An Unexpected Wife
Page 14
“Never been more ready,” he said as they walked into the chapel.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you two have decided to renew your wedding vows in front of God,” the pastor said as he stood at the pulpit ready to perform the ceremony. “Are we ready.”
“Yes, Pastor,” Cliff said, smiling at Sage.
“Yes, Pastor,” Sage added.
“Good. Let’s begin. We are gathered here today,” he started. “You know what, we all know why we’re here. Let’s start at the bit that counts.”
Sage giggled. “Fine by me, Pastor.”
“Me too, quicker the better,” Cliff said.
“Okay, let’s get started, take two. Cliff, repeat after me. I, Clifford John Welsh…”
“I Clifford John Welsh,” Cliff repeated.
“Take you, Sage Meredith Worthington…”
“Take you Sage Meredith Worthington,” Cliff smiled at Sage who was tearing up. He leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“I don’t think I said you can do that yet,” the pastor joked. “Keep repeating, to be my wedded wife.”
“To be my wedded wife,” Cliff said with a grin.
“To have and to hold, from this day forward…”
“To have and to hold, from this day forward.”
“For better or worse, for richer for poorer…”
“For better or worse, for richer for poorer.”
“In sickness and in health…”
“In sickness and in health.”
“To love and to cherish, till death do us part. And I pledge my faithfulness to you. You’re almost there.”
“To love and to cherish, till death do us part. And I pledge my faithfulness to you.” Cliff beamed. “Your turn.”
Sage wasn’t giggling anymore; she was extremely nervous. Anything she was going to say, she would mean.
“Okay, Sage, your turn,” the pastor said. Repeat after me. I, Sage Meredith Worthington…”
“I Sage Meredith Worthington,” she said solemnly.
“Take you, Clifford John Welsh…”
“Take you Clifford, John Welsh.” She smiled at Cliff nervously.
“To be my wedded husband.”
“To by my wedded husband.” Just that word, in this place, made her want to cry. Cliff squeezed her hand and she nodded.
“To have and to hold, from this day forward…”
“To have and to hold, from this day forward.” She was on a roll again.
“For better or worse, for richer or poorer…”
“For better or worse, for richer or poorer.” She looked up at Cliff and smiled. They would be all right whatever happened money wise.
“In sickness and in health…”
“In sickness and in health.”
“Okay, the next bit could be a bit hairy. Is the word in or is it out?” the pastor asked.
“Sorry?” Sage asked, a bit confused.
“The word obey,” the pastor clarified. “In or out. Are we an old fashioned couple or are we new school?”
Sage looked at Cliff and smiled. “In,” she said.
“Great,” the pastor said with a grin. “To love, to cherish and obey, till death do us part,” he said.
“To love, to cherish and obey, till death do us part,” she repeated, her eyes never leaving Cliff’s face.
“And I pledge my faithfulness to you.”
“And I pledge my faithfulness to you.”
“Do we have rings?”
Cliff took two rings from his pocket and passed them to the pastor.
“Thank you,” he said. “Let us pray, Lord bless the giving and receiving of these rings. May the endless circle of these rings become a symbol of their unending love. May it remind them to be faithful, loving and kind to one another. May they live in your grace and remain true to this marriage. Amen.” He passed the plain gold ring to Sage and the other smaller one to Cliff.
“Thank you,” Sage said.
“Thank you, Pastor,” Cliff said.
“Clifford, please place the ring on your bride’s finger and repeat after me. Sage, I give you this ring as a symbol of our marriage.”
Cliff slipped the ring he had chosen on Sage’s finger. “Sage, I give you this ring as a symbol of our marriage.”
“With all that I am and all that I have, I honour you.”
“With all that I am and all that I have, I honour you.”
“Sage, repeat after me. Clifford, I will forever wear this ring as a sign of my commitment and to remind me how much I loved you on this day.”
“Clifford, I will forever wear this ring as a sign of my commitment and to remind me how much I loved you on this day.” Once again, Sage was close to tears.
The pastor passed Cliff’s ring to Sage. “Place this ring on your groom’s finger and repeat after me. Clifford, I give you this ring as a symbol of our marriage.”
Sage placed the gold band on Cliff’s finger. It wasn’t a new ring, so she had to assume it was a family ring, probably his father’s. “Clifford, I give you this ring as a symbol of our marriage.”
“With all that I am and all that I have, I will honour you.”
“With all that I am and all that I have, I will honour you.”
“Clifford, repeat after me,” the pastor said. “Sage, I will forever wear this ring as a sign of my commitment and to remind me how much I loved you on this day.”
“Sage, I will forever wear this ring as a sign of my commitment and to remind me how much I loved you on this day.”
The pastor smiled widely. “That’s all folks. What God has put together let no man break apart. I now pronounce you, man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Cliff took Sage in her arms and kissed her tenderly. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
* * *
When they pulled into the yard, the party was in full swing. As soon as Sage had one leg out of the car, Netty launched herself at her. “I missed you,” she said, crying into her shoulder. “Can we please stay this time? Please?”
“I hope so, Netty, I really hope so. I missed you both so much,” Sage said.
“Where have you been?” Aunt Jen asked. She came over and gave Sage a hug.
“Hi, Aunt Jen.” Sage looked at Cliff and he nodded. “We’ve been to church,” she said.
“Oh really?”
“We renewed our vows,” Sage said. “Auntie, things are different now, you can trust us with the kids, I promise. We’re happy, really this time.” Sage was babbling, she knew she was, but she was desperate to find the right words to convince her aunt to let Bailey and Netty stay with them.
“Relax, Sage, I know things are better and I know the two of you are real.”
“We are,” Cliff said.
Bailey ran out of the house and hugged Sage tight. “Are we staying? Please, Aunt Jen, please, Sage?” he begged.
“It’s up to Aunt Jen,” Sage said.
“So we can stay?” Bailey asked, jumping up and down.
“I promise I will take care of all of them,” Cliff said.
“Of course they can stay. I never had any intention of keeping them from you, Sage,” she said. “I knew you two could make a go of things. I just needed to give you a reason to try harder to make it work.”
“Well, you did that,” Sage said.
“It won’t be easy. You have to keep trying.”
“I know, Aunt Jen, I know.”
“Are we ready for the big unveiling?” Grandpa said. The sign had been placed at the front of the new bunkhouse front door and covered in calico. Grandpa was chomping at the bit to show it off.
“Yep, let’s get started,” Cliff said.
“Is everyone ready?” Grandpa called.
“Yes!” Sage yelled, getting into the spirit with the rest of the crowd. All the hands that had helped had been asked to bring along their families for an old fashioned cookout.
“I give you the very latest in ranch stay family v
acations.” He pulled the rope that unveiled the sign.
Double W Family Camp Ranch
“Now I need to show you my surprise—the bedrooms,” Cliff said to Sage.
“Bedroom tour,” Sage said, rounding everyone up. The immediate family and several other curious onlookers joined their tour of the house.
“Let’s start with Bailey’s room,” Cliff said smiling at the excited young boy.
Bailey followed Cliff like he always did, with total adoration.
“Are you ready, Bails?” Sage asked.
“Here it is?” Cliff threw back Bailey’s door and watched as he walked inside. Bailey didn’t know where to look first.
Sage’s mouth dropped open. She had never seen a child’s room like it. The whole room had been painted in a western camp theme. The floor had been buffed and the bed was a set of bunks in a rustic wood that looked like it had been made straight from logs. The quilt was one that had been made from the one on their parents’ bed.
“Grandma made your folks’ large quilt into two smaller ones, so the kids could have half each,” Cliff whispered.
All around the room was a mural of a horse pen, like fences with a green background and the ceiling had been painted like a night sky, with the moon and all the planets. Sage looked at Bailey who just stood there, tears rolling down his face. “I love it,” he managed to say finally.
Sage could see he was embarrassed that he had cried in front of everyone. “Don’t worry,” she said, cuddling him, “you’re not the only one.”
“Okay, I think we’ll leave Bailey in here to have a really good look at his room by himself,” Cliff said. “Unless you want to see your sister’s room first?”
Bailey grinned. “I want to see Netty’s room too,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Let’s go then!” Cliff took Sage’s hand and the group moved to the next room.
“Here we go, Netty, are you ready?” Sage asked.
Netty just about nodded her head right off.
Cliff pushed her door open and stood back as he had with Bailey to let the little girl have the first look at her room. “Here you go, Princess Netty!”
Sage was just as surprised with this room as she had been with the last. The theme in Netty’s room was princess. Instead of the night sky, there was blue sky and sunshine. Netty’s bed was a two-story castle, with the mattress on the top section. There were stairs at one end and a slide from the other end, which led to the floor. Underneath there was a little reading nook with her half of the quilt laid across a sweet little pink sofa. Disney princesses danced along all of one wall.
“Do you like it, Netty?” Cliff asked, kneeling down to be more on her level.
“Uh huh,” she said. “Now I’m really a princess.” She wrapped her arms around Cliff’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re very welcome,” Cliff said. “Shall we go and see what surprises are left for Sage?”
“Yes! I want to see Sage’s room.”
“Well, it isn’t really my old room,” Sage said. “It’s our new room.”
“Yours and Cliff’s?” Netty asked.
“That’s right.” Sage was worried that the kids might have some kind of reaction to her taking over their parents’ room but they seemed happy.
“That’s a good idea,” Bailey said. “There was not enough room in your room for two people and Cliff could never fit in your bed.”
There was an awkward silence for a second and then everyone laughed, Sage included.
“Well he couldn’t,” Bailey insisted.
“Okay, time for Sage to see her surprise.” Cliff took his wife’s hand and led her to their new room. “Are you ready, Sage?” he asked, in the same voice that she had used to Bailey and Netty.
“Yes I am,” she said with a giggle.
Cliff threw back the door, the same as before.
Sage looked at the room briefly but was looking more intently at her husband’s face. She wanted to see the exact moment he realised the surprise was for him. She had Grandpa put Cliff’s surprise right in the doorway so he would see it as soon as the door was opened. There looking beautiful was Cliff’s very own cradle that had been lovingly restored by Grandpa. The linings and bedding had all been all newly made by his Grandma. Propped up was a sign that Sage had made herself.
We’re Expecting!
“Surprise!” Sage said, waiting to see a smile.
“You got me. Wow.” Cliff did smile but his eyes filled with tears also. “Look at that kids, we’re going to be a family of five!”
“Three great grandchildren in the space of a few weeks,” Grandma said.
“Can’t ask for any better than that,” Grandpa said. “Life is good.”
The End
Constance Masters
I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother and an author. I guess my love of writing began when I was in school. It was the subject I loved most.
I didn’t write while my oldest children were small because I was busy raising them. Also, there was in Internet then… there weren’t many computers at all and those that -were there were not much more than glorified typewriters. The Internet and high-tech computers make life so much easier and although I still have a couple of children at home, I have much more time to write.
Visit her website here:
http://www.constancemasters.com
Visit her blog here:
http://creativelyconstance.blogspot.com
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Constance Masters and Blushing Books!
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An Unexpected Wife
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