If you are new to Besties, this is basically a TRR AU where Drake and Liam are super best buds and kinda almost too involved in each others’ lives in the most adorable, naive way you can imagine.
Series Summary: Nina and Tim get married and have a baby! Thank goodness Drake and Liam are there to help them out along the way. This is Series 7 of Besties.
Part Summary: Tim and Nina marry, but not without some worries along the way.
Pairing: Tim (OC) x Nina (OC), Liam x Robin (OC), Drake x Cassie
Note: This series occurs immediately after Series 2: What Won’t Boy’s Buy? and contains a MAJOR spoiler for that series.
wc: 2000
Liam and Drake belong to Pixelberry, and I wonder what they would think if they saw what I did to them. 🤔 Thanks to @dcbbw for talks and moral support. This is also my @wackydrabbles contribution for this week! Prompt is in bold!
Part 4: When Tim Married Nina
"Okay, bros, it's the big day," Tim said before taking a deep breath. "I'm marrying my sweetie."
"It's gonna be sweet," Liam said. His eyes wandered across the park to the gazebo that was set up to host a BBQ potluck lunch before his friends married in a simple ceremony. He waved to Drake, who, given his win that morning at the gym for being able to deadlift the most (95 pounds), was helping Ralph with the manly task of grilling meat.
It was a serious task.
"Maybe we should help set up lunch," Liam said, rubbing his belly. "I heard Ralph brought wieners and fluffy buns --"
"Aww, Nina's favorite! He said he was going to bring some eggplant dip … what's it called? Babagooie?"
"Beats me, bro. I answer to two dips: ketchup and white."
"Dude, I love white," Tim said, nodding as he thought about the time Nina made them pasta with white for dinner. "Anyways, I said, ‘Ralph, she doesn't want your eggplant. She said mine is the only one she wants in her mouth.’"
"You do make good eggplant," Liam agreed. "So maybe we should make sure things are in place for the ceremony? Robin told me it’s the important part of getting married. She asked if I understood, and I shrugged. Then she gave me the look and I said, ‘I do.’"
They walked to the parking lot to retrieve a box labeled "ceremony stuff" from the back of Liam's wood panel station wagon. Tim watched Liam key into the car before lifting the back hatch. "See, as your best man, I remembered to bring things."
They high fived before making sure everything they needed for a perfect wedding was ready: tuxedo t-shirts, boutonnieres made from plastic roses from EuroTree, and a small velvet box holding the Dhingel family rings.
Tim lifted the small parcel and ran his fingers over the fuzzy lid. "I can't believe I'm going to wear a family ring. Gramp Gramp was wearing it when he died, but he was old, and him and Gram Gram were married a long time. You think that’s good luck? Or should we clean it with some salt water?"
"Hmm," Liam murmured as he rubbed his chin with his fingers; he insisted the action was an essential part of deep thought. "Gramp Gramp was a pretty cool guy. Remember when we helped him trim Gram Gram’s bush, and he let us eat his meaty balls?"
"He really knew how to reward the three of us for our hard work.”
"Those are good memories." Tim smiled before wiping a tear from his eye. He didn't have a relationship with his family, and Nina's family -- especially Gramp Gramp and Gram Gram -- embraced him from the first time they met.
“Nina has brought boys home before, but the way you two look at each other …” Gram Gram would sigh before her eyes lit with memories of the days Gramp Gramp courted her.
Tim was pulled from his daydream when Liam grabbed his arm and pulled him down behind the car. "Bro, I didn't know Sue Lynn was coming! You think she's going to tell everyone about how you're in a family way?"
"It's my special day," Tim said, his eyes narrowed as he looked at his soon-to-be cousin-in-law. "She --"
Tim and Liam slapped their hands over their mouths, hoping that Sue Lynn and her crew would not notice that they were hiding from her. She was the worst.
"Yeah, I told Gram Gram that Nina's knocked up," Sue Lynn bragged to the two other women with her. "And here we are, getting front row seats to the shotgun wedding."
The three women laughed as they jumped onto the lawn and made their way to Gram Gram, who was arranging half a dozen bottles of ketchup next to the pasta salad on the buffet table.
Liam and Tim turned to each other, their eyes going wide as they processed Sue Lynn’s words. "Did she say shotgun wedding?"
Liam nodded before patting his friend's arm. "I don't think that you are marrying a shotgun. The invitation said that you were marrying Nina."
"Why is there a shotgun then?" Tim asked as he worried his lip.
"Oh no,” Liam said as he thought deeper about the saying. “Do you think she's going to shoot you and Nina so she gets the inheritance? She's always trying sneaky stuff like that, and what a better time than at your wedding!"
Tim turned and sat on the pavement before leaning forward and placing his head in his hands. He wanted the day to be perfect for him and his sweetie, but he made a mistake and did not consider all possible disasters and emergencies. After all, Nina had an emergency plan in her wedding box in case something went wrong. His box just had a backup jug of ketchup.
"It will be okay. I'll take the bullet for both of us!"
Liam nodded. "That's very brave. The bravest thing ever."
"I know, right? The things I do for love!"
The two men sat on the pavement in silence as they watched Sue Lynn cozy up to Gram Gram. Liam shook his head as he pulled out his phone. "I won't stand for this! We need to call the police." He quickly punched the emergency number in and hit call.
"Hey, Police Man Nate. I need the police! Tim’s in trouble!"
…
"No, he isn't stuck in the canon again. But someone has a shotgun and wants to shoot him on his wedding day!"
…
"No, we didn't see a shotgun. Sue Lynn walked by when we were hiding and laughed about it being a shotgun wedding. She wants Tim and Nina dead so she gets Gram Gram's balls!"
…
"No, we aren't expecting any children at the wedding."
…
"What?"
…
"I told you she isn't with any children!"
…
"Oh, you mean in a family way. Yes. They had hotel woopie, and now they are going to be a mommy and a daddy when the baby comes out. We practiced with a watermelon, so we don’t need help when the time comes."
…
"Are you serious?"
…
"So she isn't going to shoot them?"
…
"Can you send someone just in case?"
…
"I thought your job was to help people!"
…
"I don't think so, but I guess you're the police man, and I am just a concerned citizen."
Liam huffed as he ended the call. "Apparently, a 'shotgun wedding' means the bride is in a family way. But he said we're cool. No one is gonna shoot anyone, including you."
Tim shook his head as his eyes fell upon Nina, who was at the back of Robin's car fussing with her bridal box. "Maybe the baby won't come out until we're married. Maybe the shotgun tells the baby it better born itself when Nina’s tummy dings or else."
Liam patted his shoulder. "Could be. Let's go see how Drake and Ralph are doing on the grill."
--
"I'm stuffed," Ralph groaned as he pulled his tuxedo shirt on over his head. He tugged it down, but his hotdog-filled stomach left a small gap between the shirt and his pants.
"But you won the hotdog eating contest!" Drake said, patting his own belly. "But we can't talk about all the wieners we slurped down -- we need to get ready for the wedding!"
The men spent the next few minutes gelling their hair and affixing boutonnieres to their shoes. Drake's phone interrupted the moment when it started ringing.
"Oh, it's Cassiebear!" he said as he picked up the call. "Hi!"
…
"Oh, yeah, we have our tuxes on. We also got those boot flowers!" He grinned as he admired his flower-studded sneaker."
…
"Boutonniere? Tim called them 'boot-something flowers. We got them at the EuroTree. Our shoes look sweet. Do they go at the top or bottom of the laces?"
…
"I mean, we can put them on our tuxes, but they aren’t called tux-anieres"
…
"White roses with blue ribbons."
…
"I don't know. Blue blue? What do you mean shade of blue?"
…
"Oh, there are different blues? It's like, uh," he paused, turning to the guys. "What color is the ribbon on the boots?"
"Blue," they all yelled.
Drake shrugged. "The guys say they are blue too."
…
"Okay, we can do that. Love you, Cassiebear." Drake hung up the phone and turned towards his friends. "It’s showtime!”
--
Tim stood by the Wedding Lady and bit his lip to keep it from trembling. He was excited for so many reasons: he was marrying his sweetie, their baby would be born, and no one was going to shoot him. His eyes slid over to Sue Lynn, who smirked.
Well, hopefully no one would shoot him. Liam was usually right.
He watched Liam and Robin come down the aisle; he looked sharp in his tuxedo shirt, and she was pretty with her blue sundress. He scrunched his face as he looked between the ribbons and dress; maybe there were different blues, but that was something to figure out later.
After Drake and Cassie joined their friends and Ralph brought their rings forward, everyone stood and turned as Nina walked down the aisle. Tim’s jaw dropped; perhaps the only time she looked prettier was when she told him he was the father of the baby.
The way she smiled and waved. Her bouquet of white flowers surrounded by green stuff and ribbons. He felt a rumble in his stomach but pushed it aside. He knew there was a beautiful rainbow rose Congratulations cake to enjoy after their ceremony. He could — had to — wait.
He giggled as she stood next to him in front of the Wedding Lady.
The next few minutes were a blur; Nina knew he had the attention span of a three-year-old and asked the minister to keep it to the basics as to not confuse any of the men.
“Welcome, everyone, as we celebrate the wedding of Nina Dhingel and Timothy Bayreh.”
“Do you take —?”
I DO!
I DO!
Tim grinned at Nina as their hands joined and the Dhingel family rings twinkled on their fingers. He was happy he remembered to practice his lines with Drake while they spotted each other at the gym that morning, even though everyone gave them funny looks for shouting “I do” over and over at each other.
“And, by the powers vested to me by the Crown, I pronounce you --”
“WOO!” Drake, Liam, and Ralph yelled as they popped bottles of sparkling water and sprayed Tim and Nina in celebration. Nina was glad her best girls had overheard the boys’ plan to use soda and convinced them sparkling water was the ‘traditional’ shake-and-spray beverage for weddings.
“I GET TO KISS THE BRIDE!! WOO!” Tim said, sweeping Nina into his arms and bending her over in a once-in-a-lifetime fabulous movie star kiss. He knew it had to count -- it was their first as man and wife!
“And now, I am proud to present --”
“Oh,” Nina whispered to the officiant. “We’re hyphenating our last names.”
Wedding Lady smiled softly as the couple turned to face their gathered friends and loved ones. “And may I present, for the first time as a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Dhingel-Bayreh!”
--
it's been a hot minute since i've used my tag list and I can't remember the last thing I posted, so I'm using the last Besties one from this series.
I wanted to recreate In Bed, The Kiss by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec but make it Our Flag Means Death, this one being Ed and Stede because how can you not?
I honestly am struggling to keep my mind off this show. It's so freaking good.
