Seven months later…
THE BIG DAY HADarrived – the day that I had dreamed of for so long, but was never convinced would happen. To say I was nervous was a huge understatement. I wanted the day to be perfect for us and having an outdoor wedding was a big gamble. I wanted to plan for a contingency, but not Noah.
“We’ll get married in the pouring rain then,” he said with a casual shrug. “I want to marry you on our beach one year from the day we reconnected. I’ll marry you in a tuxedo, a speedo, or nothing at all. I’ll marry you if it rains, snows, sleets or hails.” He sounded like a cross between a Dr. Seuss book and the motto for the United States Postal Service. “The only thing that matters to me is that you’ll be there, the pastor, and at least one witness to make it legal.”
That had been his laidback attitude the entire time we planned our wedding. I think he would’ve been happy to serve hot dogs, baked beans, and Kool Aid at the reception. None of those material things seemed to matter to him – not one little bit. It wasn’t that he didn’t care or didn’t contribute to the plans; he just didn’t want the focus to be on the decorations, food, or even the weather.
“You know I’m all about the vows, ‘bout the vows,” he sing-songed a parody to a song I’d never heard before as he left the room one night when we couldn’t agree on the menu.
“He’s always been that way, Maverick.” Jamie patted my arm as she sighed in exasperation. She and Art had stopped by for a visit a few months prior to the wedding. “I promise you he’s taking this ceremony seriously. He just has his eye on the prize, which is you. Plan on being surprised by this thoughtfulness on your wedding day.”
It was decided that I would stay at my old apartment the night before the wedding, because Noah said it was tradition. Yeah, the same Noah who was prepared to say “I do” in a speedo in the rain. I was mildly irritated, but then I figured he was up to some sort of surprise so I went ahead and agreed, but only after I got even.
“What do you mean no more sex before the wedding? That’s a week from now.” He stood in our bedroom, one hand on his hip and the other waving his hard-on around like a light saber. “Just what the hell am I supposed to do about this?” He stroked his dick for emphasis.
“Well, you have your tradition and I have mine.” He narrowed those blue-green eyes at me, but I carried on. “I want to be pure for our wedding night.”
“Ha! You’ve got to be joking.”
“I amnotjoking, Noah. I read an article that talked about how intense the sex was after abstaining for a week before the wedding.”
“What they failed to say was that sex ended after ten seconds from going so long without relief.” He shook his head furiously. “No way! I won’t agree to that.”
“No jerking off either. It will ruin everything.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his outraged expression.
“What? We can’t go a week without sex or at least jerking off, Mav. We fuck like animals every day that ends in “y” and sometimes thrice on Sundays. Something will surely rupture from the pressure of the backed up spunk inside us.”
In the end, we didn’t make it an entire week with no sex or jerking off. Although, I was able to fend him off the three nights leading up to our wedding. I feared his warning about lasting ten seconds was more like a premonition. Then he sent me a text the morning of our wedding that said he bought us matching cock rings to help us have some control. Great, I figured I’d make it thirty seconds inside his heat before I embarrassed myself then.
“Come on, Mav, we have a wedding to attend.” Roxie hollered from the bottom of the steps. “I have your suit and your luggage packed in the car and ready to go”
I jogged down the steps and found her waiting for me. She was looking all Marilyn Monroe-like in a white halter-top dress. “Isn’t it rude to wear white to a wedding or something?” I knew there was some kind of rule about it.
“Only if there’s a bride, sweetheart.” She rolled her eyes and left me behind to follow her to the car.
We arrived at the house with about thirty minutes for me to make myself presentable. It didn’t take me long to get dressed and ready. I thought I’d try to peek at the backyard and beach through the window to see if Noah had surprises for me. I pulled back the curtain only to find it covered with construction paper with the words “NO PEEKING” written repeatedly all over it in magic marker. I was still laughing when Roxie and Betty Jean came to get me.
“We’re so proud that we get to be part of your special day,” Betty Jean said as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’re the son we never had.”
“We couldn’t love you any more if you were our flesh and blood,” Roxie told me, as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
Hell, I wasn’t even at the altar and I was beginning to tear up. “I can’t imagine anyone else walking me down the aisle than you two ladies. Thank you for sharing this day with me. It means everything.”
“Shit! There goes my mascara.” Roxie grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Let’s get going before my makeup is ruined and I end up looking like Tammy Faye in the wedding photos.”
We stood in the kitchen and waited for Hunter and Dante to give us the thumbs up that Noah had arrived at the altar with his parents. The boys looked so handsome in their suits and happier than I had ever seen them. They were shocked that we asked them to be a part of our wedding party, but the boys and Macy had come to mean so much to Noah and me.
I stepped off the back porch and immediately noticed the special touches that Noah added to our wedding. He had seemed so disinterested in any of the decorations, but now I knew why. He had his own surprises up his sleeve, like his mama said. They weren’t just any decoration for everyone to enjoy. It was all for me, as it was the path that only Noah and I would walk with our parents. The rest of the guests entered the beach through a separate pathway.
“Oh my,” Betty Jean said as she looked around us.
“Someone’s been on Pinterest,” Roxie added. “It’s stunning.”
The pathway had been lit with mason jars filled with white lights that were suspended from shepherd’s hooks that had been painted white. Noah had laid down pavers that looked like messages written in sand.
To have and to hold
From this day forward
