Accidental Texting: Finding Love despite the Spotlight

by Kimberly Montague

  Amber turned to me. "Ready?"

  I nodded. They opened the doors, and Mel walked forward. Cerise and Annalisa looped their arms in mine, and I squeezed them tightly.

  "Just breathe, Morgan," Annalisa whispered.

  "He's in there waiting for you. I can't wait to see his face," Cerise said excitedly.

  Amber signaled for us to move forward. We stood outside the door and Amber held her finger to her headset. "Okay, here we go. Deep breath, Morgan." She smiled at me, and I managed to suck in a breath.

  The music changed, and I could hear movement inside. Amber fixed my dress again and stepped back. The doors opened, and faces were staring at me. I sort of stuttered for a moment in mid-step, but Cerise and Annalisa patted my arms and pulled me gently forward. I couldn't see Sean, but I recognized the happy faces to the left of me. Most of them were teary, which made my eyes blur a bit more. But I focused back on the front since it was coming into view. I couldn't believe my eyes. Above the heads of everyone, a canopy of red roses exactly as I'd painted for Sean covered the front of the room. It was incredible. It took my breath away.

  Cerise patted my arm again, and whispered. "Anthony and I did that. Sean saw us working on it, and when he saw your painting, he was so speechless."

  I smiled at her as a tear slipped down my cheek. I couldn't say anything or risk crying my eyes out. I was having trouble holding myself together, talking myself into not crying. I started to think it was a losing battle when Sean shifted to the side a bit, directly into view. He wasn't smiling, but it was right there in his eyes—the devouring look he always gave me. He didn't even blink as I made my way down the aisle toward him. I kept my eyes locked with his and found it so much easier to move. He looked amazing in a simple black tuxedo. The closer I got, the more the corners of his mouth turned up until he was smiling that sexy smile of his that they put on the cover of magazines.

  When I was within touching range of Sean, Cerise and Annalisa wrapped their arms around me, sandwiching me between them. Everyone laughed.

  "I love you guys," I said softly. They squeezed me harder and turned to Sean, standing arm in arm as a blockade in between him and me. I started laughing, and I could see Sean smile as they put their hands on their hips.

  "Do you swear," Annalisa asked loudly, "to do whatever it takes to make her deliriously happy?" Sean nodded exaggeratedly.

  Cerise put up her finger "Even if it means getting down on the floor and groveling?"

  I laughed, but Sean got very serious and lowered himself to his knees on the ground in front of them, placing his hand over his heart. "I swear." His loud voice echoed around the room and made of them both laugh along with everyone else. They pulled him up and hugged him before taking their places in front of Mel.

  Finally, he put his hand out to me, and I placed my palm in his. We walked forward, and he whispered in my ear. "You're beyond beautiful, love."

  I bit my bottom lip then caught myself and stopped. The Reverend cleared his throat, and I looked up at him. He was maybe in his late forties with a kind smile and humor in his eyes. He seemed very genuine.

  "Honored family members, we are here today to celebrate a story of accidental text messaging."

  I burst out laughing, but by the snicker on Sean's face, I could tell he'd planned this.

  The Reverend continued, "It's not every day that fate steps in to push two people together, but clearly, that is what's happened here. Were it not for the intervention, these two puzzle pieces might never have found each other."

  The smile fell from my mouth, and I looked at Sean as tears gathered again in my eyes. He wrapped my hand in both of his and smiled sweetly at me. When he nodded his head to my left, I looked over to find Mom's portrait on a beautiful rose-covered easel in the front of the room. My lip started quivering and tears fell down my cheeks. He stepped closer and wiped them away. Cerise took my bouquet and Annalisa handed me several tissues.

  "It is with happiness then that we come together to unite Morgan and Sean in holy matrimony."

  Sean kept patting my hand as I tried to calm down.

  "A matrimony clearly designed in the heavens as it brings together these two stars. Who gives this man to be married to this woman?"

  Out of the corner of my very blurry eyes, I saw Sean's parents stand up.

  "Happily, we do," his mom said, her voice shaking a little, but I could see her smiling and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

  "Who gives this woman to be married to this man?"

  Cerise put up her finger and raised her eyebrow. "Giving her to him? Hold on a sec. We didn't talk about that." She turned to Annalisa, and they pretended to argue for a moment through smiles. Everyone laughed, and it gave me the opportunity to get a grasp on my tears. Cerise turned back to the Reverend. "Well," she bounced her head back and forth. "I guess we could loan her to you—on weekends. Maybe a summer here or there—does that work for you, Sean?" He shook his head at them, and she smiled wider. "Okay, well fine. I guess we'll let her go." Annalisa was dabbing at her tears, and Cerise had ended her teasing on a very shaky note. I smiled at them both.

  "Now that that's settled," the Reverend continued, laughing lightly. "Sean, do you take Morgan to be your lawfully wedded wife, to consistently make deliriously happy," he paused and nodded at Cerise and Annalisa who nodded back, "and to spend the rest of your life in a state of blissful matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all other text messages." He had to pause for the laughter to die down. "Will you keep only unto her as long as you both shall live?"

  I shook my head at him, and he pulled my hand up to his lips, kissing the back. He turned serious and looked me so intensely in the eye. "It's all I want in life. I do."

  I stepped closer to him and put my other hand in his.

  "Morgan, do you take Sean to be your lawfully wedded husband, to consistently put up with when he's pushing you or trying to force expensive gifts on you." He paused again at the laughter. "And to spend the rest of your life with in a state of blissful matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish him from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him and never answering another wrong number for as long as you both shall live?"

  When I stopped laughing, I stared him in the eye and formed the "o" sound with my lips as if I was going to say "okay." He raised his eyebrow at me and squeezed my hands. "O—of course I do."

  He shook his head at me and kissed my hand again.

  Sean, please repeat after me. "I, Sean Gregory Hallowitz Wilder, take Morgan Corrianna Edwards to be my lawfully wedded wife."

  As he said the words, his hands shook a little, and I couldn't stop myself from stepping closer to him.

  "To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse." He paused and brought my hands to his chest, kissing them. His eyes were shining with tears. "For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish."

  He paused again, and the Reverend prompted him, "Until death do us part."

  He shook his head at me, and his smile was replaced by a very intense, serious expression. "For all of eternity." I bit my bottom lip to keep from kissing him, and he squeezed my hands. There were a lot of "awws."

  "Morgan? Please repeat after me."

  I bounced up and down on my toes, unable to stay still. Sean chuckled at me. I didn't give any dramatic pauses. In fact, I kind of rushed through it. I wanted so badly to get to the kiss and know he was finally mine. I did however, change the ending as Sean had to "For all of eternity."

  "May we have the rings?"

  I stopped smiling. I didn't have a ring for him. He squeezed my hands and nodded in Cerise's direction. I let go of one of Sean's hands and Cerise placed a silver band in my palm. I looked down at it and immediately saw "MORGAN" deeply etched in very noticeable letters on the outside of the ring. From the "M" to the "N" a very thin, rope-like braiding seemed to link my name back to itself. It was si
mple and sweet. I handed the band to the Reverend.

  "May this ring be blessed so that he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in peace, and continue in love until life's end. Sean, if you'll place this on Morgan's finger."

  Sean took the ring from the Reverend and placed it on my finger. I had trouble focusing as the Reverend spoke. "Sean, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of my love and commitment to you."

  The ring was a beautiful circle of diamonds a little wider than the band on my engagement ring. What I loved most was the rope-like braiding around the bottom that matched the braiding in his ring.

  "Sweetie." He pulled my attention back to him. "With this ring… I thee happily wed. Wear it as a symbol of my love and complete and utter devotion to you."

  He kissed my finger seductively.

  "May this ring be blessed so that she who gives it and he who wears it may abide in peace and continue in love until life's end. Morgan, if you'll place this on Sean's finger, and repeat after me."

  I looked back at the Reverend and took Sean's ring from him. With shaking hands, I pushed it onto his finger and stared into his eyes. I tried to concentrate on the words the Reverend was giving me, but I couldn't stop smiling. Sean winked at me, and I felt myself blushing profusely. My hands shook even more, and he squeezed them tighter.

  "Morgan? Go ahead."

  I'd completely missed the words. I widened my eyes at Sean, who chuckled at me.

  The Reverend's voice was full of laughter and kindness as he helped me through it. "With this ring," he whispered.

  I bit my lip again and rushed through. "With-this-ring." The words came out in a jumble.

  Sean leaned closer to me with laughter in his voice. "Calm down, love."

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The Reverend continued, "I thee wed."

  "I thee wed." I started smiling like an idiot again, and I heard Stewie laughing to the side. I glanced at him and saw all the guys trying to hold back laughter—meanies. Sean squeezed my hands again.

  "Wear it as a symbol of my love and commitment to you," the Reverend said slowly.

  "Wear it as a symbol." My voice was so high. I had to take another deep breath to calm down. "As a symbol of how much I love you and am committed to you."

  He kissed my hands again, and I squeezed his, bouncing up and down again before I could stop myself.

  "May this couple be prepared to continue to give, be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day and with each passing year. Sean and Morgan are now beginning their married life together."

  I stepped closer to him. I was about to die if he didn't kiss me. He was laughing now and making no attempt to hide it.

  "We hope that they may have loving assistance from their family, the constant support of friends, and a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as Sean and Morgan have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other."

  I was getting seriously impatient with this guy's lengthy ending and stepped closer, touching my body to Sean's.

  "And having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife. Sean, I think you'd better kiss your wife."

  I heard about ten seconds of loud cheering and applause before Sean's talented tongue blocked the rest of the world out of my mind. He literally devoured me, and I felt like I went up in flames right there in front of everyone. I was shaking more when he'd kissed the hell out of me than during the whole ceremony, and since I'd been shaking during most of the ceremony, that was really saying something. When he pulled back, he wrapped his arms around me and picked me up in the air. I squealed and everyone clapped all the more.

  When the laughter and cheers died down, the Reverend put his hand on Sean's shoulder. "Ladies and Gentleman, it is my honor to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Sean and Morgan Wilder." The cheers resumed again, and we walked down the aisle toward the doors. I'd recovered enough to move forward, and Sean kept his arm looped tightly through mine. In the lobby, the staff clapped for us. Sean swooped me up in his arms and kissed me again. I barely registered one of the photographers taking our picture.

  "Alright, alright." Stewie slapped Sean on the back. "Get your hands off the poor girl, and let me give her a hug."

  "Poor girl? She nearly attacked me in there." I could feel my cheeks burning again and hid my face in his neck as he laughed. "Besides, didn't you hear the man? I now have a legal right to keep her all to myself."

  "And I will always have the right to kick your butt." Cerise poked at him, and he reluctantly set me down.

  Cerise hugged me, Annalisa hugged me, Stewie hugged me—I got passed around so much that I lost track of who I was hugging.

  "Morgan, Sean, everyone—please follow me to have your pictures taken."

  Finally, Sean pulled me up into his arms again and walked in Amber's direction. We spent the next hour taking hundreds of pictures in a million combinations. We took some outside in the snow, in a horse-drawn sleigh, in front of the stone fireplace in the lobby—pretty much everywhere. My favorites were the ones where they asked Sean to kiss me.

  Finally, Amber announced that the tables were ready for the reception and that the guests had taken their seats. We stood at the door, waiting to enter as our bridal party went first. I wrapped my arms around Sean's neck and couldn't stop smiling at him.

  "You are the most beautiful, sexy woman in the whole world."

  "I guess it's a good thing you're considered one of the handsomest men in America."

  We both added in unison, "three years in a row."

  "Morgan, Sean, you're next."

  I glued my body to his. "Is it considered bad manners to skip the reception and go straight to the honeymoon?" He laughed at me and nodded as I frowned at him. "But maybe we could sneak away for an hour or two."

  Amber laughed next to us and turned to me. "Doubtful, Morgan. Very doubtful. Ready?"

  I nodded, and she opened the doors.

  Someone said, "It's my pleasure to announce Mr. and Mrs. Sean and Morgan Wilder." Everyone cheered and whistled as we walked to a long table in the front of the room underneath the canopy of roses.

  We sat down and had champagne. Dinner was served, and Sean decided I wasn't eating enough so he fed me seductively. Stewie made an embarrassing toast about Sean being a wreck after L.A.. Cerise and Annalisa made a toast to us hinting at all the sadness I'd faced and how happy Sean made me. We made the rounds, thanking everyone for coming. We danced until my feet were killing me, and Sean made me take off my heels. We even shoved cake in each other's faces, making everyone laugh loudly.

  As the evening wound down, we sat at our table. Sean's arm was across the back of my chair, and I turned sideways so that my back met his chest. He had his arm around my waist as I played with his ring.

  "Did you pick these out yourself?"

  He kissed my earlobe, sending chills down my spine. "Yes. Actually, I designed them—well the added detail, at least."

  "Which detail?"

  "The chain in the middle of mine." He ran his fingers over my ring. "And the chain at the bottom of yours."

  "Chain?" I was confused. It was a chain?

  He pulled me closer. "Your grandfather gave me a necklace your mother wore all the time. It was this puzzle piece." He touched the charm on my bracelet. "Attached to the puzzle piece on either side was a thin, platinum chain. I had them turn the puzzle piece into your charm, but I wanted to do something with the chain—"

  "Oh, Sean," I whispered, realizing what he'd done.

  He kissed my cheek. "I wanted her to be with you in some way, to tie us together. I hope—I hope I didn't go too far with that."

  I turned around and put my hand on his cheek. "I don't know how I got so lucky. I couldn't be happier with everything you've done here. It's been the most special two days of my life."
/>   "I had help, love. I can't take all the credit. Your friends love you almost as much as I do and helped me pull all this together. But in terms of being the most special of your life… Morgan, our life together is only just beginning." He kissed me then—one of those kisses that lit me on fire from head to toe.

  "Hey now, there are old people present," Stewie said from behind us as he and Annalisa took the seats next to us.

  Sean pulled back and rubbed his thumb along my lower lip, staring down at me with such love in his eyes. "Anyone in this room who would look at her and think I have enough control to keep my hands off her wins the idiot of the year award. It's gonna take years for me to get enough of her to behave myself in public." He pressed his lips softly to mine again to illustrate his point.

  "Well you'd better work on that a lot faster. You've got SNL next week."

  Sean let his forehead fall against my shoulder, and I held him closer to me. Duty called like I knew it would.

  Stewie patted him on the back again. "I already let them know that you broke their contract tonight, but Michelle will still be making some sort of an appearance."

  Sean turned a very annoyed glare at Stewie. "This reminder couldn't wait a few days?"

  Stewie scratched the back of his neck and looked agitatedly around the room. "I had to ask—they uh, they want to leak a wedding photo of you two and have you both on a few morning talk shows this week." Sean pulled completely away from me, and I could see the sudden anger in his eyes. Stewie clearly could as well since he put his hands up. "I already told them it was out of the question, but I had to warn you about it. They're likely to call you personally about it. I told them you're on your honeymoon and will be unavailable until SNL. You know we can't break the SNL date."

  Sean's face relaxed a bit, and he nodded sadly. "I know. I'm fine with SNL. I just don't wanna deal with Michelle."

  "Aw come on," Stewie encouraged, smiling genuinely. "This is gonna be the fun part. Imagine her face when she finds out you immediately married Morgan. Just picture it for a moment."