“I took one of your rings to my jeweler a couple of months ago. I knew this day was coming.”
Again, I was speechless. Xavier stood, bringing his lips to mine.
“Perfect,” I whispered over his shoulder as I held my hand out to look at my ring.
Epilogue
Chanel
“You’re not about to throw up, are you?”
I side-eyed Gabby, who looked at me suspiciously. “I knew I shoulda made you wear that ugly pink taffeta dress as my maid of honor,” I hissed at her.
She waved me off as she strutted to me in her short, light pink robe, her hair in rollers. “You wouldn’t have done that since you don’t want your wedding photos to come out hideous. You’re not that petty. But why are you looking so despondent? Look, if you wanna pull a runaway bride, just tell me, and we can blow this joint. Or do you want to wait until you’re walking down the aisle and then pull a dramatic exit?”
I laughed at her jokes. “I’d never do that.”
“Good, ’cause I’m sure your future husband has this place pretty secured. That man hired the damn top-flight security to make sure he locks you down.”
Another round of giggles spilled from my mouth. Gabby could always make me feel better. No matter the circumstances—like, say you’re only a few hours from walking down the aisle to get married, and you still haven’t finished writing your wedding vows.
“Good. You look more relaxed. I thought you were about to have a round of throwing up.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t remind me,” I stated, placing my hand over my swollen belly and sitting on the bed in the room we’d rented for my bridesmaids and me to get ready.
Our wedding and reception was being held atAshton Gardens. For weeks after I first found out I was pregnant, I continued to throw up constantly, having to be sent home from work. I finally told my dad and Jason the reason why I was so sick. Surprisingly, they both were ecstatic. I think the multi-karat ring on my finger and Xavier’s promise to make me his wife before these children were born aided their excitement.
Thankfully, they agreed to a work-from-home schedule until I felt better. A couple of times my sickness got so bad, I had to be taken to the E.R. and intravenously given fluids due to dehydration. That’s when I was diagnosed withhyperemesis gravidarum. When the symptoms persisted past my first trimester, my doctor recommended a few diet alterations, but nothing helped until she prescribed what I called a wonder drug. Gabby, thanks to her doula classes, had heard of it and told me about the medicine, and I brought it up to Dr. Simmons, who said it was a last resort, but we tried it. I had to take it every night at the same time, but thank God it worked. I was in my sixth month and had regained the twelve pounds I’d initially lost.
“I haven’t finished writing my vows,” I confessed.
“What!?” Gabby shrieked. “You’re getting married in three hours. Why haven’t you finished your vows?”
“I don’t know. I have some sort of mental block. Everything’s been happening so fast and between being sick, trying to regain my energy, planning a wedding from bed, working, and being excited over the babies… I just forgot about my vows—well, not forgot, but kept pushing it off.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down,” Gabby stood in front of me, taking my hands into hers. “Deep inhale. Hold it. And release.”
I did as she instructed, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. Gabby meditated regularly and had always tried to get me into it.
“This is good practice for when you give birth too.”
I groaned.
“Okay, we’ll discuss that at another time. Take another deep breath. Now, think about how much you love Xavier, what do you feel? Don’t answer out loud, just think. Why are you excited to share your life with this man? The many months you’ve been with him, what have you learned? What do you want to continue to learn? Begin your vows there. Open your eyes.”
Slowly, I blinked my eyes open.
“Now, go write your vows. I’m going to give you a few minutes. Tori and Marjorie will be here soon.”
I watched Gabby exit through the door, then went and grabbed a piece of notepaper from the nightstand in between the beds. I wrote down the words as they came to mind, no thinking, just writing. When I finished, I read over my vows, smiling at one of my favorite quotes from Toni Morrison. I began to feel the calmest I’d felt all day.
The next couple of hours were a blur of makeup, hairstyling, talking, and laughing with the women in my life. I remember the day I told Tori I was having twins like her, and she laughed, saying they must run in the family. When she asked what they were, I told her I didn’t know because I wanted to wait until I had them to find out their sexes. My husband-to-be wasn’t having that, soheknew the sexes of the babies, but he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, including Jason or me. He’d been good about it, but we still had over three months to go. Gabby swore it was a boy and a girl. All I knew from the ultrasound was that the twins were fraternal.
“You look so beautiful,” Marjorie smiled through teary eyes.
I stood in the mirror, gazing at myself in my cream-colored Vera Wang, off-the-shoulder wedding gown. The top half of the bodice was corset style, but the bottom half flared out, accompanied by layers of lace and silk. My hair was pulled back into a low bun, pinned at the nape of my neck with a few tendrils framing my face. A long veil was pinned at the crown of my head and fell all the way down to the floor.
“Thank you,” I answered.
