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September 23rd had dawned a bright and balmy morning, exactly what the forecast had called for. Waking up at the crack of dawn because otherwise everything was going to get behind, because that’s what always happens for weddings, the stuff of nightmares.
Evan Buckley woke to the sound of text messages, all with the same annoyingly set text tone from May, demanding his presence in the kitchen before the sun had even begun to light up the backyard of the Grant-Nash house. He tried to ignore it, hitting mute and rolling over, only to discover that his rolling over disturbed his furry companion Audie, who was not impressed by him refusing to get up. She pawed at him until he finally dragged himself out of the guest room bed and stumbled towards the bathroom, still more than three quarters asleep.
Audie, being the self proclaimed queen of the house, trouted out to the kitchen to be lauded with pets for doing her part to get the day moving.
Ten minutes later, May was joined in the kitchen by a still tired Buck. Luckily for the firefighter, coffee was already waiting for him, doctored and ready to be drunk as fast as possible.
By the time breakfast was eaten by the entire Grant-Nash(-Buckley) household, the sun was up, and Buck’s wedding day prep was in full swing.
The original plan for Buck and Eddie’s wedding had been to have a quick courthouse ceremony and no one would be the wiser. That had been immediately shot down by Bobby and Athena, who both made it clear that there were too many people who wanted to see this marriage happen.
Once the decision was made to have an actual ceremony, the next major goal was to find a place that would allow Audie to be present. Buck refused to not have Audie involved in the ceremony; after all, she’d been involved since the beginning of his relationship. She was going to be the ringbearer.
Of the several event spaces they toured, most would actually allow Audie to be present… with an abhorrent fee that cost almost as much as renting the venue. After the third one, Athena offered up her backyard and kitchen, which was almost immediately agreed to. Why spend an insane amount of money when he could get Bobby and Athena’s food for his wedding day?
The guest list was created next, which mostly just consisted of the 118, various friends they’d made around the LAFD and LAPD, Chimney and Maddie (and Jee-Yun the flower girl) from Boston, and their respective families. Buck’s parents had called to decline, only because Margaret was having a health scare of her own and her doctors were not recommending travel at this time. As they’d finally gone to therapy together and they were on a much more even keel, Buck was actually somewhat disappointed that they couldn’t come, though he did understand.
As for the Diazes, they made up the bulk of the family invitees, with only Christopher not joining the small audience, as he had the important role of being his father’s best man. That had been one of the easiest decisions made. The role also came with “taste-tester,” so the teenager and his friends weren’t arguing in the slightest.
The last decision had been one that Eddie left with Buck, as he knew how important it was to him. He waited until a calm night at the firehouse, maybe three days after the Grant-Nashes agreed to host the wedding at their home. After all, asking Bobby to officiate was something he felt strongly about, as the man had been a guiding force for him.
The plan was in place, the guest list had RSVPed, and now it was time for the festivities to begin.
If you asked Buck and Eddie, they couldn’t tell you what was said the entire time they stood in front of their family. The whole ceremony was something that felt like an out-of-body experience, worth every moment but also happening to someone else.
The backyard had easily shifted into a casual reception after the newly dubbed Buckley-Diaz couple walked back down the aisle, led by a prancing Audie (who still was acting like everyone was there for her, which, frankly, wasn’t exactly a lie if you ask the kids). Pretty much anyone that worked at the 118 who wasn’t in the wedding party had immediately volunteered to quickly help with the shift over, either setting up the tables or bringing out the hors d'oeuvre that Bobby had prepared ahead of time.
While Eddie and Chris took Audie inside to the guest room to give her a quick break (as she was getting just a bit too overstimulated from all the attention), Buck joined his mentor in the kitchen and helped finish off the simple buffet dinner they’d planned. He was joined by his husband (and wow, that was a word he never thought he’d ever get to say) just as the final dish was going out.
An hour later, a first dance shared among many others, the two handed over Audie’s leash to her loyal dog sitter to guard for their short honeymoon. They weren’t going far, just three nights at the Disneyland Hotel, with Christopher to join them the second night. (His wedding present to them was giving them the first night, to their absolute mortification.)
Before they hopped in Eddie’s truck - he won the coin toss - Buck got down on one knee in front of Audie and gave her a good scratch behind the ears. “You be good for Aislinn while we’re gone, okay Audie-girl?”
Audie gave her best woof, to the hilarity of everyone.
With one last good pet to their loyal companion, the newlyweds climbed into the truck and headed off into LA traffic and off to the Disney magic.