The Journey to Freedom: Path to WW3

Chapter LXXV

Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Make this a new beginning of another life.

Kenny Loggins

Lloyd hands me my shirt and I put it on. All the guys are in the girl's room with me watching me put on my tuxedo. I put the vest on and my blazer. I put on my socks and Lloyd hands me the shoes. I put them on and they slide on my feet. A perfect fit is what I think but Lloyd says it out loud. Everyone tells me how badass I look. I thank everyone and ask Lloyd how much I owe him and he tells me that he would send me the bill. I tell him that I would pay him as soon as I got it. He tells me that he knows that I was good for it. I tell him that he was invited to the wedding also and he tells me that it was too much and I tell him that I insisted. He says that he would stay since I insisted. Daniel, Drew and Fito were in the suits they already had. Marcus was in his dark blue jeans, Polo shirt, and his white K-Swiss shoes. Lawrence was in a suit without a tie. AB was in a striped Polo shirt and Khaki pants with black boots. Kevin was in a black Polo shirt and blue jeans. My suit was black pants with black shoes with white outlines. My shirt was black with a white tie. My vest was white with a black outline. The suit was white with black trimming and the collar was black also. Lloyd gets a black handkerchief from his bag and folds it until it's a triangle and puts it in my left chest pocket.

"Nicholas, I have a question for you. Why don't you get married in your uniform?" Lloyd asks.

Everyone agrees and asks the same thing. I tell them that the first time I got married, I was married in my Army greens. I just didn't want to be married in them again.

"I feel like getting married in regular clothes because I feel more comfortable and feel like I'm not pressured," I say.

I look at my watch and see that it was 5:15 pm.

45 minutes to go.

All the guests that were ready were already outside sitting down. The DJ was playing some soft Jazz music that was on youtube. He had good taste. It sounded like we were at a night club just relaxing, having a few drinks while conversing. I felt at peace. I could see that some of the people were moving their hands, feet, and heads to the rhythm. It really was some good music. I tell the guys to sit down and I stand over by the arch. The flower lady outdid herself. There were red and white roses all over the arch. I look at it and see what she did cleverly. She left a lot of green leaves to match the Mexican flag colors. Red, White, and Green. All it needed was an eagle and it would represent the flag. Evelyn must've really loved my culture and homeland. Who was I to argue with her in picking something different. It was her wedding and she deserved to be comfortable.

I look at the time and see that it was 10 minutes until 6 pm. The DJ turns down the music and puts on Canon in D Major by J. Pachelbel. I felt my nerves getting high. I know that I already got married once, but I felt like this, THIS was my actual wedding! I could feel the nerves tying up in my stomach.

The guys look at me and say "Bro, you got this!"

I nod and see my mom come outside in her beautiful red strapped dress. I haven't seen my mom dress up like this in a long LONG time! I think the last time I saw her dress up like this, was when she was still married to my dad. My mom walks up to me and gives me a kiss and tells me that she was so happy to see me getting married. I tell her that I was glad that she was here to see it. She then sits down and all four of my daughters were in their dresses. All of them in white, with a Mexican flag sash around their waists. I look at my mom and ask her where they got the sashes and she tells me that Eve had them made for the girls. I was left speechless and have them stand next to me. I have stand in this order next to me. Jasmine, Melfina, Lydia, and then finally Ayeka. Their hair was beautiful. Jasmine's hair was in French braids. Lydia was in two braids on each side and then pulled back and tied with a red rose. Melfina's hair was almost straightened. Her curly hair had small butterfly clips. So was Ayekas hair. They all looked gorgeous! Jasmine and Lydia looked like beautiful little women with their makeup on and their hair done so professionally. Patrick comes walking down and stands opposite of me and so does Dan. I can tell that he wanted to make a face but he holds it in. I look at the crowd and see the caterers stand in the back, Lloyd was crying because of how I and my daughter's looked. Almost all the chairs were full, we ordered about 50 and only put out 30. And even with the 30 that were out, I think maybe like 25 were full. The DJ starts to slowly turn down the music and then he starts playing the Wedding March.