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Love is not something that everyone finds easy to show, or to find. But me... I... well, I love it. :3 To show that, this series of short, single-scene stories has been all about the many aspects of love! But now... now it's almost over. Only one more chapter after this. :o Thank you to everyone who's read and enjoyed this story so far, and I hope these final few chapters give Martin and Emma the happy ending I'll hope you agree they deserve. :3

Love Is... Every moment, unique and glorious in its own way.

"Martin, I believe you have chosen to recite your own vows as well. Please, when you are ready."

The collie nodded at the equine Minister gratefully, taking a moment to focus his thoughts as he reached into the jacket pocket of his smart black suit and withdrew a series of small cards. His eyes were closed, the final remnants of the tears which had been flowing down his cheeks as Emma recited her own vows... she'd insisted on going first, ever the eager one... still sparkling in their corners. After taking a few brief seconds to gather his strength however Martin bared his bright blue hues to the light of day once more, his calm, centred expression bursting into a dazzling grin as his eyes adjusted to the light and were subsequently granted the most beautiful sight of the male's entire life.

A stream of multi-toned sunlight from the stained glass window to Martin's right flooded the church with the most gorgeous array of colours. The building was old and regal, and despite being nothing more than a local village church its architecture still made it look wonderfully grand. Nearby a large organ sat against one wall, its gleaming brass pipes rising up through the floor of a wooden balcony whilst an elderly otter in a pale blue dress-suit sat upon it's stool, watching the collie as he watched her.

All of that however, the gorgeous building, the perfect lighting, the grand old organ and all the people in the aisles off to the collie's left, was nothing compared to that which stood right in front of him just a metre or so away.

Emma. His fiance. That amazing goddess of a vixen who had seen fit to share her life with him! The woman he had been in love with for almost four years now, and the woman he was going to be married to within the hour.

She was dressed in white, though not in the flashy, traditional marshmallow that many brides still opted for these days. It was a simple yet elegant white dress, long and sleek, reaching all the way down to the wooden floor. It was sleeveless, showing off the vixen's bright orange fur, her black paws and of course the diamond and sapphire embossed engagement ring resting upon her ring finger, soon to be joined by a second band of gold. Atop the vixen's head, her hair having grown out over the past six months and now hanging thick, luscious and free about her shoulders, a crisp white veil separated her shimmering emerald eyes from direct contact with Martin's own. That was probably a good thing though, for had he been able to see her face unrestrained at that moment the male didn't think he'd be able to resist sweeping forward, taking her into his arms and kissing her right there and then.

Most beautiful of all though was the way one portion of the vixen's lithe body showed with a little more prominence than the rest. Five months had passed since Martin and Emma got engaged, and four since she revealed to her lover that they were with child. Only recently had the vixen begun to show her bulge, and ever since she had Martin hadn't been able to keep his paws off her. She looked radiant, her body suiting impending motherhood like her finger suited the ring he'd placed upon it! And in her wedding dress, specially tailored to accent her new curves in the most flattering yet shameless way possible, Martin didn't think he'd ever seen a garment better suited to the body wearing it!

The Minister cleared his throat, and as Martin glanced over to him briefly he realised that he'd been staring at Emma for longer than expected. Not just a few seconds, more like thirty or forty! He blushed, grinning and running a bashful paw between his ears, and even chuckled softly when from somewhere in the assembled crowd he was certain that he heard an exclamation of 'Aww...'.

Looking back to Emma, Martin noticed that she was grinning too. He mouthed an apology to her, but the vixen simply shook her head slightly, then promptly stuck the tip of her tongue out in a playful fashion. Seeing her respond in such a way from beneath that veil and before all their assembled family and friends made Martin want to grab her and hug her all the more, but instead he settled for a snort of helpless laughter.

Still chuckling, and beaming with joy as a few new tears of happiness rolled down his cheeks, Martin gazed down at the first of the cue-cards still held in his paws. He cleared his throat, and began to recite his vows.

"Emma, ever since the first time I said it there are many times I've tried to put my finger on exactly what I mean when I say that I love you. Does it even have a meaning, or is it just the only way we can think of to express with words a feeling that cannot be interpreted in any tangible fashion? Well, you've given me nearly four years, the best and brightest of my life, to think about that, and now... now as we stand here, we're ready to promise one another the rest of eternity. So I thought that to mark this day, I'd tell you what I've come to learn about love over these past years. That way, as we go forward together through the rest of our lives, we can search for the rest of the answers together."

Martin paused, looking to Emma for approval. Sure enough the vixen nodded happily, and through her veil Martin was just able to see the tears sparkling within her eyes as she did so. He nodded back, and proceeded with his vows.

"Love is... love is being able to be shamelessly silly; being comfortable enough with your partner to not care if what you enjoy doing together makes other people look at you strangely. I remember that back when we started dating, I made a big deal of trying to make you laugh with one of my jokes. And in the end, the one that really worked... well, should I repeat it here, Emmy?"

The collie raised his eyebrows and snorted with laughter as Emma lifted a warning finger towards him, her eyes saying that if he so much as tried he'd regret it on the honeymoon even though he could see her fighting the urge to smirk at the memory of that unspeakably dark joke! The act of her moving against him at all however was sufficient to draw a ripple of laughter from the congregation, and thus Martin let it go, his point proven.

"Love is being happy just lying in your lover's arms, not caring if it leads to anything, not thinking about whether or not it will lead to anything. Just being with them, and being so content that you could die happy... that's love, right there. Love is sharing everything, even the bad stuff. It's about being there for one another whether you're celebrating an engagement, mourning a lost family member, or even just comforting your silly, scaredy-cat boyfriend after a nightmare. I think... I think that was why I stopped having those nightmares. Because I knew that when I woke up, you'd be there to hold me and tell me that everything was okay. And knowing that, it meant I didn't have any fears to have nightmares about."

Emma hung her head, sniffing as she fought the urge to start weeping outright. Martin saw this and on the spur of the moment made a decision. He reached out and took one of Emma's paws, the one bearing her engagement ring in fact. The collie squeezed it tenderly between both of his own hands, and kept on squeezing until Emma lifted her gaze from the ground. Her cheeks were glistening with the trails of tears, and Martin could still see new pearly droplets forming in the corners of her eyes. He didn't care though. He didn't care if she cried, because he knew that by the time he was done he'd be crying too. They could cry together, and screw anyone in the crowd who thought that was soppy or weak of them! This was their wedding day, and they'd cry if they wanted to.

"Love is knowing that sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing at all. Over the years we've been together we've had times when one of us has been feeling a bit down in the dumps. It's only natural! But while it's great to know we always have someone to turn to, it's just as important to remember that sometimes everyone needs a little space just to figure things out for themselves. That's as much a part of being in love as anything!"

Martin's grin faltered as he read the next few notes on the card. The very next one was okay, but the one after that... he hated to bring something negative up at a time like this; at their wedding of all places! At the same time though the collie knew why he'd put it on there, he knew that if he was to give an accurate portrayal of his love for Emma he had to say it, and more pointedly didn't intend to start cutting and re-working his vows right here on the spot. He'd spent the last three months getting this right, and this final set was as good as it was going to get!

"Love is giving, just to see the look on your lover's face. I love giving you gifts, Emma. I love watching you smile as you see what it is I've gotten you, and I love the feeling I get from giving something that I know will mean something to you. That's why I don't care if people call Valentine's Day a commercial holiday. If it means I get the chance to buy you a present I really believe you'll enjoy, something more than a box of chocolates or a vase full of roses, then I say roll on February Fourteenth!"

The male drew in a deep breath, and plunged into the next portion of his vows before he could talk himself out of it.

"Love is... well, it's about understanding that not everything is perfect all the time. We've had fights, Emmy, some over nothing and some over genuine differences of opinion, and while they suck royally... I'm glad we've had them. It shows that we're not just living in a dreamland where everything is how we want it to be. It shows that we're not changing who we are for our other half without so much as a thought for our own individuality."

Relief flooded the male as he saw Emma nod eagerly, her eyes gleaming what he could only assume to be pride in her lover for saying something so difficult but honest at a time like this. It was easy to gloss over things like that at times when all you wanted to do was be happy together, but without something to balance it against both Emma and Martin knew that happiness would have very little meaning.

Enthused by his lover's good grace, Martin swept through the central portion of his vows with great gusto. He reeled off countless other examples, his heart pounding faster and harder within his chest as Emma giggled and nodded and wept, and as he too began to feel the tears streaming down his cheeks with alarming regularity. All around him he could hear furs sniffing and chuckling too, and though he dared not remove his gaze from Emma for so much as a second he suspected that had he looked down at their assembled family and friends he would have seen a great many smiling faces amongst the crowd, and hopefully a few couples with their arms around one another or their paws entwined!

"Love is being able to make up again, and being able to relish the renewed joy of being able to get along! Love is a smile; the very look upon your face right now, more beautiful than anything else that nature or society could ever create! It's about being there when you're needed the most; to stand by your partner when they're in pain and when they need more than anything in the world not to feel alone. Love is all the little things, too! It's about the big moments; the anniversaries, the dates, the milestones, but it's about every moment of every day too. The way I kiss you on the forehead when you make me toast, the way you squeeze my paw when we hold hands in the park. All those little things and a million others, every day!"

Martin's voice grew louder and more passionate as he spoke, his eyes wide and burning with fierce delight and his arms gesturing wildly with every new utterance to escape his lips. Emma trembled with joy as she watched her lover speaking with such total conviction, aware of the hundreds of eyes peering up at them and feeling so very proud and so utterly overwhelmed at the thought that all of them were finally getting the chance to see what she'd always wanted to show them. They all knew that Martin was an amazing guy, but never before had they seen him the way she saw him. No one had! Until today that is. Today Martins stood before them all and let his passion ignite all who looked upon him, and it was beautiful to behold!

"Love is wild, like a passionate dream! You think that you've felt all there is to feel... you think it couldn't possibly get any better than this, and then... then love happens! Love hits you in the face like a sledgehammer, and you don't know or care how, but you feel a billion times more than you ever believed possible before you felt it. That's every day with you, Emmy. Every second I hold you in my arms, every instant we spend as one!"

A few faces in the crowd began to turn red at that moment, and a few children of the family members had paws slapped over their ears, but nothing more came of that fiery comment beyond a soft, heady whimper from the vixen herself.

"Oh Marty... my Marty..."

The collie lifted Emma's paw, clutching it once again between his own hands, to his muzzle, and kissed it tenderly.

"Love is never letting go. Never giving in, never stopping, never saying enough is enough."

Emma giggled, blushing as the male kissed her paw several times in rapid succession. This only seemed to encourage him more!

"Yes! That's it! Love is laughter, Emmy. The sweetest sound to ever reach my ears, letting me know that you are happy in a way no word can describe!"

Martin had long since ceased looking at his cards, each and every one of them lying down at his feet as they had been ever since he first grabbed Emma's paw. He knew them well enough to have done this speech without them from the beginning though, having intended on relying on them fully only as a last resort for if his nerves got the best of him. Now though he was too high on adrenaline and the euphoria of the moment to feel any kind of nerves, and thus he knew without doubt that his vows were reaching their peak. Before long he would have exhausted every last coherent thought regarding love to ever have crossed his mind, and after that it would be up to Emma to know that all the rest he felt for her was the kind of love only a kiss could truly convey.

"Love is a dream come true; the dream of all who meet someone who makes them feel like you make me feel. Love is forged in gold and diamond, but a billion times brighter and an infinite amount more valuable! Love is a journey that takes a lifetime to complete, discovering new twists and turns every day. A journey I would be proud and honoured to take with you, Emma. Love is the ecstasy of emotion; the same indescribable euphoria for the heart which ecstasy defines for the body!"

The male's gaze fell from Emma's face for a few moments, descending towards the vixen's rounded stomach. His crazed, giddy grin mellowed out as he regarded the child growing within his lover, and he suddenly found his bottom lip trembling as his momentary silence provided the perfect opportunity for his tears to catch up with him.

"L-Love is... it's the greatest gift of all, b-because you can share it without having to make it any less powerful. You can take what you feel for your mate, y-your lover, and transfer every last drop of it to a new life. A sweet, innocent child, who you know even before meeting them that you'll love every bit as much as you love their mother, and who you'll grow to love more with each passing day after they're born... a-again, just like their mother."

Martin's gaze rose once more, and as his tear filled blue eyes stared deep into the sparkling hues of Emma's own beaming, tear-stained face he released her hand, and instead laid a paw upon her rounded, pregnant belly. He whined happily as Emma placed one of her own paws atop his own, and the vixen let slip a quiet little sob of joy.

"Love is every moment, Emmy. Unique and glorious in its own way. T-that's how I feel, and that's what I hope will say all the things that a normal set of vows would say. You know I'll be faithful, you know I'll care for and cherish you through all the troubles and trials life could throw at us, because you know that I'm always going to love you."

Once again the vixen sobbed, and it took all Martin's willpower not to throw his arms around her as she did so.

"So now you know how I feel, Emma, at least as well as I can put it into words. Now you know what Love is. A-and I vow... I vow in God's name to love you in every one of those ways for as long as you'll have me. To love you as my friend, as my lover, as the mother of my baby, a-and as my wife, too."

Martin looked towards the Minister briefly and nodded. The elderly, grey furred horse cleared his throat, blinked a tear out of his eyes, and nodded back.

"Martin and Emma have made their vows before God and all those gathered here today, and now, with the placement of the rings upon their fingers..."

From somewhere behind the couple Martin's nephew, a young collie/labrador cross who resembled a much smaller, pure sandy-gold version of Martin himself, raced forward eagerly with the rings. Both Martin and Emma laughed, and each knelt in turn to receive their ring and hug the young puppy as he beamed up at them. After the boy's father; Martin's brother and best man, had led the pup away as he simply continued to stand between the two nearly-wed lovers amongst much laughter from the congregation and the couple themselves, the collie and vixen placed their rings upon one another's fingers just as the Minister had requested. They did so with a whispered repetition of the words they had been taught on their very first run-through of the service, and a pair of smiles that could have lit up the darkest and coldest of hearts.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed."

The Minister nodded approvingly once more, and with a welcoming wave of his paws uttered the words that Emma and Martin alike had longed to hear since before they were even engaged. The words they had asked to be specially written into this service, which would forever bind them in marriage.

"...I now pronounce thee husband and wife. Now and forever in holy matrimony, and in one another's love."

To be concluded, tommorrow.

By Jeeves