“Your father wanted to give you something. He’s outside.” She inclined her head towards the hotel room door.
I looked at her before moving to the door. When I opened it, there stood my handsome father in his three-piece black and white tuxedo that matched the one Xavier and his groomsmen were wearing. His eyes watered as he looked at me from head to toe. His Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed.
“You look so much like your mother. You’re stunning.”
“My makeup artist is going to be pissed,” I laughed, wiping a tear from my cheek.
“I wanted to give these to you.”
I looked down to find a pair of pearl earrings in his outstretched hand.
“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.
