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Song Inspiration:

"Somewhere" by The West Side Story Cast

"Heaven On The Ground" by Josè James ft. Emily King

 




Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Callie and I were walking into the area of the castle where the ceremony would be taking place. We’d gotten our hair and make up done. But we were still in our jeans and button up shirts. I was nervous meeting the conductor of music alone, so I drug Callie along with me. We left Leslie and Bianca in the room to get ready. I told them I needed to call our parents to check on the twins and that I needed some air so I wouldn’t sweat my makeup off.


Bianca had no clue that I’d be singing one of her favorite songs from her favorite movie, “Funny Girl.” She used to beg me to sing it all the time when we were younger. I finally got so tired of singing it, I told her if she wanted me to sing that song then she would have to pay me. And because she never paid me, I never sang it again.


Her fiancé called me a few weeks ago asking me to sing the song at their wedding since I wasn’t in the wedding party, which is TOTALLY fine with me. I actually enjoyed being a part of the crowd at weddings. This was a fact that my sisters were well aware of. When we used to have our numerous yet random sister chats I vowed to them that on their wedding days I would be their personal assistant for the entire day with the condition of them letting me sit and watch their wedding as a guest instead of being a bridesmaid. Bianca being the first and only Noble sister to be married so far, took me up on that offer. 


Even though I made that silly protest to only sing her favorite song if I was paid, obviously I would sing for free. In fact, I never charge to sing at weddings. It’s an honor to sing at them and there’s always a certain magic in the air. Singing at weddings always gave me tingles and inspiration for new music. Coming up with original lyrics was priceless. Not everyone was born with the gift to write. Callie interrupted my thoughts. 


“I knew that Harrison was crazy about Bianca, but not the spoil her like crazy type and give her a straight out of a magazine wedding.” She stated, looking around the wedding venue.


Her observation was accurate, Callie wasn’t exaggerating. Not even a little bit. Anyone who knew Bianca, knew she loved all things flowers, natural lighting and elegance. The mansion had large windows that allowed the sun to shine through perfectly without blinding anyone. 


While we were in the midst of taking in our surroundings, the butler approached us with a silver tray topped with glass flutes of champagne. He offered us the drinks and we graciously accepted them and thanked him. He nodded and turned away. After taking a sip, Callie broke the silence. 


“This castle is way better than the Montgomery Estate! All the flowers that’s draped all over the place are real. And Harry even got the Laurel Springs Symphony Orchestra to play the music for the ceremony and reception all because BeBe absolutely adores them. Speaking of the orchestra, are you nervous to do your solo with them playing behind you?” Callie asked with concern.


“I’m not so much worried about singing with an orchestra. I’m more concerned about singing this song in particular. The last time I sang it out in public was when we were little. My voice has changed. I just hope Bianca is happy with the result,” I answered her solemnly. Then to distract myself from more worrying I continued the conversation about the wedding decorations. “Did you honestly expect anything less from Harry? After all their times of being on and off again, and his surprise marriage and baby with his psychotic ex-wife, Ivy. Harrison owes Bianca the world. I’m just happy that his daughter and Bianca get along so well.”


“Yeah, me too. We have to admit that our big sis has done well for herself,” Callie smiled as she held her flute of champagne up for us to toast to the newlyweds’ interesting journey.


There were so many people against Harrison and Bianca for so many reasons. Different racial backgrounds, economic status and career choices. The thing was, Harrison is what many of these southern belles would consider a hot commodity. Ever since their high school years there were more haters than supporters. Now they’re grown enough to ignore opinions and traditions and follow their hearts. Most importantly, I was glad they survived the storm known as Ivy. But that's another story for another time. *Hint, hint!*


“The ceremony starts in 45 minutes, why aren’t you two dressed yet? And did you even speak to the conductor yet, Sophia?” A voice spoke from behind us. Both Callie and I turned to them.


“Oh me, oh my.  Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” I complimented. 


“Yes. Leslie you look absolutely beautiful.” Callie added. 


Leslie was in her full maid of honor wedding attire. She wore an all black long chiffon dress with a modest v- neck that led down to a satin waistline, the back of the dress was much more daring with its crisscrossing back straps design. Her makeup was flawless. The artist in Bianca couldn’t settle for just a simple natural look. So, though their foundation, highlighter and lipstick did give off a natural feel, it was glamorized with the eye make up. Leslie’s eyeshadow was a vibrant glittery blue color, which matched perfectly with the wedding’s accent color. And Leslie donned a very luscious and full looking pair of lashes. Her burgundy dyed hair was styled in a high ponytail with some hair hanging down her back. Needless to say, she looked flawless.


“Thank you, but shouldn’t you be getting ready?” She asked matter of factly. 


“Chill out,” I answered. “It’s my job to worry about making sure everyone is set. Now you two wait here while I go meet with the conductor really quick.” I dismissed myself to go handle my business. Though there wasn’t an actual run through of the song because we didn’t wait tip Bianca off, I just wanted to formally introduce myself to the orchestra since we’d only worked with each other through technology. After my greetings I headed back over to my sisters who were talking and sitting in some of the chairs set up for the guests for the ceremony. 


I sat down to join their conversation. I finally had a chance to finally ask the question regarding one of the main reasons we were here. “So, big sis, where’s Isaac? I saw the pictures you posted of you two at his sister’s birthday last month. I’d like to meet the man that stole your heart.” I grinned happily. 


Callie nodded her head in agreement, “I know that’s right. Your man must sit in the Noble Sisters Hot Seat. If Harrison had to sit in the seat, so does Issac. Go ahead and text him now and have him come to the mansion early so we can at least meet him before the wedding starts,” she smiled brightly.


The best way to describe Leslie’s expression was a mix between nervousness, fear and sadness, however she was an expert at deflecting. “The hot seat isn’t a real thing,” she responded to Callie’s request with a dry laugh and waved the butler over for a glass of champagne. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was trying to avoid eye contact. 


“Umm... then what do you call breaking into Harrison’s house to greet him after his and BeBe’s first date after finally getting it together?” I inquired.


“Girl, the nanny let us in,” Leslie laughed for real this time, “but we sure did scare him to death!”


We all roared with laughter thinking about him walking into his study turning the lights on only to find us posted up at his desk. I sat in his chair while Leslie and Callie stood on either side of me. Leslie instructed him to sit on his own couch directly across from us and we laid down the law. He knew we loved him for our sister, but we had to make it clear that her happiness was not to be toyed with. We had no biological brothers; it was just us four girls, but best believe our daddy put us in so many martial arts classes just in case we needed to protect ourselves or each other.


I had Callie demonstrate what we would do to him with an apple and a pocket knife. That girl was so doggone clumsy. Clumsy, I tell ya! She couldn’t get the apple to stay in place and then she almost cut herself. I had to stop the fiasco.


To get everyone’s attention, I slammed my hands down on the desk to stop her foolery and stop Leslie and Harrison from snickering. All three of them jumped. And I used a tone I hardly ever use unless someone had disrespected me.


“I’ve had enough of this,” as I snatched the knife from Little Miss Clumsy One. Pointing the knife in his direction, “Listen here, Harry. We like you, but if you do anything to hurt Bianca I will end you.” With the knife in my dominant hand, I stabbed that same apple one good time while staring him in the eye the entire time. “You got that?” He nodded. I stormed out of the room without another word.


I was halfway down the hallway and noticed the girls weren’t with me. I shouted their names and heard their footsteps whispering goodbye to Harrison.


Good times, I smiled to myself. I looked down at my smart watch and realized we were getting closer to time. “It’s time to get ready. Callie, go get dressed. Leslie can you go with her to make sure she doesn’t rip, slip or tear up anything?” I asked. 


“Hey!” Callie blurted out. 


“You can’t help it that you’re slightly uncoordinated. You get it from mom.” I responded. 


“I resent that,” she retorted. 


“It’s about time you accept it instead. Now move along. Chop. Chop. Chop.” I ordered, clapping my hands with ‘chop I'd verbalized. 


The girls headed to the dressing room. They barely took five steps before Leslie suddenly stopped to turn back to me and mentioned casually, “Oh yeah, Gunnar Beck is coming to the wedding.”


“What's that supposed to mean?” I asked nonchalantly.


“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” she grinned like she knew some that I didn’t know. “I just thought you would want a heads up.”


I did, but she didn’t have to know that. “Well, I’m not. He is so 2000s. I’m a grown woman with children now, who's still thinking about boys from high school? Now can you go help Callie get dressed please?” I asked with an uncomfortable smile. 


My sisters looked at me like they knew that I was lying straight through my teeth. Instead of fighting me on it, they obeyed my request and left to go get dressed. I shook my head. I went to Bianca’s room to see if she needed anything, her mother-in-law was there and told me she had everything under control and told me to get dressed. I nodded thanking her for her help and she waved me off for being silly. I liked Mrs. Hawthorne. She was always so nice to us. 


I went to my own private dressing room where I could practice the song and center myself. One thing I valued before a performance was silence. It gave me time to focus on the notes and the emotions I needed to convey to make people feel the music. The last time I sang in Laurel Springs, I embarrassed myself to the max. I even promised myself I would never sing in this town again, my teenage self didn’t learn yet that I should never say never. 


I pulled my dress out of the garment bag and popped my wireless headphones into my ears. I listened to some lo-fi hip hop music to calm my nerves. I’d gone over the song enough times. I put on the dress I was wearing for the wedding, a black long sleeve faux wrap dress with a plunging neckline and a front slit that came up to my mid thigh, it definitely put me in the scene where Fannie Brice sings her heart out. I slid my feet into my blue pumps. My makeup is not as glamorous as my sisters, I decided to stick with the Fannie Brice aesthetic. I had the makeup artist give me a natural look and a dramatic cat eye with black eyeliner. My hair was growing out from the pixie cut I had been sporting for the past few years, I parted my hair to have a side bang and the rest I brushed to the back. Nice and simple. I looked in the mirror, finally preparing myself for what was ahead. I could do this. My phone buzzed. 


Picking it up, it was a text from Leslie letting me know that our parents and the twins were here. I put on my long silver drop earrings and was on my way to Bianca’s dressing room. Once I made itinside, there was so much hustle and bustle. Eden and Aspen ran up to me. They were too big to be flower girls and Bianca wanted them in the wedding, so they were her junior bridesmaids. 


They wore black dresses with the top half being a lace bodice style boat neckline that flowed down to a sheer tulle trumpet skirt. Eden wanted her hair in its natural curly state and Aspen wanted hers straightened so that they didn’t look alike even though they were identical twins. 


“Look at my babies! You look gorgeous!” I beamed. 


“Thank you, mommy!” They answered in unison. 


Opening my camera app on my phone, I had the three of us take a selfie then of course Callie and Leslie jumped in and we invited my new niece, Harrison’s daughter, Morgan, to join us. We took silly and cute pictures. Until my mother called for order. 


“Alright, girls. Are you ready for the big reveal?” She beamed.


We all cheered and when Bianca finally walked out we were all stunned. 


“Auntie, you look so beautiful,” Aspen spoke up first. 


“Don’t cry. Man up,” Callie said aloud. 


“Oh my goodness, mom! You look amazing! Dad is going to lose his mind when he sees you.” Morgan ran up to Bianca to give her a hug. 


“Oh, thank you Sweet Pea! I really hope he likes it.”


“Oh trust me,” Leslie said.  “He will. You look perfect.”


Bianca’s wedding gown was definitely her. It was light, it was elegant, it was detailed and it was simply her. She wore a lace bustier gown. The lace design went throughout the dress giving so much detail and it perfectly complimented her figure. The skirt of the gown continued down to lace that was more than enough to have a train.


I stepped up to her, “You look stunning, BeBe! Are you ready to get this show on the road?” I asked her excitedly. 


“I’m so ready to marry my man!” She answered. We all cheered again happily. We heard the orchestra playing “Somewhere” from the musical West Side Story. 


“Girl, you really love musicals,” I teased her. 


“Shut up,” she smiled. 


There was a knock on the door. “It's me.” Our father announced. 


Our mother went to open the door. “My. My. My. Bianca, you look beautiful, baby girl.”


“Thanks, daddy.”


“It’s time for us to take our places. Let’s make the most of it! Ashley will lead us followed by Callie, Eden and Aspen, then Morgan and then Leslie. Mothers of the bride and groom go first. The ushers are waiting to take you to your seats. Remember to smile.” 


We all headed out. As everyone took their spots next to the groomsmen they would march with, I walked down the line to make sure everything and everyone was in place. I made my way to Callie to check her dress and hair and makeup. 


“Gunnar Beck. I haven’t heard that name in a long time. Callie said casually. ”I haven’t heard that name in a long time. He was the most popular and cutest guy at Kennedy High. He was in my grade and if I remember correctly YOU had a MAJOR crush on him!” She was squealing at this point. I tried to get her to stop, but she continued on. “But you were too scared to even speak to him. He played on the Varsity football, soccer and basketball teams all four years. Girl, I remember you wouldn’t shut up about him.”


“You are tripping. Just because I mentioned he was cute doesn’t mean I had a crush.” I moved on down the line to check out the rest of the bridal party. I stopped at Leslie. 


“Lord, please don’t let lightning strike her down.” Leslie prayed looking up to the sky. 


“One, he was younger than me.”


“By a year,” Leslie rebutted.


“Two, I was not checking for him.”


“So you coming to my classes when the bell rang had nothing to do with the fact that Gunnar was in the same classes as me?” Callie asked incredulously. 


I rolled my eyes and continued on. “And three even if I was checking for him I would have never had done it because I knew Daisy would have sunk her claws into him.” I hoped I sounded believable, but by the looks of it Callie still wasn’t convinced.


“You got that right,” Leslie mumbled and  started shifting from side to side as if she’d suddenly become annoyed. I looked at her, but said nothing. I just filed it away as something to bring up at a later time. 


Callie spoke up, “You know my junior year, Gunnar and I were lab partners and he casually brought your name up in conversation.”


Suddenly, I felt like that 15 year old girl again. “Really?” I asked with slight hope.


“Nope. But for your sake I hope he’s single and fine, because the way your whole face lit up tells me all I need to know,” Callie pointed out.


I smacked my teeth and rolled my eyes as the entire wedding party laughed this time.  


 “Whatever, I was just playing.” I said lamely. 


The guitar started playing the beginning notes of Heaven On The Ground,” by Josè James and Emily King. 


“Ashley and Brett, you can start the procession. Remember to stop for the photographer, everyone.” I handed Ashley her bouquet. Once they took their picture when they were in the middle of the aisle I handed Callie her bouquet and she and her partner headed down the aisle. I gave my daughters their bouquets. Watching them walk down the aisle next to the preteen boys had me feeling some type of way, I shoved it down and kept going. I handed Morgan her bouquet and she walked down the aisle with one of her best friends from school. There were no flower girls or ring bearer to worry about.  I handed Leslie her bouquet. 


“I’ll signal to you if I see Gunnar,” she joked. 


“Girl, if you don’t walk down that aisle, I’m going to signal for an ambulance to pick you up,” I warned her. 


She laughed and walked down the aisle solo, as she was the maid of honor. 


Bianca and my dad stepped up. She was ready to move down the stairs as the song ended. She looked at us worriedly when she heard the reverend continue speaking after he asked everyone to stand as the bride made her entrance. She looked at us confused. 


“What’s going on?!” 








Chapter End Notes:

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.