The ladies did a great job with the food and I enjoy every minute of it. Then David stands up and clears his throat. It’s hard not to laugh. Here goes nothing.
David opens his mouth and starts his speech.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is David and I am the father of the groom. As Henry VIII said to each of his wives in turn, ‘I won't keep you very long.’ So I try not to do also.
I hope you all are having a great time. At least the food is great.” He bows his head towards Joanne. “At least there is no gooey, snotty paella involved.”
Ben slaps his hand to his face. “Not the paella, dad.” He moans and I giggle. “Told you so.” I smirk.
“Excuse me, this is MY moment.” David gives us the stink eye and I giggle louder. “Sorry David.” I grin.
“What I was going to say is that I am very happy with the bad cooking skills of my son that made his wife sick. Now I will finally be a grandfather soon. But of course my son is still a virgin, just like my two other sons.”
Dan groans next to me and I see Neils’ face turning red. I snort.
“Very well.” David thinks for a moment while he shifts through his cards.
“I've tried to memorize this speech, which isn’t easy when you have the memory retention of a geriatric goldfish. I did ask for an autocue to be set up in front of me, but apparently the wedding budget doesn’t stretch that far... And neither does my eyesight” He jokes.
Oh, how I love this mans’ sense of humor.
He turns to Ben.
“Benjamin. Now that you are married, Lynn will ALWAYS have the last word in any argument. Any word that you come out with afterwards will be the start of a whole new argument!
Remember, when you buy her flowers ...it PROVES you’re guilty. But of course, beware the far more serious consequences of not buying her flowers.
I wish you a wonderful marriage and I hope you have a really great life together.”
David turns to me and I blush.
“Lynn, I would like to formally welcome you into the family and wish good luck to you both.”
He bows and takes a seat.
“Was that all? No teasing to me?” I ask. But he only smiles back at me.
Then it’s my dad’s turn for the speech. I hold my breath.
“It was Sir Winston Churchill who said: ‘There are two things more difficult than making a speech: Kissing a girl who is leaning away from you and climbing a wall which is leaning toward you!’
I have a feeling that making this speech might be like trying to do both at the same time. However, I take comfort in the fact that this isn't the first time today I've stood up from a warm seat with a piece of paper in my hand!’
For those of you who don't know me, my name is John van der Beek, the father of Lynn.
For as long as I have known Lynn, and that will be since June 23, 1988, I know her to be a shining star, a sparkling person. People immediately fall in love with her when she enters the room.
We fought a lot during her teenage years and we had a hard time when she left home to live with someone else.
Lynn, you’ve always been a dreamer. You always followed your dreams which left you shattered and broken most of the time. But you always managed to climb out of the deepest valley‘s.
This time you followed the right dream and I hope you will be happy for the rest of your life.
Her life hasn’t been easy the last few years and I can only thank you, Ben, for changing that. For making her the shining star that she used too be.
You gave her the sparkle back in her eyes.
Ben, welcome to the family.”
My dad raises his glass and I have to swallow a lump in my throat. He always knows how to say things right.
Ben leans in to kiss me and raises his glass to my dad. “Cheers John.” He laughs.
Ben Johnson gets up from his chair and looks around. “I guess it’s my turn now.
I hope you are all enjoying the wedding. Unfortunately every silver lining has a cloud, so here I am”
People laugh and I smile.
“I’ve meet a few of you, but for those of you that don't know me, I'm Ben Johnson. Bens‘ best friend and former band mate.
The people who do know me, know I am a man of few words, so I will keep it short.
First of all a thank you to the bridesmaids for looking awesome.”
His compliment makes Sara and Lea blush.
“Thank you for the food, the many beers and the great location.” He looks at Joanne and Erica.
“Well, now I am supposed to tell something about Ben. There is a lot to tell about him.
His talent to forget his lyrics, posting envelopes without addresses and his mental love for unicorns.
I can also tell a lot of stories about our time at Interlochen Arts Academy. But it wouldn’t make him look good when I tell stories involving white paint in public.
And then I will not even mention his Brony life. I assure you, there is no other man as proud to love My Little Pony as Ben is.
But I won’t say anything about that at all.
I will only say: Ben, I am proud to be your friend, I might hate you for moving to the other side of the world. But you now gave me a cheap place to stay when I need a holiday.
Ben. Here’s to you for finding the love of your life. You and Lynn are a great couple and I am sure you will be an awesome father too.
Lynn, here is to you for making my best friend happy. I am proud to have you as my friend now. And I am also proud that I am still the best hugger of all.
So then,
Ladies and gentlemen please raise your glasses in a toast to Ben and Lynn the new Mr. and Mrs. Graupner.”
Ben Johnson raises his glass and says a few words I haven’t heard in a long time.
“So here’s to all the ties we’ve tied and those we’ve tied too tight we’ll set aside.
Tonight we toast our enemies and friends and strangers and families.
Tonight we drink to gratitude.”
Goosebumps appear on my body when he says that. Bens’ body is frozen next to me and he slowly raises his glass while looking up to the sky. “To gratitude.” He mumbles.
I lean into him and whisper in his ear. “To Spencer and to us.”
Ben smiles at me and mouths. “I love you.”
It must be hard for Ben to celebrate a day like this without his close friend.
A soft nudge against my shoulder makes me look at Daniel. “What a man that Johnson huh.” He grins and I nod. “He is a man of few words, but he knows to use the right ones.” I say.
I chat with Daniel for a while. He had to leave his girlfriend Amy behind in Wisconsin. “Some girls have to work.” He pouts. “But I am flying back on Sunday. I can’t wait to see her again.”
When we are all done with dinner, I run back to my room at Soñador to change clothes. I can’t dance on these heels all night. I change into a black suit and my flat shoes and run back outside. Ben has taken off his jacket and his dress shirt has the top buttons unbuttoned.
He’s chatting with his brothers. I leave him be and try to find my sister. I haven’t spoken with her for years and hadn’t had the chance to speak with her yet.
I find her talking to Will. “HEY! Michelle!.” I shout. She looks back and runs up to me. “Lynn, oh I missed you so much.” She hugs me tight.
“I can’t believe you got married today. I never thought you would be the first to get married.” She laughs.
“So, you’ve met Will?” I ask and she grins. “He’s such a cutie.” She replies.
“And way too old for you.” I say. “But he is cute indeed.” I have to agree with her.
We chat for a while and head back to the party. The guys are setting up the music and I sit down next to Inéz. I follow her eyes and see that she is staring at Will. Will looks back at us and smiles widely.
Inéz bows her head and blushes. “Where is Rodrigo?” I ask. I remember seeing him at the ceremony. “He went home, he didn’t feel like partying with unknown people.” She sighs.
“Time for the bridal dance.” Daniel announces. Ben walks up to me and smiles.
The first tones make me chuckle. “They couldn’t have picked a mushier song than this, right?” I grin when Ben grabs my hands and leads me to the dance area.
He holds me tight and we start dancing.
Every time I look at you, baby,
I see something new
That takes me higher than before and makes me want you more
I don't wanna sleep tonight,
dreamin's just a waste of time
When I look at what my life's been comin' to
I'm all about lovin' you
He rests his forehead against mine while we continue dancing. More people are joining us on the dance floor and my dad taps on Bens’ shoulder. “Can I have my turn now?” He asks and Ben lets go of me.
My dad and I dance around. Ben is dancing with his mom and my sister snatched Will to dance with.
This is the best day of my life.
The guys play the most awful songs and I have the time of my life, dancing around to silly songs, making up weird dances with my sister. Just like when we were younger.
I manage to grab a hold of Ben Johnson and thank him for the speech earlier. “You nearly made me cry.” I confess and he smiles. “You’re welcome.” He gives me a hug and a kiss on my cheek before he takes off to dance with Lea.
David grabs my arm and pulls me onto the dance floor for a quickstep. “I heard you can dance.” He says. “Take the lead.”
I take my chance and guide David around the dance floor. I giggle loudly and try to avoid bumping into people.
One by one people are leaving. The night is coming to an end. My tummy hurts from all the laughing that I did today.
I say goodbye to the people that are leaving. Some of them won‘t be here when we return from our honeymoon. I won‘t be seeing many of them for a while.
I give Aña a extra big hug and promise to visit her soon. She sadly has to go back to jail. “I promise to come see you when the little one is born.” I say and hug her tight.
Ben and I will leave for Toulon tomorrow. In the southeast of France. It’s only a short flight and we will still have some time off.
We will stay there till next week.
Everyone but Erica, Sara, Lea and our parents have left and Joanne is trying to convince us to go home and have a good night sleep before leaving tomorrow.
We finally give in and leave them behind with the mess.
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