When she called her dad to tell him they were coming to visit, he totally guessed that she was coming to tell him that she and Donnie were getting married. He promised to try to act surprised. However, when Marina and Donnie showed up, there were people everywhere at her dad’s house. And every single one of them had something to do with planning their wedding.
“So much for acting surprised, Dad,” she teased as he gave her a hug.
He looked at Donnie and then back at her. “Well, the boy did call me and ask for my blessing a couple of days ago. It was all I could do to not call you and tell you.”
She looked at Donnie. “It’s a good thing I love you so much, or I’d be upset at the sneakiness you two have been up to.” Donnie grinned at her. “Well, Dad, did he also tell you that we were bringing you a present?”
“Present? No, he didn’t. What on earth have you kids bought for me?”
Mari looked at Donnie and nodded. “Well, Jim,” he paused and cleared his throat. “I think maybe we should go to the den and use the CD player so you can play this disk,” he said holding up a jewel case with a silver disk inside it. Jim looked puzzled, but they all headed down to the den and Marina took the disk and put it in the player. She sat down next to Donnie on the loveseat across from her Dad before using the remote to start the song playing. Her dad recognized the music instantly, but when she started singing along, he was more mesmerized than ever. All three of them were crying by the time the song was over. Jim was so proud of Mari. He thanked Donnie for helping her with the song and the idea of recording it so he could hear it any time he wanted. Mari explained that it had a version of her just playing the guitar as well, so that he could hear it too.
Soon, Mari and Donnie found out what all the fuss was about. All the people there were trying to make arrangements for Mari and Donnie to get married as soon as possible. There were people there to pick out flowers, bridesmaid’s dresses, tuxedos, and The Dress. In fact, there were about 100 dresses there for her to choose from…all in her size and in the styles her Dad knew she might like. She asked Donnie go thru and pick out some that he liked and she would do the same since there were so many. They each picked 8 dresses. Three of their picks were the same. When she tried them on, she had someone take a picture of her in each of the 3 dresses and once she was back in her regular clothes, she let Donnie see the pictures. His favorite was the same as hers. Tuxedos and Bridesmaid dresses were easy after that. The cake and flowers would complement each other and before they knew it, everything was arranged…everyone was even going to be available to be in the wedding….which was happening in 2 weeks at the Royce home in Knoxville.

The fans were going crazy on twitter. Most of them were happy for Donnie. Marina continued to share pictures and moments of their life with them and the fans adored her for it. They kept posting things about “Ddub and Mdub” and they both thought it was cute. She was totally ready for this new life with Donnie in it. It wasn’t going to be like it was before. Donnie understood who she was on the inside. That was who he loved. She was excited about heading up a new division for her Dad’s company that would allow her to use her nursing knowledge and have hands on interaction with patients, but she’d be able to travel with Donnie as well. She was moving to New York. Donnie was moving into the family home in New York with her and that would be their primary residence.
Before she knew it, she was standing with her Dad waiting to hear the Wedding Song play signaling her & her father to come outside and walk down the aisle. When it started, her Dad offered his arm and they waited on the French doors to open. Once they did, she expected to be nervous about all the people. But she wasn’t. All she could see was Donnie standing there waiting on her with a big smile on his face. She couldn’t help but smile back as she walked down the aisle to him. Her father presented her to Donnie and announced that he was presenting her in marriage to Donnie.
Donnie held her hands in his and looked in her eyes as the minister spoke to the guests. “Thank you all for being here today to celebrate Donald and Marina starting their life together today.”
She leaned close to him and whispered “It doesn’t get better than this, does it?”
Donnie smirked at her. “Yeah, it does.” He leaned closer to her. “I get to kiss you soon, and then there’s the honeymoon.”
“We are here today to unite Donald Edmund Walhberg and Marina Rachel Royce in the bonds of matrimony…”