♥♥♥
Saturday, September 1—Chicago Area
On my wedding day, I wake up when it’s still dark outside. It takes me a couple of blinks to remember why my heart’s beating so fast and why my entire body seems to be sparking with electricity. I’m marrying Jake today. I savor the thought, snuggling under the warm blankets in a cocoon of sheer happiness.
My solitary bliss is short-lived. A few minutes later, alarm clocks come to life around the house and everything seems to explode in a bustling mayhem. Neighbors and friends scamper in and out of the house like little ants along with makeup and hair professionals. It’s as if the entire block’s celebrating. I glide through everything with a smile on my lips until it’s time to drive to the lake.
The inside of the lake cabin has been reserved for my entourage. When Mom pulls up the zipper of my gown, I twirl in little jumps, hands tucked in the delicious pockets of my skirt. And Kassandra and Amelia both clap and hug me.
There’s a knock on the door and Jake’s mom pokes her head in. “You look radiant,” she says. “Jake has arrived; we’re ready whenever you are.”
I smile and nod. “I’m ready. Can you send my dad in?”
“Sure.” Susan winks and she’s gone.
“You.” I point at the others. “Go.”
“We’ll see you outside.” Amelia hugs me again before exiting.
My dad comes in next. “All right, pie. Let’s do this.”
He offers me his arm and I take it. Outside, it takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the bright, mid-afternoon sun, and a little longer for my heart to recover from the sight of Jake in a tux, waiting for me under an arch of white roses. We make our way down the beach along the pretend aisle delineated by two rows of white flowers and green leaves. Until we’re there. My dad gives my hand to Jake, and the ceremony begins.
I have trouble following what the minister’s saying, as I’m lost in the sea of mountain mist and snowstorm of Jake’s gray eyes. I notice we’ve reached the vows part when Jake gently relieves me of the bouquet, passing it to Amelia, to take my hands into his.
“Gemma, I love you. There isn’t a time when I can remember not loving you. As someone once said at another wedding, you are my life.”
Edward, Jake’s brother, cheers at his quote from my wedding-crashing speech and the crowd gives a chuckle or two. Heads turn as those who know what the quote is about, tell the ones who don’t.
I fight back the tears as I listen to the rest of Jake’s vow.
“Today’s the best day of my life because you’re here with me. All I want to do is to protect you and make you as happy as I am today for all the days ahead of us. I vow to love you and stand by your side through everything life will throw at us. I promise to laugh with you, and cry with you, to love and honor you. To never let you go again and always find my way back to you, to us. I vow to love you even when it takes you an hour to order a pizza because you read the entire menu then just order a Margherita.”
I chuckle and the first tears roll down my cheeks.
“Gemma, you’re the person I want to grow old with, the person I want to see every morning when I wake up and the one I want to kiss goodnight. I promise to give you all of me and to love you, from this day forward, always.”
“Jake.” I pause to steady my trembling voice. “Today’s the happiest day of my life too. It took us a long time to get here, and some crazy moments…”
The crowd chuckles again. This time everyone knows what I’m referring to.
“I love you because you’re the best person I know. The kind of person who even a dying animal would trust with the most important thing she had.” I wave toward an iPad set on a pedestal. On the screen is our cat sitter in London, who’s following the ceremony via Skype with Lucky. She waves Lucky’s paw back.
“Today I give myself to you, completely. I vow to love you even when you make me cry with your incredibly romantic words, completely ruining my makeup on our wedding day.”
He brushes the tears away from my cheeks with his thumbs.
“Jake, from the night you kissed me for the first time my heart started to ache with how much I love you. It felt like my chest could no longer contain it as if it didn’t belong to me anymore. And it didn’t; it doesn’t because my heart belongs to you. It always has. Even when we were apart, you were always with me. You were my first love and I want you to be my last. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved, and I promise to love and cherish you from this day forward, always.”
Ten minutes later, we’re husband and wife.