If Only You Knew

I Do

February 14th, 2024

Lee's POV

"And we will, I'll do better for you. I love you Taleeyah. You my girl and someday I want you to be my wife. We gone be happy in a big ass house in a nice ass neighborhood somewhere. I want eight kids, and you have them all." He chuckled.

"I'm not having eight kids." I laughed with him.

"Yes, you are. You gone have all my babies to make up for this one. They all gone be running around and we gone be straight. Just me and you and our family. Don't that sound good?" He looked up at me with his eyes glossed over.

"Yea, it does." I smiled down at him. He's never talked to me like this before and I couldn't lie and say it didn't make me feel some type of way. In a perfect world, I would marry Lester in a heartbeat and give him a million kids. But we would have to be in a much better space than we are now.

That night replayed over in my head as I stared mindlessly at my reflection. That was 5 years ago and to think about how far Lester and I have come in that time made me emotional. We were in a better place, better than ever! It's been such a roller coaster over the years but I didn't regret a thing about our relationship.

We both grew from immature teens in love to adults just trying to love one another and raise a family. This man was my everything and in just a few minutes, he'd be my husband.

"You ready?" Nana asked from behind me as we made eye contact in the mirror. She pulled back a few of my flyaways before smiling and holding my shoulders.

I nodded as I turned to her. "I've been ready!"

Her accepting grin gave me even more confidence. "I'm so proud of you both."

All I could do was hug her. "I really appreciate you being here."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Let's go get married."

My throat was instantly dry as her words rang in my brain. The feeling was surreal, I was about to marry the love of my life. Surprisingly, there was no doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing. Since I met Lester there has been pushback on why I shouldn't marry him, but at this moment I couldn't do that.

We were happy. As each day went by our love grew stronger and with the man he's become, it only made sense for us to tie the knot. I was beyond ready to embark on our new journey as a married couple.

I entered the courtroom with my nana in tow. Upon entry, I locked eyes with the judge, minister, Tina, and finally Lester.

Time seemed to stop as we laid eyes on each other. His grin doubled in size as he scanned me in my little white dress. I did the same, admiring his fresh retwist and perfectly tailored suit.

We both agreed to dress nice but modest for the occasion. I would wear a gown on my actual wedding day but for now, I kept it simple in a simple small sheer dress with a straight across neckline and lace sleeves. My hair was simply pulled back into a straight ponytail that hung to my shoulders.

I mounted the platform with him where he instantly took hold of hand and softly caressed my knuckles. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I whispered back as I tried to contain my smile.