Who: Owen Murphy and Colin Ford, Jen Hill, Emma Bailey, Andy Lang, Connor Bone, + the rest of the JL, REDO, Agency and all invited guests! What: Some of the ceremony and all of the reception. Where: A wine vineyard in Napa Valley, CA. When: Sunday afternoon, January 17th, 2016. Warnings: Justice League. Agency. REDO. Tons of alcohol. You do the math. Notes: No posting order, feel free to jump around. Time doesn’t matter.
Owen was happy. Unbelievably happy, there was no doubt in his mind that this was the right thing to do. There wasn’t any of that pre-wedding jitters about making the biggest mistake of his life. If anything, the biggest mistake of his life had been the fact that they hadn’t done this sooner. So far, despite the nerves, and the need to get everything perfect, the day had gone well so far. The flowers were on time and perfect. The ceremony was going to take place outside, and they couldn’t have asked for better weather. Cool for California, but not freezing cold like it was in New York City.
Never let it be said that Owen did anything half ass. He’d never been a perfectionist, but when it came down to music, he’d always had to be great… and this seemed to extend to this wedding. Everyone was there; Owen’s bandmates, Colin’s coworkers, their friends from all over the place, the entire Justice League was there with them. He really did hope that there wouldn’t be any big problems that would need their attention, and even when he thought of that, several times throughout the day, he knocked on pretty much all the wood he could find. Nothing was going to wreck this day. Absolutely nothing.
Except maybe nerves, and the fact that he was trying to memorize his vows (how could he not remember his vows, he sang songs every night that he needed to know the words of, this was basically the same thing). And then it was time, and here he was, dressed in a tuxedo, standing at a makeshift altar that had been set up among some beautiful, old trees, giving them a little bit of shade in the bright sunlight. Jen was by his side, and thank god for that, because she had been the biggest help throughout all of this. Even when he was freaking out, she was there to tell him not to freak out… and to give him missions where he could get nervous energy out by punching bad guys in the face. Their colors were black and blue, and so the women in their party wore blue, and the men also wore tuxedos, because damnit, if he was getting married, he wanted it to be fancy.
Also, it got Colin in a tux, and Colin in a tux was something Owen was very interested in. Standing at the altar, looking at his insanely gorgeous, handsome, amazingly hot soon to be husband, Owen had to make sure to not miss anything that was being said. He could definitely get lost in staring at Colin in a tux. Right, thinking about the wedding, not how much he was excited for the not wearing a tux part of the night. Yes, not thinking about that, because his mother and her current husband were taking time out of their Winnebago traveling to be here at the ceremony, which was a victory in itself. It’d be too much to ask for them to stay for the reception, that would be too much for them, so this was fine. Owen could see her sitting near the front, and he gave her a smile that was returned, before the officiator said it was time for their vows.
Owen took a deep breath. “Colin…” And then he blew that breath out and grinned. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous, I almost can’t remember what I wrote to say today. Which is crazy, because I’m more than okay with the spotlight.” And yet the nerves were right there, like they never were when he was up on stage.
“I remember the first time I met you. In person. REDO wasn’t the band it is now, and I had to ask our manager at the time for the money to buy salads, that I could take to your office.” Owen laughed softly as everyone else did. “And our manager asked me if this guy was worth traveling hundreds of miles to meet, and to bring kind of expensive salad to. Which I still don’t get how you like... but he asked that. And I said, yeah, I think he is.” He smiled.
“That was six years ago, to the day, and I... can’t believe this is actually happening. Holy shit.” Oh no. “Shoot, holy shoot, ignore the last part. I love you, and I can’t wait to be married to you. I know we’ve been through a lot, and I’m just glad that I get to go through a lot more with you.” Another blow out of air before he grins at him. “That wasn’t too hard.”
Once the ceremony actually started, all residual nerves that Colin had been feeling went right out the window. He wasn’t obsessed with all the numerous things that could go wrong anymore, he wasn’t worrying about the what if’s and driving himself crazy with contingency plans for all of them (seriously, he didn’t understand why any vigilantes ever got married, there was so much more stress involved). Actually, he did understand a little. If any of them loved anyone the way he loved Owen, then he couldn’t actually blame them for being insane enough to get married. When you found the right person, turns out anything was worth it, for them, and Colin had known he’d found the right person for a long time now. He wasn’t nervous anymore, looking across the altar and seeing Owen standing in front of him. It felt incredible. It felt like flying.
Everyone they loved was here, even Owen’s mom had made it, and Colin’s dad and all three of his brothers were here. He’d never thought he’d see his family sitting in the audience watching him get married to a man, surrounded by his friends, but as it turned out, coming out to them had been easy. They’d accepted who he loved as gracefully and completely as they had accepted Colin as a reincarnate, and if he only had one regret it was that his mom couldn’t be here too. But everyone else was, and that was still something. That was everything to him. Jen was standing behind Owen where Colin could see her, giving them both huge smiles, and though Colin didn’t turn around he knew Connor was standing right behind him. It was perfect. The entire place was even decorated in shades of black and blue, which anyone should know were colors that Colin was deeply biased towards, and he wasn’t even hungover from the night before, despite his friends best efforts. No, Colin hadn’t wanted to miss any part of today by being too hungover to function, and seeing Owen in his tux across from him now, it was definitely worth saying no to those last few drinks the night before, Colin knew he’d made the right call. He’d been making the right call ever since they’d gotten back together.
It was a good thing Colin had never been all that prone to stage fright (though it was pretty adorable that his rock star of an almost husband was experiencing something like that in this very moment), because their guest list hadn’t exactly been small, and even with all of his experience in high school theater, Colin wasn’t sure he’d ever had this many eyes on him at one time. It should have been intimidating, and in any other situation or to anyone else it very well might have been, but true to form, that day Colin only had eyes for Owen. Everything else was just background noise, especially when they got to the vows and Owen started talking.
“That was pretty good,” Colin reassured him with a soft laugh, ducking his head briefly to keep his own grin in check before he started to look stupid. It was hard when Owen’s smile was so contagious. “Really good, actually, not sure how I'm going to top that and I had a whole page of puns planned.” Not actually true, though it was believable. Colin and puns went together like… well, like Dick and puns. Also bad fashion choices, but luckily, someone else had dressed Colin for this wedding, so he presumably didn’t look all that terrible. Your standard black tuxedo with a nice, flattering cut that was slimming on him, the only color in his outfit was the light blue of his tie. A blue that matched the color of half the decorations in this ceremony, and his Nightwing suit. Colin took a deep breath and began, meeting Owen’s eyes as he smiled at him.
“Before I met you, I was only half of a person. I didn’t really know… what I was missing, until you. And as soon as I realized, I knew I couldn’t live without it. You weren’t just a breath of fresh air, you changed everything for me. I’ll never stop being grateful for the guy who came to my office the same night we first shared a conversation. … Though I probably could have just handed over my gay card right then instead of making you bring me a salad.” More laughter from the audience, and it took a moment for Colin to regain his composure enough to keep going, his smile threatening to take over his entire face. “Everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been through, together and apart, it’s helped shaped the man I am today, and you’re a huge part of that. You’re a part of me. Six years ago today I met a best friend, a true partner, and the love of my life. Also someone with way better taste in clothes than me,” Colin added with a wry laugh, noticing Jen wipe at her eyes furiously out of the corner of his own. He felt a little choked up himself and paused to take in a deep breath before letting himself finish. It was really important that he finished. “From day one, we’ve always been a team, and I love that about us. You were my first, in all the ways that really mattered. I want you to be my last.”
Owen had told himself a million and one times during the past few days, and even the past few hours, that he was not going to cry. No crying at his own wedding. Everyone else can cry, that was fine, but he was not going to stand up at that altar, in a tux, with all their friends and family around them to see them on this special and important day, and... damnit. Owen rubbed his hand over his eyes.
“I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to cry.” He laughed softly as he wiped away some stray tears. “Damnit. Your’s was so much better then mine.” Owen joked, trying to cover the fact that he definitely just cried on his wedding day. But, at least he was smiling as he did it, which made it not that bad. Though Cass was in his head telling him to both pull it together, and also that it was okay for him to cry right then. It was very conflicting in his head right now.
“You’re so right, I do have much better taste in clothes than you do.” He finally got the tearing up thing under control. “I can’t believe it’s been six years… I know, I know, I had my turn already.” Owen looked at the officiator, who luckily was good enough to not be all annoyed with the fact that they were kind of ridiculous at times. She’d learned that the hard way when they did the rehearsal, and everyone couldn’t stop cracking jokes about it all. What, they knew that if one of them came down the aisle and fell, they had Superman to make sure they didn’t actually fall. Being able to crack jokes and tease everyone was what made them a great group to be around. That and the massive amounts of drinking, but that was after the ceremony.
They had to get through it, and hopefully without anymore crying. “Right, okay, back to all this.” He looked at Colin and smiled. Just looking at his soon to be husband, Owen knew that nothing he ever did, or would do, could be better than this moment right now. This was the best decision he’d ever made his entire life.
No one was more surprised than Colin that he didn’t cry first. He’d gotten a little choked up, yes, but he’d managed to hold it together at least long enough to get all the words out. It was difficult, but Colin had succeeded, at least until he got a good look at Owen with tears in his eyes. It shocked him so much that Colin completely let his guard down and he felt something stinging in the corners of his eyes before he could stop it, sniffing noticeably and laughing in response to Owen’s attempt to conceal his own reactions. At least they were both breaking their promises to themselves to not cry at their own wedding, because Colin had definitely been telling himself not to do it either. They really were perfect for each other, in every nauseatingly way imaginable.
They were both grinning at each other like idiots with misty eyes and Colin was caught up enough in the moment that he couldn’t even pretend to be offended by the claim, because it was true. Owen did have a better fashion sense than he did. Colin was man enough to admit that he totally failed that part of being a gay man. That was okay with him, because he was about to spend the rest of his life with someone who could, and probably would, dress him instead. “I can’t believe it either sometimes. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were making out in my office like teenagers?” People laughed, but ironically, it very likely could have been just yesterday. It wasn’t an act only reserved for the first night they’d met and got a little handsy on his office couch, he and Owen still did that pretty often. That, more than anything, reminded Colin for the billionth time since they’d gotten back together that Owen was the only guy for him. Not like he needed to be reminded, or reassured, but if he had then that would more or less settle it. If he believed in fate at all, he would fully believe that he and Owen were meant for each other. That happened a lot with reincarnates, the people in your heads almost always found a way to each other, but it wasn’t like that with their reincarnates. Dick and Cass had never been anything romantic, so that made this thing he had with Owen completely organic, and even more special in his mind. It was one hundred percent theirs, and it wasn’t something that could just be repeated in every lifetime like other reincarnates. They really only had one shot at this.
But they did have to get through the rest of this ceremony at least, before anything else happened, so Colin cleared his throat and fell silent too, so they didn’t keep cutting off the officiator, who was really being very polite about the whole thing. Before he knew it, it was time for the rings, and Colin was taking his from Connor while Jen handed Owen’s to him. His brothers standing up with him behind Connor all gave him encouraging head nods and when Colin turned back around he caught Emma beaming at him from Owen’s side of the altar, grinning back at her as he waited patiently for the officiator to guide them through the next steps. Colin took Owen’s left hand gently in his, positioning the ring at the tip of his ring finger without actually slipping it on yet while he waited for his turn to speak as the officiator began.
“Do you, Colin Ford, take Owen Murphy, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?”
Colin smiled softly, sliding the ring fully onto Owen’s finger as he answered breathlessly. “I do.”
It was something that had stuck in his mind for a very long time now, the fact that this was it. The people they had in their heads weren’t together. They weren’t fulfilling some lifelong romance that had happened in another life. Not that Owen blamed anyone who did. It was good to know that love transcended everything, even to being reincarnated in another body. But what Colin and Owen had, this was it. They were only going to get this once, and they weren’t going to live forever like some others. This really was it. He loved Colin more than anything else in the world, and he always reminded himself that he had to make every moment count.
Because there was a time where he hadn’t. Owen didn’t like thinking about the time that he left, and he never counted it as a time that needed to be mentioned. He left for a terrible reason, but he came back, and Colin had forgiven him, and he would never, ever leave again. Death would really be the only reason they ever parted, and he was damn certain that that wasn’t going to be happening for a long, long time.
But this was really happening. He knew that before, yes, it was happening, but this moment right now, this was really happening. Owen took the ring from Jen with a grin, and then Colin had his hand, saying two words that changed everything in his world. He took his hand in return, holding the ring to his finger.
“Do you, Owen Murphy, take Colin Ford, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?”
Owen nodded, grinning brightly as he slid the ring onto Colin’s finger. “I do.” He could see everyone smiling out of the corner of his eye, but he only had eyes for Colin.
“It has been my honor to officiate your ceremony this afternoon. And now I get to say something you’ve been looking forward to hearing: by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband.” Owen grabbed Colin, pulled him close, and kissed his husband happily.
In some ways it still felt like a dream to Colin. Standing up here with Owen, in front of all their friends and family, proclaiming their love for each other in the most permanent way two people could. It wasn’t even about the fact that two men could legally get married now, though obviously that was a huge deal. It was about the fact that Colin hadn’t always actually seen himself here before. He’d never imagined in all his life that he’d find someone who he loved like Owen. And yes, there was a time in his life where he never would have imagined himself getting married to a man either, but Colin had adjusted to life as a gay man relatively quickly. It was no longer a surprise, just another fact of his life. The reality that he was marrying the first guy he ever kissed, now that was special. That was a revelation worth spending the time marveling at.
Grinning from ear to ear, it wasn’t that Colin expected Owen to say no, but when the words ‘I do’ came out of his mouth, Colin was more or less sure he’d never been happier in his life. Owen was right, they’d been through a lot over the years, but today felt like the culmination of all of that. Everything they’d been through, everything they’d worked for, all the ups and downs, it had all been worth it to see Owen standing across from him right now. Colin had already known that, he’d known that before today, before the night he and Owen had dropped in on the same burglary two days ago after feeding each other harmless fibs about going out to get milk and working on a song. He’d known that Owen was the one for a long time, but it was nice to finally do this, to finally make this fragile thing he and Owen had a little more permanent.
Colin’s heart skipped a beat as Owen said ‘I do’ and slipped the ring onto his finger, a short laugh escaping his throat as Owen yanked him close, sliding his arm around Owen’s waist as their lips connected and Colin kissed him back, barely able to keep himself from smiling into it. He’d kissed Owen a million times since they’d first started dating, but this kiss in particular, it really stood out as one of the better ones in a long, never ending list of truly spectacular kisses that they’d shared over the years. Before Colin knew it everyone was standing and clapping for them, and he and Owen were walking back down the makeshift aisle, as husbands. Within an hour the wedding after party was in full swing, in a reception hall not far from their cute little outdoor wedding in the vineyard. The whole place was decorated to match their wedding decor and was practically littered with tables of food and drinks, as well as the wedding cake sitting pristine in the middle of the room on its own table. Everyone was talking and laughing and dancing and having a good time together, this party was sure to keep going well into the night.