Handling the Business Taught To You (I)

*Elijah and Rachel’s Wedding*

Elijah fumbled with the buttons of his jacket. He was nervous, not because he was second-guessing, but because he was beyond excited to marry the love of his life. Fixing his jacket, he looked at himself again in the mirror.

*Here’s to the rest of your life.*

He couldn’t wait to see Rachel. Though he had no idea what her dress looked like, Jordan and Sterling said it would make his jaw drop. Inhaling, he grabbed the knob of the door.

*Almost forgot my breath mint.*

Turning to grab his mint, the pocket of his jacket caught on the knob and its buttons ripped off and flew across the floor. He held the buttonless jacket. It was the one thing Rachel had asked him to do. On the list of all the things she’d done to make their wedding perfect, having his suit was his only task, and he failed. He stared in the mirror, his face falling apart. He knew it was just a jacket and, logically, Rachel wouldn’t care, but he did. She deserved everything to be perfect, and here he was ruining it again.

“Boy, you ready in there? You taking longer than the women,” Terrence called to him through the door. When Elijah didn’t respond, he opened it. “Why your face turned all up like that?” Elijah said nothing and instead extended the two ends of the buttonless jacket out to him. “Aw boy, ain’t nothing but some buttons. My overalls ain’t even new. Stop worrying about such trivial things,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Elijah sighed. “Yes, sir.”

“Go on ahead and finish getting yourself pretty, then come on out and handle your business.” Eyeing Elijah one more time, the massive wolf left the room. Elijah sighed again before running his fingers through his hair in frustration. A knock on the door caught his attention.

“Can I come in, Elijah?” Annie asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Opening the door, she looked at him. “You look very handsome.”

“Thank you, but I accidentally ripped the buttons off my jacket.”

She smiled. “I know, Terrence told me. Nothing a little needle and thread can’t fix.”

“I can’t find the buttons.” Holding out her hand, she revealed two made of neck skin. “But he was just wearing those.”

“Nothing that two safety pins in his overalls can’t fix.” Sewing the buttons onto Elijah’s jacket, she spoke, “You know, that husband of mine may be rough around the edges, but he cares a great deal about you. He’s been driving me crazy about your wedding.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. Worried me for two weeks straight about making him some new overalls just for today.”

*****

Standing at the altar, Elijah listened to the music play. Eyes trained on the entrance of the door, his mouth dropped at the sight of Rachel. He’d expected her to be beautiful. He’d even expected to be left in awe, but he hadn’t expected to see his entire life flash before his eyes. Walking towards him was his future, and he felt his heart catch in his throat.

This woman, his mate, who now smiled at him, did not know how she’d changed his life. She was the one with the green hair who’d called him by his favorite nickname and risked her life to save his. She was the one who’d loved him so deeply that she’d taught him how to love himself. Elijah never believed in perfection until the day Rachel stood at Jordan’s door, and it only took one look at her for his wolf to feel the same way.

A Beta, so consumed with the material value of the world, learned from his mate what it meant to have worth without it. And maybe his mother wasn’t there–and he wouldn’t lie, it hurt–but as the tears fell from his eyes as he peered at Rachel, he knew this was what was meant to be.

Seeing the expression on Elijah’s face the moment she entered the room, Rachel realized it was the same he’d given her the first time he’d seen her. He was a man who’d made her love so hard; she wondered how she could have thought she’d been in love before. The little boy so determined to love her correctly, he’d walked away from his past and became a man. He was the Beta who’d found his way into her heart and healed all its broken pieces. He wasn’t perfect, but he was something more important. He was a man who looked at her with so much love in his eyes it made her feel like she could do anything. As the tears fell from her own eyes and she looked at her mate, she knew everything they’d ever been through needed to happen for them to end up here.

“You look so beautiful,” he choked out, and she wiped a tear from his eyes. The two turned and listened as the words poured into them from the preacher. Yet, as Elijah glanced around, a feeling of dread fell into his heart. “Baby, I’ll be right back, okay?” he said, interrupting.

She looked at him, confused until she saw he was searching for someone special. She nodded, smiling. “Go get him. I can wait.”

Jumping from the platform, Elijah scanned the front row and found who he was looking for. He extended his hand to Terrence. “Can’t get up there and handle my business like you taught me without your help, sir.”

Terrence swatted his hand. “Come on now, don’t make a scene. I’m not fit to be up there with you.”

Elijah watched him fiddle with the safety pins on his overalls and avoid his eyes. A sense of sadness washed over him. Terrence didn’t want to be up there, not because he didn’t care, but because he didn’t want to embarrass him on his special day. A lump formed in his throat. “Excuse me, everyone,” he said. “You all may know this man as Terrence or Turnemloose, but I know him as”—he faced Terrence—“dad.” Terrence’s eyes widened, and the hazel in them glistened. “He’s been more of a father than mine ever was, and when my mother disowned me, mama Annie stepped in and loved me as her own. They are the parents I've always dreamed of having, and they treat me with a kindness I wasn't given growing up. That means a lot to Rachel and I.”

Rachel wiped her eyes, and mouthed to him, “I’m so proud of you.”

Elijah smiled briefly at her, then turned his attention back to their guests. “I want him on the stage with me. He’s my father, and I want him by my side. Does anybody have a problem with that?”

“If they do, we can step into the hallway and have a little chat,” Annie said as she looked around with yellow eyes. Extending his hand again, Elijah smiled when Terrence took it and stood.

A Beta, who was once beyond materialistic, elitist, and classist, walked with the best man he’d ever known in tow. Taking his place back on the stage across from his mate again, he felt Terrence stand behind him.

He was the wolf with the shaved head who knew how to pair a cheese with a wine with great legs. He was the one who had rings around his eyes from staying up late scrubbing his only pair of boots so they wouldn’t dirty the floor of the church and be an eyesore on such a special day. He was the wolf whose new pair of overalls were now held up by safety pins because his son needed the best pair of neck skin buttons he’d ever made. It was he who taught Elijah what it meant to be a man and love his mate and, at the same time, found the child that he and his Annie had been missing all along.

Terrence leaned forward and whispered to Elijah, “I’m proud of you, son. Ain’t no allegedly about it.”

And as he looked around one more time, Elijah understood what it meant to be complete. Taking Rachel’s hands in his, a fulfilled Beta married the love of his life.