The Blessing

by Elizabeth Price

  “You look so beautiful,” I whisper as her dad places her hand into mine.

  “You cleaned up pretty nice yourself,” she answers with a shy smile.

  I kiss Grey on the forehead before lowering him to the floor so he’s standing between Ronnie and me. His eyes widen as he looks up at his mommy. “Mommy!” he gasps as his eyes fill with wonder. “Princess!”

  All of our guests softly chuckle in response, and Ronnie’s eyes fill with tears and her smile grows even more stunning. The muscles in my face grow tense and my eyes become misty as she looks at me. Her eyes are filled with so much love. I can’t begin to understand what they do to me. She makes me feel like I’m ten feet tall and bulletproof. I’ll make a point to cherish her for the rest of my life. The minister begins the ceremony, and I can barely register what he’s saying. All I can seem to focus on is the beautiful woman in front of me. She seems to feel the same way because her soulful green eyes never leave mine. It’s as if we were all alone in a bubble, and no one else can touch us.

  When she smiles at me the whole world stops. I’ll spend the rest of my life making her smile like that. What I wouldn’t give to see it every day. I can’t believe after everything that’s happened in my life, after all the shit I’ve done, she still finds something in me to love so fucking dearly. I can’t believe how fucking broken I was before I met her. She came into my life like a ray of sunlight on a dreary fucking day. As we get ready to say our vows, I can’t help but tear up again like a fucking baby. With a shaky hand, I grab the folded-up piece of paper from the breast pocket of my tux. I spent hours over the past few days writing my vows. I’ve never been one with words, so finding the right words to describe my love for her was nearly impossible and truthfully, these written words don’t even begin to scratch the surface when it comes to describing my feelings for Ronnie. I know what I feel, but I never know how to verbalize it. Thankfully, my actions speak louder than any of my endless ramblings.

  It’s my turn to speak and I can barely breathe. Grey tugs on my pant leg and gives me an expectant look, as if he were silently questioning, “What the fuck, dad?” I smile at him and exhale the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I look at the paper I’m holding in my shaky hand in front of me and roll my eyes at the words. They sound so scripted… so rehearsed. My love for Ronnie has always felt wild and spontaneous. I want to give her more than these words because they barely sound like something I’d say. I give her a small, shy smile as I fold up the paper and tuck it back into my pocket before taking her hands in mine.

  “Ronnie, from the very first moment I saw you, I knew you were my dream woman. You’re everything I could’ve ever wanted. I remember looking at you and thinking, ‘If I were a better man, I’d want a girl like that.’ I never thought you could ever want me, but to my surprise, you did. I spent the first couple months of our relationship in utter disbelief, and even now, as I look at you, I can’t believe I got so lucky. I won the lottery when I met you. You’ve been in my life for almost two years now, and baby, you surprise me at every fu—” I stop myself, knowing we have an audience and I can’t fucking curse. “You surprise me at every turn,” I continue. “You’re so giving, Ronnie. You give and give and expect nothing in return. I want to give and give to you. I want to give you the life you’ve always wanted. The love you’ve always deserved. I promise to be your best friend and lover every day for the rest of our lives. I love you now, and I’ll love you forever.”

  Tears are trailing down my face by the time I’m finished speaking. I didn’t think I’d cry so much at my wedding—but here I am, sappy as fuck. My bride’s crying, as well. But she has a bright, tender smile on her lovely face. Eden hands her a tissue to wipe away her tears before handing her the piece of paper containing her own vows. Ronnie gathers herself for a moment, so we’re not both crying like two fucking lovesick idiots, before unfolding the piece of paper. Grey reaches out his free hand—as his other hand tightly grips mine—and grabs ahold of his mommy’s dress. She giggles at this and reaches down to give him her hand.

  Looking away from her paper, apparently feeling spontaneous as well, Ronnie begins, “Trevor, you think you won the lottery when you met me, but the truth is, I won the best of everything in the world when I met you. I only thought I was living before you came into my life. I was happy, but part of me believes I was really just spending most of my time waiting for you. You’re always too hard on yourself, Trevor, but you’re the most caring, loving, and humble man I’ve ever known. Since you came into my life, you’ve been my anchor, my guiding light, my everything. You love with a tenacity which always manages to overwhelm me. You always say you have faults, Trev, but I love you for everything that you are. I promise to be your rock, your best friend, and your lover as long as we both shall live. And beyond that, if possible, because I’d follow you anywhere.”

  Before I can stop myself or realize what I’m doing, I crash my lips against hers, wanting to express my emotions in another way. She tastes so sweet and her lips are so soft as they move against mine because of the tears she’s shed today. I’m sure my lips are just as soft as they move against hers. I kiss her like we’re the only two people around. Of course, we’re not, and it doesn’t take long for the yard to fill with sighs from the women and chuckles from some of the men. I break away, despite being unsatisfied because I’ll know I’ll be able to have her soon enough. I consider casting our guests an apologetic smile, but after that kiss, I’m anything but sorry.

  Grey perks up at my side as the minister announces that it’s time to exchange rings. This is his one job and he’s committed to doing it right. I’ve never seen my toddler so fucking excited about anything before. With a giant, toothy grin, he carefully pulls each ring from the pocket of his jacket under our watchful eyes.

  “Good job, buddy,” I whisper to him, giving him a satisfied smile.

  Grey’s eyes widen at the compliment and he perks up even more. “Dank, Daddy,” he loudly says, interrupting the minister as soon as he begins to move ahead with the ceremony. “Did it, Daddy! I do right?!”

  All of our guests chuckle at this and I can’t seem to stop smiling at my son. “You did it perfect, buddy.” With a proud smile, Grey hands me the rings. I hold onto my soon-to-be wife’s ring while giving mine to her. Greyson wraps his arms around my leg and watches us with curious eyes. I know he doesn’t completely understand what’s happening between us or what this ceremony means, but he’s excited to be a part of it nonetheless.

  When the time finally comes, I slide the wedding band on Ronnie’s finger and repeat after our minister, “I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. This circle represents my infinite love for you. I marry you with this ring, with all that I have and all that I am.”

  After I finished speaking, I stare at my girl, completely captivated by the fact she’s now truly mine. Well, she’s not really mine, she’s not the type of girl to be owned by a man. Rather, we’re one. I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it.

  Ronnie eagerly takes ahold of my hand, ready to repeat the vows that bind us together. “I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. This circle represents my infinite love for you. I marry you with this ring, with all that I have and all that I am.” She slides the ring in place and whispers, “I love you, Trev.”

  “I love you, too, beautiful.”

  “Trevor and Veronica, you have heard the words about love and marriage, have exchanged your vows and made your promises to each other, and celebrated your union with the giving and receiving of rings. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Trevor, you may kiss your bride.”

  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I barely give him time to finish before my lips are on my bride’s. I intended to keep it short and sweet since all of our friends and family are here to witness it, but that idea flies out the window as soon as my
wife’s—fuck does that title sound amazing—lips meet mine. This kiss is different from all the rest. This kiss is the first we share now that we’ve finally become one. Fuck, Ronnie’s my wife! This feels like a fucking fairy tale. Some princess gets her prince shit for sure! The sensation is so overwhelming I force myself to break away from her, knowing that if I don’t, I’ll have her on the ground in her birthday suit before I can regain my control. I take a step back and look at her gorgeous face, which is flushed with excitement and glowing with happiness. I’m sure I look exactly the same. We must look like a pair of lovesick fools, but I don’t mind. I feel like a lovesick fool when I’m around her.

  My son tugging on my pant leg, brings me back to the here and now. I look down to see Grey holding his arms up, indicating that he wants to be held right now.

  “My turn, Daddy!” he exclaims with an excited grin.

  He’s so fucking jumpy. Everything I’ve heard about two-year-olds in the past was seriously no joke. I pick my eager son up and kiss him on the forehead before holding him toward my wife so she can kiss him, as well.

  “Kisses, Mommy!” Grey giggles before Ronnie smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

  My heart feels so full in this moment. I have everything I never imagined wanting. The rest of the night feels like a dream. Having Ronnie and Grey in my life, truly is like Heaven on Earth. Throughout the reception, I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Every second is fucking magical. I savor these first moments of my brand-new future. I can’t believe this is my life. I wonder if I’ll ever believe this is my life. When our song begins to play, Ronnie pulls me onto the dance floor for our first dance under the stars. I can feel my brother’s presence standing beside me. It hits me like a wrecking ball. I know I’m probably just imagining it—I have to be imagining it—but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel incredibly real. We start to sway to the melodic rhythm, and I picture Dean smiling at me. He’s giving me that proud look he used to give me when I was just a little kid.

  I close my eyes and rest my forehead against my wife’s, soaking up the feeling and savoring it as though I’ll never experience it again. I let my thoughts wander, imagining Dean and Cat dancing beside us. Wherever they are now, I’m sure they’re together, possibly looking down on us now with a smile. I don’t know if I believe in all that Heaven shit, but sometimes I swear Dean is standing right fucking next to me, with his hand on my shoulder, telling me whatever happens, it will turn out just fine.

  “What is it?” Ronnie asks quietly as I twirl her around the makeshift dance floor.

  I shake my head, worried if I tell her I’ll breakdown in front of everyone. Dean will always be a touchy subject for me, and with all the emotions coursing through me right now, I find that uttering his name is impossible. Finally, I say, “It’s nothing, baby. It’s just… I think my brother would’ve been really proud of me, you know?”

  She pulls back to look at me better, her eyes shimmering with tears. “He would be proud of you, Trev. I’m sure wherever your Dean is, he’s really happy for you. For us.”

  “I feel like he’s here right now, Ronnie,” I admit with an embarrassed laugh.

  She presses herself more tightly against me and smiles. “I wonder what he’d think of me.”

  “God, he’d love you,” I answer without hesitation. “He’d be so impressed with the way you kicked me into shape.”

  She smiles at this. “My mom would’ve loved you, too, Trev. I feel like she’s here right now, too. Standing right beside us.”

  “Maybe they are. Maybe they just wanted to see us start our life together.”

  A tear trails down my wife’s flushed cheek and I hold her closer. “Where would I be without you, Trev?”

  “I don’t know, but you’ll never have to find out.”

  In the backyard of our home, dancing under the stars with my new wife, I enjoy the first moments of our forever together.

  About The Author

  Lizzie Lee is a twenty-three-year-old bibliophile who lives in Carmel, Indiana. When she’s not writing, she loves attempting Pinterest projects, online shopping, and watching horror movies. This is her first of many novels.

  Find her on Facebook at Lizzie Lee or check out her website at www.lizzieleeauthor.com