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Cameras flashed in every direction possible as myself, my groomsmen and a few friends entered the most popular strip club in Los Angeles. I honestly had no desire to have a bachelor party but Everly told me to go out and enjoy myself before we say 'I do' the day after tomorrow. I would have been satisfied with a quiet drink somewhere but my brothers insisted that they drag me out to this strip club and have 'one last night of bachelor freedom' as they put it. Typical idiots. I love them though.
It's still surreal to me that I'm about to be somebody's husband. Growing up the way that I did, I never really thought of marriage. I saw my mom go from my addicted dad to my addicted stepfather without a sign of any step further into either of those relationships until finally it was just her being a single mom. I barely knew anybody that was married or at least happily married. I thought that I'd never meet a woman that would make me want to get married but then Everly came along and I was hooked the moment I met her. Lord knows I love that woman to death. I'm more than ready for her to have my last name, to have more of my kids (if it happens it happens, if it doesn't then I'm content), and to simply continue living my life with the love of my life.
As soon as we got to our section everyone split off. Some went to the bar to mingle with whatever girls had caught their eye, others went straight to the different stages. Me however, I stayed up in the private section with Everly's brother Jerome which was surprising even for me - I thought he'd be down there with them.
"You don't wanna go enjoy everything?" I asked, grabbing one of the hot bottles that was on the table and pouring myself a drink.
"To be honest, I don't even know if I should be out here. Since Chandra everything just feels wrong."
"What do you mean everything?"
"This isn't the time for that, I don't want to ruin your night with my problems."
I shook my head. "Do you see me wanting to actually be here? Lay it all out bro, I'm all ears."
"It took me a while to adjust after she passed. Things between she and I began so fast and ended so abruptly. I guess I hoped that some type of miracle would happen, she'd get better and then we'd live out our lives together like you and Everly will." He explained slowly. "A few months ago I met somebody and I do genuinely like her but I can't seem to allow myself to move things forward with her because I keep thinking of Chandra."
"Is this girl okay with moving slow?"
He nodded. "She's so patient and she said she'll wait til I'm ready..but what if I'm never completely ready? Or what if I jump into something with her and then my mind goes to Chandra and the fact that I feel like I'm betraying her."
"Listen to me. This is coming from someone who knew Chandra for many, many years. She would want you to be happy. She would want you to move on and find love, start a family if that's what you want to do, get married, whatever it is that you see for yourself is what she would want. If you move forward, that doesn't mean you're betraying her. It's natural. Just like how your sister moved on from Kade with me. I accept that she'll always love that man but that she loves me differently to how she loves him - and I'm okay with that. Talk with this girl and let her know how you're feeling. She can't be mad at you for opening up and being honest with her, I honestly think she'd appreciate it more and respect how careful you've been about this."
