I walked with her up the steps, and before I let her go, I had to go off the script, and I turned her, so that she was facing the crowd, and with the hand that was still holding hers, I lifted it, and used my free hand to point at her, really needing the crowdto see what a beautiful bride she was. The crowd went crazy over Toni, cheering for her, and I could tell that that helped her in her nervousness because it’s as if her shoulders relaxed, and I could feel the weight that she’d released.
I eventually placed our hands back down, and then I turned her, so that she was standing in front of me. Our hands were in front of each other, holding each other, and the only thing that we could see in this moment was us. She saw me, and I saw her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, we’re all gathered here today to witness the union of Toni, and Zion,” our officiant, pastor Cory started.
I had a personal relationship with Pastor Cory. He’s seen me at my highest, and he’s seen me at my lowest. I’ve known him since I was a little boy because my parents used to attend his church. I knew that he would be the one that I chose to be me, and Toni’s officiant for this day. Like a man that loved me like a son, he made it clear to me when I asked that he would make it his duty to take on this task for us.
After he finished with the introductions, and letting the crowd know what we were all here for, he moved right along.
“To know what marriage is, is to know that this is a big commitment. I was told that the theme for this wedding was a fairytale in Miami. I love that theme. Whoever did the decorations were spot on. These are probably the most beautiful flowers that I’ve ever seen before in my life. This setting is truly phenomenal. As beautiful as this wedding is, as on point as this theme is, marriage isn’t a fairytale,” he started, and then he took a pause.
He was going from looking between Toni and I, and there was a seriousness to his face, and knowing pastor Cory, I knew that he might take it up a notch, go off script, and start preaching, but I didn’t mind it because whatever he said was going to be things that Toni and I needed to hear.
“Because of the decorations and everything, marriage can often look like a fairytale. Marriage is hard work. Marriage is knowing, and learning how to make decisions for two people, and learning how to make sacrifices. I say that to say, enjoy the fairytale today. Take as many beautiful pictures as you can. Dance all night, but when tomorrow comes, that’s when you start building your marriage,” he finished, and looking this man in his eyes, I nodded my head, letting him know that I heard, and I understood everything that he was saying.
His words received a lot of ‘Amens’ in the crowd, so you could tell that everyone was feeling what he was saying.
From there, pastor Cory went ahead and gave the congregation our love story. Our love story was beautiful, and standing here, listening to him tell it, you would think that I wasn’t a character in this story, the way that I was hanging onto his every word, anxious to here where he was going to go next with it.
After he finished with that, he moved along, letting us know that it was now our turn to read out our vows. Toni and I decided that we would write our own vows for each other. It was her turn to go first. Karina had Toni’s vows for her, so she handed her the folded-up sheet of paper, and with watery eyes, she looked up at me, as if she was too nervous to speak. She bit on her lip, and when she tilted her head to the side, looking at me as if she was fighting for her life to speak, I knew the waterworks were on the way.
“I… just love you so much,” her voice cracked, as she looked me in my eyes. The mic was right in front of her, so everyone heard her, and her words got a bunch of ‘aww’s.
“I love you too baby. Take your time. We ain’t in no rush. We on your time,” I spoke to her, and laughing through her tears, she nodded her head, and her eyes dropped, looking at the paper, and she started.
“I never took one look at someone and instantly knew that I found my person. The first time that you and I were in the same space with each other, of course, I knew who you were. Just like everyone else, I knew that you were the retired, heavyweight, undefeated boxer. To me, that was just one part of you. Also, to make it clear, that was never the part of you that pulled me in. You know that though because I expressed it to you before. The part that pulled me into you the most was your heart. You heart when it comes to Zayne. You loved him beautifully. I knew that I was dealing with a man that was broken. To be fixed, I knew that you needed to experience love again. I was ready to love you whenever you were ready to receive my love. It wasn’t something that I wanted to force on you,” she took a quick pause.
“I’ll admit that it wasn’t easy loving you. You had a guard up, but I know that it wasn’t something that you put up maliciously. You were protecting your heart. You took a chance with me, and you allowed me to love you. I allowed you to love me too because you weren’t the only one that had fears. At times, I feared that what we had going was too good to be true, and often, I would think if there was ever going to come a day where you stopped loving me the way that you once did. Thank you for never allowing that fear to come true. Thank you for loving me today the same way that you did yesterday, and before that,” she went on, and a lone tear fell from her eyes, as she finished that part.
I was smiling at her words, eating this shit up, loving when my baby poured her heart out to me.
“So today, I stand before you, and I’m so sure when it comes to me, and you. If I want anything in this world, I know that I want us. I vow to always respect you. My respect won’t be performative, either. I won’t just respect you in public. I’ll do it in private as well. You’ve done a good job at protecting my heart from the very beginning, so I vow to honor that same protection over yours. As strong as you are, I know that just like anyoneelse, you have your days, where you don’t always feel your best, so that’s where I’ll come in, speak life into you, and make sure to remind you exactly who you are. I know that it wasn’t easy to have another woman step in, and help raise your son, but you gave me the opportunity to do it, and I’ll continue to love Zayne in the same manner that I’ll love Brooklyn, Lani and our future children. We have the foundation to have something beautiful. Our love can stretch for decades. Keep loving me the way that you do, and you’ll never have to wake up, and wonder where you stand with me,” she finished, and her words were the kind of words that I’ll always remember. I’ll never forget her standing in front of me, pouring into me like this.
It was finally my turn, and Khari reached over, handing me my vows to read to her as well. I cleared my throat, looked down at the paper that was in front of me, with my handwritten vows, and then I glanced back down at Toni. Shit, I was nervous, and because I was nervous, I needed to make light of this situation right quick.
“And I’m not even trying to be disrespectful because I know you got your mama, your grandmother, and your auntie in here. Baby, I promise I’m going to behave, but can we please give her the moment that she deserves in this dress? Please? Can we do that?” I had to ask.
Like a bad ass kid, I had been fighting this shit since she walked in, hating that I couldn’t make a comment on it earlier.
The room erupted in laughter, and the women started screaming out, telling Toni how good she looked.
“Amen. Amen,” I released, and I had my boys behind me cracking up.
I was trying my best to behave. I really was. Toni was loving this shit though, loving when I loved on her out loud, so she stood there smiling, and laughing too, but also giving me a look with her eyes, basically telling me to keep it easy, and watch mymouth because she knew that I could take it there. This moment was too serious for me to talk to her crazy, plus too many people were in the room with us, so I was going to keep it PG. Pastor Cory just might slam my ass too if I took it any further than what I’d already said.
“Something as simple as you walking into my life had the ability to cause so many changes. When you came around, mentally, I was at my lowest. Raising a little boy, who looked up to me, I felt like I didn’t have any time to be walking around, drowning in my own pain, so a lot of the stuff that I was dealing with, I was dealing with it on my own. I thought that I would never get back to a point where I was 100% whole. That’s why when I tell you that it’s power inside you, I mean that. My mama couldn’t get to me. My pops couldn’t do it, either. As good looking as you are baby, your ability to change me didn’t have anything to do with your looks. You fine. Everyone in this room can see how fine you are, but baby, it was deeper than that. It was the way you stayed,” I took a pause, and like she knew exactly what I was referring to, she nodded her head, as tears continued to fall.
“When I say that you stayed, I’m not speaking from a place of I put you through so much stuff, but you still stayed down for me. That’s not what I’m referring to. I never made you feel like you had to go through loops and hurdles in order for you to be loved correctly. When I say that you stayed, I’m referring to the fact that you never gave up on me. It’s like you knew early on that I was someone that you could see yourself loving, and I appreciate you for doing that. I love the way you came in, and you loved on my son. You gave him something that he was missing. You didn’t do it because you had to, either. I never put that on you. I never told you that you had to show up for him, but you did it anyway. From the very beginning, you’ve had a sense of protection over him, and a pure love, and that did nothing butmake me love you more,” I paused, knowing that I was about to get to the meat of my vows.
“I’m going to always choose you. The same way that I dropped down to one knee months ago, asking you to be my wife, I vow to continue to choose you just like that. I’m going to lead this with love, and not with ego. As men, I know that often, our egos are huge, but I’m going to leave that right at the door. I’ll respect you in public, and in private, just like you told me. I’ll never give the world the satisfaction to say that I embarrassed you. That’s not going to be a part of your story. I know you take on a lot with the kids, your career, writing your books, your investments properties, and with that, I know that your emotions can run high, but I vow to be patient with you. I’ll listen to you, especially when you’re telling me things that you think that I could get better at. I came into this relationship with my son, so that my was package deal. You came with Brooklyn, your niece, making it clear to me that she was your package deal as well, and I’ve respected her since day one. I’ll continue to love her and protect her the way that I’ve been doing. Whatever my kids can get out of me, she can get out of me as well,” I had to let her know, and the part about Brooklyn really pulled at her heartstrings because more tears began to fall.
“You don’t have to ever worry about me switching up on you. I’ll always want you. I’ll forever crush on you. I promise that we’re in this for life,” I finished, getting through my vows.
After we said our vows to one another, I felt like everything else started flying from there. We got through the process of exchanging our rings with one another, and shortly after that, pastor Cory shared a few final words. He spoke on commitment, hard work, and the importance of giving our children a healthy environment to grow up in.
After that, it was time. Time to embark on something that I’ve been waiting on for 24 hours now. She had Karina sendingme those sexy pictures of her, and it felt like such a fuckin tease that I couldn’t find her, grab her, and kiss her the way that I wanted to.
“By the power invested in me, it is my honor to pronounce you husband, and wife. You may now kiss your beautiful bride,” pastor Cory finally said those words, and as if he would take it back, and start this thing all the way over from the top, I moved swiftly, getting the veil from over her head, and I stepped closer to her.
