The Alternate Journey

Chapter 47

When they had planned the wedding, they had purposefully asked for the sanctuary to be dark, lit only by the twinkle from the strands of lights they had hung and the flicker of the candles that seemed to have overtaken nearly every flat surface available. They had requested soft music; slow, sweet, instrumentals that would help them create this space of warmth—of intimacy.

And they had succeeded. Every one of their guests who filed in from the snowfall outside stepped into the church and felt it—the enchanted, magical feel they had been aiming for. It was close and cozy and familiar and just the kind of far off place where Maddie and Bishop had fallen in love.

Marrying Jamie Bishop was exhilarating. From the second the wedding planner told her it was time, she could feel the excitement racing through her body, driving her every step forward; her every move towards the sanctuary. With her arm linked through her mother's and her head held high, they stepped into place in front of the closed doors. With one last look at her makeup and hair, one last flourish of her simple train, of her delicate veil, the wedding planner stepped away and smiled.

The music shifted and the doors pulled open and everything seemed to rush to her in an instant; the air swept out as the doors swooshed, the way their guests took in a breath at the site of her, the way her emotions washed over her before she even looked to the altar; before she even looked to him.

Her smile pulled high and her fingers tightened on her bouquet as she forced herself to avoid his eyes for just a second. She had to look around, had to take it all in before she looked to him—because she knew once she did, she would miss everything else. So she glanced around quickly as they took that half a step into the sanctuary and the guests rose to their feet.

It was beautiful; soft and romantic and everything she had wanted and when she looked out into the room at all of the smiling faces and dancing eyes, she felt her heart warm in her chest. She could feel all of the love in the room. She could feel the heat and the friendship and she wasn't the least bit surprised that tears came to her eyes.

She would be crying before the end of the ceremony—of this she was certain.

In the two seconds she had taken to sweep her eyes over the church, her need for him had fueled her excitement to see him and her eyes swung to the front of the church. And when she found him, when her gaze met his—the room lit up from his smile. She could feel the joy radiating off of him, the happiness beaming from his eyes, from his smile—she could feel it all the way at the back of the church. His teeth bit into his bottom lip as his hands pressed to his chest and she knew he was trying to hold it in; trying to hold it together. As she blinked back tears, she knew his attempts would be in vain.

Bishop was going to cry too—of this she was beyond certain.

Their eyes locked and she returned his brilliant smile with one of her own and she had never been more drawn to him in her life. It was magnetic and reflexive and the single best feeling she had ever had. Thankfully her feet held up, moving her down that aisle to Bishop—Bishop who was watching her as though she were an angel, Bishop who couldn't wait to have her next to him. She smiled at their guests through her blurry vision and found the strength from somewhere inside of herself to keep from running down that aisle and right into his arms.

It didn't take long to reach him; it was a small church, a short aisle and before she could calm her bubbling emotions, she and her mother were standing at the altar. As the music continued to strum, Hannah turned to Maddie and lifted her veil, kissing her cheek and fighting back tears. And then she turned to kiss Bishop's cheek, to hug his shoulders but he was bursting at the seams and the church rumbled with laughter as he hugged her tight, kissing both of her cheeks with a wide, giddy smile on his face before he released her and turned to Maddie.