Wedding Bells

Megg


FEEDBACK: Is essential.
CATEGORY: Pure, unabashed X/C fluff. With some B/A and even a lil W/O tossed in.
RATING: G
DISTRIBTUION: Isa, Gabby, Sabreil, Beatriz if she wants it, all others LMK. I swear I'll say yes. :)
DISCLAIMER: All I own is Isabelle. :) You wanna sue, go ahead. I have a nice empty Pepsi can sitting right here.
DEDICATION: Jenn: Come back from Indiana already!!! And for all the X/C fans out there: I know you're probably as pissed over the X/C break-up as I am over the B/A one.
NOTES: X/C fans (and everyone else!) PLEASE tell me how I did. I'm not very good at writing X/C fic, but I figured I might as well try. :) Pweeeeeze? I actually spell-checked this too!!!

Cordelia Chase's scream was audible from across the street. "Oh my GOD! I can't DO this! LOOK AT THIS DRESS!"

"Shh, Cordy, calm down," Willow soothed, fluffing out the dress. "You look marvelous."

"It doesn't fit right! I look like a fool," Cordelia argued.

"You look wonderful," Buffy argued. "Stop worrying."

"I can't help it," Cordelia cried, flopping down on a chair. "I'm so nervous. Do you think that's an omen? Being nervous?"

Buffy laughed. "If it's an omen, we're all in trouble."

"Come on," Cordelia said, "You can't mean to tell me you were nervous when you married Angel. You were so ... so poised and elegant."

"As you will be. Cordelia, I was scared out of my mind, worried that something would go wrong. But once you get out there on Giles' arm and you see Xander, that's all that's going to matter. And your nervousness is going to fall away because you're going to be focusing on Xander and only Xander and what you have together."

Cordelia looked at Willow for confirmation. "Is that true?"

"It was when I married Oz," Willow told her. "And I'm probably the most jittery person you'll ever know."

Cordelia took a deep breath. "Okay. How much longer?"

"Five minutes."

*****

Xander stood at the alter nervously, looking from Angel to Oz and back again. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Man, are you *insane*?" Oz asked. "The woman of your dreams is going to marry you in three minutes and you're having second thoughts?"

"No! No, I'm not having second thoughts. But what if *she* is? What if she changes her mind? What if I say my lines wrong? Then what?"

"Xander, calm down, take deep breaths," Angel instructed his one-time enemy, now friend. "It's normal to worry, isn't it, Oz?"

Oz nodded in agreement.

"I bet *you* weren't this worried when you married Buffy."

"Want to bet?"

"*You* were worried?" Xander asked incredulously. "About *Buffy*?! You guys have been together since like the beginning of time!"

Angel laughed. "I was worried, too, and I'm sure Oz was too. Being together with someone for a long time doesn't take away from the pre-wedding jitters that everyone gets."

"So how did you manage it?"

"When you see Cordelia come through that door, in her lavish silk and lace dress, veil over her face, looking at YOU, and only you ... everything else will just fall away. All that matters is you, and Cordelia, and what you're doing."

"Yeah well what if someone *else* messes up?"

*****

"What if Willow steps on her dress and it rips?!" Cordelia wailed. "Or what if Isabelle accidentally throws the flowers at Angel and he loses the rings?!"

Buffy laughed. "Cordelia, calm down. Willow doesn't have two left feet, and Isabelle knows what she's supposed to do. You saw her at the practice, she did just fine."

"What if Willow's dress doesn't fit? I mean, she's six months pregnant!"

"It's a maternity dress," Willow informed her, coming back into the room in her shell-pink bridesmaid dress. "See? It fits fine."

"You guys look gorgeous," Cordelia said in awe.

"And you think you don't?" Buffy asked. "You look amazing. Xander's going to lose his voice!"

"Oh no!" Cordelia wailed, and Buffy immediately wished she hadn't said that. "What if he *does*?!"

*****

"Where's Isabelle?" Xander asked Angel nervously. "We can't do this without the flower girl, and we're set to start in sixty seconds!"

"Relax. I just sent her back to Buffy with Joyce. She'll be fine."

Xander grinned. "All right. Let's do this!"

*****

"All set, Isabelle?" Buffy asked, crouching down in front of her daughter.

The dark-haired child nodded, brown eyes wide. "All set, Mommy."

Buffy smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "That's my girl. Now go ahead out there and don't be afraid."

"I promise, Mommy." Isabelle leaned up to kiss her mother's cheek.

Buffy stood up and ushered her daughter out the door. "That's my girl."

*****

Xander watched with apprehension as Isabelle sprinkled flower petals on the floor, smiling widely the entire time. When she reached the end of the aisle, she slid into the front row next to her grandmother.

Willow and Buffy, the bridesmaid and Maid-of-Honor respectively, followed Isabelle, and Xander smiled at his two best friends.

But it was his bride that took his breath away. She was wearing a long white dress, made with yards of silk and satin and lace, followed by a long train. She was on the arm of Giles, per her request.

Her smile radiated through the room and her eyes twinkled as she stared at him through her veil.

*****

Cordelia could feel her heart pounding as Giles lifted her veil away and took a seat with Joyce and Isabelle. Her hands joined with Xander's, she turned to look at him, and they shared a smile.

"Dearly beloved," the minister began, but Xander and Cordelia hardly heard him as they became lost in each other's eyes.

"Do you, Cordelia, take Alexander LaVelle Harris to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Cordelia whispered, tears in her eyes.

"And do you, Alexander, take Cordelia Marie Chase to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Xander echoed.

"The rings."

At the minister's request, Angel presented them with the gold bands.

"Cordelia, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

Cordelia slipped the ring over Xander's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Alexander, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring," Xander paused to slide the ring onto Cordelia's finger, "I thee wed."

They exchanged a loving look, tears in both of their eyes.

The minister smiled. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Xander grinned as he leaned over to press his lips to Cordelia's. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered against his lips.

"I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Harris," the minister announced when they pulled apart.

The church erupted in applause, and friends of Cordelia and Xander were quick to come up and congratulate the newlyweds.

"I told you you'd do fine," Buffy whispered, hugging Cordelia. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Cordelia whispered, still clutching Xander's hand.

*****

"So, how's married life?" Buffy asked Xander with a smile a few hours later at the Bronze reception.

"Amazing." Xander grinned and embraced Buffy. "Thank you."

"For what?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"For telling me it was worth it. For convincing me not to give up. Without you, I never would have went after Cordelia."

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love," Buffy responded, shooting a glance in the direction of Angel and Isabelle, who were twirling around to the music. "And I know that it's worth anything to get them back. I just want you to be happy. You're my best friend."

"Thank you," Xander repeated. "Can I have this dance?"

"But of course." Buffy put her arms around Xander's neck as the moved in time to the music.

*****

"Are you happy?" Willow asked Cordelia.

"Infinitely," Cordelia told her. "Thanks."

"How come?"

"You told me what an idiot I was being to let go of Xander. You chose a great time to get over your nervous-stage, and I'm really glad you did." Cordelia looked at her new husband- the entire idea still seemed foreign, sending tingles down her spine- dancing with Buffy.

"I'm just glad you listened." Willow hugged Cordelia as the song changed. "Now, go find your husband and go dance."

Cordelia didn't need to be told twice.

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