Badd Motherf*cker(82)
Drew Connolly, wearing his full dress uniform from his Corps days, clapped Sebastian on the shoulder. “Listen, kid. It ain’t all that complicated. Your brother hit it on the head. Trick is, don’t try to say what’s in your head. Say what’s in your heart. My Dru doesn’t care much for fancy words, never has. I raised her to pay more attention to what people do, ’cause that’s what really tells you their character. You try to put your vows in iambic pentameter or some shit, she’ll just stare at you like you’ve lost your damn mind. Just tell her how you feel, and make her heartfelt promises about the future.”
Sebastian pulled a face. “The hell is iambic whatever the fuck you said?”
Xavier spoke up:
“‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.’”
Everyone just kind of stared at him for a moment, until he shrugged. “What? That’s Shakespeare. Sonnet one-sixteen, in iambic pentameter. One of the most iconic poems about love ever written.”
Sebastian stared at Xavier blankly for a minute. “Well that’s real pretty, but what the fuck’s it mean?”
Xavier blinked rapidly, which meant he was thinking through his response. “Depends on if you read it on its own, or in context with the other sonnets in the series to which it belongs. If you read it by itself, out of context, it’s about the perfection of true love, and how love is eternal and immalleable.”
Sebastian laughed. “You lost me, bro. I only know what like four of those words mean.”
Xavier sighed. “Never mind.” He frowned at Sebastian, then. “You know, I actually think you’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, punk, but I’ll leave the fancy words and poetry to you and Brock.”
“Hey, leave me out of the poetry, thanks,” Brock said. “I’ll take Kant and Nietzsche over Shakespeare and Marlowe any day of the week.”
Xavier opened his mouth to argue, probably some off-the cuff doctoral thesis on the intersection of poetry and psychology or some fancy bullshit, but the rumbling snarl of Bax’s Harley interrupted him. The crowd parted for the big bike, and when Bax was parallel with the altar and the line of Badd brothers, he halted, flipped down the kickstand, swung off, and held out his hand to help Dru dismount. She swung her leg over, flashing an almost indecent amount of leg in the process, smoothed her dress over her hips and stomach, and then let out a deep breath.
She stood there for a few long moments, just breathing and smiling and staring at Sebastian. The twins, right on cue, began playing “Here Comes the Bride”, although I’ve never heard a version that included a howling guitar solo or a thudding bass riff. It worked, though, somehow.
Gathering her train, she approached Sebastian, holding onto Bax’s arm.
Drew took her hand and Sebastian’s, and joined them between both of his. “None of us are much for ceremony or tradition around here, so I’m gonna do this quick and simple.”
He looked at his daughter. “Dru, baby-cakes, my baby girl—I’m the happiest man in the world, next to Sebastian, here. Seeing you happy, seeing you find a man who’s worth his salt? Makes this old soldier’s cold, hard heart soften, just a little. Never woulda thought something so good could have come from that shitty day four months ago, but here we are, hitching you and Sebastian in what they call holy matrimony.”
He looked to Sebastian, then. “Sebastian, my boy. Not much I need to say to you. Love her, take care of her, be the man she deserves. I know you will, and I know you are. You asked me a month ago for my girl’s hand, and I gave you my blessing in private then, and I’m giving it to you again now, publicly. You’re a damn good man, and I’m proud as fuck to have you as my son-in-law.”
Dru smacked her dad’s arm. “Dad! You can’t swear when you’re marrying us!”
Drew just chuckled into the mic. “Sure I can. We’re not in a church, are we?” Dru sighed, conceding the point, and her dad continued. “So, without further speechifying, here we go.”