My Everything | Damie

Chapter 4

Jamie's Pov;

On the night before our wedding, Dakota and I spend our remaining hours as just a normal couple sifting through pre-wedding gifts. Sure, It's fun getting to receive gifts from our loved ones in celebration of our love, but they're not nearly as Dopamine inducing as the sound of the clock ticking down to the day I finally become tied to Dakota for life. She's going to be Mrs.Dornan. No one else has ever or will ever take that title except for her. She's the only one for me. In all humanly ways we are going to be intertwined. As long as we both shall live. The joy I feel knowing that can only be compared to the births of my children. Nothing else in my thirty-six years of living has felt so significant, so life-altering, so right. Dakota lays across my body in our bed. I keep my eyes closed and my body still, just listening to the sound of her heart next to mine and her quiet breathing. Inside I'm wide awake like a live wire, but outside I stay frozen, just soaking in this peaceful moment with her. The sweet and floral scent of her hair and perfume brings a sense of calm over me the more I smell it. It's her in the scent form. She stays still with her cheek pressed to my chest and her arm around me. It's hard to believe that after everything we've been through we're finally so close to the ending we always wanted. I'm in awe of Dakota and always will be for how she stayed by my side and continued to love me even though it wasn't easy. She stayed even while I had to take years of her time cleaning up after my past marriage. She accepts my children with Amelia as her own. She's never bitter about any of it, only hopeful for our future. There will never be another woman who could take her place. There's no one else like her. And by some miracle she's chosen me, to be mine and to accept me as hers for better or for worse. Tomorrow our life together begins, after all the years we've spent waiting, when we get to claim each other in front of the world.

The moment morning hits, I'm dragged away from my almost wife by my father to go meet the rest of my groomsmen. As I'm rushed out the door Dakota just smiles and waves, looking like the perfect angel she is. If I could marry her right now I would, no fancy wedding or dress and makeup needed. I'd be happy just saying I do over our morning coffee. I'm put into a car and driven to Dakota's family home where her Dad promptly greets me, my dad, and the groomsmen. Dakota decided last minute she needed the wedding to take place at her family home. They have an enormous yard and a beautiful home, so It didn't take much preparation to make it wedding ready. I'm lead into the master bathroom where I shower, shave, and dress. I take the longest shower of my life, knowing I have plenty of time to spare, and enjoying the peace and privacy the shower provides. With water streaming down my entire face and body, I close my eyes and imagine Dakota. She's somewhere not too far away, but I can't recognize the location. My daydream is set in the future. I can tell this by the shiny wedding rings on our fingers and the little group of children around us. Dulcie and Elva are there, fighting over who gets to hold Zeppelin. There's something different about the picture, something I hadn't caught onto just yet, but I can't see what until I really look. In a picture frame hanging from the wall is months worth of ultrasound pictures right next to Dulcie and Elva's baby pictures. We don't have a real baby picture of the child from the ultrasound photos because it hasn't been born yet. It's still taken up a home in Dakota. I look over to her and she takes my hand. "It's time." She tells me, her face glowing. It's time for the baby to be born, time for me to get to see it in person, hold it in my hands. I'm excited, but that feeling goes away when I'm brought out of my daydream by pounding on the bathroom door. I hop out of the now cold shower in a hurry. "I'm almost ready!' I yell to whoever's outside the door. "You better be. We've only got half an hour now!" I recognize my fathers voice through the door. Only half an hour left and then Dakota will be my wife.

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Dakota's out dress shopping with her friends while my dad and I are hitting the gold course. We haven't gotten this kind of time together in a long time and it breaks my heart. I hate being apart from him for too long. I feel the same for my sisters. I think we've all been extremely attached without my mother around. We need each other even more without her, we're the only ones who really knew her. The only people in the world who can keep the memory of her alive. My dad goes first while I watch. He misses the hole and I laugh, delighted. I'm going to beat him. I can feel it. "A little rusty, dad?" I tease, taking my stance. "Maybe a little." He shrugs, unbothered. It doesn't really matter how we play. It's just important that we are. "Are you getting excited about the wedding with Dakota coming up?" He asks, as we head back to the car after our game. "Yes! It can't come soon enough!" His mention of Dakota reminds me that she's somewhere picking the dress she'll wear to marry me. I can't wait to see her walking down the isle. She could show up in a trash bag and still be breathtaking. "Really, so no cold feet at all, huh?" I shake my head. "Not at all." I remember my first wedding in vivid detail even after all the time that's passed and I'm sure my dad does too. I was more nervous than I've ever been in my life, but with Dakota I don't feel that way. I'm confident that this wedding and this marriage will be nothing like my first. This one will last a lifetime.

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My father adjusts my tie for me in our final seconds. Dakota's brothers, Dakota's dad, and my best friend Eddie all stand to the side, waiting for us. "Ready?" My dad asks. I give myself a quick once over in the mirror. I feel as though I've been ready my whole life. I'm doing exactly what I was always meant to do. I'm marrying Dakota Mayi Johnson.