Tethered

by L. D. Davis

  I sucked in a deep, excited breath. I had no idea what Emmet was going to say to me. We wrote our own vows and agreed not to share them until the ceremony.

  “Donya,” he started as his thumbs caressed my knuckles. “Some men are born to do great, extraordinary things. I am one of those men, because I was born to love you, and aside from the love we have for our children, there is nothing else in the universe that is greater or more extraordinary than loving you. You are the only person who can complete me. You are the only home my heart knows. I have always belonged to you and you have always belonged to me, and I will never again let you go. We are tied together and there is no power great enough to sever that tie. I promise to love you, to cherish you, protect and honor you until my last breath on this earth.”

  Emmet released my hands to wipe my tears away.

  “I love you,” he whispered to me, but thanks to the mic that was attached to his jacket, everyone heard it. There was a chorus of “aww” and a lot of sniffling and a few giggles.

  I wanted to break the rules and kiss him and feel his embrace, but I stood my ground. I was so overwhelmed by his powerful words that it took me a minute to get myself together to read my own vows.

  I put my hands in his again, and with my tears still flowing, I recited the vows I had written for him.

  “Emmet, I was born into this world bound to you. You are the only person in the world that can make me feel whole. You are the other half of me. You are the core of my existence and the essential life force that keeps my heart beating day after day, year after year. It is impossible to live without you. You are my destiny, and there is no force powerful enough to change that. I promise to be brave and selfless. I promise to honor and respect you, and to love you whole heartedly, with my whole soul, and my entire being until the end of time.”

  Emmet’s eyes glistened, and judging by the way they dropped to my mouth, I knew he was resisting kissing me, too.

  Moments later, the platinum diamond wedding band that matched my engagement ring was poised at the tip of my finger.

  “Do you Emmet Matthew Grayne take Donya Elisabeth Stewart to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, until you fall asleep in death?”

  Clear and loud and with passion, Emmet announced “I do.”

  I laughed, feeling drunk and giddy with excitement as Emmet slid the ring onto my finger. I held my hand up to our guests and wiggled it, eliciting soft laughter and a cat call from Felix.

  Emmy handed me Emmet’s platinum ring that matched my set.

  “Do you Donya Elisabeth Stewart take Emmet Matthew Grayne to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, until you fall asleep in death?”

  “Yes!” I nearly shouted, getting more laughter from the crowd. I slid the ring onto Emmet’s finger and bounced excitedly a few times.

  “Now the bride and groom would like to do something a little different,” the J.O.P said as Luke handed Emmet two thick cords of white rope. “Emmet and Donya would like to literally tie the knot, symbolizing their love for each other and the connection they share.”

  We each took an end of each rope and began to entwine them.

  “Each of these ropes are a representation of your pasts and the lives you lived apart. The ropes entwined into one represent your present as your two lives also become one.”

  Once the two ropes were entwined into one, we began to tie it into a knot.

  “The completed knot will be symbolic of your future and the strong marriage you will have.”

  With some laughter, a little frustration, and some goof ups, the knot was tied. Even the process of tying the knot was symbolic because our roads to this moment were laden with laughter, frustration and goof ups.

  “Emmet and Donya have now tied the knot,” the J.O.P. announced. “When the ends of the knot are pulled, the knot will become strong and no matter how frayed or short the ends get, the knot is forever. Emmet and Donya, please pull on the ends of your knot.”

  We pulled, and the knot became strong. I grinned at Emmet and he grinned at me.

  “I now,” the J.O.P. said with liveliness. “Pronounce you man and wife. Emmet, you may kiss your bride.”

  We didn’t let go of that rope, even when Emmet dipped me with one arm and kissed me with his sweet, soft lips until I was dizzy.

  Chapter Sixty- One

  “Owen, your mom is going to be here in a few minutes. Put the controller down and get ready to go,” I told him for the third time. I gave Emmet an evil glare that he could feel even though his attention was on the video game he and Owen were playing.

  “Okay, buddy,” Emmet said, putting his controller down. “Listen to your mom.”

  “Okay,” Owen sighed, and reluctantly put the controller down. He tore himself away from the television only after Emmet used the remote to turn it off. “Sorry,” Owen said as he passed by me to go upstairs.

  “It’s okay. I don’t know if your mom is going to feel like hanging around. I like you to be ready when she gets here.”

  “Okay,” Owen said as he went up the stairs.

  I turned back to my husband of two years. “You are a bad influence.”

  “Yeah, but I’m cute,” Emmet said and planted a kiss on my cheek.

  “The jury is still out on that one,” I teased.

  “Hey, little guy,” he smiled at the toddler in my arms. Emmet Junior was born almost exactly nine months after our wedding day. I was pretty sure that we created him on our wedding night.

  Emmet took EJ from my arms. “We’ll go get Rosa,” he said and then kissed me properly, which should have been illegal in front of our kids. Emmet’s ‘proper’ kisses were the kind of kisses that made me want to throw him down on any surface and let Donya SGL out to play.

  We walked into the kitchen together. I went back to the stove to work on dinner and father and son went out the back door to walk to Emmy’s to get Rosa.

  This was my life on the weekends. Emmet and I didn’t work, unless it was absolutely necessary. Owen was usually with us for at least half of the weekend and Rosa and Emmy’s daughter Kaitlyn usually played either at our house or Emmy’s. We were always back and forth between the two houses, especially during warmer weather. We were totally cliché, too, borrowing eggs, sticks of butter, and cups of milk while in the middle of making a meal or dessert. There were family barbecues and parties, and every other month Emmet and I hosted Sunday dinners for our extended Chicago family and friends. We were completely domesticated, at least on the weekends. The weekdays were another monster…

  Three days before my wedding, I did a photo shoot with Vogue in my wedding gown. Helene and I also gave them photographs of the wedding and the wedding party. When the small article accompanied by several photos of my gown and the wedding party wearing clothes I designed appeared in the magazine, my phone began to ring and didn’t stop. Before I opened my boutique, I threw together a show to introduce the fashion world to my label Emmya. By the time the boutique opened, the clothes I featured in the show and even my wedding gown were in demand. I thought I would have enough time to feel the business out and get acclimated, but Felix and I hit the ground running and haven’t looked back.

  We hired a few reliable, responsible and knowledgeable staff members to run the boutique and I did the administrative work at home. We also hired someone to oversee the seamstresses that brought my designs to life and another person to do the bulk of the necessary traveling work, especially since we just opened another location in New York and needed someone to keep an eye on things there.

  With Emmy’s help, I worked from home at first, but the business grew too large too fast. I had to set up shop in an office building near the boutique, and within a year, Emmy helped me to hire a strong, but small staff to run Emmya. I continued to work from home as much as possible, but there were still a couple of days a week that I had to show up to the office. I had to hire a nanny to keep an eye on
the kids while I worked. I was always in a meeting of some kind or dealing with a situation, and of course I had to have time to continue to create my designs.

  Emmet was working hard, too. Luke’s law firm had grown significantly, thanks to hard work and a few high profile cases. Emmet was now a partner in the firm that now occupied a whole corner building. While he had fewer cases than he did when he was just an associate, the few cases he did have were more sensitive. He would try to be home by six every night, but sometimes it wasn’t feasible. With our crazy schedules, it was difficult at times to get any time together until after all of the kids were in bed, and by then we were exhausted. So, we made Fridays our early days – he comes home by three and I end my business for the day by two, and with the exception of a few circumstances, every weekend is work free. Despite our busy schedules, we are happy. We have a beautiful family, great friends, and we are together. The boutique and the firm can burn to the ground, and we will still be happy.

  The doorbell rang a few minutes after Emmet and EJ left. I wiped my hands on an apron – a pretty, frilly, June Cleaver kind of apron given to me by Sam as a wedding gift – and went to the front door.

  “Hey, Casey,” I said, as I opened the door for her.

  “Hi,” she smiled as she came inside. “Oh my god what are you cooking?”

  “Spaghetti and meatballs,” I said as I led the way into the kitchen. “You want to stay for dinner?”

  “Oh, that’s tempting,” she said, peeking into the pot of meatballs. “But we’re going to my brother-in-law’s for dinner.”

  “I’ll put some in a container. You can eat it for your midnight snack,” I smiled as I reached for a container.

  “Yeah, you know how much we love those,” she said, rubbing her round belly.

  After Emmet and Casey split up, she started spending time with her single neighbor, a widower and father of two. Only months after Emmet and I married, Casey married Tyrone. I really liked Tyrone. He was a good father to his children and to Owen. He worked hard in construction, and he doted on Casey, something she had been missing in her last marriage.

  I know it’s strange to an outsider, but Casey, Tyrone, and his kids became an extension of our family. Casey and Emmet were friends before they got pregnant and got married, and now their friendship is renewed. It wasn’t unusual for their family to end up in our back yard or Emmy’s for a barbecue or party, and last year they even flew to Louisiana for the big Thanksgiving celebration. Now Casey and Tyrone are expecting their first child together, and both Emmet and I are happy for them, Emmet especially. He was glad that she was able to find someone who truly wanted and loved her.

  Casey and Owen left and a few minutes after that Emmet, EJ and Rosa came home. As he helped me get dinner on the table, I knew that he had something on his mind. Besides the fact I could feel his pensive state, there were telltale signs. He was quiet and distracted. Rosa had to ask him the same question three times. I wasn’t worried, because I knew he would tell me what was on his mind when he was ready, and I was very right about that.

  After the kids were in bed that night, we settled down on the couch in the living room to catch up on our weekly shows that were on DVR. It was our Saturday night ritual. I made popcorn with too much movie theatre style butter and Emmet dumped a handful of Reese’s Pieces into the bowl. We drank root beer floats or milkshakes, or whatever either of us felt like making. Emmet had the remote in his hand, but didn’t turn the television on. He looked over at me and I knew he was ready to talk.

  I put the bowl of popcorn on the floor and turned my body towards his. “What’s on your mind?” I asked, running my fingers through his hair.

  “Emmy told me about Fashion Week,” he said, getting right to the point.

  I sighed and said “What about it?”

  “Why aren’t you going to do it? I thought you would love to show your label on the same runways you used to walk.”

  I shook my head and shrugged a shoulder as I tried to find the right words. “Doing the weeks as a model and doing the weeks as a designer are entirely different. There is an enormous amount of prep work, months and months ahead. I’m already busy and doing even just one show can consume a tremendous amount of my time.”

  “So, you don’t want to do the extra work?” he asked.

  “I don’t mind the work,” I said with another shrug. “I just…I don’t want to be responsible for driving a wedge between us again because of my job.”

  Emmet took my hand, and smoothed my hair back off of my face. “Do you want to do it, Donya?” he asked softly.

  I looked down at our hands. There was no hiding how I felt, because he would know anyway.

  “I do, but it’s not necessary,” I answered.

  His fingers lifted my chin until I was looking into his eyes. “I want you to do it.”

  My eyes widened. “What? No,” I shook my head and waved a hand. “You don’t really mean that. Really, baby, you don’t have to say that just to try to appease me. I don’t need to go.”

  “Donya, most of the girls you used to work with have melted away into obscurity. They didn’t have staying power. If you wanted to, you could probably still get booked for shows now, because you’re that good. You not only survived the industry, but you evolved within the industry. While other ‘older’ models are selling furniture with their name or doing infomercials on late night television, you have Vogue and Elle and other publications paying close attention to what you’ll be hanging in your boutiques next. I want you to do this. If I have to take more time off of work to accommodate you, I’ll do it. You are the most talented person I know and if you want to do this, I want you to do it, too.”

  “Emmet,” I sighed. “You wanted me to model a long time ago, and then you regretted it. I don’t want to relive our past. I promised you that I would be selfless, and if that means not doing Fashion Week, I’m okay with that.”

  Emmet gave me a look of frustration and without a word he got off of the couch and walked out of the room. I watched him go up the stairs and wondered what the hell he was doing. Less than a minute later, he jogged down the stairs and came back into the family room carrying our unity knot. He stood in front of me and held it out to me, but I didn’t immediately take it. I looked up at him in confusion.

  “This knot was once two ropes entwined into one. The one rope was once two separate ropes. The two separate ropes represented our past lives, and despite our connection, our lives were still separate. Together you and I entwined those two ropes into one rope, thus entwining our two separate lives into one life that we share in the present. Together again, we tied that one rope into a knot. This knot represents our future. Together if we each pull on end of the rope, the knot strengthens. Pull your end of the damn rope, Donya.”

  I looked at the rope again and then reached out and pulled my end.

  “You are going to go to Fashion Week and you are going to kick some fashion ass, and whether I am there with you or here at home, I will be pulling on my end and you will be pulling on yours. The ends may fray or burn or break, but the knot will remain strong. We will remain strong.”

  He dropped to his knees before me and gently took the rope from my hands and laid it on the floor beside him.

  “You will never have to question whether or not I am pulling on my end, Donya,” he said softly. He put his hand over my heart. “You’ll feel me right there with you.”

  I kissed my husband, my other half, the soul on the other end of the line that has always been there. The movie and junk food were left, forgotten.

  Epilogue

  I am walking down the runway with an armful of flowers as spectators cheer and applaud in a standing ovation. I feel an elation I have never felt before while in the spotlight. I blow a kiss to Emmet and wave to Emmy and other family and friends who have come to see my first appearance in New York’s Fashion Week. As I walk back to the line of models that are clapping, I gesture to them, not wanting the audience to dismiss the
ir hard work. I turn and do a curtsy and blow more kisses and wave once more before heading backstage.

  There is a chorus of congratulations, innumerable hugs, handshakes and photographs. I thank all of the models for their work, but don’t delay them because many of them have other shows to get to. There are two in particular I really liked working with and I have my assistant speak to them about a campaign, but I won’t make any final decisions on them without discussing it with Felix first.

  Felix is still my best friend after Emmy. He is still gorgeous, a little cocky, and a lot of flirty. I don’t know how is wife Ginny puts up with him, especially since their little boys are beginning to follow in their father’s footsteps. I love him, though, enormous ego and all, and I often think about how different my life would be if we never met all of those years ago during a photo shoot. I am thankful for his friendship and for always looking out for me. He approaches me now and embraces me, lifts me off of the floor and swings me around in a circle.

  “Put her down before you hurt her,” Ginny demands and smacks his arm. She is seven months pregnant and glowing. I think some of the glow is definitely from her pregnancy, but I think Felix is responsible, too. She tries to be tough about his antics, but there is always a trace of an amused and adoring smile under her serious tone.

  Owen and Rosa squeeze through the crowd of admirers to hug me. Owen is almost eight years old now, and looks more and more like his father every day. Rosa is almost five, and a spoiled rotten daddy’s girl. She has Emmet in her pocket. She only needs to smile and say “please, daddy” to get whatever it is that she wants. I look around for the nanny and spot her across the room, sitting on a chair with EJ sleeping in her arms.

  As I am talking with Felix and a few other people, Emmy approaches. I turn to her and accept her fierce embrace. She releases me, we hold hands and I admire the new bracelet on her wrist that Emmet bought for her. He couldn't find the same one he had bought for her so many years ago, but this one was close. Emmy had cried for a good two hours after Emmet gave it to her.