The two of them had never been happier. It was time for them to say 'I do'!
"Do you Constance Ann Moreau take Guy Jesus Germaine"
The audience stifled their laughter as Guy cringed at the announcement of his middle name. It wasn't his fault that his mother was a religious fanatic.
The priest continued "to be your lawful wedding husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health til death do you part?"
Connie could feel the tears of joy spring to life in her eyes as she looked at her husband to be and said "I do".
Guy smiled at his soon-to-be wife.
"Guy Jesus Germaine"
again the crowd stifled their laughter but it almost got too much for Les Averman. Fortunately he was silenced with a quick poke from his hockey coach Ted Orion.
"do you take Constance Ann Moreau to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health til death do you part?"
Something behind Connie had caught Guy's attention.
"Guy?" the priest questioned
Guy hesitated again.
Connie felt her worse fear coming true and tried to hold back her tears.
"Huh? Oh sorry – I do, of course I do!" Guy said quickly feeling father embarrassed. Glancing over Connie's shoulder to see if the distraction was still there. It was.
"Guy? Connie asked bringing him back down to earth. The hatred in his eyes was beginning to scare her. "What is it?" she hissed.
"You may now kiss the bride" the priest repeated for Guy's benefit.
He shook off the feeling of surprise and annoyance that he was feeling and lifted his new wife's veil and planted a kiss on her lips
"She's here" he whispered into her mouth.
"Who?" Connie whispered as subtly as she could.
"Behind you" he replied.
When they broke free the priest announced "I now pronounce you husband and wife"
Connie was careful to turn around in the direction Connie had pointed out. It was then that she spotted her. "Oh my god!" she whispered to herself.
Unfortunately at the same time Connie spotted her so did Charlie Conway, Guy's best friend and the best man at the wedding.
"What's she doing here?" he hissed to Guy. Charlie knew everything about Guy's childhood history.
"I don't know, its kinda creepy though" Guy replied.
"That's it, I'm getting rid of her" Charlie threatened.
"Wait!" Guy said making one of the hardest decisions he'd ever had to make.
"Just let her be, she's not harming anyone. We'll ignore her and maybe she'll go away on her own. I don't want a big scene. Cons doesn't deserve that" Guy said pushing his own feelings of hatred aside for the sake of his new wife.
Connie was one of those people who believed that everyone should live in peace and harmony. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Unknown to anyone in that room, Guy's decision had just cost him dearly. Before anyone realised what was going on a gun was drawn, a woman screaming "Die you devil child!" before firing.
It hit him once in the chest, she fired again hitting him in the stomach. The last shot landed right between his eyes.
She then turned the gun on herself pushing the barrel tight against her temple before firing.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Connie woke up screaming. "Connie!" Fulton Reed came bursting into the room that Connie had claimed as her own.
He grabbed her in a tight hug "Sshh Cons it was just a dream, just a dream." He tried to soothe her screams and tears away.
"He's really gone Fult, he's really gone" she cried over and over again.
They'd been through this just about every night. It was becoming routine. Fulton didn't mind though – Connie was one of his best friends and she'd been through a lot in the past few weeks.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The horror of what happened that day had shaken the tight-knit Ducks group to the core.
Charlie had moved back to Minneapolis and into the house Connie and Fulton now shared.
It somehow made him seem closer to his best friend.
Connie naturally blamed herself.
If she hadn't have told her about the wedding then the tragic event would have never occurred.
Adam told her not to blame herself merely because it wasn't her fault. She would have found out about it anyway.
She was Guy's mother, the woman who gave birth and attempted to raise the boy the Ducks all knew and loved. She was a religious fanatic who set her youngest child on fire in his own bed because she'd believed that he was the spawn of Satan.
She had attended the wedding, the happiest day of Guy's life and ruined it. She killed him in front of his new wife's eyes and all of his friends and family.
The dream house Connie and Guy had bought to live in was up for sale. No one could stand living in it since his death. It just didn't feel right.
Connie, Fulton, Charlie, Julie and Portman had all moved into a five bedroom two-storey house next to Casey Conway's apartment complex.
Connie had sold their plane tickets to Paris, their honeymoon destination. She felt safer in a house with all of her best friends, Guy's 'real' family.
Someone had once told her that life goes on. Time doesn't stand still.
Connie begged to differ. It felt like the whole word had shut down for a week starting from the exact moment the gun was drawn and the first bullet fired right up until they lowered the casket into the ground.
"A Tragedy" the newspapers called it, it was so tragic because he was only 22 years old. As if it made it any worse.
She felt like she had to get out of there, be somewhere where she could talk to her late husband. She toyed with her shiny new wedding ring, unaware that she was doing it. It was as if she was summoning him from the grave, to come back and be with her.
She made her way to the cemetery. A little ritual she did daily, bringing with her a single red rose to lay on his headstone. She shut the rusty gate behind her as she made her way through the now familiar row of headstones until she found the one she was looking for.
Today someone had beaten her to it.