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She's not nervous, that's the nice thing.

Her dress is amazing and Carla Jean is an incredible help and all the ways in which her friends have assisted her in pulling this together are just so fantastic. Sometimes she has no idea what she did to deserve such cool people surrounding her, but whatever it is, Kate's glad she's done it, because with their help, this wedding is going to be everything she wants.

She'd never been the girl who had dreamed about her wedding. She'd never given it much thought because getting married had never really been on the agenda, but now that it's here, it's perfect. Her dress isn't traditional and neither are the floral arrangements. They're getting married on the boardwalk on Halloween, they've encouraged their guests to come in costume and, thanks to Olive's brilliant suggestion, they're serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

(And, okay, peanut-free alternatives, because Kate definitely doesn't want to accidentally kill anyone.)

The dinner and reception are going to be held at a nearby community hall, which has been decorated for something not quite a wedding and something not quite Halloween. Kate loves it. She loves all of it.

-

Newt, on the other hand, hasn't been able to stop bouncing off the walls all morning because he feels like he's been counting down to this day for freakin' ever. He'd woken up knowing that today's the day, like, the day, the one that's going to mean everything's different but somehow still the same because at the end of the day, he's going to love Kate as much as he does right now. They're just both going to be wearing rings on their fingers to show it. He keeps looking down at his ring finger, thinking about the fact that it's not going to be bare for much longer and that he really isn't afraid of that. He's heard of people getting cold feet, not that he'd bothered to care all that much because weddings have never been that interesting to him until now, right now, because this one's his own.

It's not until he sees her walk down the aisle in that dress she'd hidden so infuriatingly well from him that he finally feels this sense of calm rush over him. He hasn't been nervous, he hasn't been scared, he hasn't been feeling like maybe this is a bad idea or a huge mistake; but right now, everyone's eyes are on Kate and he can take this moment to feel like he and Kate are the only two people on this boardwalk. That's how it's always been, after all, she's always been able to make him feel that way, so it only keeps him sure that this is right.

-

She isn't nervous, not even when she takes his hands and realizes the actual terrifying part of this is about to start. But she's prepared. Kate, who doesn't prepare for much of anything in life, has prepared for this.

"I never figured this would be for me," she says, reaching out to take Newt's hands and for a second she looks at their linked fingers before lifting her gaze to his face. "I just never figured it would happen. People talked about being blind sided or just totally blown away by a person and it had never happened to me and I thought maybe they were just blowing things out of proportion, but then you walked into the train station and you completely blew me away. You were all these things I didn't even know I wanted until I met you."

She pauses, wrinkling her nose, because she does not want to cry during this, but it's starting to feel kind of inevitable. "You push me without pushing too hard and you believe in me without reservation and you love me with no conditions. When I think about my life, all I want is to be able to do the same things you do for me every day. I want to be here with you, I want to push you and believe in you and I'll love you unconditionally for the rest of my life. I'm not good at making promises because I tend to break a lot of them, but I can promise that without a second thought. I'll love you and I'll do my best to be good to you for all the time I have left."

-

He's so not going to cry, okay, he's just not going to do it. It's not because he's trying to be all macho or whatever, he'll get blubbery later when he doesn't actually have to be speaking words, but it's his turn now and Newt's trying to remember how to speak. He tells her he loves her every single day, kisses her good night even if he comes home from work late and she's already asleep, and it's something that has become a necessity to him.

"I wake up every day knowing how lucky I am that you decided I was worth your time," he starts, squeezing her hands in his own, and it's so goddamn hard not to just pull her into a kiss right here and now and whoever decided that couples should wait until after the whole ceremony thing is done with to kiss had to have been a complete tool because there's nothing more he wants to do right now than tug Kate closer and kiss her until he's out of breath. But vows first, he supposes, they're a thing that's important.

"Getting married wasn't on my bucket list. It wasn't something I thought was in the cards for me, it wasn't something I thought about, it wasn't something I thought I'd ever actually want. Being with you changed that. Being with you changed so much for me and the fact that you accepted me for who I am without any demands for change is just... It's beyond me. It's beyond everyone who knows me, I'm sure, and it's beyond my undying gratitude that someone as beautiful and funny and smart and incredible as you would want to be with someone as equally beautiful and funny and smart and incredible as me." He grins, pausing to give her a quick wink and smile before he wraps it up. "A year ago, you made me ridiculously happy by agreeing to be my girlfriend. You made this place somewhere I want to be, somewhere that's worth the stay. Today, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. As long as I get to be with you, I know I'll be happy. I love you. I'll always love you. And if we can just speed it up to the part where you're my wife and I can kiss you, that would be great."

-

They're kissing -- their first kiss as a married couple -- when she hears the first shriek. She thinks it's a Halloween prank or something and she ignores it, but then more screams rise and there's something on her foot and when Kate looks down and sees the most disgusting thing she's ever seen in her life trying to crawl up her dress, she just freezes.

"What the fuck," she wheezes and for a second it feels like she might pass out.

There's a goddamn monster on her foot and it's her wedding day and Kate is about ten seconds from screaming.

[Gathering post. Feel free to tag during the skin lice assault or at the reception afterwards, just specify in your tag! >:D]

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"I hear some congratulations are in order," Sawyer says, slipping by when Kate seems to have a spare moment to herself. A part of him is tempted to give her space to breathe on what's sure to be a chaotic day, but he also wants to make sure that he gets his best wishes across to both bride and groom before the night's out.

He even managed to follow costuming protocol, dressed as a pirate with Cleo all dolled up as a parrot. It's a nice costume that keeps her warm through the night, and she seems enamored with its bright colors, occasionally zoning out to trace along the seams.

"Kay!" Cleo calls out when she sees Kate, smiling toothlessly as she holds out a slightly damp hand.

"We've been practicin' that all night," Sawyer confesses.

While Kate has zero interest in ever having kids of her own, other kids still manage to be pretty cute and she grins at the sight of Sawyer and Cleo in their costumes. The fact that Cleo almost says her name is pretty goddamn sweet, too, and she laughs, smiling up at the two of them.

"Hey," she says brightly. "Thank you." She's not used to this, having so many people focused on her, and for all Kate loves attention, it's surprising just how different this is than the day to day. But there are only two people in this reception hall who just got married, so she knows it makes sense.

She reaches for Cleo's hand, tickling her palm, then grins at Sawyer. "How'd you like the bugs?"

"Y'know, I've seen stranger things," admits Sawyer with a good-natured snort, watching as Cleo shrieks with delight at the feather-light touch of fingertips to her palm. She turns sharply, flapping her costume's wings before retreating against the expanse of Sawyer's chest with a small murmur.

"As soon as I realized they weren't gonna harm Cleo, the rest wasn't so bad. Figure that it's like the city's way of givin' your kale juicer a wedding present," Sawyer says. "Though if he's more interested in those critters than that dress of yours, then I question his priorities."

"Kale juicer?" she echoes, her eyebrows pulling together at that comment. There's the rest of what Sawyer says and she totally agrees with him, although Newt's probably going to be distracted for at least a little while, but she's never heard anyone call him a kale juicer before. Or if she has, she's purposely forgotten it, because now she's just imagining Newt juicing kale and it makes for a strange picture.

"Why kale juicer?" she asks curiously. "Or do I totally not want to know?"

"Because I sure as heck can't pronounce those monsters he deals with worth a damn," Sawyer laughs, loudly enough to startle Cleo for a moment before she returns to busying herself with Kate's hands, grabbing onto a couple of her fingers. "What are they called? Kai joo? Whatever, I just know that he fights 'em with his smarts and his science know-how. Guess I got a better picture of what they might look like today than I ever had before, though. I always assumed all of them would look like old-time Godzilla movie material."

He shrugs. "It was just an easier way for me to try'n remember the details back when I first met him. I could think of a host of new nicknames by now for the guy."

"Ooh, like what?" Kate asks, because if he's got a bunch of nicknames for Newt, she totally wants to know them so she can use them against him at a later date. "Do you give nicknames to everyone? Do I have a nickname?"

If she does, she hopes it's a lot better than kale juicer. That's fine for Newt, but she totally deserves something way better than that.

"I do like giving nicknames. I ain't got one for you yet, though," admits Sawyer with a sheepish look. Kate has always just been Kate. Someone Sawyer met because of her initial proximity to Newt, and then had settled herself in his life exactly as she is. No frills, and uniquely her in a way that doesn't remind Sawyer immediately of anyone else.

Which is, in its own way, a sort of compliment.

"Shouldn't I be calling you Princess Hawkwind, anyway? Or Kara Zor-El. How much of a comics geek are you?"

"Did I tell you about that?" she asks, her eyes narrowing slightly, although it's playful. She's reached this super zen point about the whole Princess thing, at least partly because no one in Darrow really seems to care and partly because the most important person in her life not only knows, but thinks it's super hot.

"Or did Newt? Because I mean, whatever, it's fine either way, I was an awesome Princess Valhalla Hawkwind." And she totally recognizes now that Lynda had been using her, but it's not like Kate hadn't completely returned the favour. It's fine, none of that bugs her anymore.

"Might have heard it from a certain someone," Sawyer says noncommittally with a grin. He knows that Newt tends to talk a mile a minute at the best of times, and the topic of his wife might be one of the things he's always the most excited to share about. He may not know what the whole Valhalla Hawkwind situation looks like, but the name itself lends enough of an idea.

"Anyway, I don't doubt you'd rock an alter-ego. Though Zor-El might be closer. Can't tell. Haven't seen you with the Hawkwind look," he muses, tilting his head in mock thought.

"I don't know who that is," Kate says and she laughs at the tilt of Sawyer's head, because there's no way he has of knowing just how revealing the Hawkwind costume is, but she's pretty sure Newt would at least like, try to punch him if he saw that look combined with the knowledge of what they're talking about. "But the Princess is pretty much for Newt's eyes only these days. She's not exactly the most subtle of characters and she likes her shorts short and her boots pretty damn high."

She's mostly managed to recreate the costume here in Darrow, but that had been just for Newt. For his birthday. She hasn't broken it out again since then.

"Also known as Supergirl. Who doesn't look a thing like Clark Kent, but I'm pretty sure they're cousins. She's got the whole flowing blonde hair thing goin' on," Sawyer says, reaching out subconsciously to ruffle Kate's hair, before he realizes that that might be just about the worst idea on her wedding day, when she's clearly put effort into her appearance.

"Anyway. I get it. There are some views that are just for Newt," he adds, bouncing Cleo a little more on his hip, eliciting a sudden giggle from the baby. "You gotta have some weapon in your back pocket to pull him back from those bugs."

"Eh, Newt's pretty easy," she says with a grin and a shrug. "My secret weapon is just called boobs. It does wonders on him." Or legs, come to think of it, or ass. Newt's actually pretty appreciative of everything she's got going on, which Kate knows is kind of a lot. It could be overwhelming to some guys, but not Newt and while she totally renders him speechless sometimes, it's not like he doesn't turn around and do the same to her.

"But I could totally be Supergirl," she adds after a moment. "Next Halloween maybe, since this one I'm apparently a cat bride," she continues, pointing at the cat ears. It's not as creative as her costume from last year, but she loves her dress.

"You can be Supergirl, and this one will be... I don't know, Batgirl or Wonder Woman or something that ain't too uncomfortable for a two-year-old. That right?" Sawyer asks, bumping Cleo on his hip until she bursts into laughter again, though her eyes are fixed on Kate's cat ears, hands reaching tentatively in their general direction.

"Unless she decides to steal your idea for next year. Turn your cat bride into a copy cat."

"Good thing I already know that being copied is the highest compliment one can be paid," Kate says, reaching up to pluck the cat ears off her head. She can steal Newt's hat or something and be a cowgirl bride, but Cleo is way too seriously cute for her to deny her something like the cat ears on her head.

She smiles, passing them to the little girl, letting her feel the fuzzy edges of the ears. "They might not fit her just yet."

With an excited intake of air, Cleo grabs onto the fuzzy ears, holding them clumsily in both hands and on the verge of stuffing one in her mouth. However, after locking gazes with Kate, Cleo stops, then raises them to her head. It's awkward, and she doesn't quite get the angle right to keep them there, but it's close enough that Sawyer can't help but laugh with pride.

"Well, we already knew that she'd have big shoes to fill, learning from you," he says, giving Kate a warm smile.

"Oh, dude, I am probably not the role model you want your daughter to have," she answers, her eyes widening slightly as she shakes her head. Kate's made bad decision after bad decision for a good chunk of her life and she's only just now getting her shit together, it seems. A lot of that is due to Newt. The way he makes her feel like she can do anything if she just tries a little harder. No one has ever made her feel that way before.

"I was like, all sorts of fucked up for ages," she says. "She should look up to women like... like Hermione. She's brilliant and she's totally got her shit together."

"Well, she's already got a pretty fucked up dad who barely managed to pull his shit together," Sawyer points out, glad for the moment that Cleo has no idea of what's being talked about. There will come a time, he thinks, when he'll have to be able to share with Cleo all the details about his past. He hopes that he can put that time off for a little longer.

"Look, as far as I'm concerned, the journey's pretty important. Now, I know some folks magically have life figured out from the day they're born, but around here? I ain't gonna be so optimistic. As long as my Clementine knows how to get back on her feet, then that's all I need. And you seem to be real good at that."

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