“These were your mother’s. She made me promise not to give them to you until you were married.”
My head popped up to stare at him.
“She wrote it out in her will a few months before she died,” he answered my unasked question.
“I-I have to change the earrings.” That was all I could think to say. Shakily, my hands rose to change the diamond earrings I had on for my mother’s. Thankfully, I’d brought my mother’s pearl necklace as an option to wear. I asked my father to hold on while I went and retrieved the necklace.
“Can you put this on me?”
“Absolutely.”
I turned, letting him secure the necklace around my neck, before turning back to him. Tears glistened in his eyes.
“Let’s get you married.”
I nodded at my father. “Let’s.”
****
Xavier
A vision.
My knees almost buckled as the doors of the venue opened, and I saw Chanel in her wedding dress for the first time, on the arm of her father. There were no words to describe how I felt. Happy? Content? Whole? All of them felt too shallow to describe the pure joy I felt watching the three most important people in my world walking towards me: my wife and the two baby boys she was carrying.
Yup, we’re having two boys. There was absolutely no way I was going to wait until they were born to find out what we were having. I was going to be the father of two boys, who I’d raise to become men , with my wife at my side.
Chanel’s eyes locked on me as she took her first steps down the aisle. I stood up even straighter, puffed my chest out a little more , and when she got close enough, I held out my hand to take hers from Elliott.
“Who gives this woman away?”
Elliott looked to Chanel. “I do.”
He looked at me and nodded before placing Chanel’s hand in mine. I remembered the argument Chanel and I had at the mention of this part of the ceremony. She’d insisted it was a sexist tradition. I conceded that part, but finally got her to cave in when I told her how much Elliott wanted to be part of the day.
When she came to stand in front of me, no one else existed. We both recited the words of the pastor, and then came the part where we shared our handwritten vows. I went first.
“Chanel, I’m not often big on words, mostly gestures. So, I won’t take up too much of our ceremony with my ramblings on how I love you and dedicate my life to you and our children,” I paused to place my hand on her belly. A collective sigh went around the room. “I will say that I promise to protect you and your heart in every way until my last breath. I promise to give you the world on a platter, or at least bust my ass trying. Sorry, pastor.” I gave him a sideways smile.
Our guests laughed.
“Thank you for agreeing to be my wife and the mother of my children. I love you with everything in me.” I leaned down to kiss her lips.
“We haven’t reached that part yet,” the pastor interjected.
I gave him another sideways glance, but this one was less friendly.
Chanel cleared her throat.
“Chanel, your turn.”
“Thank you.” She turned to me. “Xavier, I remember the first time I met you when I was just twelve years old, and you were seventeen. You were larger than life, even then. Anyone who was around you for any period couldn’t help but recognize you were going to take over the world someday. What I didn’t know is that you’d take over my heart with the same fervor and tenacity as you did everything else. I almost let my fears and insecurities run off the best thing that ever happened to me, but you knew better. You were so much braver than I was, even when you had to confront your own fears. Thank you for loving me past everything. Thank you for challenging me to be a better woman. Thank you for taking care of my heart.” She paused.
I reached out to wipe the tears away from her cheeks.
“I once told my best friend that falling in love and being swept off your feet was dangerous because it placed you in the perfect position to be dropped on your ass. Sorry, pastor.” Her eyes darted to the pastor.
Another round of laughter.
“But I was wrong. To quote my favorite author, Toni Morrison, I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it. I am better because of you. I will be a better mother because of you. I promise to protect your heart and our children with just as much fervor as you do.”
“I told you all, she’s better with words than I am,” I said out to the crowd of family and friends.
A round of sighs and awws sounded off this time.
I pulled Chanel into me, smushing the bouquet of white lilies she held.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Our lips pressed together to seal the deal.
“Congratulations, Mr. Grant.”
“Right back at you, Mrs. Grant.”
Another kiss just because, and then we turned toward the people who’d come to celebrate our nuptials, hands clasped, holding them up in celebration. I held onto Chanel’s hand as we made our way down the aisle to start our new life.
The End
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Thank you for reading Safe Space II. I hope you enjoyed Xavier and Chanel’s journey to happily ever after as much as I enjoyed writing it. If so, please do not forget to leave a review. It truly is a help to us authors.
Where You Can Find Me Around the Web
Looking for updates on future releases? I can be found around the web at the following locations:
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More books by Tiffany Patterson
The Black Burles Series
Black Pearl
Black Dahlia
Black Butterfly
Forever Series
7 Degrees of Alpha (Collection)
Forever
Safe Space Series
Safe Space (Book 1)
Non-Series Titles
This is Where I Sleep
My Storm
Safe Space II: The Finale Page 26
