Ch.27

Our time in Spain flew by with Alex and I having found some time alone thanks to my Grandpa and Dad being wingmen. Then we all headed back to the airport to go home after bidding goodbye to my family. We arrived back home a day after Alex's family came home from Vacation. So, Alex was able to go home and get some rest to help fix her jet lag. 

Nothing much else of great importance happened the next month, with Cam and Mitchell's wedding approaching now. California made Gay marriages legal in the last year and so Cam and Mitchell have been planning it for the last few months. My family was invited to the wedding too. 

On the day of the wedding, my family had everything ready, we just needed to wait to get changed into our fancy clothes for the ceremony. Then as I was doing some final touches on my Harvard College Essay I wrote the things I know will make me stand out. Plus I was editing Alex's essay since she sent it to me too to look over. 

'Gabe, I need your help. Can you come over please,' Alex texted me as I was doing a third read-through of our essays to make sure everything was perfect. 

'Sure,' I text her back yelling to my parents I was going over to the Dunphy's real quick to help with something. 

'Bring your car too please,' Alex texts me right as I step outside to walk over. With a sigh I walk back inside my house to grab my car keys and then drive over the few streets apart we are. 

Walking over to the front door, I knock on it as I hear the usual chaos inside the house going on. 

"Gabe, why are you knocking? You basically live here too, just walk in dude," Luke says to me answering the door with Claire yelling at Luke about something school-related. 

"Hi to you too Luke," I say with a laugh as he rolls his eyes at his Mom before walking upstairs to his room. 

"Hey Gabe," Claire says before walking upstairs after Luke continues to berate him. 

"Hi, Mrs.Dunphy," I say since Claire never told me to call her by her first name like Phil. 

"The big dawg is here!" I hear Phil say while walking around bumping into things and wearing large black glasses, the ones someone wears when they get their eyes worked on. Alex was right behind Phil with a look of annoyance on her face. 

"Hey Phil, Alex," I say to them as Alex just gives me a look like 'help me' as I hold back laughing. 

"So, uhm, isn't today Mitchell and Cam's wedding? Why did you get, whatever happened with your eyes today?" I say as I look at Phil wondering why the man would schedule this on today of all days, especially knowing the wedding was today. 

"I know right? But I originally scheduled it for later, but something happened about the Doctor being unable to do it then and had to do it now. So, I couldn't really wait longer, especially since Claire has been bugging me about it," Phil says to me with a shrug as I look at Alex who is shaking her head with a defeated look on her face. 

"Whatever, Gabe, for some reason Dad needs to run to the store. So I was wondering if you could help watch him as we shop," Alex says treating her Dad like he is a kid, which granted he acts like one at times. 

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Phil says with an annoyed face. 

"Oh, so I am the ride too. I get it," I say with a faked hurt look, as Alex rolls her eyes walking outside ignoring my faked look. 

"You and me Gabe, both fell in love with women who are just grouchy sometimes. Am I right?" Phil says as I help him walk over to my car, and I laugh hearing him. Alex looks over to us with a confused look not knowing what her Dad just said. 

I helped Phil get into my Car as Alex was sitting in the back so her Dad could sit in the front. Then I drove us to the store that Phil for some reason needed to stop at to buy some things. Alex and I helped Phil walk into the store as Alex impatiently asked her Dad what he needed. 

"I feel like Han Solo after he was just released from the carbonite," Phil says looking around with his eyes still messed up. 

"These are not the hats you are looking for," I say trying to mimic the voice of Obi-Wan since Phil was looking at these hats in the store. We then both laugh referencing Star Wars. 

"Is that from Star Trek?" Alex says making Phil and I both look at her with very hurt faces. 

"Alex! What?! You've never seen Star Wars?!" I say as Alex gives me a confused look as Phil just sighs. 

"No, she never learned about the beauty of Star Wars. Gabe as her boyfriend I ask you to make her watch it. She would never watch it if I tried to make her," Phil says as Alex glares at us both. 

"Can we please just get what we need and leave?" Alex says with an annoyed face and voice. 

"Ok, ok… but first Gabe let's try on some hats," Phil says grabbing one of the weird hats they are selling in the store as I chuckle and grab one. 

"Oh my God!" Alex says with a defeated sigh and rolling her eyes. 

"She is a little more grouchy than usual if you catch my meaning," Phil whispers to me as we are messing around trying on the weird hats. 

"What?!" Alex says as I look back at her then shake my head before agreeing with Phil. 

After a few more moments of messing around with the hats, especially since Alex was giving us a very annoyed look we stopped. Then we headed to the entrance to purchase what Phil needed from the store. Arriving at the front we see a very long line and only one cashier ringing people up. Alex has an extremely annoyed look on her face seeing this. 

"I hate you both so much right now," Alex says giving a very heavy sigh. 

"Love you too," I say pulling her into a hug as she resists very little before grumbling as I hug her. 

"Awe!! I can't wait for your guy's wedding. I will definitely make sure my eyes work then!" Phil says not really seeing us hug but hearing what I said. 

"Dad!!" Alex says with a very red face embarrassed and gives me a look as I smile at her. Seeing that I am unfazed has her face go even more red somehow, seeing that I am not denying what her Dad said. 

"What?" Phil says trying to look at Alex with a confused look. 

"N-Nothing!" Alex says as we just stand in line and finally get out of there to head back home. 

Then I head home to finish getting ready since helping Phil and Alex took longer than I thought it would have. Once I was ready I picked up Alex from her house and we all headed there. Arriving at the designated place of the wedding, just like in the show a nearby Fire made the Fire Marshal evacuate the area. No matter what pleading, Mitchell, Cam, or Pepper did would change the fact we all had to leave. 

Then to make matters worse Cam and Mitchell's best girl friend whom they call Sal, water broke as her baby was coming. Then she had to be taken to the hospital meanwhile Pepper was doing his best to find a new venue for the wedding. Pepper then found another place that could hold the wedding at the last minute change. 

Everyone then drove there, Phil said he got ordained and could do the wedding ceremony instead of Sal who is now giving birth at the hospital. Alex told me that a few days ago when her Dad was waiting to get his certificate to ordain the wedding, he practiced his speech on Manny and Luke. The two said 'I do' which in a way could have made them married if they got a marriage license. Also, it appeared Cam's parents were having some issues as the two were not talking to one another. 

On the good side, the new location for the wedding was beautiful. As was Barb, who was wearing Jay's jacket found the flask he had in the pocket. She was feeling no pain and Merle was no closer to taking her back. Naturally, Mitchell was unhappy with Jay since they were already on shaky terms. Claire had the rings and the wedding license, so that couldn't be screwed up. Haley was nowhere in sight, though if like the show she would be making her way to the coffee shop where Andy was still waiting for his flight.

It was almost time for the ceremony. Cam was relieved because he thought Mitchell would freak out at all the bad signs of the day and Jay having to convince him none of this was a sign not to get married. After all, there was fire, dark skies, and a flood if you count Sal's water breaking. Although the wedding party coming in who supposedly canceled might be.

This made everyone then head over to Cam and Mitchell's house since everything seemed to be falling apart. All we can hope is that the caterer shows up there as Pepper is talking with them now. Alex texted Haley that we would be going to their Uncles' house for the ceremony since Haley was still not at the second location. Haley confirmed she was heading there now. 

Arriving at Cam and Mitchell's house, my Mom and Gloria try to play marriage counselor with Merle and Barb, and Alex confronts Haley about texting Andy. It seems Alex wants to make sure Haley is serious about him and not just playing around. 

"Here's the thing about nice, quiet dorks like Andy, you get over us faster than we get over you," Alex says to Haley as I give her a confused look since I have no idea where she is getting this information from. 

"What? Sarah told me about her boyfriend who dumped her and forgot about her like a few days after the breakup," Alex says to me seeing my look as I nod my head since she is referencing one of her friends. 

"What are you saying that I would forget about him if we started dating?" Haley says with a confused look as Alex sighs.

"No, I meant that you are the uhm… popular girl and he is the dork. So if you guys do date, it would be harder on him should you break up," Alex says to her sister as I think about the possible future with the two and know that Andy was the one to break up with Haley. 

The two then bicker a bit more before the ceremony finally starts. Lily was the flower girl with only one flower, and the arch under which they'd be married was being held up by two of Pepper's helpers. Claire looked like she could win a wet t-shirt contest and Jay was outside on the phone not knowing the ceremony had begun. Cam offered to go get him, but Mitchell said they should just go. Though my Dad ran outside to get Jay who came inside quickly for the ceremony to continue. 

"Stop, you can't do this!" Jay says with a voice like someone who wants the wedding to not happen, then again Jay is normally hard to read. 

"Yeah, way ahead of you, Dad. Thank you for stopping by…" Mitchell says with a very angry face at his Dad since he thinks Jay has never approved of the two of them being together. 

"What I mean is you can't get married like this. You two deserve the kind of wedding you've been talking about non-stop for the last nine months. Now, what are we all standing around for?!" Jay says as we all then once again move to another location for the wedding. 

Jay takes everybody over to his country club, has everything catered, and even gets a new string quartet because the original lost two of its members to volunteer firefighting and another to flipping over in the caterer's truck. Besides, a wedding like this was just the shake-up the club needed. Jay found Mitchell at the back of the chairs ready to walk up and Mitch wanted him to get to his seat.

Jay escorts Mitchell down the aisle. And Merle couldn't let Jay get away with that, so he goes to escort Cameron down the aisle...much to Barb's delight. And Gloria didn't feel like being left out, so she helped escort Mitchell as well. Phil started the ceremony. Vitamin String Quartet's cover of 'Home' by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros plays as they walk down the aisle.

"Thank you all for being here on this happy occasion. They say the best marriages contain just a little bit of magic.," Phil says giving Claire a quick smile before the rest of the wedding continues on and very nicely at that.