I did.
Charles did.
Nan and Grant did.
And of course, Octo-Cat and Grizabella did, too. I’d have to make up a special certificate for those two crazy kittens later, but in the eyes of God and one hundred assorted guests, we were all now officially wed.
“You’re my husband,” I told Charles, rubbing my nose against his after he’d finished kissing his bride to the delight of all who had gathered.
“You’re my wife,” he answered with a toothy grin before claiming my mouth a second time.
“I said kiss the bride,” Mags teased over the growing din. “Not have a full-on make-out session with her.”
Charles and I broke apart, then kissed again.
And again.
And—you guessed it—again.
Everyone laughed. There was so much laughter that day. It’s one of the things I liked best about it.
Grandma Lyn tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m just going to take the cats inside while you do your processional,” she whispered in my ear.
Right, the processional. Okay.
I could see some of the guests starting to get antsy as they waited for Charles and me to make our ascent up the aisle. I motioned to my mom. “It’s time,” I called and gave her a quick nod of confirmation.
She jumped up and delivered the bundle I’d entrusted to her. Yesterday, after purchasing my 90s-tastic gown from the Salvation Army, I’d stopped off at the dollar store to stock up on supplies. The end result was a bouquet of multi-colored sharpies, each with a faux flower glued to its cap. The result was clearly homemade but also really quite pretty.
“You’ll be first,” I told Mom as Charles and I arranged ourselves beside the first aisle of white wooden chairs.
“First to what?” Mom glanced from me to the markers and back again. “You couldn’t possibly mean—”
“I’m a living guestbook,” I said, untying the crafty bouquet and fanning out the different colors before her.
“You’ll ruin your gown,” she warned, meeting my smile with a tense expression.
“Nah, I’ll just make it better. This way everyone who was here gets to contribute to this special memento. Besides, it’s going to look so cool when it’s all signed! Now pick a color, pick a spot, and write on me, Mom.” I nudged the markers toward her again, unwilling to flinch on this.
She shook her head and laughed. “You always did march to your own beat, Angie Russo.”
“That’s Angie Longfellow to you, missy.”
We both tittered at this while she selected a place on my torso and wrote in purple marker. When she finished, I asked what it said, unable to make out the script since my sizable chest was in the way.
“That I love you,” she said, offering both me and Charles a quick peck on the cheek. “And I’m so, so proud of you.”
We hugged, and then it was Dad’s turn. He chose red but wouldn’t tell me what he wrote. He said I could find out later after I’d gotten changed into something else. When he moved on, Charles let me know that he’d written the classic Dad threat, telling Charles to treat his little girl right… or else.
Nan and her new husband stood beside us greeting each guest along the processional. Nan and I had many of the same friends to begin with, and I’d also helped Grant sneak in some of his friends without her noticing. Octo-Cat and Grizabella had been escorted back inside by Grandma Lyn and Christine, but I think they preferred it that way.
I glanced toward the woods and spotted a few of my animal friends watching from the protection of the trees. Irving the giant buck who had witnessed my former neighbor’s accidental death stood with a family of squirrels sitting on top of his head. It was hard to tell for sure from this distance, but I think one of the squirrels was my old friend and helper Maple. It looked like she too had fallen in love and already had a huge family to prove it. Good for her.
A fluttering of white among the trees drew my eyes up just as two seagulls took to the skies. That would be Abigull and Bravo, my friends who had promised to watch from the woods. And so they had.
“You’ve got yourself a good one,” Officer Bouchard told Charles as he clapped him on the back, then selected a black marker from my hands and stooped down to write a message near the hem of my dress.
I loved this.
The ceremony had been all about me and Charles, but now with the processional, I was able to focus on each of my guests in turn. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with everyone at the reception. I hoped they were all having a great time, like I was.
It seemed that, excepting a few minor bumps along the way, this whole day had been filled with perfect moments from start to finish. And it wasn’t even close to over yet!
“I love you,” Charles said suddenly, then grabbed me in his arms and tipped me back as if part of a dance. If not for his strong arms, I surely would have fallen. Instead I got another earth-shattering kiss as I clung to my brand-new husband.
“Congratulations,” a voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time muttered as soon as we came up for air. It took me a moment to regain my senses, but when I did, I recognized the Calhoun twins—Charles’s former girlfriend Breanne along with my one-time crush, Brock, who after being arrested for a crime he didn’t commit had decided to turn over a new leaf and change his name to “Cal.”
“Thanks for coming,” I told them both, even though I wasn’t super happy that Charles’s ex had shown up on our happy day. I probably should have expected this, but it still mabe me wonder: Was she here to try to ruin something? Well, she could get in line behind Jacques and Jillianne as far as I was concerned.
“You make a very handsome groom,” Bree said, placing both hands on her hips and drawing attention to her above-the-knee green dress, complete with plunging neckline.
“And we’ll just be going,” her brother said, yanking at her before she could try to lay a hug on my new husband.
“Thanks for coming,” I yelled after them, even though I’d already said that once before.
Charles pulled me to him and pressed his forehead against mine, creating a little bubble just for the two of us. “Sorry about that. I told you not to invite Cal. He always shows up with her as his plus-one,” he said.
“It’s fine. She’s fine,” I said with a soft laugh. Charles had already chosen me over Breanne a thousand times over. I wasn’t jealous of her desperate ploy for attention. If anything, I felt kind of bad for her. Hopefully she’d find love of her own someday soon.
I’d stopped paying attention to what she was up to after she and Charles broke up. As far as I knew, she was still in the real estate business and doing well.
Last I’d heard, her brother had given up his handyman gig and gone back to school. He wanted to be a lawyer now, imagine that. I guess being wrongly maligned and imprisoned gave him a deep sense of justice, and I admired him for turning his horrible ordeal into something positive for the world.
“Ready for me?” another familiar voice prompted, drawing Charles and me back to the task at hand.
“Bethany!” I shot forward and hugged my former frenemy tight. I hadn’t seen Bethany Peters since she moved to Georgia to look after her delinquent cousin Peter, who had thankfully chosen not to attend today’s ceremony.
“How have you been?” I gushed, thrilled to bits that she was here now. All that frenemy stuff had been nonsense. I wished I had taken more time to get to know her when she still lived so close. I couldn’t change the past, but I could do better going forward.
Another vow for today, and one I intended to keep.
“We’ll catch up at the reception,” she promised. “Oh, and I brought you a special essential oil blend I made. It’s for wedded bliss. Put two to three drops in your diffuser daily, and you’ll live happily ever after.”
“I will, thank you,” I said as she signed my gown in turquoise. She’d always been oddly obsessed with essential oils, and while I’d never been a fan, I would happily take her up on this promise of wedded bliss.
Even though I highly suspected Charles and I would not be needing any help in that arena.