From This Moment....... (Oliver, Michaels family, Racliffe family and Guests)

Cathy was so nervous as she started dressing. Today was the day of her dreams. Today she was going to be changing from Cathy Radcliffe to Cathy Michaels. She looked at herself in her mirror and wondered how it was that she was so lucky to have managed to earn the love of the wonderful man she was marrying.

She smiled as she remembered meeting Oliver Michaels after she'd divorced Martin Radcliffe. He'd made her feel like a queen, and Cathy would forever be grateful to him for that, and to Shelby Marks for getting them together for their first date. She would love her best friend forever for working at the Ministry when Oliver had before he'd become the Charms teacher at Hogwarts and started teaching their respective, soon to become joint, children; Asthon, Max, and Matthew.

She pulled her makeup case to her, thinking that she needed to speak with him about something, but she didn't want to think about that today. Today was their day. They were going to become husband and wife in a few short hours, and she didn't want anything to upset him, or her. Because when she was upset, the baby moved around more than she usually did.

Cathy received a little kick as a reminder for her to get moving, or she was going to be late for her own wedding. She lay her hand on her swollen stomach with a chuckle. Her child with Oliver wanted to see this wedding go off without a hitch, the same as her parents did. And her mummy wasn't going to disappoint her if she could help it.

"All right, baby. I'm getting ready now." She patted where she felt a little elbow poking her, and the baby stilled to go back to sleep. Cathy started on her makeup, chosing to keep it simple instead of elaborate. Her dress was supposed to be the showpiece, not her makeup. Well, Cathy knew that Oliver wouldn't care if she were marrying him in a potato sack, but she didn't want to actually appear before their guests in one.

She finished her makeup and stood, moving over to where her gown hung in a garment bag on a hook. Now was the moment that she'd find out if she was going to look like a giant marshmallow as she'd feared she would. Both Oliver and Shelby had told her that she'd be beautiful, but Cathy had her doubts. She didn't know why this dress had struck her more than any other at first, but then she thought that she wanted to look her best for the man she was marrying. He would, of course for her, he always did. He could be in his pajamas and unshaven, and she would think he was the most stunning man she'd ever seen. That, there was proof enough to her love for him.

Oh, she couldn't wait until their wedding began! But she had started wondering where Shelby was. She'd said that she'd be arriving early to help the bride get ready for the wedding. And since she was the Matron-of-Honor, she should be arriving soon.

Sure enough, there came a knock at the door.

(OOC: Think it should go to Shelby next, then we'll work through the other members?)

Shelby had butterflies in her stomach, and she wasn't even the one getting married! But she could remember her own wedding, and she was just over the moon with happiness for her best friend. She had tried to get to Cathy's as soon as was humanly possible, but she had recently discovered that her morning sickness was not completely gone. She wasn't sure if she just wasn't eating enough, or healthily enough, rather; or perhaps it was just because her twins moved around so much that she was experiencing motion sickness. But whatever the case may have been, she had spent a good twenty minutes of her morning throwing up. So she had prepared herself by taking a potion that Randall had given her, so now she felt on top of her game and ready to assist Cathy.

She rushed through the floo and went directly to the master bedroom. She wasn't sure where Oliver was, but she knew she would kick his arse if he was anywhere close by. Cathy was the bride and he was NOT allowed to see her until she walked down that aisle. Even if Shelby had to take him down with a spell, that tradition would hold. She smiled as she knocked on the door, then she beamed at Cathy.

"You look absolutely beautiful! And now I get to help you with your dress, Mrs. Michaels!"

She pulled her friend into her arms, once again pressing her pregnant abdomen against Cathy's and allowing their children to have a prenatal play date. She couldn't wait for Cathy to be married! Oliver and her were so happy, they deserved to have the most beautiful, most congenial marriage in the world. Except for her own...maybe. She smiled to herself and pulled back.

"Let's get you dressed in white, girl!"

But then her eyes widened and she gasped.

"Oh my God, I almost forgot!"

She pulled out a tiny bag and giggled like a little girl. Then she slowly began pulling out small little items and holding them in her hands for Cathy to see.

"Something old...This belonged to my grandmother, and I thought you could use it, if you wanted to."

Hair Comb

"It would also be borrowed, but I wanted you to have four things, just to preserve tradition and all of that. Okay. Here is something new."

Earrings

She smiled and placed the tiny diamonds in Cathy's hands.

"Don't worry, Oliver helped me buy these, so I won't be getting a divorce because of how much was spent," she grinned. "Now for something borrowed."

For this, she had to look around once more to make sure they were completely alone. Then she took out a small vial of warming intimacy oil.

"This stuff is absolutely fantastic, and you can only get it from Persia, so it is expensive as hell. So yeah...I'll need it back. But you can definitely use it on your honeymoon," she winked.

"And last, but not least...something blue."

She pulled out a tiny bit of lace she had taken from one of her tablecloths at home, and tied the trinket around Cathy's pinky finger.

"There, now. You are completely ready to become Mrs. Cathy Michaels," she said, smiling and tears filled her eyes as she pulled the wedding dress into her arms.

"Well...almost. You kind of have to get dressed first."

Shelby

Cathy's eyes filled with touched tears. Her friend had remembered! She, herself, had totally forgotten the old rhyme, but Shelby had remembered it for her. She fingered the scrap of lace tied around her finger and gave a small watery smile. Shelby was the best friend that she'd ever had. She hugged her tightly, feeling the baby start moving around again, seeming to be trying to reach her friends and wanting to play with them.

She pulled back, chuckling. "I guess that the babies know that they're going to be best friends growing up," she said, wiping tears from her eyes. "I didn't mess up my make up, did I?" She turned to look in the mirror and made the minor corrections that she needed to do, then turned back to Shelby and stripped off her robe, standing before her friend in her long slip, ready for her to slide the dress over her head. She still had her hair to do, but that wouln't take long, she was sure. It was more that she was getting excited about going to meet Oliver at the alter and saying the vows that would turn her from his fiancée into his wife.

She looked down and saw that her hands were shaking slightly. She was so nervous! She'd done this before, but this time, she knew she was with the person that she was meant to spend her life with.

And now that she was thinking of him, Cathy wanted to see her beloved. She knew that Shelby wouldn't allow it, she was a firm believer in the bride not being seen by the groom before the wedding. But where did she stand on the bride seeing him?

"Shel, have you seen Oliver yet today?"

Shelby finished slipping the gorgeous dress over Cathy's head, then zipped it up for her friend. But her face took on a stern look, and she walked around to stand in front of Cathy. She was smirking slightly, but she hoped the effect would be the same.

"Cathy almost-Michaels, you are not allowed to see him right now. It is very dangerous! Even if you snuck up behind him, he could turn and see you in a second! No, I will not allow it. I am your wedding Nazi today. And if you or Oliver try to see each other before the ceremony, I'll go get my husband. If you think I'm bad, you don't know Randall Marks."

She grinned, then she just couldn't help but giggle. Of course she knew nothing would happen if the bride and groom saw one another before their nuptials, but tradition was tradition! Besides, they still had some work to do before Cathy was ready to be queen for the day. Shelby rubbed her hands together and became very determined in her stance.

"Now, I think you need to stop focusing on Oli, he has his own things to take care of right now. You and I have a little date with the hair dryer. And not to worry, I learned some hair-styling charms back at Hogwarts, so we'll have magic on our side this time, I promise," she winked, then took out her bag of goodies.

Ashton had been up for hours. He'd showered, eaten what little food that his butterfly-filled stomach could handle, and had taken his daily dose of potions. But so far, they'd had no effect against his OCD urges. He needed to look perfect today. And his condition was running full force to make that happen. It would be thr first time he'd worn a tuxedo in a long time, and he'd grown quite a bit since then. He didn't even know how to tie the bow! Dammit, what was he going to do?

He smacked himself in the forehead as he looked over the whole of his attire for the day. He was seventeen now. If he couldn't tie it himself, he could use magic to get it done. Although he'd personally prefer to do it manually. It would give him a sense of accomplishment, and he'd feel that he'd managed to do something so mundane, but seemingly difficult for so many Muggles.

But first, he needed to make his bed and clean up the room a bit. He needed to get rid of some of his excess energy and if he got dressed now, he would be extremely early, and be sitting around with nothing but time on his hands. Then what would he do? He'd be too over dressed to clean anything, but he'd feel the need to do it all the time. It was just the price he paid for having OCD.

Ashton wondered if anyone else in the wedding party needed help with anything today. He immediately thought of his father, but surely Oliver would be in the same situation as he was. Wanting to get ready, but not too early since they wouldn't have anything to do after that, until the wedding started. He imagined Max and Matthew would be in the same situation. Of course, they might still be asleep. He would have been himself if he weren't so nervous about standing up at the altar with his father and uncle in a few short hours. He checked and rechecked that he had every piece of his tuxedo, down to the cufflinks. The idea of the tuxedo on Max made him chuckle. He knew that his soon-to-be stepbrother hated dressing up. It made him uncomfortable, and more fidgety than Matthew. But maybe just this one time, they would all be able to stand where they had been assigned, and the whole day would run smooth as silk.

He finished making his bed and cleaning his room, going through his closet five times to make sure that everything was exactly as his standards demanded. Finally his potions started to take effect, and he was able to relax a bit. He looked at himself and saw that he needed a shower again and went to his once again immaculate bathroom.

Ten minutes, and one scalding hot shower later, Ashton returned to his room and looked at his alarm clock with a grin. It was time to start getting ready! He was in his tux and fussing with the bowtie, which was proving to be just as difficult to tie as he'd expected when a knock sounded at his door.

"Come in," he called out to the person on the other side.

Ashton's Tux

Oliver was, in a word...frazzled. He was walking around in his boxer briefs and his white tuxedo shirt, but he had no tie. And more importantly, no pants. He knew where the pants were. But there was an order to these things. He had to make sure his tie was in line with the buttons before he could finish with his pants. But if he couldn't even find the damn tie, he would be forced to get married with no pants on! Cathy might actually be okay with that, when he thought about it. But no, he would have to have pants. It was unavoidable.

He knocked on his son's door, then went in when he heard the okay to enter.

"Ashton, please tell me you have seen my tie. I have to have the tie first, then the pants. That's the order. If the order isn't correct now, that energy will flow into the wedding. And for all I know, I'll try to kiss her before we've said our vows! And all because I can't find the damn tie. We'll never have a moment's rest, she'll want to divorce me within a month....oh God, Ashton, you HAVE to help me find the bloody tie!"

He moved to his son's perfectly made bed and sat down with his head in his hands. Why was he so nervous? He loved Cathy, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He just didn't want to screw this up for her. And if he was perfectly honest, he felt like he wanted this day to be perfect for himself as well. He tried to be a good person. Was it too much to ask to have a perfect wedding day? Maybe. But he was asking for it anyway. He looked up at Ashton and sighed.

"Maybe I need to take a deep breath. That's what you're going to say, right? And then you're going to tell me exactly where my tie is and help put the rest of me together, because you're just that kind of son," he smiled nervously.

Ashton was a good kid. He always had been. He was a wonderful son, even through his imperfections. Maybe because of them, actually. And Oliver couldn't be more proud.

"You're looking sharp, by the way. That's my boy."

Ashton smirked at his father's behavior, and the fact that he was running around half dressed, looking for the tie to go with his tuxedo. He reached out and pulled his dad's hand, tugging him off his bed. He'd spent a lot of time on that, and he didn't need an ass print on the comforter. Smoothing it out again, he pulled the still undone tie from his own neck and looped it over the extremely nervous groom's.

"Dad, calm down, this second. That's what you'd tell me. Don't make me give you a dose of my potions."

He was only half joking. Right at this moment, Oliver was acting much the way that Ashton himself had been before he'd started with his therapy and medications. It was rather funny to see his dad acting this way, but he didn't want any stress to be transfered to the expectant bride. The last thing any of them wanted to happen was for her to go into preterm labor and deliver the baby early. He adjusted the tie around his dad's neck until the ends were even.

"There. You have a tie. Now, we still need to find the missing one, or I'll be without."

He frog-marched his father back to the room where he'd been changing and looked around, finding the tie in question hanging on a drawer pull. He picked it off and put it around his own neck with a smile.

"Now, since I helped you, you help me. How the hell do you tie this?!" He pointed to the strip of fabric around his neck with a grin.

Oliver couldn't help but laugh. He had been right, his son had found a way to make him feel better about this whole thing. Well, of course he felt good about it. He was marrying his beloved, he could do whatever he wanted right now. He smiled and stepped forward to Ashton, beginning to tie the bow tie as perfectly as he possibly could. It was a little more difficult when it wasn't around his own neck, but he managed it.

"There, now. All fixed up and ready to go. If only I was as on top of things right now as you are."

He winked, then started tying his own tie. He actually felt better with Ashton in the room with him. The day didn't seem so overwhelming when he remembered he wasn't alone. He finished his tie, making sure it was completely lined up, then he moved to his pants. When he was all dressed, he looked in a mirror and smiled.

"Damn, I look good."

He laughed, knowing that he must have sounded strange full of pride like that. The truth was, Oliver was self conscious about a lot of things, his looks being one of them. So he never said much about his own personal appearance, unless it was negative. But today, he actually felt good about himself. He smiled and went over to Ashton, pulling him into a hug.

"Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you today, son. I love you so much."

He kissed Ashton on the forehead, then sat down on his own bed.

"Now I suppose we wait for the guests to arrive. You make sure you watch the clock. Hopefully your uncle will remember to come get us when the time comes."


(OOC: Guests can come now, and then we can have Chase come in before the ceremony)