He winks. “You too, sugar.”
All goes well until the start of the sermon when my smartass partner takes out a notepad.
Father O’Connell climbs the pulpit and raises his bilious sleeves. “My brothers and sisters, family, friends, photographers, wedding planners…”
He takes a deep breath. “Adam and Eve were the first couple…”
Suds mutters. “Damn good beginning… always start as far back as you can.”
I poke him in the ribs. “Shush.”
Father O’Connell smiles beatifically. “But the serpent offered her an apple, she ate, and he did too.”
“A woman sure can be a lot of trouble.” My husband’s lips brush over my ear as he scribbles down some more.
“Oh my God. Shush already.”
Behind me, the church titters but thankfully, the priest doesn’t notice and blissfully bellows, “But the Almighty didn’t mean for us to stay forever in the Garden of Eden. He wants us to chase Him for he is the Lord our God. We shall love each other. Nor shall we make graven images.
“Commandments one and two. Slick.” My soon to be ex-husband snickers as Father O’Connell checks his notes.
“So, like Adam and Eve, this couple must brave the real world. Full of coronavirus, and hurricanes, and maybe even apocalypses.”
“Is that even a word?” Biting my lower lip so as not to start laughing, I dare not even glance over at Suds.
“Not sure, but I’ll Google it later.”
“Now, you might want to cry out to God, in vain, but you should not.” Our orator’s voice distorts the speakers and echoes in the ceiling.
“He managed another commandment.” Suds nudges me in the ribs and I nod.
Father O’Connell points down at us from on high. “These two I know very well. They’ve done their Pre-Cana classes and come to church every Sunday.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, but still, I think we have four.” Suds mutters for me alone.
“Shush.”
Warmed up, Father waves his hands in the air. “Love. This couple loves each other. We know it, we’ve read about it, we’ve seen it. And it has not been easy for them. Just like Jonah and the Whale…”
“Sam, wake up.” Suds pokes me in the ribs.
Shit. “Was I snoring?”
He grins. “No, but I think he’s about to wrap up.”
“How can you tell?”
“The organist started to play to drown him out.”
The priest descends from the pulpit to stand in front of us as Lucky passes Suds the rings. Rose relieves me of my flowers, and taps a tissue to my lips where I may still have some drool.
Suds repeats after the priest. “I, Sebastian Sutcliff, take thee, Samantha Russo, to ….
I remove my left lace glove, shaking as he puts my ring on my finger. Oh my God. They got my diamond back. I blink back tears. Then, eyes locked on his, I repeat the vows I did almost a year ago, when we married the first time. I’m filled with a love so deep, one lone tear escapes down my cheek and he captures it. My heart beating like crazy, we hold hands and are re-pronounced man and wife.
