Fic: Ever After (Comfortember)

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Ever After
Chapters: 1/1
Author:csi_sanders1129
Genre: Family.
Ratings: K+
Word Count: 467
Pairings/Characters: Michael Taylor/Joey Harris, Nicole Bradford.
Synopsis: In which Michael has a very brief moment of anxiety on his wedding day and family fixes everything.
Comments: Written for Comfortember 2020, Prompt: Anxiety. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!

Michael paces back and forth across the sidewalk, anxious and second-guessing everything as the world closes in around him. He's hyperventilating, isn't he? "Are we really doing this?"

Joey, considerably more relaxed, is lounging on the stone steps, supervising Michael's endless back and forth. He smiles, wide and happy, and catches Michael's hand as he moves by. "Yes, of course we are."

A sigh of relief, and Michael's breathing slows down, he's always a little more at ease with Joey. "Right. Right."

"Not getting cold feet on me now, are you?" Joey teases, "Look, I'm already wearing the tux, it's too late to run off on me now. Imagine how hard that'd be to explain to Nic."

Michael laughs, "Give me some credit. It's been 20 years and I haven't run screaming for the hills yet. I think you're stuck with me."

Joey squeezes his hand, lets Michael leverage him to his feet and pulls him in for a kiss on the courthouse steps, "Good. That is the general idea."

"Hey, you're supposed to wait until after the ceremony to do that," a familiar voice interrupts.

"Bad news about what we've been doing for roughly two decades, then, Nic," Joey jokes, spinning around to find their daughter fast approaching, surrounded by her own family. The two of them manage to get in hugs from Nicole before they are promptly tackled by her two little girls, both in pretty dresses for the occasion, and politely greeted by her husband. "Glad you could make it."

"Like I'd miss it," Nicole scoffs at the very idea. "Coming down from Boston was nothing. Coming from Antarctica wouldn't have stopped me. Do you know how frustrating it was watching you two dance around each other for as long as I did? You came very close to experiencing some Very Serious Matchmaking Attempts when I was a teenager, I'll have you know. I'm just glad you figured it out before I graduated."

"Ooh, I'm kinda sad we missed these matchmaking attempts," Joey cuts in, despite the armful of giggly three-year old he's attempting to contain and the five-year old clinging to his legs. "How long would we have grounded her for that, do you think?"

Michael considers, "Would have depended on if it worked or not, I suppose," he decides, dodging the playful shove from Nicole, the exasperated, 'Daaaaaad,' music to his ears, even now.

"Come on, now," Nicole says, wrangling Joey free of her children and passing them off to her husband. She grabs her fathers' arms and leads them both inside. "You have a wedding to get to and I think you've waited long enough."

Michael catches Joey's eye, flashes a smile, and feels the last of the anxiety melt away. Nicole's right – it's time they get their happily ever after.