The Solider Husband

16 March, Las Vegas, United States, later in the night

Andrew looked at the time and noticed that it was about to reach midnight. Everyone, given Chester and Phillip were about to leave, decided it was time to finish up at the reception. Paul was attempting to convince everyone to head to a nightclub, but that was not what they planned. It was almost as if he had an idea what they were thinking about doing.

Standing up, Andrew moved over to John, and quietly said "Can we talk?"

Looking at him John said, "You planning to drop out of the fun?"

"Fun, that is a matter of opinion, not a statement of fact." Andrew shook his head and said "Please, I need to be serious for a few minutes, and I need you to concentrate."

As he finished, Andrew felt Sally wrap her arms around his left arm, before she spoke quietly directly to John, "Will you cooperate for a couple of minutes."

John looked at the two of them, and said "What?"

"Do not get short with me brother."

Andrew added "We need to have a conversation in a quiet location, as we do not want to be overheard."

Sensing that this was important, John moved over to the side of the room, with Andrew and Sally following him. Andrew positioned himself so he could observe Paul, who was still talking to everyone. "Steven had a talk to us before the ceremony, as Paul is breaking down…"

"That was obvious, he just started to cry…"

"That is what he told us. Sally and I are not blind. We know how he feels about Sally, but according to Steven, after he got over the shock of the announcement of our engagement he has moved between trying to make everyone feel pitiful for him, having lost who he sees as the love of his life, and plans to try and ruin our engagement so he can get Sally."

"Steven said, and he is right, unless we do something it is going to result in everyone having to choose sides in a fight. That will destroy friendsh.i.p.s which is not what I want, brother. But at the same time, I am not going to sacrifice my happiness simply to make Paul feel happy. I do not have the feelings for him that he seems to have for me. For me he is simply a friend, as Steven is, as Lexi is, as is everyone else."

Andrew looked over and observed that Paul was still talking and added "The one thing we all know is Paul will not interfere in anyone's marriage. He lived through his parent's marriage and what that did to him is something, I suspect we only have an idea of. He hated the fact that neither of them respected their marriage vows in any way. Then we all say how he rejected that witch of an ex of Chester's when she tried time and time again to convince him to have an affair. Steven suggested that we need be cruel to be kind to him and that after starting to kick on after this, we slip away and get married."

Pausing Andrew looked over and still saw that Paul was engaged in discussions. "We had talked about this being a possibility. We know for an overseas wedding to be recognised at home there are some additional formalities we had to do, which we did, and we applied for a marriage license before we arrived in case, we decided to get married."

"Mum and Dad will hate me but once we explain why we have done this; they will understand and agree that we did the right thing. But they will still get their formal ceremony to show off to everyone. However, as Dad is not here, I not only need your support, but I want you to be the one to give me away. Will you?"

"You are right Mum and Dad will hate you Sally. There is no need. Paul will respect your relationship. He is just feeling sorry for himself…"

"John, Steven is not an idiot and he will not cause trouble when it can be avoided. He would not tell you Paul's plans. Paul, when you or Andrew's siblings have not been around, has been talking about how he intends to break the two of us up so he can sweep in and marry me. We want to make sure that he will respect our commitment, and this is the only way that we can see he will. Mum and Dad will understand that."

John paused and looked at Paul. He had been watching Paul on and off with how he broke down before the wedding and noticed that there was a look as if he had a plan in mind. Despite their friendsh.i.p.s Paul could act diabolically when he wanted something. Sighing, John said "Sally, I will say this. If Mum and Dad get angry about this you need to deal with the fallout from that, as I think you should wait. They are already so excited about your wedding and you are taking some of that excitement from them. But at the same time, you are a.d.u.l.ts and I must respect your decisions. So, sister, if this is what you want, I will walk you down the aisle. But Andrew, you hurt her in any way, and no one will save you from my wrath."

"John, that threat is getting old already. I love Sally and will do absolutely everything I can do to make her life the best it can be for as long as we have on this earth."

Leaning over Sally gave John a kiss, before saying "Thank you. Just promise you say nothing and follow us in slipping out later."

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