Small World

Thirty Five.

My dad's teary eyes smiled at me as I walked up to him. My floor length A-line pearl colored dress sparkled in the dim lighting. The gentle music playing behind the big doors made my nerves heighten again. I swallowed the lump in my throat. My fingertips traced the lace on my dress. Arizona gave me one last wide smile before linking her arm with Scott's. Choosing my sister to be my maid of honor wasn't easy for Mykie but seeing Mykie wiping away tears all day, I knew she was just happy to be there for me. For us.

"Oh, my girl." My dad whispered. I turned my attention to him, swallowing harshly again. One of my dad's favorite songs for me was My Girl by the Temptations so he quoted it to me often. Hearing my dad's voice brought me back to reality after beginning to feel the room spin. "Are you ready? It's almost time." I managed to take a deep breath. My fingers gripped the bouquet of the fragrant fall-colored flowers.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I exhaled the air in my lungs with the words. A tear escaped from my eye and down my cheek. He carefully wiped the tear dry with a tissue from his suit jacket. "Don't ruin the makeup. Mykie would pass out." I tried to giggle quietly. Since Arizona had to actually be in the wedding party, Chris insisted we hire a second wedding planner, Linda, just to assist with other necessary tasks if Ari was too busy. The music faded into the song we picked for my walk down the aisle. I frantically searched the faces for Linda. My body jolted at her appearing next to me. She guided me and my dad to the doors. Her silent and exaggerated countdown began. The doors opened.

My eyes shifted to each person smiling at me. With every step down the aisle, deep breaths filled my lungs. The scent of the fresh tulips that were everywhere filled my nostrils. Just when I felt like I was going to pass out, my eyes found Chris. Our smiles widened simultaneously. The entire room disappeared. I pouted my bottom lip at Chris' attempt to casually wipe away the tears escaping his eyes. Scott handed him a tissue, causing admiration and little giggles from everyone watching us. His eyes admiring my dress caused his shoulders to drop. I smiled wide again knowing that meant his anxiety was going away.
My dad and I slowly stopped walking once we made it to the end of the aisle. Ari adjusted my dress with my slow steps to stand next to Chris. The many footsteps from the photographers and videographers dancing around us resembled the taps of ballet shoes.

The minister spoke in a gentle tone since the microphone clipped to his collar emphasized his voice to the room. I handed my bouquet to Ari, smiling back at her. I kept my eyes down listening to the minister until I felt a gentle nudge on my arm. Without turning my head, I could see Chris smiling. I nudged him back as his smile widened.
The minister instructed us to face each other. Feeling Chris hold my hands in his was comforting as I gazed into his eyes. The minister instructed me to begin reading my vows. Ari handed me the creased paper. While I read my vows to him, I held back the tears noticing the expressions on his face change.

"My Chris." I said, inhaling a sharp breath. "As I stand in front of you on our wedding day, all the memories from the first day we met to being here replays in my head. I remember being insanely nervous during the entire drive to Disneyland. I didn't know you were going to be my blind date, set up by Scott." I giggled with the guests. I peeked behind Chris to smile at Scott. "That blind date ended up being the best blind date in all my years." I raised my eyes to look into Chris' then brought them back down to the little paper swiftly. "I can't promise to love you perfectly, but I will love you for as long as it takes to get close to it. Falling in love with you wasn't falling at all..." I looked into his eyes again, glistening with tears. "...it's looking into your eyes and feeling like I'm home." His growing smile made the tears fall. He mouthed 'I love you'. I resisted the urge to kiss him as I repeated the silent words to him.

"Christopher. Now you may read your vows." The minister motioned toward Chris with his hand. Chris reached into his pocket to unfold a single piece of paper. He cleared his throat vocally and noticeably shook off the nerves with his entire body vibrating.

"Sarah. You are the love of my life. I used to be scared to admit those words to anyone. Falling in love was a dream I continuously wished and hoped for. How could I keep a woman happy within my hectic, fast-paced, unpredictable life? How could I expect a woman to love me unconditionally?" His chest shakingly raised and lowered. "But when I met you, all the fears and doubts vanished." He reached out for my hand. I placed it onto his, feeling the tears fall from my eyes uncontrollably. "I promise to be your best friend, of course after Mykie..." The guests laughed gently. I looked over my shoulder to Mykie raising an eyebrow to Chris. I wiped as many tears as I could with my freehand as I returned back to Chris. "...I promise to be loving, understanding, patient and allow you to be mad at me for whatever Dream Chris did." My loud laughter echoed with everyone's as I nodded my head sluggishly. Chris waited for the laughter to cease before continuing. I looked deeply into his eyes. "Everything I have, everything I am, and my entire heart is yours." He brought my hand to his lips. "Forever and a day...in our Small World." His lips pecked my hand. My knees almost buckled from under me.

"Can I kiss him yet?!" I whined, loudly. The laughter bounced off the walls again.
"Not quite yet, dear." The minister smiled. I stomped my feet onto the ground in an exaggerated tantrum. The clicking of my heels provided a soundtrack to my outburst. The minister continued the ceremony with the last parts consisting of the do you's and exchanging of rings. Finally, we reached the end with the pronouncing of our marriage and for Chris to kiss me. My whole body excitingly bounced, only to see Chris shaking his head. My expression faded away instantly.
"Excuse me everyone!" Chris held up his arms to get everyone's attention. I nervously searched the bridal party's expressions for an answer for his halt of the ceremony. Their shrugging shoulders were my only answer. "As badly as I want to kiss my wife..." Our eyes met with the enjoyable bliss from the sound of the word. "...we have somewhere to be." My face contorted with the painful confusion. Chris grabbed my hand to run with me down the aisle. "We're going to Disneyland!!" He yelled to everyone. I screamed in excitement.

***

The drive was excruciating but we knew we had to keep the first kiss as husband and wife for our photo on Small World. Our hands were all over each other instead, filling the car with our bubbly giggles. Chris apologized to the driver with my lips trailing small pecks along his neck and beard. The driver insisted he had seen worse. I sat back into the seat, giving us both a chance to breathe.

"Babe?" I whispered.
"Hmm?" Chris answered, opening a bottle of water and handing it to me.
"How the fuck are we going to walk through the entire park?"
"I already--"
"Of course, you did." I interrupted before gulping down the entire bottle. His chuckle made me giggle snort. His eyes searched out the car window followed by his finger pointing.
"Golf cart." He declared. I turned my head to look in the direction of his finger to sure enough see three golf carts. The first and last golf carts were filled with security guards in all black suits.
"Oh, my god..." My jaw dropped. "...I was assuming you were going to shut down the whole park!"
"No, I couldn't do that." He chuckled again with the car coming to a slow stop next to the golf carts. "It's a Blockout day." I rolled my eyes at his adorable courtesy to the park's thousands of attendees.

We were escorted from the car to the golf cart. Without hesitation after we got seated and made sure my entire dress was safe, the golf carts quickly started the journey to Small World. The smiling faces with the shouting of 'congratulations' and 'oh, my god's' whizzed by. The only strings Chris pulled was to have Small World temporarily closed in anticipation of our arrival. The security guards kept the crowds back. I bunched up the dress in my arms and kicked off my heels to run to the boat. Screams and cheers grew louder with the realization of what was happening. Chris practically skipped and hopped into the boat. I laughed at his body moving with a graceful spin to help me into the boat. The Disneyland photographer and videographer greeted us both with bright eyes and huge smiles. I attempted to fix the soft curls in my hair knowing Mykie would be livid if she saw that I didn't try. I noticed the little red light on the camera.

"Mykie." I pointed to the camera. "Wish you were here." I said to the lens. I continued to fix my hair with the feeling of the boat's movements beginning. "How do I look?!" I panicked.
"You look like my wife." Chris whispered into my ear. My hands stopped with curls tangling between my fingers. I dropped my hands to his legs with our eyes connecting. "May I kiss the bride?"
"Forever...and always." I whispered. We connected our lips, finally, as husband and wife on Small World.

The End.