Everett, who after declaring himself the only person qualified to perform the marriage had gotten ordained on the internet as the leader of the Temple of the Guru of Love, cleared his throat and began.
“Family and friends, we are gathered here today to finally celebrate the marriage of my brother Christopher Bridger Kingman to Beatrix Andromeda Moore, the girl next door and the love of his life. This has been a big year for love in the Kingman family, and I fancy myself a bit of an expert on the subject, especially when it comes to these two. I was there when it all began, and while I may be older and taller now...”
Everett paused and looked at me with a little waggle of his eyebrows. I heard a few chuckles from the crowd.
“It was plain to see from the very beginning that these two were meant to be together. But like the love stories Trixie reads, writes, and adores so much, they decided their trope was going to be a slow burn, while the rest of us were forced to watch them circle around each other for years like her beloved chickens.”
He grinned. “But like any good friends-to-lovers tale, they finally decided to see what had been right in front of them the whole time and inspire more love stories. And speaking of inspiration, I would like to welcome my future sister-in-law Kelsey to sing a song she wrote for the happy couple.”
This had been a happy surprise for both of us when Kelsey mentioned it at our rehearsal dinner. But when the world’s biggest pop star is your future sister-in-law and tells you she wrote a song for you, you find a way to make room for it at your wedding.
“This song is called ‘The Girl Next Door,’” Kelsey said as she stepped up to the mic with an acoustic guitar.
While she began to perform the beautiful tune she had played for us the other night, about young love developing into something more, Chris whispered in my ear. “You look amazing.”
“So do you,” I whispered back.
“Oh, this old thing?” He indicated his white tuxedo jacket. “Just had it lying around. Thought I would throw it on today.”
I laughed softly, and we listened to the rest of the song. When Kelsey finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. She gave me a wink as she returned to her spot beside Declan.
Everett invited Hayes to hand him the rings, and Hayes untied the boxes from Luke Skycocker’s Roostermobile. Hayes stepped forward with the kind of quiet reverence that was so perfectly Hayes and placed the rings in Everett’s hand. Behind him, Luke was surprisingly calm. Jules must have given him another talking-to.
“And now Chris and Trixie will recite the vows they have written themselves.”
Chris held my hands and looked deep into my eyes. I could feel his fingers trembling slightly, and it made me love him even more.
“Today, in front of our friends and family, I, Christopher, choose you, Beatrix, to be my wife. I choose you today, and I will keep choosing you every day that comes. I choose you to walk through this life beside me, to be my partner, to be the mother of my children. I choose to support you, always and withoutfail. Together we will grow and guide our family no matter what comes our way, in season, off season, and through every season of our lives.”
He slipped the ring onto my finger.
“With this ring as a symbol of our love, I shall love, honor, and cherish you, every day of my life and whatever comes after.”
The word “choose” hit me right in the chest. Chris had chosen me even when I wasn’t sure I was the right choice, when I thought I was too weird, too different, too much. He’d chosen me anyway, and he’d shown me every day since that he meant it.
It was a beautiful addition to our vows.
Now it was my turn, and I was going to simply speak what was in my heart instead of something I’d memorized.
I took a shaky breath and looked up at him, this man who had been my friend, my neighbor, my secret crush, my fake boyfriend, and now, finally, my forever.
“Chris,” I started, my voice wobbling. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Chris. I have loved you for so long that I can’t remember what it felt like not to. You were my first friend in Colorado, my first crush, and my first love, even if it took me way too long to admit it.”
A few laughs rippled through the crowd. Chris’s eyes were already glistening.
“You saw me when I felt invisible. You included me when I felt like an outsider. You never once made me feel like I was too much or not enough.” I squeezed his hands. “You taught me that home isn’t a place—it’s a person. And you’ve been my home since I was ten years old.”
I heard my mom sniffle somewhere behind me.
“Today, in front of everyone we love, I choose you too. I choose your big, loud, wonderful family. I choose Sunday dinners and game nights and chicken chaos. I choose the man who learns about veganism for me, who builds me chicken coopsand names them Millenihen Falcons, who shows up on my balcony with a ladder because he can’t stand to be apart for one night.”
Chris let out a teary laugh at that one.
“I choose all of it. The good days and the hard days. The wins and the losses. I choose to be your partner, your biggest fan, and your best friend for the rest of our lives.”
I slid the ring onto his finger.
“With this ring, I give you my heart. It’s been yours for twenty years anyway. I will love, honor, and cherish you, every day of my life and whatever comes after.”
