Wes and Alfred settled into the charming Bay Room at Sharps Island Inn. They took in the views from the windows. The sunlight shone on the waves of the slightly choppy Chesapeake Bay, though gray clouds were starting to descend.

“Isn’t it magnificent?” said Wes. He took off the baseball hat that he wore out of habit to protect his receding hairline from the hot summer sun, combing his salt-and-pepper hair.

“The view is beyond compare,” said Alfie. “This combo bridal-baby-shower is just what the doctor ordered for Fourth of July weekend. I was so happy to get out of town.”

“I was lucky to get out of town. A summer weekend with no production at the theatre is a rare bird,” said Wes. “At least no production of ours. The annual ad agency awards ceremony thing is huge, and I really should be there, but they convinced me it’s been over twenty years that they’ve been doing it, so they’d be fine without me.”

“Yes, dear, the theatre can survive without you for one weekend!” said Alfie. He checked his reflection in the mirror, but his Brad-Pitt-lookalike reflection, as usual, needed no adjustment. “Now let’s get a cocktail and go take a walk around these gorgeous grounds before the sky opens up and the rains pour down. The forecast is for a storm tonight.”

“Fortunately for us the amazing innkeepers Ron and Dale invited us for cocktails on that fabulous porch with all the rocking chairs to watch the sunset,” said Wes. “It looks like we will be lucky enough to get to see this sunset before the storm.”

“Oh God, well this place just has the best sunsets in the universe, it’s like the sun just drops into the water, it is perfectly stunning,” said Alfie. “Can’t wait.”

Wes walked over to Alfie and put his arms around him. “It’s like we are getting a tiny second honeymoon.”

“Amen to that,” said Alfie. They kissed one another slowly, deeply. Something about being on Matthew’s Island could return romance to any marriage. Theirs had started on the very eve of Maryland’s legalization of gay marriage—a snowy mountaintop by candlelight, New Year’s Eve, 2012 at midnight.

“We should ask Ron and Dale to renew our vows for us while we are here this weekend,” said Wes.

“Well, that’s very spontaneous! It would be the perfect way to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend,” said Alfie. “With a fireworks show at the end! But this weekend is already supposed to be about Maggie and Dave’s wedding shower and Eva’s baby shower! And we didn’t bring adorable suits. And there is no shopping anywhere around here. Like at all.”

“Oh, divatude,” said Wes, rolling his eyes and kissing his husband on the cheek. He took his hand to lead him downstairs for the sunset cocktail hour. “We don’t need adorable outfits to renew our wedding vows right before a fireworks show. And we’re not taking away from anyone’s anything with a five-minute renewal ceremony. We just need our friends, and some drinks, and shorts and flip-flops. It’s about love, it’s not a fashion show.”

“Everything is a fashion show, ugh,” said Alfie. “Plus we should have invited people and gotten a caterer, and a photographer and had a DJ….”

“OK, how about if we just do a very tiny ce-re-mony,” said Wes, “and then we will have a huge re-cep-tion par-ty later, exactly the way you want everything.”

“Yasssssss,” said Alfie, smiling. “I do.”

“Let’s go have drinks and watch the sunset,” said Wes, “and you can tell me all about it.”

“And Wes?” said Alfie.

“Yes, baby?” replied Wes.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking! Maybe we will have our baby by then, and she can be the flower girl, like in a little antique carriage, you know the ones with the four wheels, just covered in roses, so she’ll be there with us!” said Alfie. He blinked, crinkling up his perfect nose, grinning.

Wes stopped, turning to look into Alfie’s gorgeous, ocean-blue eyes. He smiled back at his younger husband, who knew how happy he’d just made him.

“Well, what if our baby is a boy?” he asked, unable to keep the pure joy from his honey brown eyes.

“Well, duh, then he’s the ring bearer, so he will be in a boy carriage with like blue roses or something, and there will be a pillow in there with the rings!” said Alfie, obviously proud of himself. “Even though we’re already married, we’d just redo all that, for the pictures. Like Maggie and Dave are doing! Because do-overs are adorbs.”

“Those will make for gorgeous photos of our little family,” said Wes. “Yes, adorbs.”

And they walked out to the porch, where their handsome, gracious hosts awaited and a gorgeous sunset was only beginning.

“Well hello, you two!” said Ron, greeting Wes and Alfie as they entered the porch.

“Welcome to the best sunset view in the entire universe,” said Dale. “Come sit and have a cocktail with us and enjoy it.”

“It’s so gorgeous,” said Alfie, “we are just so happy to be here.”

“You know, we had something really spur of the moment that we wanted to ask you,” said Wes. “It’s just an idea, but we were thinking, it’s so beautiful down here, and of course we don’t want to do anything to take away from Dave and Maggie, but what do you think about doing a vow renewal for us?”

“Well, I think your timing is perfect,” said Dale. “I was just sitting here with my minister’s book reviewing the ceremony options for them. Since they’re down here for the shower we were going to be going over them.”

“Oh, that’s great,” said Alfie.

“So how involved is it?” asked Wes.

“Well, it isn’t,” said Ron. “I mean it depends on what you want. If you want to do a huge ceremony and reception and two hundred people, we can certainly let you do that, and we do it all the time—it’s spectacular!”

“But the vow renewal itself is a personal thing between the two of you,” said Dale. “As a minister I could perform it right now. You could stand before one another and this gorgeous sunset and you’d be done.”

“I love that idea,” said Wes. “And that’s what we talked about. A private vow renewal.”

“And then a very public huge reception later!” said Alfie.

“Yes, with tuxes and music and wine and guests and food,” said Wes.

“That, we can definitely help you with!” said Ron.

“We could do it on New Year’s Eve for our anniversary,” said Wes.

“What a great night for a party!” said Alfie. “Everyone would have such a blast! Fireworks at midnight, champagne, the works!”

“Sounds perfect,” said Wes.

Dale paged through his minister’s book.

“I have done over two hundred same-sex weddings here at the inn,” he said. “And I’ve put together a brief ceremony that’s been very popular for a vow renewal like the one I think you have in mind. It’s only about ten minutes long or so. Would you like to try that one?”

“YES!” said Wes and Alfie together.

“Let’s do this,” said Wes. “I love the spontaneity of the whole thing. Just the two of us and the sunset!”

“OK, here we go!” said Ron. “I love how cozy this is.”

Dale began:

“Wes and Alfie, thank you for allowing Ron and I to witness your dedication to one another as you recommit to your union. You have honored us with your friendship and trust today. I pray that your love together may grow stronger and more true in the many days and years ahead of your shared life with one another.

“As you move forward and renew your wedding vows to each other, I ask you to remember that with great happiness can also come great sorrow over time. In relationships we become our true selves, and we do not possess each other. We need solitude as well as togetherness. We are reminded of this by Albert Camus, who said, ‘Don’t walk before me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.’”

Wes and Alfie looked at one another and smiled, for these words rang true. Ron smiled at Dale. He loved to hear him recite ceremonies—his strong, powerful voice resonated on the large porch with its white columns, high ceilings, and potted ferns blowing in the summer breeze. He knew the reading that was to come, so he stepped out to the kitchen to bring a bottle of champagne and four glasses, that there may be a toast after the brief ceremony.

Dale continued.

“‘When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity—in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern. The only real security is not in wanting or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking to what it was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. For relationships, too, must be like islands. One must accept their limits—islands, surrounded by and interrupted by the sea, continually visited and abandoned by the tides. One must accept the security of the winged life, of ebb and flow, of intermittency.’

“I use this quote about islands from Rabindranath Tagore because I feel like a sense of place is so important—that you remember where you were when you renewed your vows, and that you remember this moment together,” said Dale. “Please face each other and take each other’s hands so that you may see the gift that they are to you.

“These are the hands of your best friend, strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on the day of the renewal of your wedding vows, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever,” said Dale. “These are the hands that love you with passion and cherish you wholeheartedly through the years, and with the only a mere touch will be able to comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will provide strength for you when you need it, encouragement and support to pursue your hopes and dreams, and to offer you comfort in difficult times. And finally, these are the hands that many years from now will still reach out for yours, still seeking and providing the same unspoken tenderness with just one touch. “And so, Wes and Alfie, I am going to read a few lines, and then I would like to ask you to read the lines to one another,” said Dale. “All right?”

Wes and Alfie, still holding each other’s hands so tightly, overwhelmed from the emotion of the previous words, nodded their heads in agreement.

“I come here today to restate my vow to join your life for the rest of my years,” said Dale, and Wes and Alfie repeated that line, along with the following lines:

“I pledge to be true to you, to respect you,

and to grow with you throughout these years.

We are so many wonderful things to each other,

May only those best qualities continue to shine

And may our bond continue to grow stronger.

Time will pass, fortune may smile, trials may come;

no matter what we shall encounter together,

I vow here today that our love will be my only love.

I will make my home in your heart from this day until forever.”

As Wes and Alfie finished repeating the lines of the vows, Dale cheerfully declared, “I now re-pronounce you husband and husband! You may kiss the groom!”

Wes and Alfie embraced one another, enjoying a long, passionate kiss. The POP! of the champagne cork split the air as Ron opened the bottle, pouring four glasses. The men toasted.

“Cheers to the happy couple!” said Ron.

“Here’s to many years of wedded bliss,” said Dale.

“We can’t thank you both enough for this lovely experience,” said Wes. “We’ll never forget it.”

“Oh, it’s absolutely been perfect,” said Alfie. “You know, somebody should at least get a phone out and get a sunset photo of us with our champagne and this sunset!”

“Gotcha covered,” said Ron. “We can’t let this moment happen without some documentation.”

“You are just so lucky to live here at this gorgeous spot,” said Wes. “It’s a vacation spot for us, and for many people, but for you it’s your home!”

“It’s the end of the earth,” said Ron.

“A little bit of heaven on earth,” added Dale.