nervous, but said nothing.
The door opened and Poppy looked up, her eyes searching for the man at the end of the aisle. Her hair was loose with small braids along the side and daisies and white geraniums tucked into the twists, contrasting with her auburn hair. Her dress was the one they had chosen many months before, with a lace neckline and a delicate bodice that flowed out to a simple train. Her gaze fell onto him and her grey eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly as her free hand came to her mouth.
His eyes were set on her, and a wide smile spread across his face. His black tux was nearly a perfect match with his hair, and gentle, brown eyes observed her with a great lovingness. He said nothing, only grinned.
Her father let her go at the end of the aisle and she went to Francis, her eyes shining with what might have been tears. "Oh my God," she murmured, taking his hands, her fingers lacing with his. "You did it."
He squeezed her hands. There may have been tears in his eyes as well. "I did it to surprise you. I'm glad it worked." He paused, chuckling breathlessly. "You look absolutely gorgeous, Poppy."
She flushed, shaking her head embarrassedly. She studied him intently with wide eyes, as if she thought he might fall at any minute. "Me? Francis, you're... Jesus. How did I manage to land you?"
She gave him an adoring smile and opened her mouth to respond as the officiant spoke. "Friends, family, honored guest, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union between Poppy Abernathy and Francis Craw." Poppy rolled her eyes subtly before giving him a smile.
The officiant cleared his throat, beginning to speak at length about the definition of marriage, what it meant to be a union. Poppy's gaze never left his face until the officiant spoke again. "Poppy and Francis have written their own vows for this occasion. Poppy?" She cleared her throat, flushing slightly before meeting his gaze. "Hey, Craw," she began quietly, giving him a small smile. "I... I first thought I was in love when I was seventeen. I was dating a boy named Mark Bluth, and I thought he was the most wonderful person in existence. I thought that again when I dated a boy named Erik, and when I dated a boy named Harry and when I dated a boy named Evan. Each time I would completely forget about the infatuation I had felt with the previous one and think purely about the joy that this new partner had brought me." She shook her head slowly before looking up at him lovingly as if he were the most important thing in the world. "I look back on those other relationships and I'm able to recognize that I was happy, but it's different. I was incomplete. I was unfinished. Things were nice, but they hadn't quite clicked into place. I had been walking lost through a forest, happy with the view but secretly desperate for a resting place." She paused before laughing slightly under her breath. "And then you came along. This serious, sarcastic, clever, funny, beautiful man entered my life out of nowhere and somehow, against all odds, managed to figure it all out. You came along and you... you completed me, Francis. You made everything work when I kind of had been thinking that it was going an impossibility." "I am so ridiculously in love with you, Francis Craw. Everything shifted the moment I saw you in that conference room and thankfully, it's never been the same ever since. You changed my world. Completely and utterly."
