“Remember to breathe, buddy,” Knox whispered from beside me. I all but gasped for air, realizing at the same moment that my cheeks were soaking wet.
Knox nudged my elbow and I looked down, finding a handkerchief in his hand. I took it, forgetting to thank him, and wiped at my blubbering face as Adelaide and her dad arrived beside me.
“I…you…holy shit,” I whispered to Adelaide, whose eyes, I could now see, were also brimming with tears.
Her mouth tipped up in a smile. “You, too,” she whispered back.
Somewhere, like a dream, I was vaguely aware of the archbishop starting the ceremony, asking if I would take Adelaide to be my wife. Somehow, despite my inability to take my eyes from her face or form coherent thoughts, I heard myself say, “I will.”
Archbishop Rose repeated the question to Adelaide, and from my place up in the clouds I heard her say, “I will.”
Soon, and yet not fast enough, I was taking her hands in my own and repeating my vows to the perfect woman in front of me.
“I, Oliver, take you, Adelaide, to be my wife. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle.” Here, my voice broke, and I had to choke back another round of tears. “I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple and when it is an effort.”
I was sobbing again, my words barely intelligible through my crying. Adelaide reached up, wiping my cheeks with her own handkerchief. I let out a choked laugh as Ifinished, “I promise to cherish you and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life.”
Adelaide sniffed, smiling at me radiantly as she finished wiping my face. She spoke, “I, Adelaide, take you, Oliver, to be my husband. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you”—she winked at me—“and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple and when it is an effort.” She squeezed my hand hard, just once, before she continued, “I promise to cherish you and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life.”
I slid the diamond wedding band on Adelaide’s finger, and she slid the gold ring inset with three small emeralds onto my own, settling it on top of the string I still had yet to remove.
As Archbishop Rose pronounced us husband and wife, I truly thought I might explode with joy. There was surely nothing in the world that could top this feeling, knowing that I was truly Adelaide’s, and she mine, for the rest of our lives.
“We will now be joined by High Priestess Eze, Father Tudor, Reverend Biss, Rabbi Heller, and Iman Baker to begin the coronation,” the archbishop announced as the other religious leaders rose.
I walked Adelaide to the edge of the dais where her crown waited for her on a long wooden table. Gram and Mum had been very intentional about choosing which crown they would bestow to Adelaide today, and it meant the world to me. They had selected a diamond-encrusted piece featuring three large fleurs-de-lis connected by swirls and scrolls, gifted to ourfamily by the royal family of Spain. How fitting that this crown would carry such significance to Adelaide’s and my story.
As the religious heads surrounded Adelaide, High Priestess Eze removed Adelaide’s veil, handing it to Birdie who, in turn, passed it to an attendant for safekeeping. Each of the leaders took turns repeating many of the same blessings that had been spoken over me during my own coronation as Adelaide nodded her agreement and vowed to be a good and fair queen.
As Archbishop Rose lifted the ornate tiara from the velvet pillow and placed it on Adelaide’s head, I saw two tears roll down my bride’s face.
“Many have come before, but none will be you. May you lead with mercy and fairness,” Archbishop Rose intoned.
“Long may she reign,” the religious leaders said in unison.
“Long may she reign,” we all answered back.
“And for the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” announced the DJ later that evening at our private black-tie reception. “It is my great pleasure to introduce you to King Oliver and Queen Adelaide Courtwright!”
Cheers erupted throughout the Lexington Manor ballroom as Adelaide and I entered and made our way to the center of the dance floor. I lifted my arm and spun Adelaide, showing off my beautiful bride to our family and friends. I was fairly certain I heard Birdie’s wolf whistle pierce through the shouts and applause.
Unlike the elegant but relatively modest wedding gown she had worn for the ceremony and that afternoon’s publicreception at the palace, the dress she wore now was pure sex on a stick. The white fabric hugged her curves, with a higher neckline in the front and the back dipping low, exposing the creamy skin over her spine. A line of buttons trailed over her ass and down to the dress’s short train.
“I cannot wait to get you out of this later,” I said quietly as I pulled her into me.
Heat flashed in her eyes as she roamed them up and down my body. “Could say the same to you about this tux, Ollie.”
I hoped the combination of the tuxedo jacket and the black of my pants hid my instant, raging erection at her words.
Taking her hand in mine and snaking my other arm around her waist, I held her close as the beginning notes of our first dance sounded throughout the room.
As we began to move in time to the music, I paused briefly, caught off guard. “This isn’t the song we agreed on, is it?” I asked. We had landed on Céline Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” given its history as “our” song, but a different Céline song was playing now.
Adelaide smiled slyly. “I asked the DJ to make a bit of a switch. Do you recognize it?”
“It’s ‘The Power of Love.’”
She nodded. “I know that ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’ has been our song up to this point, but the lyrics felt like they belong to our past. This one…it feels like a song for our future. I’m not a lyricist, but if I were, this is the song that I’d write for you.”
