Baton Rouge.

WEDDING DAY.

PREVIOUS BATON ROUGE READERS, I FORGOT THAT I WROTE AN ENTIRE WEDDING IN MY NOTES THAT I FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN THE STORY BACK DURING THE SMALL SEQUEL. ENJOY!

Before the children, before the home, before the honeymoon, was the hard work and efforts that were put in their big day. A day that they discussed but deep in their guts, never thought would come about.

Their wedding day. 2020.

Both, promised to keep it simple. Neither Jionni or Melissa wanted a fancy wedding. Simple decorations. Simple yet a somewhat cliche color as their setting. White. A small, tiny church that only accompanied their friends and relatives. With obvious tension with Jionni and her parents, Melissa chose not to tell her parents or other family members outside of Rosa and a few cousins/aunts about her big day. As with Jionni, the rippled relationship with his mother prompted him to do the same thing. One by one, friends and relatives told stories of the two and what it was like when they first began dating, what they thought and how they felt about the couple.

Before saying "I Do", Melissa and Jionni were handed the last word and messages, able to tell each other, and their families, what they thought of their significant other. Tossing traditional "Bad luck to see your wife before the I Do's" statement, Melissa stood the front of the chapel, dress glowing in the sunlight of the windows.

"Hi everyone. Wow, I can't believe i'm getting married. Um, I don't know where to start." Melissa sighed, panting nervously. "When I pictured this day, I pictured it so different. Both Jionni and I had such a different image of how the person we would marry would be. Jionni told me he pictured an african woman with a nice afro, and I pictured a man from my country with smooth and silky hair, a stocky build, almost like a tom cruise. Instead, I got a man who has a potty mouth, who's got tattoos, he loves to drink, he loves to smoke, he loves to party, and he's fought two men who disrespected me in public."

Glimpsing at Jionni, she could tell that he was a bit embarrassed.

"And you know what, thats my Jionni. A few of you may wonder why my parents aren't here, and its because they decided not to accept him. I told them that this was my man and who I was going tocbe with, and if they couldn't accept him, we'd have no relationship. They made their choice." Melissa shrugged, eyeing Rosa. "But my grandma, my grandma is my rock. In high school, she could've easily have taken their side knowing that this is how he was. Instead, she took us out. She asked us what we were doing and when we told her, she allowed us to express how we felt about one another. She accepted Jionni for who he was, she got to know him, and she understood that he cared about me and only wanted to be judged by his actions and not his accent, his background or his actions. And to be honest, I don't care what anyone thinks about him. I love him and he loves me, and he's the man that I want to spend the rest of my life with. God allowed us to come back together, because we both could've easily went our separate ways, but knew that we were our only outlet. And for that, i'm grateful."

Pausing, Melissa continued her speech.

"Before Jionni, I was so scared to express myself. I was so scared to fight. I would let any and everyone run over me, pick what style I should have, what to wear, what career I should approach, everything. He taught me to speak my mind, to be more independent and to pick what I want to do with my life and how I want to look. He told me to never let anyone control me, not even himself, because i'm a woman and not a robot. He told me that I was too beautiful to let the prime of my life wilt away. He may have been too bold with it, but had he not given me that push in high school, I honestly have no idea where i'd be. I wouldn't be a fighter. I wouldn't be an upcoming fashion designer. I'd still be wearing checkered skirts, stockings, and asking my father what college courses I should take. I'd probably be marrying a man who wanted to control every aspect of my life vs. making me better." Melissa explained. "I'm not grateful for Jionni just for helping me branch out, but for helping me discover who I truly am. This is why I love him. This is why i'm in LOVE with him."