Bad Boy (DeVante Swing)

To be or not to be?

Arrington Noel Cruz
February 5, 1995

"You guys are stressing me to the point where I'm just bout to get eloped. Like it shouldn't be this hard to plan a small wedding. I only want 200 people at the max." I said to Donald's mom, my mom, and Tisha my wedding planner.

"You better not get eloped. You know not to try me." My mom said giving me a look.

"Try you? It'll be my marriage not yours. You're sitting here trying to invite all of Haiti! No offense Mama DeGrate but you're trying to invite all of North Carolina and no one is asking me what I want." I sighed shaking my head. I need to go take a breather or something cause I'm about to snap on these people. I picked up my keys along with my bag and left the house.

I drove to the studio to go see De cause he'll know what to say. I got in and greeted the receptionist. She told me what room their in and I knocked before walking in.

I smiled at the guys as they embraced me in a hug. De was at the piano playing with the keys before he looked up at me. He smiled and then it dropped as he stared at me intently.

"Aye y'all let me talk to Ari alone real quick." De said still playing with the keys. They all left and he got up to walk over to me. He bent down to kiss my lips. "What's wrong with my future wife? Aren't you supposed to be finalizing things for the wedding? We got about three weeks."

"No I'm stressed. I was about curse out my mom and your mom. No one is listening to me. I'm saying what I want and they're just overstepping their boundaries. I'm over it all. It's more their wedding than ours." I leaned my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me resting his hands on my waste.

"So what you wanna do? You wanna just get eloped and forget the wedding?"

I sighed. "You know our parents will trip. We already have the venue booked and invitations sent."

"We can just get eloped and still have the reception. You said y'all had that part planned months ago."

"Donald what about—"

He kissed me softly. "Baby, our parents will just have to understand. I don't care about the wedding as long as I get the spend the rest of my life with you. I'll marry you in a shoebox."

I laughed. "I just wanna get married now. I didn't even want to have a wedding. I never wanted a wedding."

"So let's go now."

I laughed. "You're in the middle of a session."

"Nah that's the groomsmen. You call up your girls and there goes the bridesmaids. Just wear the dress you was gonna wear and we'll pick up our suits. We'll just have to tell our moms to get over it."

"You're serious?" I said looking up at him.

"As a heart attack baby. Come on. Go get yourself ready. I'll meat you at the church on 8th." I nodded and left.

I told the girls and my parents. My dad was cool but my mom had an attitude that she eventually got over. She better if she doesn't want me to go ape shit. Right now we're at the house and the girls are helping me get ready. Kayla designed my dress for me and I loved it.

Karen was doing my makeup as Jada curled my hair.

"You ready sis?" Kayla asked me.

"A little nervous but I love him so I'm ready."

The girls smiled as my mom and De's mom walked over. They hugged me and said a prayer. They then gave me something old, something new, and something blue. Once I was fixed up we drove to the church. I walked in through the back.

"People are here?" I asked the girls.

"Yes, Donald called them all and told them the wedding is today." I smiled brightly. I kissed my mom as my dad walked in.

"You look gorgeous princess. You're gonna be an amazing wife." My dad said with tears in his eyes. I smiled and kissed his cheek. We got in position and the music started.

When the doors opened I saw Donald standing in the front. I smiled widely. He smiled back and put his head down as tears started to fall from his eyes. My dad gave me away and kissed my cheek.

I held Donald's hand as we looked at the pastor. "The couple happen to be spontaneous so they wrote their own vows."

"Arrington from the first day I met you, I knew you were special. I have fallen deeply in love with you over these past four years. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. You're the biggest part of me. You made me become more of a man. You always have my back no matter how much I may annoy you. I plan to continue to piss you off so we can work through our issues. You're one of my favorite human beings on this planet and I can't wait to build a family with you. I love you." I smiled wiping his tears from his eyes.

"Donald, you're probably the most interesting and complex person I've ever dated. You're my first everything. I've never been in love and you've shown me what love is. Though we may have our ups and downs, I wouldn't want to be on this roller coaster with anyone else but you. I promise to be your best friend and confidant. I'll always be there and I'll always love you. Even when sometimes it may seem hard to, I will continue to love you."

"The exchanging of the rings." Pastor said as Donald and I let go of each other's hands to get the rings. We slid them onto each other's fingers. "I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Donald DeGrate. You may now kiss your bride." Donald lifted my veil and immediately slipped his tongue in my mouth. I laughed pulled away from him.

We walked down the aisle hand in hand as everyone cheered us on. Ya girl finally tied the knot. 22 and finally for that last name.

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Excuse any errors. I've been AWOL for a minute.