Cupid Gets a Name Chapter 5, part 2 of 2

Cupid Gets a Name
Chapter 5, part 2 of 2

After one more visit to the bathroom to check his tux, Wade retrieved Livvy from her abuela. He took his place under the arbor beside the preacher. His brother, Jake, Derek, and Wade's college roommate stood beside him individually as they walked in with the bridesmaids. Rissa, Natalie, Gabriella, and Tabi arrayed around the opposite side of the arbor.

Dia looked spectacular in her wedding gown, walking hand in hand with her smiling father. Wade rocked Olivia in his arms to keep her content as his soon-to-be father-in-law gave him a nod at the end of the aisle. Sticking out of the bottom of her incredible, form-fitting gown was a sparkling white pair of canvas tennis shoes that completed his bride's look. She did wear heels occasionally and made those look incredible, too, but the casual white shoes completed her formal look perfectly.

The strapless gown superbly contrasted with her fantastic, deeply tanned skin. The bouquet she held was a more extensive, well-arranged relative of the first flowers that Wade had brought her. A white ribbon tied up her magnificent tight curls, and her best feature, her gleaming smile, seemed to sparkle in the light. Wade knew there was no more perfect woman than the one walking toward him.

When her father broke away, Fredo got up from his seat beside Clem. He took his mother's open hand for the walk to the altar. Wade and Dia wanted their children to participate in the ceremony. It wasn't just the couple that were having their lives changed today. Livvy may not remember the wedding, but there would be many photos to show her when she was older. Their girl's inquisitive eyes opened at the end of the service right before Wade leaned over and shared his first kiss as a married man with his incredible bride.

Cupid 542 - Many years later

"Are you ready, hon?" Angela fluttered into their bedroom wearing her formal muse vestments. It was a purple toga outfit that had appeared on several Grecian urns from millennia ago. The ancient Greeks had briefly found secrets of seeing into the ethereal world through exotic combinations of items in potions. They always needed to remember the wings on the muses.

"Almost. We got an hour before we have to leave, right?" 542 questioned. He already had his formal cupid uniform. He frequently lamented that it looked like a diaper, but at least they weren't naked, as depicted in Renaissance art.

"You're the guest of honor, my dear." Angela kissed him on his cheek as she peeked over his notebook.

"Checking up on them?"

"All three couples that earned me a name are there." 542 smiled. He would be bestowed with a moniker when the ritual of names in the High Aether Tower soon. "I just want to watch them on their special day."

"Why don't we take a portal and look in on them before we get you a name? We can take in the wedding and still make your ritual."

"That'd be perfect. If we have time."

"A sprinkle or two of magic can ensure we have time. You know the most recent union will bring plenty in return."

Within a few minutes and via several portals, Angela and 542 arrived at a church on the city's outskirts where Dia and Wade still made their home.

"The tux looks good on you, Mijo!" Dia welcomed Alfredo outside the sanctuary.

"Did I get the tie straight?"

"Don't worry about it, Fredo. Your mother had to straighten mine when she got to the altar. I swear I had it on right. Don't stress about making things perfect and miss out on the celebration of you and your bride."

"Thanks, Dad." Alfredo embraced Wade. "Where's Livvy?"

"Where do you think?"

"Hanging out with her girlfriend?"

"Taylor and she were five minutes behind us," Dia explained. "You know they don't get much time together with Olivia in law school."

"Is that one going to work out, too?" Angela whispered as they watched.

"That's still undecided, but it's getting more likely." 542 pulled out his notebook. "Ninety percent possible." He confirmed his previous calculations.

Alfredo and Olivia's life paths had many spiraling possibilities, but some things were already coalescing. Wade had made a significant impact on his stepson's life. His encouragement in math and Fredo's fight against cancer as a boy encouraged Fredo's interest in medicine. It was why he and his future bride's high school romance didn't work out. 542 had to stay his hand and let things emerge naturally instead of losing the first arrows on the pair. They needed time apart to reach their full potential.

When the pair returned home one weekend after finishing his doctorate in medical research and hers in engineering, 542 finally fired arrows. He only needed to use the less powerful variety as love grew organically. It required a light push, not a shove. They may not have needed it, though, as they still pined for one another.

"You bring some first arrows?" Angela grinned as Olivia entered the church hand in hand with a tall brunette.

Taylor was the eldest daughter of Rissa and Natalie. Angela's assistance had been instrumental in getting her parents together.

Taylor looked like an incredible blend of Rissa and Natalie. She had her Momma Natalie's height, effortless intelligence, and elegant way of dressing. From Rissa, she got her brown eyes, gregarious personality, and larger chest. Although Rissa had carried Taylor through her pregnancy, her DNA came from Natalie's ovum and a sperm donor. Whoever they had selected was an incredible match for Rissa's physical traits.

Olivia looked like a clone of her mother, only three inches taller, with a touch of Wade's nose and a paler complexion. The curls in her jet-black hair were looser than her mother's and didn't have the distinguished white and gray peppering. She was an incredibly bright young woman who grew up surprisingly close to her brother, who was nearly a decade older than her.

"Not yet. Olivia may be like her brother, and we need time for that relationship to grow organically." Another pairing coming from prior first arrows without needing new ones would earn vast magical power for the ethereal realms.

Olivia had a destiny as the first lesbian president in the future if 542 could guide her path correctly. Taylor was likely to be her first lady, but there needed to be more time and observation for that route to coalesce.

"Congratulations, son. Remember always to treat her right; you two will be each other's strong foundation for life like your mother is for me." Wade smiled and embraced Alfredo.

"I'm glad I let you two go to New Year's Eve without me." Fredo chuckled with a tear in his eye.

"Don't make your bride have to be as patient with you, my boy. Your mother is a saint. I love you, Fredo." Wade had a tear in his eye as he headed toward the sanctuary to meet up with Rissa, Nat, Tabi, and Jake.

"Your father exaggerates how patient I had to be. I'm glad you and your bride didn't take our route to the altar.

Don't get me wrong, we were blessed with your sister, but I'm ecstatic you two are using a different order of operations."

"Not from a lack of trying!" Livvy's laugh boomed out as Fredo turned pink in a blush. "What? You two aren't exactly quiet."

"Says the girl I caught attempting to make grandchildren with Taylor yesterday in the pool." Dia glared at Olivia before laughing.

"That's not how it works, mom!" Livvy and Taylor both blushed. "She doesn't have the right equipment to get me pregnant. I've checked." Her grin and resolve both returned with added strength. "A lot."

Dia shook her head. Trying to embarrass Livvy rarely worked, so she dropped the subject and hugged her son.

"Don't forget to have fun today, and don't forget to eat something. I love you, Mijo."

"Thanks, mom."

"That said, we expect grandchildren someday soon." Dia grinned as Fredo blushed. "From both of you, though you and Taylor can wait a while." Dia winked.

Angela and 542 observed the arrival of several guests as 542 made notes about pairings in the group. Angela couldn't resist sprinkling a little inspiration on Maya, the bride's maid of honor, as she put the finishing touches on her speech for the reception. They flew into the sanctuary in time for the wedding march to play and a redheaded bride to walk in, her arm linked with Jake as he walked his eldest daughter to the altar.

Clementine and Alfredo had been best friends in elementary and middle school before things changed in their senior year of high school. Clem started dating a neighbor boy, and Fredo felt jealous. He did his best not to show that jealousy and continued treating Clem the same, but when the boy broke up with her before senior prom, Fredo didn't allow the opportunity to show his true feelings to slip through his fingers. They dated through the remainder of the school year, summer, and their first year of college, but the strain of being on different coasts for college severed the bond before it could solidify.

Several years later, after Fredo and Clem got their degrees and had gone through trials and tribulations of their relationships, they ended up back home to move up in their career paths. Angela smiled when 542 asked if a muse helped inspire their job interviews. Clem and Fredo were destined to get together, but she sped up the timeline by a half-decade.

Fredo and Clem's places of employment were primary sponsors of the same New Year's Eve party. The look on Alfredo's face when Clementine arrived at the party wearing an incredible emerald-colored gown almost matched his expression when Clementine stepped into the sanctuary. This time, though, he didn't fight the tear as it fell from his eye.

Both the young adults had planned to appear for the sake of their position. Fredo had to say hello to Clem, and they lost track of time catching up from all their years apart. When the countdown suddenly reached zero at midnight, Clementine kissed Alfredo, and their destiny crystallized in their minds.

A few minutes into the service, the doors to the sanctuary eased open as two men quietly took a seat at the back of the room. Both Clem and Fredo's biological fathers quietly sat at the back of the room. They had started the healing process with their children but didn't desire to be a distraction at the wedding. Chet had been contrite at his trial years ago and accepted probation but had been so embarrassed by what his friend had done that he moved far away from his son.

"Magic can only take us out of our time stream for so long, my dear." Angela grinned after the speeches and the bride and groom's first dance.

"Thank you for this," 542 fluttered over to his soulmate and kissed her. "I needed this."

"So did I." Angela grinned as they flapped out of the church and back toward the nearest portal into the ethereal realm.

542 didn't earn his name by making up for three missed first arrows that he eventually rectified; instead, he introduced a new way of thinking. They used to think that the first time a couple met had to be when an agent of true love should fire their arrow, and when loosed, they should aim it properly to get the quickest return on investment of magic. It had been excellent that short-term gains, instead of the best result, had blinded such long-lived creatures. 542's errant aim had lucked into a discovery.

For some partners, a first arrow hitting squarely in the heart wouldn't lead to their best life. They would only be the people their partner needed with more life experience. Clem and Fredo had been each other's first, but the night they got back together after a New Year's kiss, they discovered the incredible value of a separate experience. They were then much better people and much better lovers.

Analysis of the amount of magic returned over the long haul and the propensity for the epic loves to inspire romance in subsequent generations supported a revolutionary entire school of thought in the True Love Division. 542 clarified that it wasn't just his efforts; his use of cross-disciplinary assistance, like the muses and dreams, was vital to his success. He was proud that Angela was helping him finally earn a name.

The naming ceremony was quick but filled with the requisite reverence for the event. 542 didn't want an event that was too large. Angela was the only person he needed present other than the officiant and Aether Court-appointed witness. She fluttered beside him as his list of achievements was read out and into the Grand Record. Even with lifespans measured in dozens of millennia, few mythical creatures earned a name.

"542, On Behalf of the Aether Court, it is my honor to present you with a name." The official announced broadly from the overlook above the Aether Tower's immense lobby. Many mythic beings stopped their daily activity to gaze up at the rare ceremony. "The Council conferred for quite a while before we landed on a moniker that would befit you."

"The name had to have a meaning with love in mind. Your life's work has toiled ceaselessly to advance our influx of magic and the betterment of the mortals." Angela surprised him as she let go of his hand and fluttered to hover beside the officiant.

"Your many early successes took place in Europe, so we needed a name with its origins where your rise in the love department originated." A councilor from the Aether Court flew out from behind the backdrop. His presence marked a second member of the Council on the podium.

In the decades since Wade and Dia were wed, Angela had taken her place as the Creatives’ representative.

Angela had to recuse herself when the Council voted on his naming, but once it was agreed upon, she could help assign a name.

"Carys means 'to love' in Welsh." Valentino, who had once tried to demote 542 from the True Love Division back to Lust, fluttered down from an upper floor. He was now the Positive Emotions representative on the Council. "It shares its origin with Cassanova, the name of my predecessor on the Council."

"We needed more than just love in the name. Your sense of justice and fairness also needed to be represented." The officiant continued.

"From this day forward, 542, you will be known as Carwyn, meaning, 'Fair love.'" Angela grinned as she fluttered back to him. "Congratulations, my love."

"Thank you." Happy tears poured from Carwyn's eyes.

"This is all from your hard work, Carwyn." Angela kissed him.

"And your undying support."

"May both of you continue your atmospheric rise with the Council's full support." The officiate bowed his head slightly. "It is our honor also to recognize your request for permanent union."

"What?" Angela grinned as she did a joyful barrel roll, bringing Carwyn along. The Mythical equivalent of marriage was rarer than a name. The pair had submitted a request a decade ago.

"It is our proud honor to recognize the union of Angela and Carwyn!" The officiant's voice boomed over the crowd, fluttering in from around the Aether Tower. A union and naming happening simultaneously had yet to occur in a millennium and a half.

"Best day of your life?"

"With you beside me? Getting close." Carwyn had earned his name and had his union with Angela recognized.

Watching the fruits of his work in the mortal world was the icing on the top. There would be more work to do, but together with his love, they could keep achieving incredible things.