by Claire Angel
Xavier and I both froze with phones in our hands and looked at each other. Then, we nodded at the same time and Xavier responded, “We’ll do that then.” That made things a million times easier, and I was suddenly very glad that Greg had shown up at my condo.
We had chosen a sprawling vineyard for our venue, but that was now out the window. Xavier offered to hold the ceremony at his mansion, and because it was far, far larger than my place and about ten times as beautiful, I accepted the offer. I called a good friend of mine who was a chef at one of the highest rated restaurants in the city and she immediately agreed to get a bit of food and our cake figured out. We figured that pretty much everything else we could take care of ourselves, and so the mad dash to call people ended there.
But I still had one last person to call. My father. I froze with my thumb poised over the number of his retirement home. I couldn’t drag my father all the way out here just to watch his daughter get fake married, when he already probably hated me with every ounce of his being. I looked at Natalie, Greg and Xavier who were all huddled over various plans for the wedding at the dining room table, and I slipped my phone back into my pocket. If anyone asked, I would just say that Dad wasn’t feeling well enough to attend.
The four of us collected up the things that we needed from my place (including the wedding dress that I had thankfully bought already) and then drove over to Xavier’s place. As we reached the top of the hill that his house was on, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. I could already feel my eyes drooping with tiredness, but I knew there was no time for sleep now. I could collapse into bed when this was all over.
The next few hours were a blur. Xavier’s mansion was suddenly flooded with people coming to deliver flowers, decorations, food, tables and chairs, and everything else we needed for this afternoon. Natalie was an absolute champ when it came to organizing everything, and she didn’t complain once about anything. Everyone who was there at the house was fully on board with our married-in-a-hurry plan, so even though things were very chaotic, I knew we had nothing to worry about.
When it finally seemed like everything was set up, Natalie grabbed me whispered, “Say goodbye to your groom, it’s time to go get ready!”
“Natalie,” I said seriously, “our wedding so unconventional already, I really don’t think that we need to do that.”
Natalie gave me the dirtiest look I believe I’ve ever seen on her face. “Heatherington,” she said, squeezing my hands, “I know that you may not be taking today seriously, but we’ve still got to make things look good on paper, alright? You go say goodbye to Xavier, and we’ll be in business.”
I was about to try and protest again, but then I thought better. I gave her an appeasing smile, and then went to find Xavier.
But as I walked through the people rushing in and out of the house, it was as though I was hit by a wall of realization: this was my last chance to tell Xavier how I really felt about him before we went ahead with getting married. Immediately, my palms started sweating, my pulse quickened, and I didn’t want to go through with any of this wedding business after all.
The moment I saw Xavier’s face, however, I stopped panicking. He was standing on top of a ladder, affixing some flowers to a wire dangling down from the ceiling. H was concentrating so completely and intensely that he looked absolutely adorable. I immediately wanted to run into his arms and stay there forever.
Which you could do if you just told him that you were madly in love with him! You never know, he might feel the same way about you, and then this could really be your wedding.
“Xavier?” I called out gently to him.
He looked down at me and smiled brightly. “My blushing bride,” he said as he crawled down from the ladder. “How might I be of assistance?”
He brushed off his hands on the bottom of his shirt, and there was something so effortlessly sexy about that movement that I wanted to passionately make out with him right then and there.
“I’m uhh...” I stammered, trying to find the right words, “I’m going to go get ready, so I guess... I’ll see you at the altar.”
It felt so strange to say that, especially because there was so much more to say. I yearned to tell him how much I cared for him, and how badly I wanted to be with him. I longed to tell him that I thought we were soul mates and I didn’t know how I was going to go the rest of my life without him. And most importantly, I could barely stop myself from telling him that I very much wanted this wedding to be real.
A strange look crossed Xavier’s face, and for a moment it looked like he needed to say something. It sparked hope in me once again, but I knew deep down that he was going to say nothing. Even if he did feel the same way about me, we were still too scared to say much of anything because we knew we needed this wedding to happen.
And then, the strange look was gone. “Yes,” Xavier said quietly, “I suppose that you’re off to get all dressed up and I’m not allowed to see you again until... we’re up there.” He gestured towards the altar awkwardly. He seemed to not know what to say in this situation.
“That’s right,” I replied, leaving some time for him to say anything that he wanted to. But when nothing happened, I simply leaned forwards and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so glad we’re doing this,” was all I ended up saying, but even that felt like too much, so I darted away before he could reply.
When I ran into Natalie, she took my hand and pulled me into the guest bedroom. She had my dress laid out on the bed and a hair stylist and a makeup artist ready and waiting for me. “I can’t believe this is really happening!” I cried excitedly, and there was nothing about that sentiment that wasn’t one hundred percent true.
The hair and makeup took almost no time because I wasn’t going for anything complicated. We decided to enhance my natural curls and do a half up/half down romantic look. My makeup was little more than foundation, blush, eyeliner and mascara, and when the makeup artist finished what she thought would just be the first round of touch-ups, I stopped her and said, “That’s perfect!”
“Don’t... don’t you want more?” she asked me, looking confused.
“No, that is just the right amount, thank you so much,” I said gratefully. “I look exactly the way I dreamed I would.”
The artist was satisfied with that, and then she and the hairstylist left Natalie and I to put our dresses on. Natalie shooed me into the bathroom so that mine could be a surprise, and after struggling to get it on for a moment, I zipped it up and called out, “You ready?”
“I’ve been waiting for this moment our whole lives!” Natalie cried excitedly.
Hearing that, I pulled open the bathroom door, stepped out into the spare bedroom and Natalie gasped. I looked at myself in the mirror and my eyes immediately welled up. My dress was an ivory floor-length gown. It had a plunging v-neckline that stopped at my waist where it met my skirt, which was flared and had a silk underlay with a tulle overlay. I felt like a princess.
“You look so gorgeous,” Natalie whispered, coming to stand beside me. She was wearing her maid of honour dress, which was an emerald green silk number. “I’m having such a hard time remembering this isn’t your real wedding... it still isn’t, right?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. And when Natalie heard me pause, she jumped down my throat.
“You love him!” she cried, poking me repeatedly in the ribs. “I can see it in your eyes, you really love him!”
“Ow, okay, ow, STOP!” I cried, and she finally ceased poking me. “I... I don’t know Natalie, love is too complicated to enter into this agreement, I really can’t say if I”-
“I call bullshit,” Natalie stopped me. “I can tell by the way that man looks at you that he feels exactly the same way about you, and this is your wedding day! You have to tell him how you feel so that this whole thing isn’t just... fake!”
“It’s too late now,” I said dejectedly. “Anything I would try to say to him
would just end up coming out rushed and... that just doesn’t feel right.”
“But Erika”- Natalie tried to encourage me again, but I stopped her.
“I can’t, Nat. It’s too late, and that’s that.” I pretended to be very interested in a non-existent spot on my dress until Natalie changed the subject. It was obvious that she wasn’t happy, but she wouldn’t dare tell me that now.
From there, everything started moving very fast once again. Natalie and I did the finishing touches on our looks, and then she discreetly ran me downstairs so that I was in position for when I was meant to walk down the aisle.
I was in an alcove just around the corner from the courtyard where the ceremony was being held, and I watched the few guests that we had coming in. I saw an older lady and man arm-in-arm who I assumed had to be Xavier’s parents, and they were quickly followed my his Nonna and Adriana. A few of my close friends drifted in, talking to each other, and then a few of Xavier’s friends arrived as well. I recognized one of them as Conner Roland, a man who Xavier had introduced me to when we ran into him at our favourite Italian restaurant one night. When I realized that I would have no family attending my own wedding, my heart broke, but I knew there was nothing I could do about that now.
But then, a little girl with curly blonde hair walked in front of my alcove and stumbled right in front of me. I immediately wanted to jump out and help her, but I also didn’t want people to see me.
That was, until I recognized the little girl as my niece, Wendy.
“Wendy!” I cried, running to her.
She looked up with tears in her eyes and a scraped knee, but the moment she saw me, her mouth burst into a wide grin. “Auntie Erika!” she cried, flinging her arms around my neck. “You’re getting to marry a boy today!”
I laughed at her comment and then looked at her knee. “Ooo, that looks pretty serious,” I said jokingly. “Do you think we’ll have to cut it off?”
Wendy giggled. “Noooo!” she squealed. “Daddy, come save me from Auntie Erika!”
Wendy looked behind her and my jaw dropped so hard I thought it was going to fall off entirely. Walking up to Wendy now was Oliver and his wife Clara, and coming slowly up the rear... was my father.
“Ricky!” my brother shouted and as I stood up, he pulled me into a big hug. “I’m so sorry it’s been so long. I was an obstinate fool and I should have treated you better.” Oliver looked back in Dad’s direction and changed what he said to, “I should have treated you all better.”
Dad smiled proudly and I slowly walked over to him. “Richard? Do... do you know where you are?”
Dad looked utterly baffled for a moment, and I immediately became concerned. What had happened here today? Had Oliver made amends with Dad and somehow found out about my wedding in the process? Had he taken Dad out of the home by accident and didn’t have a full understanding of how poorly he was doing?
But then, my Dad smiled. “Richard? Why on earth is my baby girl calling me that instead of Dad on her wedding day?”
I immediately burst into tears. Dad came over and pulled me into a tight hug, and I couldn’t get over what was happening. “How did... how do you... Oliver and you... my wedding...” was all I could manage to get out, though.
My Dad finally pulled away from me, and when he did, Oliver came around beside him. “It was all Xavier’s doing,” he said quietly. “He got Dad and I together to talk our differences through, and then when we did, it seemed to open up something in Dad so that he could remember a lot more. He started talking about how proud he was of you non-stop, and so Xavier finally spilled the beans on why he was bringing us together, which of course was for this. And so... here we are!”
“This is all a little too much for me to be finding out moments before I walk down the aisle,” I explained to him, laughing.
Oliver started chuckling, too, but then my Dad tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I believe that might be an honour that I get to partake in with you, my dear?”
I started blubbering again and heard my walking music start, but I knew what I had to do in that moment instead. I kissed my dad on the cheek, said, “I would be honoured if you would, Dad, but first”- and then I turned to Oliver and whispered in his ear for him to go fetch Xavier. He nodded, raced down the aisle much to all of our guest’s amusement and whispered to Xavier, who was looking incredibly handsome in his navy blue suit standing at the altar. Xavier looked worried, but then he thanked Oliver and came dashing down the aisle. Oliver came after him and took Dad off to the side.
When Xavier appeared in front of me, I dragged him away to the balcony before he could even say how wonderful I looked. But when I stopped on the balcony, I put my finger to his lips before he could say anything.
“I have to tell you something before we go through with this,” I gushed, “and if I take my finger away, will you promise not to say anything until I’m done?”
Xavier nodded slowly, and so I drew my finger away, took a deep breath, and then began.
“When we first met, I didn’t know how I felt about you. You were all rough and tumble and a bit of a drunk, to be honest. And then after we slept together for the first time, I panicked because I was starting to feel things for you. And then when I panicked again and asked you if this was just about sex, you kind of confused me by seeming uncomfortable and also asking us to take things slowly. I didn’t really understand what that meant.”
“But then when I saw you with Angela,” I pressed on, “I couldn’t bear the thought of you even being near her. So that was why I thought we should just keep things uncomplicated while we were planning all of this. The problem was though, that as we spent more time together planning this and, you know, the whole you saving my life when I had the flu thing... I found myself feeling things for you I’d never felt for anyone before.”
“And so now,” I finished, “I needed to tell you the truth before we went through with this, because I didn’t want you to think I was duping you into something that you didn’t know was happening. So here it is. The truth. And the truth is, Xavier Franklin, I”-
But I never got to finish my sentence, because Xavier pulled me into the most passionate kiss I’d ever experienced. When our lips met, it felt like fireworks going off inside my heart, and I knew from that moment on that I’d never really had anything to worry about when it came to Xavier’s feelings about me. We were both just scared, and our fears held us back from what we really wanted- each other.
He kissed me for a long, long time, and then when he finally pulled away, he took my face in his hands and said, “I’m sorry, I was just dying to do that, almost as much as I’m dying to tell you that I love you first.”
I playfully swatted at his shoulder and said, “You big, dumb idiot! You couldn’t have let me have that after going through that whole big speech!”
Xavier laughed. “I said I was sorry! I’m just not as well-spoken as you, and you explained my feelings perfectly, so I needed to make a big gesture in return.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “and that was the biggest gesture I could think of.”
I giggled, and then pulled him close. “So what are we going to do now? We don’t have a proper officiant, or the right documents, or”-
Xavier pulled out an envelope from his jacket. “You mean a marriage licence like this one? Or the pastor that I asked to come and do our service for us?”
My eyes widened. “What?!” I cried. “You... how did you know?”
Xavier shrugged. “I didn’t. I figured that if this conversation didn’t happen, I’d just politely ask the pastor to switch out with the original guy we had doing the ceremony, and we just wouldn’t sign anything. But after I went and visited your brother”-
“Thank you very much for all of that, by the way,” I interjected.
-“my pleasure, but after I went and saw them, I had a pretty good idea that we were both thinking this was the real deal. I mean, I introduced you to my Nonna and
showed you the Franken Dress, for god’s sake.”
I laughed out loud once more, and then hugged Xavier for a long time. When he finally pulled away from me, he said, “Well? Shall we do this for real then?”
I nodded emphatically and said, “But you’d better let Natalie know, otherwise I think I might not have a head come tomorrow morning!”
Xavier laughed and we both walked back to the entrance to the courtyard. Xavier, Oliver and Clara walked back into the ceremony area, with Xavier turning back to give me a wink before he left. I then turned to Wendy and said, “Wendy darling, how do you feel about being our last minute flower girl?”
Wendy looked like she had just been asked if she would like a million dollars. “YES PLEASE!” she squealed, and I asked her to dash into the courtyard, grab some roses, and then when she returned, I pulled the petals off into her waiting hands. That was all the time we had before my walking music started playing again, and I encouraged her off down the aisle. She looked so adorable spreading her petals that I think she stole the show even more than I was about to.
Finally, my turn came. I looked to my father and he said, “Erika, my dearest, I’m so glad I’m here with you today. Even if I don’t remember it tomorrow, I am so happy that I got to live to see you married to the man of your dreams. You deserve every happiness in the world.”
Now that I had tears once again streaming down my cheeks, I whispered to him, “Thank you, Dad. I’m so happy you could be here too.”
He gave my hand a squeeze, and then we were off down the aisle. I spent our whole walk gazing into Xavier’s eyes in disbelief. I couldn’t believe that this intimate yet extravagant ceremony was for us, but I could believe even less that I was about to spend the rest of my life with this magnificent, brilliant man. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world, and I couldn’t have been happier.
When I finally made it to the altar, I stood beside Xavier and my cheeks hurt from how big I was smiling. “I love you more than anything,” I whispered to him, just before the pastor started speaking.
