Three months later …
Cameron Daniel Jamieson wasn’t going down like his brothers and cousins. No woman in the world would get him to a prayer altar as a prerequisite to the wedding altar.
As he looked around the room, the common thread among the men was their wives. The culprits all dug their stilettos into the ground, refusing a diamond ring unless their Jamieson man humbled himself to Christ. How ridiculous. That’s exactly what happened to Parke, Malcolm, Kidd, and now Ace.
Ace and Talise were moments away from renewing their wedding vows in an elaborate ceremony. They were married two months earlier and three weeks before their precious daughter, Lauren, was born. It was a happy ending to their tumultuous courtship.
Talise had two stipulations to her holdout. She did not want to be pregnant in a wedding dress, and her sister serving in the Persian Gulf, Sinclaire, had to be present. Women and their demands. Still, Cameron took the credit for introducing them.
The photographer knocked before walking in, ready to take snapshots. Cameron slipped on his tuxedo as his oldest brother, Parke, fought with his three-year-old son.
“Paden, be still, so Daddy can get this bowtie right,” Parke demanded to no avail. The boy twisted his mouth, body, and feet in order to get a look at his cousin. The three-year-old was bouncing off furniture in the church’s dressing room.
“M. J., sit down, or I will tie you down,” Malcolm ordered his son from his perch in the corner. The boy froze immediately.
“Oh, the joys of parenthood.” Cameron couldn’t help but laugh at his nephews. The little Jamiesons were double trouble in the same room. Oddly the groom was pacing the floor like a nervous wreck.
“Chill, dude. You’re already married. It’s not like Talise is going to leave you standing at the altar,” Cameron taunted his cousin, who was also like a brother to him.
“Today is all about Tay. You have no idea how important this is to my baby,” Ace said as he posed, staring down at Talise’s wedding band that he cupped in the palm of his hand.
Kidd, Ace’s older brother, grunted. “Oh yeah, I do. My wife planned this shindig, so everything better go smoothly.”
Ace’s cell phone rang and when he answered it, the photographer snapped a picture. Listening to the one-sided conversation, Cameron knew something wasn’t going as planned.
“She did what?” Ace began to fume. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” He paused. “It’ll be okay, baby,” Ace consoled.
“I’ll see you in a few. I love you,” he added the words of comfort before disconnecting.
Folding his arms, Kidd looked at his brother and frowned. “That means something is not okay. What’s going on?”
“Hold it!” The photographer shouted as the men huddled around Ace. Waiting for the click of the camera, everyone froze, including the boys. “You all can relax now,” the man ordered after taking the shot.
Ace glanced around to make sure Talise’s father wasn’t in the room. He started in on the play-by-play.
“It’s Frederick’s wife. She’s in the bridal chamber, giving Tay her unwelcomed opinion. Basically, she’s complaining about the bride wearing pink and not white. Then Donna couldn’t understand why we didn’t renew our vows from her hometown of Richmond. Next, Grandma BB stepped in—literally in her Stacy Adams shoes—and put Donna in her place when she insisted, as the stepmother, to be escorted down the aisle as part of the wedding party.”
“Yikes.” Cameron stuffed his hands in his pockets. After the death of her mother, it was a known fact that Talise did not refer to Donna as her stepmother, but only as her father’s new wife
“Yikes is right. Grandma BB in all her Sunday best shoved Donna out the door and dared her to see what happens if she walked down that aisle,” Ace continued.
Cameron snickered and Parke grunted. “We’d better keep an eye on her, or Grandma BB will be fighting in church.”
“I think she earned a brownie point with my wife when Grandma BB volunteered to post guard outside her door.” Ace chuckled and soon the men joined in, even the photographer.
“Grandma BB, related to everybody, but not a drop of blood to connect her to any of us,” Malcolm described the woman, shaking his head.
The woman had latched onto the Jamieson family years ago. She took her role as grandma seriously.
After taking a few more shots, the photographer walked out as Talise’s father was coming into the room.
“Wait until you see her. She’s beautiful and happy.” Frederick grinned and shook hands with Ace. “Keep her that way and there won’t be any problems.”
Ace nodded as Parke suggested a prayer for Ace. Linking hands, Parke bowed his head and the others followed.
“Father, in the Name of Jesus, we come before Your throne of grace. We worship You today for this opportunity to witness the love shared between husband and wife. I ask that You bless my cousin’s life and marriage, bless his Christian journey, and most of all, bless their precious daughter.”
Parke paused, and then added, “Lord Jesus, and please bless every married man and their households represented here today. Help us to never fail You as the strong Black Christian men You created us to be, in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Amens echoed around the room. One by one, a Jamieson man patted Ace on the back, following after his father-in-law.
Ace tilted his head. “Ah, it appears there’s one man standing in this room that isn’t hitched. Even Melvin over there just recently got married, so you, my dear cousin, are the Lone Ranger.”
“You’re going down, Cam, sooner rather than later,” Parke taunted his youngest brother.
“I haven’t been caught yet.”