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5th August 2009
It was finally here. They’d waited so, so long to get married, and finally enough strings had been pulled to allow it and get it underway. Nik didn’t mind when or where, he just needed it to finally happen. But when he shared the idea of the wedding being the date they’d met, it felt perfect. It worked well, too, given they’d wanted all their kids there, so it falling in the summer holidays was a blessing. Farah got to have a bit of fun before dreading her A Level results — they all had absolutely faith that she’d done amazing, though.
The only agonising part of the planning for Nikolai was deciding what it was he wanted to wear. He adamantly refused to wear just a normal suit, and it was a toss up between his dress uniform — still kept hidden away at the back of the wardrobe — or as traditional as he could get with a groom’s outfit from Russia. Knowing it would likely clash with other things, he opted to find an excuse to wear it another time, deciding to go with his dress uniform. John would just have to behave himself as best he could during the ceremony.
They weren’t having a large ceremony, or even a large reception. It was just their family and close trusted friends. John’s parents, Laswell and her new wife — Nikolai had taken to calling them ‘the Kates’ — Kamarov, Yegor, Iwan and his family, and Eilene and her boy Luke. Barely twenty people in all. They’d just be having the small ceremony, then back to their house for celebrations after. It was certainly big enough to house everyone, and the kids could go off to their rooms if they needed a quiet moment.
Traditions weren’t necessarily adhered to leading up to it. Neither of them believed in the ‘bad luck’ surrounding seeing your intended prior to the wedding, so they’d spent the night sleeping in each other's arms. They’d be getting dressed in separate rooms though, wanting a quiet, intimate ‘first look’ moment between them. Nor were they jittery, nervous. They’d been through far worse, finally becoming husbands would be a walk in the park compared to everything else. The kids had spent the night at Nanny and Grandad Mac’s, and the service wasn’t set to be until 2pm, so they could enjoy their morning together. Ordinarily, Nik knew John would’ve looked for any excuse to pounce him, but they were perfectly content lazing there for now.
Their body clock had them up early, as per usual. They were used to having to care for little babies and toddlers every morning — not that either of them minded. Going a little sleepless of a morning was nothing new to them, it came with their work. Still, not being bothered by kids sprinting in and bouncing on them was a novelty. Nik, for once, is able to roll over upon waking up naturally to keep himself curled up against John, burying his head into his neck to block out the sunlight daring to attempt to wake him up. He receives a small noise from John, feeling his hand come up to soothingly rub his back, hoping to calm his ire towards the sun then. It doesn’t take long for Nik to slip back into a peaceful sleep then, a smile dancing on his lips as he drifts off.
Awakening a few hours later, Nik finds himself alone. His momentary confusion is relieved upon hearing the shower going. Still, then he’s annoyed John had the audacity to abandon him to shower and not invite him. The cheek! Did the man even know his very soon to be husband?!
The thought alone washes away any faux-outrage Nik had, giving way to a wide smile. He flops himself back against the back, sighing happily as he closes his eyes again, happy to doze off whilst waiting for John. They’d be married in — Nik cracks open an eye to glance at the clock — two hours! Years of waiting, the day was finally here. Now it was just an agonising two hours that Nik could sense would pass at a snail’s pace, even with them needing to get ready and drive to the venue. It would be worth it in the end. More than worth it. Being able to be the husband of John Price, actually be Nikolai Price, would be worth all the waiting in the world.
Having the duvet pulled away from, Nik can’t help the indignant noise that leaves him, despite letting it happen. “You need a shower, mister,” came a voice from somewhere above him, making Nik smile. “I’ll get Katya on the phone to call you Stinky Papa to get you up.”
Nik just pouts his lips for a kiss. “I am in need of a kiss to wake me up, luchik .” The moment he feels John’s lips pressed to his, he opens his eyes long enough to coordinate wrapping his arms around John to pull him down. Luckily, the other man wasn’t in his own uniform yet, still being wrapped in a towel. It’s John’s turn to let out an indignant noise then as he’s dragged, but laughs all the same. “Should’ve known, you cheeky bastard.”
Nik lets him up then with a kiss to the side of his head, getting up himself to head through to the bathroom, pressing a kiss to the side of John’s head as he does. Being thorough with washing himself once he’s in the shower, he starts humming to himself. A familiar song, one he remembers hearing thirteen years ago to the day in Berlin. He knows John hears him, as well as recognises the song, because he hears “you sap!” being shouted at him through the bathroom door, causing him to start laughing and lose his place in the song.
He emerges a while later, drying the last remnants off and placing his towel in the laundry basket as he heads through to their room. He’d won the battle of being able to get changed in there, John having relegated himself to changing in the spare room across the hallway. Nik could hear him in there now, cursing the buttons, making sure to quietly laugh so John didn’t hear him. He knew the laugh would come back to bite him on the arse when it came to getting his own on.
Looking at himself in the mirror after finally getting all the buttons to play nice, his tie to sit right, along with his jacket, he doesn’t quite know what to think of himself. It’s been years since he’s worn this, and he feels as though he’s got a complete stranger staring back at him. He sees his younger self there, grinning widely. For a moment Nik thinks he’s just smiling because he’s in his dress uniform, he’s so proud to be all dressed up, but no. He remembers being a little disillusioned back then — it’s why he was convinced to at least just see what the Ultranationalists were doing, by his old. . . friend — but still proud to be in uniform. No. He’s proud to see the man he’ll become more than anything. He’ll have a family. A home. A place to belong. And now, a husband . The thought of his younger self actually seeing him makes tears breach Nik’s eyes, frantically wiping them away as he hears John knocking on the door.
“Come on, I’ve waited long enough to see ya in that thing.” His demand makes Nik laugh, wiping away any evidence of tears then as he goes to the door. He can hear John taking in a sharp breath in anticipation, deciding to make him wait a moment longer, pulling open the door after a beat has passed before John decides to rip it from its hinges to get a good look at him.
He knows that despite that deep intake of air, John’s breath is still taken away. Looking Nik up and down, he bites his lip, grinning up at him once he looks back up at his face. “Even better than your usual uniform.”
Stepping back, he gives Nik a little twirl then, showing off the rest of his own uniform. “What do you think? Still suits me?” Nik answers by wrapping his arms around John’s waist, pulling him into a deep kiss. Knowing not to get carried away, he pulls back after a moment, smiling widely at him. “As handsome as ever, solnyshko .”
Ripped from their sweet moment, they hear a car horn outside, making Nikolai laugh. Of course Yegor refuses to get out and just knock on the door. Linking their hands together, they make their way downstairs, John making sure to grab his keys for later. Stepping outside, letting John close and lock the front door, Nik spreads his arms out to show off to Yegor. Yegor just shrugs, “you could look better,” but his words are said with a grin. He jerks his head to the car, indicating for them to get in, but Nik turns around to look up at the house one last time.
This is the last time he leaves as Nikolai. When he returns later, he’ll be Nikolai Price .