How I Married Your Mother [Niki]

[brennan]

December twenty-fifth, two-thousand eight; Christmas Day[/b]

It had taken him a long time to figure out what exactly he wanted to do for a wedding. Sure, he’d asked Niki, but he wanted it to be a gift to her, this wedding. In fact, she would have no idea what day the wedding would be on. Brennan had made it that way to surprise her. Poor Niki was going to be in for the treat of her life when she woke up this morning. Brennan would give her no chance to ask him questions, no chance to do anything. No, today was Brennan’s day, and he was pretty sure Niki wouldn’t mind at all when she found out what he was planning on doing.

But Niki hopefully wouldn’t find out until much later.

He’d made plans the week before. He had had to search everywhere to find a priest that would marry them today because today was a special day. And he’d had to search even harder to find the perfect spot to marry Niki in. It had to be perfect, just like their love. If their love was not perfect, Brennan had no idea what was, and that was stating the truth. Not even his parent’s love had been this everlasting; they had actually broken up twice before finally marrying and having him.

That all seemed a long time ago, but Brennan needed to remember it now. He hadn’t been alive, of course, but he remembered enough of his parent’s stories about their wedding that he thought sometimes he had actually been there. His parent’s wedding had been a very public affair, with family and friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends. Their wedding had been huge, with several chocolate fountains, refreshments galore, even a huge, however many levels it was, cake.

But Brennan knew Niki didn’t want anything that extravagant. He didn’t know how many friends she had, but even if she’d only had one friend, that friend would undoubtedly have more, and the list would continue on from there. No, Brennan knew one thing if he knew anything: he and Niki would not have a large wedding. Rather, if anyone were tracking them, they’d need to keep it small and out of the way; and Brennan knew exactly where to look for the best spots.

It was technically summertime in Australia, was it not?

Brennan had flown to Australia and searched the whole coastline for this one special spot. He found nothing that reached the extent of beautiful that he wanted, and, disappointed, he turned inland. He was happy he turned inland, though, for if he would have just stayed near the coasts, he would never have found It. It was the most beautiful place he had ever seen besides on the top of the Great Sphinx in Egypt. It was beautiful, and it would surely steal away Niki’s breath.

A week had passed since then, and today Brennan was going to break the news. No, he did not get pregnant by some strangely weird gender-mix-up. No, it was not that sort of ‘breaking the news.’ His version of breaking the news was his and Niki’s wedding—but he wouldn’t break the news in any way Niki had ever heard of before. Besides, how many men could fly their wife to their destination?

It was early in the morning when Brennan woke up. He had set his alarm on extra low in order to not wake Niki up; as it was, he didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. He just had too many things to worry about, not to mention the fact that it was Christmas. But would that stop Brennan? No, it would only make him more determined. Six o’clock he was already up and making sure the last preparations were underway. Seven o’clock he checked in on Micah, who should have been waking up around this time. Micah was still fast asleep, but if Brennan knew any better, the boy’d be up in at most thirty minutes.

It was true, and at almost 7:54 (alright, 7:53 and 26 seconds, but who’s counting on a day like this?), Micah was up and making his way to Brennan and Niki’s room. Brennan intercepted Micah in the hallway, and told the boy to open presents without them. Micah seemed to be put down, but did so anyway. What self-respecting boy would ever give up a chance to open presents? Brennan had already called the kid’s grandmother, and she was coming to stay for the day. He hoped he hadn’t taken away from her Christmas-spirit-stuff.

Brennan didn’t want Niki to wake up so soon, but the sun on the other side of the world wouldn’t be up yet. He waited impatiently for Niki to wake up, but she didn’t. Even when he felt the undying urge to just take her there with her still being asleep, he pushed the urge down, and just watched her, sitting there in a chair on her side of the bed, watching her sleep. Niki needed more sleep than ever now that she was pregnant. And Brennan, who was still intensely happy about the pregnancy, wanting nothing more than for Niki to relieve any and all pregnancy needs.

It was 9:59 when Brennan suddenly couldn’t control the urge to keep to himself any longer. He reached toward Niki and gently traced the contours of her face, swirled a loose strand of hair in one of his massive thumbs, and leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. Niki would flip when she discovered what he had planned for today. Brennan slowly moved his hand down her neck, her breasts, and laid it on her stomach. She was just beginning to show, but even then Brennan was hard-pressed to see any difference between her now and her before the pregnancy when he’d been following her. She was still the Niki he knew and loved. Even if Jessica were to show her sniveling face, he’d still love her because he knew that containing Jessica was just about as hard as putting God into a bottle. It just didn’t happen easily.

The man could feel nothing out of the ordinary going on in Niki’s stomach; it was just too early. Either way, he imagined he could feel something stirring in there, some kind of life that hadn’t been there before. “Merry Christmas.” He whispered, which was aimed not totally all at Niki. However, it prompted a response from Niki: she moved a hand to cover the one on his stomach. Her eyes opened, and Brennan smiled. “Good morning, there, sleepy-head. Micah’s grandmother is here,” she had arrived at nine, “which gives me the perfect opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas my way.”

He didn’t want to rush his soon-to-be wife, but he knew that where he wanted to be, the sunrise only happened once a day. “Come on, Niki, you’ve been in bed for over eight hours. You might say you need your beauty sleep, but you look beautiful to me already, and plus, this will only happen once in a lifetime.” He gently sat Niki up and gave her a present. “Open it up.” He said, smiling happily. When she did, and gave him a confused look, his smile widened. “It’s a blindfold. Let me help you put it on.” He took it from the box and secured it tightly over Niki’s eyes. “Now, no peeking, and no asking questions. I swear, you’ll love this Christmas present, and you will remember it forever.”

Brennan gently pulled Niki into a standing position, and the smile was still evident in his voice as he said, “No reason to change, you’ll be changing anyway. But no peeking!” He secured her arms over his neck, and then took off through the open window. They were heading for Australia, where, first Niki would be popped into her wedding dress, and then they’d have their wedding as the sun was rising.

[niki]

It was Christmas morning, not that Niki realised it yet, well she knew that the next day was Christmas day of course, but at this moment she was still asleep. Unknown to her Brennan had deliberately let her sleep in later than she probably normally would. He had even stopped Micah from coming into the bedroom when he'd woken, not that Niki was aware of any of this happening, because she was fast asleep.

She wasn't even aware of what time it was, when she felt Brennan's fingers tracing her face, swirling some hair kissing her on the forehead and then running his fingers down her neck and breasts leaving it placed across her stomach, by this point Niki had begun to stir, his touches were causing her to tingle. She instinctively put her hand across his on her stomach and stirred, turning to look at him. He had wished her a Merry Christmas and then greeted her by calling her sleepy head.

"Merry Christmas to you too" she said softly, even though she was pretty certain he hadn't really said to her but to their child. However, it was sweet and Niki would have wished him a Merry Christmas anyway. Even though she had just woke up, she kissed him gently on the lips. She began to sit up a little in the bed and looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow she said "Merry Christmas your way? And what way would that be?" she asked wondering what he could possibly have meant.

He then started speaking, telling her she had to waken up as she's been asleep already for eight hours. He was right, she never normally slept that long. "Alright" she began, as she slid the duvet off of her and sat up sitting on the edge of the bed, "and you say such the sweetest things" she added as he said she was beautiful enough and didn't need what she called her beauty sleep. "Christmas happens every year Brennan" she said confused when he said it only happened once in a life time.

He then handed her over a gift and told her to open it, raising an eyebrow and looking questioningly at him when she saw a blindfold in the little parcel. "And the blind fold is for what?" she asked before he had told he to put it on and not to peek and not to ask any questions. She could only giggle as he put the blindfold on her, she really had no idea what was about to happen.

He wouldn't even allow her to get dressed saying she would be getting changed when she was where ever it was he was taking her, as he made sure her arms were wrapped around his neck before what she could only assume was flying out her bedroom window. Niki began to get very excited wondering what was about to happen and when they were going to be back home. She didn't ask any questions, because he had basically asked her not to, so she kept her mouth closed knowing full well he'd be annoyed if she tried to spoil what ever surprise he had for her.

[brennan]

Brennan was surprised that Niki had not asked questions. Normally, a woman would be curious as to where she was being taken that she would ask questions non-stop. Or at least that was how movies depicted women, and now Brennan knew that movies weren’t really true most of the time. Maybe Brennan should stop watching chick-flicks.

Now, as he flew over the ocean, he flew as high as possible over it. He didn’t want Niki to realize that they were flying over the ocean, and consequently figure out that Brennan was taking her somewhere special. Hopefully Niki wouldn’t catch on that this special place would be a place she would always remember, even if in the future the two wouldn’t visit the place much. It was the thought that counted.

Brennan crossed the border of land and sea, and was officially in the land of Australia. Niki still had no idea where they were, and he considered himself lucky. He had flown as fast as he physically could as to confuse Niki, which he knew he was doing. Niki would love this place, and Brennan had made sure of it.

During the day, the place that Brennan had chosen was beautiful, and he knew that during the daytime it would be even more beautiful. He carefully slowed down as he spotted two tents standing up in the middle of a sparsely wooded forest. Because it was winter in the Western Hemisphere, it was summer in the Eastern Hemisphere. It was still dark now, but in less than an hour the sun would rise, and day would begin in Australia.

Brennan’s slow descent may have felt like a sudden stop, or it could have felt like hours passed, it all depends on how a person felt it. Brennan wondered how Niki felt, but did not ask questions—he would keep to his rules just as Niki was, and he was impressed that she had stayed silent so long. He would make sure to reward her later—or maybe this wedding would be her reward. “Almost there, angel,” he told her, and touched down.

“Just don’t take off the blindfold, Niki. I promise this’ll be worth your while, but everything will be blown if you take off the blindfold.” Brennan unwound Niki’s arms from his neck, and took her hand in his. “Follow me; trust me, I won’t let you run into anything.” Brennan said, not that there was anything to really run into.

The wedding would not be big. In fact, all there would be were the attendants, who were doubling as an audience, the priest, and them. Brennan didn’t know whether or not Niki had wanted a large wedding or not, but he hoped that the scene would steal her breath away nonetheless. He took her into one of the tents, and told the ladies who were going to change her into her wedding dress not to take off her blindfold or tell her anything of what was happening. She must not know. He said this out of Niki’s earshot in the other tent, temporarily leaving his future wife alone.

The ladies snickered to each other, and then smiled. One of them adventured, “You’re just at a mall, and you don’t want her to see the dress?”

Brennan nodded, “Exactly. Don’t leak too much information, or else she won’t be astounded.”

The ladies thought him the kindest man they’d ever met, but knew he was off limits because this was to be a wedding, obviously. They left him alone to get into his tuxedo, and then he walked down the aisle alone. Soon Niki would come out, and he hoped that as soon as she came out, the sun would shine.

Finally, after a long wait, Niki appeared at the back of the aisle. She still had on her blind fold, but one of the ladies took it off. Brennan wondered what was going through Niki’s mind as she took in the sights. Front and center Niki would see the long red carpet-strip that ran up to the podium where Brennan and the priest stood. The podium was nestled into the middle of two trees, which were just now losing their flowers, so petals were raining down upon both waiting men. And, just a minute after Niki’s blindfold was taken off the sun peeked out to shine light. It shone through the fragile blossoms, and it reflected off the large lake that the podium overlooked. The priest and Brennan were probably silhouetted by the rising sun, which probably would have made Brennan seem even more like an angel.

But Brennan saw only Niki, watching as a smile spread slowly over her face. He loved his angel, just like Niki loved her guardian angel. Brennan knew they’d be together forever, and this wedding would tie the knot. Brennan would become husband to the most beautiful woman alive, and Niki would no longer be Niki Sanders, but Niki Sands—the biggest change even though it’s two letters less. ‘Merry Christmas, Mrs. Sands,’ Brennan thought, smiling as he looked upon his future wife in her wedding garb.

[niki]

Niki had been flying in Brennan's arms for quite some time now, and had stayed quiet the whole journey just as he'd asked her to. Normally she'd have been asking question after question trying to figure out what was going on, but he'd told her not to ask, and when he had blindfolded her, she knew how much of a surprise he obviously wanted to give her and she didn't want to spoil it for him, so she remained quiet.

She couldn't even begin to try and guess where they were flying to either, because he was flying so high, she couldn't feel any sea breeze or spray on her like last time he took her somewhere. She was desperate to ask about where he was taking her, but at the same time, she promised she wouldn't, so once again she continued to keep quiet like she promised she would.

Niki laughed when he said they were almost there, "Okay" she said softly, as she continued to walk with him guiding her. "I wont take the blindfold off" she confirmed with a gentle sigh, however, she couldn't wait to see what was happening, where she was and what he was doing.

The next thing she knew she was with a couple of women who were doing things to her. No, not like that, they were from what she could only tell from their movements, dressing her, fixing her hair. However, to this point Niki was still clueless as to what was happening, and what was going on. The women had put a string of flowers through her hair as they gathered back the sides and pinned it in place twisting it around entwining the flowers through her hair. Of course with the blindfold on they couldn't really put make-up on her, but the women had been told she looked pretty enough without it.

Finally almost bursting Niki couldn't help but ask a question to the women who were attending to her. "Okay what's going on?" she asked a little frustrated, but with a look of confusion on her face even if you couldn't see her eyes, but she was smiling also.

"Nothing, you're at a mall, and your boyfriend doesn't want you to see the dress, that's all" one of them said kindly. Niki gave up, sighing gently again, but still smiling. What ever this surprise was, Brennan had obviously gone to a lot of work on it. The women then lead Niki to where Brennan was waiting. The blindfold was then taken off, and Niki couldn't help but let out a faint gasp. As she took in the sights around her.

There was a red carpet leading down to a podium, and at the podium stood Brennan in a tuxedo and a priest beside him. Petals were falling down from the trees which the podium was placed between, it was simply magical. She could feel tears build in her eyes, however she didn't wan to cry on what should be a happy day, it was pretty obvious from the surrounds, and finally looking at the dress she was wearing Brennan had organised a secret wedding for the both of them.

Her dress wasn't quite white, it was ivory, with a v shaped neckline, which went out across her shoulders, the dress didn't have sleeves, it had straps which sat across her shoulder. The dress was also made from satin with an over layer of lace encrusted with diamontes, on the back in a love heart shape were the initials N and B intertwined all done with the diamontes. The dress had a slight train at the back, nothing big, because Niki had no bridesmaids to help carry it off the ground.

The women then handed Niki a small bouquet of red roses, which matched the flowers which were entwined in her hair, she looked absolutely stunning. From the initial shock her face then turned into a slow smile as it spread across her face, she began to walk toward Brennan and the priest. Almost unable to speak when he wished her a Merry Christmas using what would be her new name, she sighed gently. "I can't believe you did this, you really are an angel" she said softly, desperate to give him a kiss, but wanting to wait until the right moment. Instead, she said simply, "I love you so much, this is the best Christmas ever" as she laid her hand across her stomach and looked into his eyes, with deep love for her precious angel.

[brennan]

Brennan watched as his wife started to walk down the aisle. Too bad he couldn’t have told her parents, he had wanted this secret to stay a secret until afterward. This was just them today, just Brennan and Niki, future couple. And that future was speeding ever closer. At exactly the right moment, a soft version of the wedding song lit up the air. A couple of birds took flight, startled by the sudden sound. They passed right through the middle of the trees, chirping loudly.

But Brennan had eyes only for his love, the only love he had ever really had. Sure, he’d had girlfriends galore, what sensible guy didn’t in High School, but Niki was different. Niki would always be different. It didn’t matter now that she was pregnant with his child, it didn’t matter now that Brennan had been feeling guilt over not telling her, it didn’t matter now that this was Australia and not the United States; it didn’t matter now that no one else knew about their marriage. All that mattered was Niki, and all that Brennan saw at this moment in time was Niki Sanders.

No, Niki Sands.

Though technically they weren’t married yet, Brennan had already started to think of Niki as his wife, his significant other. He’d dreamt of this day ever since he’d met Niki all those long months ago. But now the months seemed like years. His life was progressing faster than a blink of an eye, and he liked it.

Then Niki was there, and she placed her hand over her stomach while she whispered some words to him. He could not find his voice, so he only grinned back. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears, which was unusual for him. Brennan Sands never cried; not when he broke his leg in the second grade, not when he had his first break up, not when he found that Niki probably would never remember him. But now Brennan could feel tears seeping into his eyes and clouding his sight. He wanted sorely to see his future wife, but his eyes swam. He blinked, and felt a hot tear slide down his cheek. Luckily, it was the one facing away from the priest, but Niki could see it. The other eye kept the tear in, and he could see clearer; he could see his love, his angel.

“Ladies and Gentleman,” The priest began formally, nodding to the ladies who had dressed Niki and the men who had tried to help dress Brennan, “We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Niki Sanders to Brennan Sands.”

Then the priest turned to Niki. “Please repeat after me: I, Niki Sanders, take you, Brennan Sands, to be my lawfully wedded husband, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love. On this special and holy day, I give to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my sacred promise to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad. I further promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”

When Niki dutifully repeated every word of the sacred vows, Brennan felt a light stirring inside of him. This was only half of the ritual that humans used to court one another for eternity, but in his mind the two were already intertwined. Brennan knew he was going to give his vows, but the waiting and hoping that Niki would actually complete hers—begin hers, even—was over. They were already man and wife, and no amount of golden rings and words would tell him otherwise.

The priest turned to Brennan. “Now, repeat after me: I, Brennan Sands, take you, Niki Sanders, to be my lawfully wedded wife, knowing in my heart that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love. On this special and holy day, I give to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my sacred promise to stay by your side as your husband in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad. I further promise to love you without reservation, honor and respect you, provide for your needs as best I can, protect you from harm, comfort you in times of distress, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”

Brennan, too, faithfully conveyed those words. The priest looked at Brennan then, and smiled. "And now, with the giving and receiving of rings. If you will repeat after me: Niki, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you." Brennan did so, and slipped the ring, a wonderfully crafted golden band with little leaflets inset in the gold. It was nothing special, and yet it was beautiful because it was hand-crafted to stand the test of time.

Then the priest turned to Niki. He smiled another smile and said, “Please repeat after me: Brennan, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you." Brennan’s ring was the same as Niki’s only much larger.

Then the priest took both their hands, and placed them together, and tied an ivory ribbon around them. The ribbon matched exactly Niki’s dress and Brennan’s tie, which he had planned. "In the presence of God, and before this congregation, Brennan and Niki have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of rings. I therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife."

Brennan looked at the ribbon, and then at Niki’s smiling face. He dimly recognized that he was smiling, too. He knew what was coming next, and he felt a surge of energy, of pure happiness and unrelenting joy, when the priest said, “You may kiss the bride.” Taking no more time in doing so, Brennan pulled Niki into a tight embrace and kissed her warmly on the lips. It was not, so to say, a very romantic kiss—they could do romantic things later—but it was a kiss that dared time to continue, that scoffed in the face of dislike and hatred. This was a kiss with the full force of love behind it.

Later Brennan would joke that this was a kiss only two angels could give each other.

[niki]

It seemed like forever, as Niki made her slow walk down the aisle toward Brennan. Still finding it totally unbelievable he had organised this without her knowing. But it was special, and it would be one of the days she would remember for the rest of her life. It would certainly be the best Christmas ever as well, discovering she was pregnant and now becoming Mrs Sands.

When she did reach to where Brennan and the priest stood, she noticed Brennan couldn't even say anything back to her softly spoken words, but she noticed him grinning back at her, he obviously couldn't find the words or the voice to reply back to her. She also noticed a slight tear in his eye, which was making her own eyes fill up, but she managed to hold them back, for now. It then seemed forever from that point until the priest began to speak to them and their small gathering of people who had come to see the couple get married.

As it had been so quiet until the priest spoke, Niki actually felt herself jump slightly and shook her head right afterward, listening to everything the priest was saying. She didn't want to miss her turn to say her vows, because she would feel really silly. Niki was glad when the priest began the vows, she was to say them first, because she had a feeling if she had to wait until after Brennan had said his, she wouldn't be in any fit state to say hers.

Smiling at Brennan and then at the priest, she repeated the words he had told her to say.

"I, Niki Sanders, take you, Brennan Sands, to be my lawfully wedded husband, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love. On this special and holy day, I give to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my sacred promise to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad. I further promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

She had managed it without crying, how far into the ceremony would she actually get before she wouldn't be able to hold them back any further. It was now Brennan's turn to say his vows, although as far as Niki was concerned she was already his wife, because she had said her own to him. However, hearing him say his vows to her was wonderful, and she felt herself melting and falling in love with her angel all over again.

It was then time for the rings, and as Brennan placed the ring on her finger, saying the words he was told to say, that was when Niki finally felt a tear escape from her eyes. The ring was gorgeous and when she was given the ring for Brennan, she noticed his was the exact same only bigger. They had matching rings, it was absolutely perfect. She smiled through her tears, as she took her turn to speak.

"Brennan, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you."

Again, Niki was proud of herself for being able to actually say the words without collapsing into a major crying session, but she still had a few tears welling in her eyes with the odd one falling down, but of course these were very happy tears. It was more or less official, they were married, they were husband and wife. There was just the one small detail left, she had to sign her name Niki Sanders for the last time for their marriage certificate.

The priest then bound their hands together with an ivory ribbon, and spoke of them now being husband and wife, and then the words came which made Niki smile more than she already was. Brennan could kiss his bride. Brennan pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her warmly, a soft kiss, nothing too romantic, just a gentle and yet firm warm kiss. Niki gently pulled from the kiss and with a warm smile, while tears were rolling down her face, she touched his cheek with her hand, "I love you Mr Sands" she said.