Never Say Goodbye
Page 25
“You look good, Dad. Come on, it’s time.” He took my hand and led me out of the house and to the clearing between my house and Chinda’s. There were a few rows of chairs set up with an arch between two trees decorated with red roses. Nate stood under the altar in his nicest clothes. He was an ordained minister and was going to marry us. The guest list was small. The band, my sister, our manager, a few friends Chinda had made from town and Holly’s brother with his family. I watched them all filter in as I stood near Nate, my nerves getting the best of me.
“You okay, bro?” Nate asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. Nervous, excited.”
“It’s almost time,” he said encouragingly. Everyone was seated and music rang through the trees as Aaron made his way down the aisle with Frankie then Christian and Elsie walked down taking their spots on the appropriate sides. The music faded and the first sounds of the bridal march played softly on the piano. When I saw her my heart stopped. She wore a red dress very similar to the dress she was wearing our prom night. Her blonde hair hung around her shoulders in loose curls and she had a halo of red and white flowers on top of her head. She was an angel. She was my angel. The similarities of prom night and this night hit me like a train. My emotions were out of control as my eyes blurred with tears but couldn’t look away from her as she walked towards me.
“Breathe, Elijah,” Nate whispered in my ear. I chuckled a little and pulled myself back to the present. She made her way down the aisle and stood beside me. “You okay?” she whispered. “I’m perfect. You’re stunning.”
“Thank you, so are you,” she replied shyly. Nate cleared his throat and we both turned to him and the ceremony started.
“Friends we are gathered here today to witness the love and unity of Elijah Briston and Chinda Miller. These two were high school flames and through fate and destiny, overcoming obstacles meant to keep them apart, they found each other again. I am proud to be here to marry them. Elijah, you have written your own vows, is that correct?” He turned to me and I nodded in response. I turned to Chinda and grabbed her hand, holding it gently in mine.
“Chinda Miller, I have to say seeing you right now breaks my heart and heals it all at the same time. I fell in love with you when we were so young, only seventeen, when adults want to tell you it’s impossible to feel love at such a young age but I felt it. We felt it. You were taken from me and for so long I wandered through life as an empty shell. I was lost in the cliché of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and had no intention of ever finding my way out then there you were. In a moment so long ago, you were gone and then years later, a different moment you were back. It hasn’t been easy. We’ve had to fight our way back to each other but we made it. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, since I was too young to know what love is. I promise to love and cherish you the rest of our lives and to be a good father to our children, however many there might be, and to be faithful and to care for you. I thank God every day that he gave you back to me.” I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it gently.
“Elijah Briston, it’s hard for me to explain how much I love you. During the time when I wasn’t even sure who I was and had no memory of a huge chunk of time I somehow knew you. I heard you sing, watched you on television, listened to your lyrics, and dreamt about you nearly every night. I didn’t know why but I knew it was more than a celebrity crush. I knew I had to meet you. I didn’t know at the time that I was already in love with you. That I had always been in love with you. I regret the time we were apart but I am so happy we are together now. You are my soul mate, my other half and I promise to love you and cherish you forever and always. I promise to be faithful and to always care for and respect you. I too, thank God that he brought us back together because without you, I’m not me.” She smiled at me through her tears
Our rings were exchanged and our first kiss as man and wife happened with Aaron between us to applause and whoops and hollers. The reception was a big party. Music, dancing and laughter. We danced our first song as husband and wife to Never Say Goodbye, our song when we were young before Briston played a few songs including the one I wrote for Chinda.
“This one is for you, baby,” I said, winking at her. She smiled shyly up at me, melting my heart.
We started out so young
Just teenagers you and me
Thought we knew it all
Thought our love would always be
We lost each other so long ago
When the devil messed with fate
You never left my heart though
But my soul lost its way
I look into your eyes now
I see where I should be
Right beside you
For all of eternity
All of eternity
My life spun out of control
Without you to light my way
The angel on my shoulder
Ran out of things to say
Then one day you were there
Like an angel from above
My heart that I thought was dead
Suddenly filled with love
I look into your eyes now
I see where I should be
Right beside you
For all of eternity
All of eternity
The path for us wasn’t easy
The road twisted and turned
But fate wasn’t giving up on us
In the end, the devil burned
The last note faded as applause rang through the night. “Come on up here, Mrs. Briston,” I called to her. She came on stage and I could see her tears. She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “I love you, Elijah.” I turned to kiss her whispering, “I love you too.”
“Tell them,” she said quietly, a hand on her belly. I answered her with a smile before turning my attention to the microphone. “Thank you everyone for being here with us and making this day memorable. There are two announcements to be made tonight. First, I am so happy to tell all of you that we are going to add another member to our family. Chinda is pregnant!” I raised my glass in the air “Cheers,” and a chorus of cheers rang out. Aaron ran up on the stage, hugging both Chinda and me. “Are you happy about the baby?” Chinda asked him carefully. His whole life had changed the last few months and we hoped he’d be excited to be a big brother. He grinned up at us. “Yes, now we are a real family.”
Once the news of the baby quieted I tapped the microphone again. “We have one more announcement, only it’s from one of my best friends and bandmate, Christian. Take it away brother.” I shot him an encouraging smile. I saw Elsie look from him to me, confusion on her face. Her belly had swelled tremendously and she looked uncomfortable with her bass resting on it. “What’s going on?” Chinda whispered.
“You’ll see,” I replied.
Christian grabbed a microphone before setting his guitar down and going to stand in front of my sister who was looking more and more confused until he dropped down on one knee. Her face registered what he was doing and transformed from confused to shock to elated embarrassment.
“Elsie Briston. You have been my best friend and bandmate for a really long time. I’ve always loved you as a woman. The last year with you as mine, beside me, carrying my baby, has been the best year of my life. I’m ready though. Ready for a family and to buy a house and settle down and all that grown up shit. Please, Elsie, be my wife,” he said before dropping the microphone and presenting her with the ring he’d shown me the night before. I heard Chinda sniffle beside me and I gently squeezed her hand. Elsie’s face was bright red and wet with tears of her own. She laughed a little before shaking her head yes, a smile huge between her swollen cheeks.
“Really?” he asked before standing up to stand before her. She leaned into him and said something in his ear. Suddenly, Christian looked panicked. He grabbed the microphone quickly.
“Holy shit, she said yes and her water broke. We’re having a baby.” Something must have ripped through her body because she went fro
m happy and excited to terrified in a few seconds. The words Christian said registered in my head. “Oh shit, she’s in labor.” I went over to my sister and helped Christian get her off the stage and into the car.
“I’ll get your bag and bring it,” Chinda told Elsie as she slid into the car letting out a quiet scream.
“You okay, sis?”
“I’m okay, bro, just going to have a baby.”
“We’ll be right behind you.” I kissed her and shut the door.
“Drive safe, Christian. See you there.”
They were barely down the driveway when Chinda ran back holding Elsie’s girly bag. “What about all these people?” She asked me.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of the stuff here and Aaron. Now go,” Frankie said, hugging Chinda.
“Thanks, Frankie,” I told her and kissed her cheek.
“Of course. We’re all family now. Now go,” she urged us into the car.
“Be good, Aaron. Aunt Frankie will bring you up soon,” Chinda said just before shutting the door.
“I will, Mom. I’ll help Aunt Frankie. Love you, Mom. Love you, Dad,” he said, standing next to Frankie, looking much older than his ten years.
“I love you too,” we said in unison as I started the car. Three hours later we were introduced to my nephew, Briston Ryder Anderson. Three months later, Chinda held baby Briston as my sister became Mrs. Anderson. Six months after that we welcomed Holly Kendra into our family. We expanded on Chinda’s house to accommodate our growing family and I turned my cabin into a recording studio. Briston made another album and we toured in the summer only when Aaron and Chinda could come along. Chinda watched the kids while we performed and before we knew it she was running a small daycare on tour.
At the wedding, Frankie and Neil hit it off and began seeing each other frequently. They fell in love and after a year of dating, they made it official and got married. Now, two years later they have a daughter of their own, Charlie Elizabeth. Nate met a wonderful woman while traveling through Europe and after only six months they married and are expecting their own baby soon. Life wasn’t usual for any of us or what most considered normal, but it worked, for all of us.
The End
Biography
Angie Merriam resides in the beautiful Pacific NorthWest and is happily married to her best friend. She and her husband have three wonderful children, a dog, and a fish. She is the author of the Neveah trilogy and is a featured author in Intertwine, an anthology featuring an array of writers and a variety of genres.
She loves barbeque's with family and friends, photography, movies, music, and of course reading. She was influenced by the works of Diana Gabaldon, Stephanie Meyer, Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, and J.K. Rowling. She currently writes romantic fantasy but looks forward to exploring other genre's.
Social links:
www.facebook.com/Abrokenforever
www.twitter.com/psladiebug
www.facebook.com/Entertwinepub
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4546675.Angie_Merriam
Find her books here:
You are my Sunshine available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Itunes, and Smashwords
http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Sunshine-Angie-Merriam-ebook/dp/B00MU3Z24E
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/468261
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-are-my-sunshine-angie-merriam/1120200491?ean=2940046115345
Neveah series available on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Forever-Neveah-Book-ebook/dp/B00LBPS05A
http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Broken-Neveah-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00ME44C40
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Wicked-Neveah-Book-3-ebook/dp/B00OQEYDP4