Saying I Do

Chapter 2

I swear all of the oil that was spread all over my body has melted off. I feel my body burning and with that sweat is forming quicker than it ever did, but these nerves are so much worse.

He is almost ten feet in front of me when I feel a hand tug at my arm. "It's time."

I barely register my dad's voice telling me this, until I break eye contact with my past and make eye contact with my future staring back at me. I feel this tether between Dean and I growing tense as Francis slips past my father and I and finds his seat towards the back. If looks could kill, my father's stare would have exploded the heads off of everyone in this room. I am frozen in place. I don't hear anything. I can't see anything. I don't remember what I'm doing here at all. Why am I holding flowers? Why am I dressed like a fairy threw up on me? I'm a literal mess.

"Come on," my dad whispers, breaking the silence that is causing my head to pound.

I take a mindless step forward and then another with more awareness. Alright, I'm marrying the love of my life. He is right at the end of the snow white carpet. The room is full of our friends, family, and coworkers. Friends of friends and acquaintances were invited to. How in the world did Francis receive one?

The music is not the traditional wedding song. We hired a violinist that plays at Dean's restaurant some nights to play something original. They are highly talented. Their focus is unlike anyone else's. The song is transcendent and magical. I love fantasy the most and really wanted this day to feel like such. But it is feeling farther away from that idea with each step closer to Dean. This is so real.

My eyes start to tear up when I see Dean and his red-hued green eyes staring at me with such love. I know this is right. This is my home in the form of a person. This is my dance partner through the darkest times. I'm ready to pass the luck that I have received from this bouquet to the hands of another aspiring bride.

I put all of my happiness through the stems of the flowers into the tiny tips of the baby's breath leaves once I have positioned myself across from Dean.

The minister begins his practiced speech. We had a rehearsal prior to today and now there can be no mistakes. We are vowing ourselves to each other through the disappointments, the headaches, the lazy days, and the exciting days.

"Jasmine," The minister says to me. "Do you take Dean to be your lawfully wedded husband through sickness and in health..." On he goes. All I hear bouncing around in my thoughts is "I do." I see his heart written all over the expression and the shape of his face. He is a gorgeous being that I have dreamed my whole life of meeting. He tilts his head to the side, a laugh trapped behind his lips. His eyebrows raise in that curious way when he realizes that I have been lost in my head the entire time. I realize that the minister stopped talking and is looking at me expectantly.

"Oh! Sorry. I do! I do so much!" The audience chuckles lightly. Dean giggles and takes one of my trembling hands in his. It is warm and also slightly trembling. When he says those same words back, I relish the idea that he chose me. Me, the girl with hair that looks like Anna's from Frozen in that one scene where she wakes up except it's dark brown and curly. Me, that girl who gets hyper focused in one activity and drowns out the entire world. Me, who accidentally invited her ex to her wedding with an entirely different person!

The minster snaps his book shut before saying the words that have created the timeline for the rest of my future. He doesn't need a book to remind him of these words. I look at those plump pink lips that are a little shimmery from him licking them in preparation. "You may now kiss your bride."

I yank those thoughts away from the movie screen in the darkness of my brain and shove them into a materialized wooden door. Taking this mental key in my hands and jamming it into a lock. Dean is going to kiss his bride, goddammit, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it. I chose him and he chose me and now we are bonded with the seal of a kiss.