A/N: Thanks for the feedback, everyone, I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and review if you want to, thanks! :)

"If they're terrible to you, I'm going to leave, and I might never go back."

"That's pretty harsh."

"I'm serious," Stephanie said, "I might scrawl it in blood that I'm disowning them. Not my blood or anything, I mean, I'll go like get blood sausage or something, that'd work, right, either way, I'd make them know it."

"I appreciate that," he told her, kissing the tip of her nose. "I don't think they will be though. I think they'll actually be nice. I think through a series of life lessons, they've learned to feel. It's really a touching story, if we were in the 1990's, we could probably sell it to ABC and get it on the TGIF line-up. It could've been right between Full House and Perfect Strangers."

"We would have made millions and gotten to wear cool clothes, and I would have had an endless supply of scrunchies," Stephanie said with a deep sigh. "I had the raddest collection of scrunchies when I was growing up. Everything you could imagine, polka dots, plaid, one with little dog bones on it. I was the most popular girl in my class."

"And did you do the bangs?"

"Did I do the bangs? I had the highest bangs you've ever seen," Stephanie scoffed. "What was the saying, the higher the hair, the closer to God? I mean, I wasn't religious, but for these purposes, let's assume that I am."

"Wait, so we're going to do the church wedding now?"

"I thought we were doing the church wedding," Stephanie said, "are we not? Oh my God, are we doing the Satanic church wedding? That's not what I signed up for although I'm sure that some people think that's where we should get married."

"If you're going to cough out Trish's name right now," Chris told her and she made a face and shrugged. "I think she's actually dating someone right now, so we're good on that front. At least that's the skinny that I got from Christian."

"The skinny? What's the fat?"

"Where's the beef?"

"Who's your daddy?"

"Who squeezed the Charmin?"

"Who shot JR?"

"Who shot Mr. Burns?"

"Who's the guy she's dating?" Stephanie asked after their short digression. "Is it someone we know? Is it someone in the company, are we going to have to face off? Is it going to be a West Side Story situation? I haven't taken tap dancing in a really long time."

"I don't think it's someone in the company, I think it's someone she knew when she was younger and dated and they started dating again," Chris said, "at least that's what Christian seemed to think. I'm not going to ask Trish. I think we're at a place where she doesn't want to kill me, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"It's not like you did something heinous like leave—I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you did leave her at the altar."

"Must we bring that up."

"It's going to be a bragging point for me for the next, oh, 50-60 years, tops. If we ever have a fight, I think I'm going to use that as an argument. I'll just break it out when you least expect it. Hey, yeah, well you know what, you left a woman at the altar for me, buddy, so ha!" Stephanie pretended to be mad.

"That actually could work, I would probably fold like fresh piece of laundry," Chris told her, "you ready to go? And let me remind you that the last time we went to dinner, it wasn't so bad, so this time probably won't be that bad either. I think you might just be nervous because of the years of neglect."

"You mean to tell me that the past actually affects a person?"

"So I've heard," Chris said, "but really, it'll be good, it'll be fine, and you know what, your parents actually have sort of, kind of proven that they care about you, and I think that's going to continue. I think that we're building something really good here…with Legos, you know, so they stick together so well that you can't even get them apart sometimes even when you stick your nail into it and try to pry it apart."

"I know, but old patterns, I'm trying to break out of them."

"I know," he hugged her, "I love you."

"I love you too," she said in a dopey voice. They grabbed the car keys, and they headed towards the restaurant where they'd agreed to meet. It was fancy, it was her parent's choice, and they were dressed nicely. Chris was in dress pants, and navy blue button down while Stephanie was in a short skirt and nice blouse. They felt completely overdressed, but compromise had to happen on both sides.

They arrived before Shane and Emma, but her parents were there, and Stephanie suspected that they were very early so they could definitely be the first ones there. Stephanie went up to both her parents and gave them a light hug while Chris looked on. Stephanie and Chris were both surprised when Linda stepped up to Chris and gave him a hug too. Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and made a shocked face to Chris where her parents couldn't see because she wasn't expecting a gesture like that. Then Vince took a step forward and reached his hand out for Chris, which prompted another look. Chris shook his hand and they all sat down.

"Now," Vince said, "I know that Linda did apologize, but I haven't yet, and it's about time I do so."

"Apologize," Stephanie echoed, her voice low.

"Yes, for not wanting to come to the wedding. Chris, you're an exceptional wrestler, and I'm coming to see an exceptional person who makes my daughter happy, and I need to recognize that, but if you are using her to get a push, it's not going to happen," Vince always had to bring it back around to wrestling.

"Thank you, Vince, I really appreciate that."

After dinner, which went surprisingly well, to the shock of everyone, Chris and Stephanie went to get ice cream since the dessert at the restaurant was painfully small. They were just sitting in the ice cream shop eating their ice cream, occasionally sharing bites in silence, thinking over the dinner.

"I felt like a family for the first time in a long time," Stephanie said, "I really think this is going to work, and I never thought I would have said that, at least not in the waking world. In some kind of alternate reality that I fell through a crack in time to get to, sure, but in this universe, never."

"Your dad shook my hand and called me an exceptional person, exceptional," Chris said, "I don't think that means what your dad thinks it means. He was probably going for exceptionally horrible."

"This thing might actually be happening," Stephanie told him, "Like, we might actually have a wedding, Snooks, where everyone is happy for us, where everyone gets along. I never thought it possible, but things are so different, I hardly recognize this life anymore. I hardly recognize my family. My brother is no longer a robot, my parents got emotion chips, it's like…oh my God, I'm dead, aren't I? I died, and this is those 7 minutes of brain activity left, and I'm dead."

"You better not be dead, unless we're both in comas and we're actually ghosts, but everyone can see us and we don't have to be in the dark like in Ghost Dad, and we have to find our bodies before we really die."

"Were we in any taxis recently?"

"No, I don't think so."

"It's so crazy to think that we're going to get married and everything is going to go off without a hitch unless you decide you're in love with your female best friend and leave me at the altar…oh wait, I am your female best friend, so I think we're good."

"I wouldn't leave you, Stephers. So hey, what was that talk about your mom and wedding dresses?"

"Oh God, you had to remind me, tomorrow," Stephanie said, "we're going wedding dress shopping. Thank God Emma agreed to go as a buffer. I wanted to invite Lissie, but she couldn't come because it's in the middle of the day, and she has work."

"It shouldn't be that bad."

Stephanie glanced at the dress her mother pulled from one of the racks. It was hideous. The skirt seemed to poof out two feet from where her actual waist was going to be, and there were long lacy sleeves, and so much sparkly stuff on it, she thought she'd be blinded. It might be good if she was in a Disney movie, but not for her actual wedding.

"Mom…"

"You'd look so beautiful in this."

"I wasn't really going for the princess look," Stephanie bit her lip as she could see Emma with her back turned laughing. She knew as much as anyone that this wasn't Stephanie's style. She probably wanted Stephanie to try it on just to see how bad it would actually look. Emma glanced over and Stephanie glared at her.

"You should try it on, Steph," Emma could barely contain her laughter.

"Nobody asked you," Stephanie told her. "Mom, please don't make me try that on."

"Okay," Linda lamented as she put the dress back. The woman helping her with the dresses came over and shook everyone's hand, asking who the bride was and Stephanie pointed at herself. Her mother had made this appointment this morning, using her considerable amount of money and influence to fit her in when it was difficult to get an reservation at this particular high-end boutique.

Their personal shopper lady or whatever she was, Stephanie wasn't clear what to call her, asked her what she wanted out of a wedding dress. Stephanie knew she wanted simple, but still kind of different. She liked dresses well enough, but she'd never been someone who looked at wedding dresses all the time or planned her wedding when she was younger. When she was a little kid, most of her time was spent trying to figure out ways to get the hell out of dodge. Now that it was here, she wasn't even sure what she wanted.

"Um, simple, but maybe some lace or something, I like lace, but not poofy, I don't want to look like a princess or anything, I just want to look…pretty, but not crazy. The crazy is coming after the wedding at the reception."

"Were you looking for a reception dress too?" the lady asked.

"No, I have something for it."

"She's going to get this very cute outfit," Emma said, "it's a circus theme."

"Oh," the lady said, "but did you want traditional for the wedding?"

"Pretty much, yes."

The lady nodded, "I'll pull some dresses."

"This is exciting, don't you think?" Linda asked. "I mean, wedding dress shopping and everything, you might find the dress today."

"I might, I just kind of wish that Loretta was here," Stephanie said without thinking. Her mother's face dropped for just a second and Stephanie felt horrible. "I'm sorry, that…I want you here, Mom, I do, I just became really close to her, and I know she'd want to be here with me and—"

"It's okay, I understand," Linda said, "it's my own fault that I don't have that relationship with you. I'm sure you can send her pictures though."

"Yeah," Stephanie said, as their consultant came back with a few dresses. Stephanie went with her to the dressing rooms, and the first two, she didn't like, but the third, a sheath dress covered in beaded lace with an empire waist and cap sleeves. She gasped when she saw herself in it. "Oh yeah, this is the one."

Stephanie brought it out for her mother and Emma to see, but she knew it already, this was the dress. This absolutely was the dress. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she could see herself getting married, and it really struck her that this was real. She was marrying her best friend, and they were going to build a life together.

She was so ready for it.