“Nicola,” Sadie said beckoning him quickly to the bench as she sat down to kick her shoes off again.
“Yeah,” Nicola said approaching her. “Is Ivy in there? I need to talk to her before…”
Sadie nodded. “She was just sending me to come and get you.” Rubbing her feet, she motioned towards the door.
“She was?” Nicola looked confused. “I don’t know how to ask her what I need to ask her. I can’t say that it just came to me, but it was just made apparent to me that if I don’t ask now, it will be too late.”
Sadie read between his words and his fidgeting fingers. She looked down at her own hands and smiled. “You know, Ivy and I wear the same size rings. It’s like God gave her my hands.” She wiped proud tears from her eyes. “And now I know why.” She slid her wedding ring off her finger. “This was supposed to be passed down to the next generation anyway.” She nudged him a smiled.
“I…” Nicola took the ring from Sadie and looked over at Ivy’s door. “I’m scared.” He clasped the diamond ring in his hand. “I’m proposing to her on her wedding day.”
“I know. Good luck, boy” Sadie said hugging him tightly and kissing him on his cheek.
“Thank you. I’m going to need it.”
Nicola knocked on the door as Sadie scurried down the hall in her stockings to inform Madison of the recent changes in the day’s events. Hearing Ivy’s voice, Nicola opened the door and walked inside the room, where Ivy stood by the window, visibly torn. She gave a weak smile as he closed the door behind him.
“Hi,” Nicola said in awe at her beauty. She looked more beautiful that he had ever imagined.
“Hi,” Ivy said glad to see his face. She walked up to him quickly and wrapped her arms around him. He held her close and hugged her tight. Then he pulled her away.
“Nicola, I love you,” Ivy said simply. “I’m sorry that I’ve put you in this position, but I need you.” Her soft rose-colored lips trembled.
“I need you too,” Nicola said in nearly a whisper. “Will you forgive me for everything up until this point?”
“Yes,” Ivy said rubbing his face. “Will you forgive me?” Her brow lifted.
“Yes,” Nicola said feeling his heart in his throat. Tears came out of Nicola’s eyes as he tried desperately to find the right words for the moment. He felt himself getting dizzy, but he pushed out his emotions, all of them for the first time. “Since the first time that I laid eyes on you, I’ve wanted you for my own. I’ve never regretted giving you my children. I’ve never regretted loving you. Ivy, we were made to be together. And everything in our lives had happened to build up to this point.”
“Oh, Nicky,” Ivy whispered wiped his tears as her own flowed down her cheeks.
“Do you love me enough not to marry Grey today?” Nicola asked on baited breath.
“Yes,” Ivy said finally shedding all of her fears.
“Good,” Nicola said bending down on one knee. “Do you love me enough to marry me?” He opened his palm with Sadie’s wedding ring and looked up her. “Please, Ivy Marie Winters be my wife.”
“Yes,” Ivy said nearly ready to faint. “Yes,” she said again. She allowed him take off her engagement ring and place his ring on her finger. Weak with all of her emotions, she fell to her knees in front of him. Unable to control his desire, Nicola pulled her near him and kissed her softly, lovingly allowing himself to be as he had never in his life been.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Ivy looked up realizing where she was. She looked at Nicola who helped her to her feet. Ivy knew without knowing that it was Grey on the other side of the door. She took Nicola’s hand.
“I have to do this alone,” she said asking him to excuse her for just a moment.
Nicola understood and kissed Ivy one last time before he went to the door and unlocked it. As Nicola opened the door, Grey looked on confused. His eyebrow lifted and then his mouth dropped. Even as he was about to tear through Ivy’s heart with his own dagger of truth, it was in him to question why Nicola was there. But Nicola looked at peace, and excused himself with only a nod to Grey.
“Ivy?” Grey said walking in.
“Grey, we have to talk.” Ivy said standing in the middle of the floor transfixed by the ring on her finger.
“I know.” Grey didn’t bother to close the door behind him. “I’m sorry, but there isn’t going to be a wedding today.” Grey allowed the words to sound cold as he was frustrated by Nicola’s presence. He waited expecting there to be some sudden plea Ivy, but she only looked up a him and smiled.
“Yes, there is going to be a wedding today,” Ivy said walking up to Grey. Taking his hand, she gave him back his ring and smiled. “Nicola and I are getting married.”
Nicola stood outside of the door in shock. Wait! Today? Yes, today! It made sense to him too. It had to be today. They had to put this all in order now. He leaned against the wall for a moment pleased with her strength and confident that she could handle the situation on her own. Finally, he left her to end her relationship with Grey while he went to inform their families.
“What did you just say?” Grey asked confused.
“You came here to break it off with me, didn’t you?” Ivy asked finished him.
“Yes, but…” he sighed. “Oh, hell. Why shouldn’t you? I’m not in love with you, and you’re not in love with me.” He managed to shrug off his smug exterior.
“I already know,” Ivy said smiling. “You and I both know that this is the right thing to do. You were only marrying me for your reasons, and I was only marrying you for mine. But neither has anything to do with love. I thank you for standing by me as long as you did, but it’s time for both of us to move on with our lives. I have my sons to think of you and you have your career. Two different paths really.” She hugged him lightly and patted his back reassuringly.
“You don’t have any idea how hard I thought that this was going to be. My brothers attacked me before I got here. I’ve been on the phone with my mother for like twenty minutes,” Grey said as Ivy laughed.
“I’m sure that she’s happy that we’re breaking this off.” Ivy said aware that his mother never liked her. “And so is my father.
“Yeah, she was pretty excited. You have my total support.” Grey said touching her chin. He looked at her seriously. “And you have my respect.”
“That is very good to know, Grey.” Ivy had new strength. “Well, if you don’t mind. I need to get myself ready to get married.”
“Alright. I’ll go and tell everyone who doesn’t already know.”
“Thanks,” Ivy said watching him leave.
“Hey, Ivy? What we went through…it was worth it. I mean, it wasn’t a total loss. We learned so much about ourselves and what we really want out of this world. Right?”
Ivy thought hard about what he was saying for a moment and then grinned. “Yes, Grey. It was worth it.” Ivy said smiling at him.
“I think so, too.” Grey said looking at her once last time. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too,” Ivy said bidding Grey farewell.
***
The guests stood as Ivy and Madison entered into the sanctuary. She tried to keep from stumbling under the heavy weight of her reality. Her father held up her, strong in his grip. She had spent more than an hour in the chambers with Sadie, Liz and Trina trying to pull herself together. Now, she was about to face the man that she truly wanted. She eyed him down the isle, standing at he alter looking statuesque. She couldn’t wait to have him in her arms once more. She couldn’t wait to Mrs. Nicola Michael Agosto.
Most where in awe of the last hour of gossip. News had spread beyond the church that Ivy was to marry Nicola Agosto today instead of Grey Henderson, and in necessary response, the Henderson brothers had locked the doors of the church to keep the news media from bombarding the holy event. All three families felt as though they were in a surreal state, but for all that was lost, there was twice more gained.
Grey and his family sat e
njoying the prospect of new freedom and new possibilities for his future. Sadie and her family sat watching proudly knowing that Ivy stood as woman and not as the young girl that she was when she started this journey. And Liz and Adamo sat in tears, content in the knowledge that their son had finally found love.
Nicola watched as Ivy approached him on her father’s arm. Her brilliant glow cast a spell on him from under her veil as her eyes glistened with tears of joy. He could feel the tears welding at the sides of his own eyes. He was about to marry the mother of his children, the woman of his dreams. He was about to put to an end the life he had known for the life he had always wanted.
“Who gives this woman away,” the pastor said breaking Nicola’s trance.
“I do. Madison Lawson Winters,” Madison said proudly wiping a tear from his eye.
Lifting her veil, Nicola’s heart skipped a beat. He smiled at her and held both of her hands as Santo stood behind him patting his back. He looked over and nearly laughed at his mother crying like a little baby and holding his children tightly. Was this actually happening? He pinched Ivy softly, and she giggled mirroring his dismay.
At 6:30 p.m. on September 30th, Ivy and Nicola were finally married, only days away from the anniversary date that they had first met. With over 500 onlookers, the two leaned forward into each others arms and kissed before God and man. The passion was unmistakable, creating a wondrous applause throughout the sanctuary. As everyone stood on their feet and continued to applaud, Ivy and Nicola turned and faced everyone complete in their design and made their first walk as husband and wife down the isle of Emaculate Conception Church. With the bells ringing above and the world abuzz below, Ivy finally felt as though she was floating somewhere in between.
Epilogue
Epilogue
One Year Later
Ivy set the table outside on the patio, while Nicola cooked the last of the hamburgers on the grill. Emerald ran around in the backyard chasing Adam and Madison, who played football while Trina and their daughter Brook watched from the swing set. Sadie and Madison where running late, but where only a few minutes away. So everything was in order.
Ivy stopped for a moment and looked around, it was early November and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. With not a cloud in the sky, the breeze from the night air was pleasant and the full moon served as a wonderful backdrop for a late evening meal.
The young couple was still getting settled into their new home in Midtown. Ivy had convinced Nicola to sell his luxury condo for the beautiful single-family dwelling of her dreams off of Peabody Avenue in the historic Central Gardens community. He had agreed when he saw how spacious the five-bedroom home would be for their family, and there was always the possibility of new additions in the future. The red-bricked, two-story three-car garage home was absolutely dreamlike with all of its many amenities. Plus, they could easily afford it.
At the firm, Ivy was soaring by leaps and bounds. Everyone was impressed with her attention to detail and continual ability to shine under pressure. She had even been listed in the Memphis Business Journal as one of Memphis’ 50 Top Brightest New Leaders and was looking in the MBA program at University of Memphis. Nicola had decided not to leave the Memphis Police Department and had been tapped by the Director to be the youngest major they had on the force. He was implementing new and better programs for the safety of Memphis’ future as well as securing a better future for his children.
“Baby, it’s on,” Nicola said setting the burgers on the table.
“Okay,” Ivy said opening the door for her mother and father.
“We stopped for pick up some potato salad,” Sadie said kissing Ivy on the cheek.
“Well, it’s on. Come on. We don’t want to miss it,” Ivy said ushering Madison and Sadie through the house.
They all rushed to out to the patio to the television and grabbed a seat as Channel Three News announced that Grey Henderson had won his seat by a landslide. Happily, everyone gave him a cheer as they tuned into the Peabody Hotel where he was making his acceptance speech. So, Grey had proven that he could win without being married after all. His family stood in his background supporting proudly.
“Now he’s married to the right woman,” Sadie said turning up the television.
“Well in honor of his success, let’s have a toast.” Madison lifted his glass.
“To bright futures,” Nicola said standing up before the family with this glass of lemonade.
“To bright futures,” everyone said lifting their glasses and laughing. With smoke billowing up from the grill and the children playing and laughing, Nicola and Ivy enjoyed the evening and the great news.
Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux Page 49
