Forever
by Kate Bolin

"What I give...you must hold...forever..."
--Human Drama

From the diary of Willow Rosenberg, written October 3rd, 2009:

I've been in the hospital for a week and I'm about to go insane. I'm so glad I'm going home tonight. Well not Los Angeles-home, but the place I had lived up until seven months ago. Giles has said that we can stay as long as we need to, but I know that Cordelia needs to go back as soon as she can.

I haven't seen her today. And I miss her. I didn't realize how much I loved her until after Jenny's birth, and now when she doesn't appear, I don't know what to do without her.

Willow stood outside of the bedroom, frowning slightly. "C'mon, Cordelia....let me in..." She sighed. "Cordelia, this is hardly to way to treat me the night I get back from the hospital..."

The door slowly opened. Willow blinked a few times. "Huh...it worked!" She then looked up at Cordelia, who was blocking the doorway. "Cordy...what's going on?"

Cordelia smiled lightly, leaning forward to kiss Willow tenderly on the lips. "Close your eyes," she whispered quietly.

Willow frowned, but closed her eyes.

Cordelia took her hand and walked her into the bedroom. After a few steps, she stopped Willow. "You can open your eyes now," she said, her voice low and quiet.

Willow slowly opened her eyes and gasped. "Oh my..."

The room was lit by over a two dozen candles, giving the entire room a soft underlit glow.

Willow looked at Cordelia in surprise. "What's going on?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Cordelia smiled tenderly. "I just wanted to give you something special tonight." She waved her hands around. "So what do you think?"

Willow looked around in amazement. "I...I don't know what to say."

Cordelia smiled lightly. "Don't say anything. Just know that....I love you. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life." She pulled out the small box. "Will you marry me?"

Willow blinked, then slowly sat on the edge of the bed. "I....." She swallowed. "I don't know what to say..."

Cordelia smiled tenderly. "Yes would be a good answer."

Willow blinked some more. "Yes! Of course!" She sniffled. "Oh my God... Oh Cordelia... Oh..." Willow blinked back a few tears. "Oh Cordelia, I never thought..." She stood up and wrapped her arms around Cordelia. "I...I love you..."

Cordelia picked the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Willow's finger. "I love you too..."

The newly engaged couple kissed passionately.

 

From aint-it-cool-news, October 28th, 2009:

"Chase to star in big budget vampire flick."

Cordelia Chase, last seen in the blockbuster "Overdrive", has been contracted to be the star in the movie "Tiffany the Vampire Killer", written by Jess Wydon and directed by Luke Wright. This is her first starring role, and current reports are that she almost didn't get it because of her current relationship with a former high school friend. But after Anne Heche won the Oscar for "The Bell Jar", lesbians are IN.

The plot involves a college girl who kills vampires in her spare time. Despite the title, rumors have it that it's actually quite frightening. Rumors are also abounding about a possible wedding coming up for Chase, who will begin shooting on, appropriately enough, Halloween.

 

Xander fidgeted with the small box in his hands. "I don't know about this..." He looked up at his former high school sweetheart. "I mean...you're a girl..can you really have a best man?"

Cordelia laughed as she ran a brush through her long hair. "Xander...if Willow is having Oz as her...well...man of honor, I guess, then you can be my best man." She started putting her hair up. "Besides, who else would I want?"

Xander looked down, blushing slightly. "I just...I don't know...it's weird. I mean, I was sitting around the store, trying to figure out how many crates of ice skates to purchase and whether or not it'd be cold enough and I get a phone call saying 'Hey, Xander, Willow said yes. Wanna be my best man?'. And now I'm here and it's like a whole Hollywood wedding and I just don't know what to say anymore so I'll shut up now." He stood there, quiet.

Cordelia laughed again. "Xander...you'll be fine..." She stood up, facing him. "How do I look?"

Xander looked at Cordelia critically. She wore a long offwhite silk slip dress with a thin pale blue gauze shift over it. Her long brown hair was up, pinned with a small pearl hairpin, and a matching pearl necklace was around her throat. He blinked a few times. "If I was still dating you, I would have gone nonverbal," he said.

He blinked a few more times when he saw her actually blushing. "Thanks," she said quietly. She looked up at him, the look that he had seen several times while they were dating, the look of fashion critic. She looked over him critically, noting the cobalt blue silk shirt and black slacks. "You look great..." she finally said.

Xander blushed. "Thanks." He paused for a second. "Oh! You're missing something," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. "I know it's normally the brides who get to do the whole 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue', but since you have three out of four, I thought you could borrow something from me." He held out the penny. "I know that silver is traditional, or, at least it is in all the weddings I go to, but, well, it's all I have right now." At Cordelia's blank stare, he continued. "It goes in your shoe. And it's good luck, to like make the marriage prosperous or something like that. And I figured...well.." He blushed slightly.

Cordelia took the penny. "Thank you, Xander," she said, her eyes shining. "You....You're a great friend...and I don't think I've ever told you that."

Xander looked down at the floor, blushing heavily. "Willow's very lucky..."

Cordelia gave herself one last look in the mirror. "No, I am." She turned towards him. "Ready?"

 

Willow peeked out from behind the screen. "Ready?"

Giles and Oz looked up from playing with Jenny. "Oh...oh yes...let's see how it looks..." Giles said.

Willow stepped out from behind the screen, smiling shyly. The long lace vintage white gunnysack dress made a perfect wedding dress, and the cloche on her head matched perfectly, her red hair curling out under it. She looked like she was straight out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. She was beautiful. Willow blushed a little at their gazes. "Do I look okay?" she asked shyly.

Oz looked directly at her. "You look beautiful," he said, his voice soft.

Giles' gaze stayed on Willow for nearly a minute, then he suddenly blinked. "Y-Yes...you are...." He looked at her with an amazed look in his eyes. "Very beautiful..."

Oz held up Jenny. "See, Jenny? Your mama's dressed up so nicely for her wedding..."

Willow grinned. "Oz....she's barely a month old...I don't think she knows what is going on..."

Oz shrugged, his shoulders rippling under the green silk. "I like to think she does." He looked up at her. "Do you have everything?"

Willow looked down. "Shoes...dress...hat...Yeah..."

Oz chuckled. "Don't you remember, Willow? 'Something old, something new, something borrow, something blue'? It's good luck..."

Willow looked at him in surprise. "I didn't even think about it! Do you think it's bad? Like, I'm cursing my wedding?"

Giles chuckled. "No, I doubt it's that drastic." He looked at her. "The dress is old, obviously...and I'll assume the shoes are new..." He searched around the room. "Now for something blue..."

"Here," Oz said, handing Giles a blue ribbon. Willow looked at him questioningly. "Sheila thought you might forget and told me to bring this. Therefore, blue. And borrowed. So you're all set." He leaned forward, tying the ribbon around her hat. When he was finished, he stepped back slightly. "You look so wonderful..." he said quietly, caressing her cheek.

Willow blushed. "I...I can't believe I'm doing this," she said softly.

Oz just smiled. "Ready?"

Willow nodded, then looked around. "Okay...Giles, you'll walk me down the aisle...and Oz, you'll hold Jenny?"

"And be your Man of Honor, yes." He picked Jenny up from the blanket she had been resting on. "C'mon, Jenny," he said to her. "Mama's getting married."

 

The couple met in the center of their backyard, surrounded by friends and family. Cordelia's eyes were shining as she looked at Willow -- her Willow -- walking down the aisle, her eyes just as shining.

Willow walked up to where the minister stood, her face beaming. Cordelia leaned slightly in. "You look gorgeous," she whispered quietly.

Willow beamed and faced the minister. The woman stood in front of them, smiling widely. "I always love to do weddings. Marriage helps to make a bond of love even stronger, and when it is a couple as young and as in love as this, it makes it all the more better." The woman looked down at the two women in front of her. "So without further ado..." She turned to Cordelia. "Do you, Cordelia Chase, take this woman, Willow Rosenberg, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, in wealth and poverty, through the good times and the bad times, until death do you part?"

Cordelia looked at Willow and smiled tenderly. "I do." She took the ring from Xander and slipped it onto Willow's shaking hand.

The minister turned to Willow. "And, you, Willow Rosenberg, do you take this woman, Cordelia Chase, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, through the good times and the bad times, until death do you part?"

Willow looked directly at Cordelia, her eyes glittering with tears. "I do," she said, her voice barely carrying. She took the ring from Oz and slipped it onto Cordelia's hand, often coming close to dropping it more than once.

The minister grinned. "Then, by the power invested in me by the state of California and the Metropolitan Church, I pronounce you married. Congratulations!"

The audience burst into applause as the couple kissed, Cordelia's arms wrapping around her newly-wedded wife. "I'm so happy..." she whispered. "I love you."

Willow smiled. "I love you too..." The couple kissed again.

 

From Entertainment World, November 6th, 2009:

"Yes, it's true, Cordelia Chase has tied the knot!

"The lucky bride was Willow Rosenberg, a friend from all the way in high school. After re-meeting at their high school reunion, this happy couple was unseparable! And now, it's official, they were married at a private ceremony at Chase's Hollywood Hills house, and we have the pictures!"

*flash of images from the Rosenberg-Chase wedding*

"You might remember our interview with the happy couple back in May, where Cordelia said that she hoped her relationship wouldn't be a hinderance to her career. Well, as luck would have it, she's currently filming "Tiffany the Vampire Killer" and from what Entertainment World has been told, it's going to be a hit! We wish them luck!"