Ben (The Sherwood)

I did. I had given them to a special person to hold for me. “Justin, do you have the rings?” I asked. My mother was holding him. He was supposed to be the ring bearer, but he got last minute nerves and didn’t want to walk down the aisle.

“Benjamin, you gave a three-year-old your rings?” Rachel scolded me. He slipped off her lap and came to me. I squatted down to his level and he dug into his pocket and took out two rings. He placed them in my hand then he hugged me.

“See, I didn’t woose them,” he informed me.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” I replied.

I gave them to Pastor Canfield who prayed over them before handing me Disa’s ring to place on her finger. We had decided not to use traditional vows when placing our rings on each other’s fingers.

I slid the ring to her first knuckle and repeated what I had been rehearsing for two weeks, in the shower, sitting on the toilet and driving home and to work.

“Disa, I place this ring on your finger as a symbol of our bond that cannot be broken. When you need to know the depth of my love for you,” I slipped the ring the rest of the way on her finger, “you only have to look into my heart and you’ll see it there.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

She took my ring from Pastor Canfield. Then Disa took my hand in hers and repeated the same vows while she slipped the ring on my finger. When she was done, she lifted my hand to her lips and kissed the top of it.

That undid me. I felt the emotion wash over me and tears flowed without shame down my face.

“By the power vested in me by the state of Ohio, and the Lord above, I now pronounce you man and wife.” Pastor Canfield smiled at us. “Ben, you can kiss your bride.”

I lifted Disa’s veil and cupped her face in my hands. I wanted to take my time. This was our first kiss as man and wife. I heard Rachel’s sniffle and I smiled at Disa then brushed my lips across hers before I told her how much I loved her.

“I love you too,” she responded, her eyes locked with mine.

I felt a sense of relief. We were married. Nothing had happened. Now to Ike’s to celebrate.

**

Seth cooked for us. A fine meal of prime rib and chicken. Sautéed asparagus. Spicy diced potatoes and creamed corn. It was a meal that was made with me in mind. Seth had made all my favorites. Our cake was made by Danni and Mom and looked like a professional had done it. They were dabbling in cake decorating and doing a fine job of it for novices if our cake was any indication.

It was two layers with purple flowers spilling down one side mixed in with green leaves surrounding the flowers. A couple stood on top of the cake. A dark, haired groom and a blonde bride stood forehead to forehead. It was a beautiful cake. The fact that Disa loved everything was all I needed.

After dinner, she tossed her bouquet and Daisy caught it. AJ groaned. It wasn’t that he was worried about being her groom because she had brought her resident with her as her date. I think he was worried that the resident was going to get the girl.

Then it was my turn to remove her garter belt. I knelt in front of Disa as she perched on a chair. Her cheeks were flushed pink. I didn’t want to embarrass her any further, so I gently lifted her skirt to her knees and slid the blue garter down her leg.

“My something blue,” she whispered. She held out her wrist. “Something new from your Mom and Dad.” I looked at her bracelet that was a gift from my parents. It was lovely. Purple Amethyst stones encircled her slender right wrist. “Something borrowed.” She showed me her pearl earrings and I recognized them as my mother’s favorite pearl earrings. “I’ve been touching them every hour since she put them in my ears to be sure I didn’t lose them. Your grandmother gave them to her when she married your dad.”

I smiled at her. I was still on my knees listening to her. She leaned in because she was talking so softly to me. “The something old I can’t show you right now, but I will later. It is a pin that your grandfather gave to your grandmother. It is beautiful, Ben. It’s pinned to my bra. Your Mom asked me to keep it for Asia and any other children we have. She wants each of the brides in our family to wear it,” she explained. “Traditions are important.”

“They are,” I agreed. I knew which pin Rachel had given her. “Is the pin with the white lilacs on it?” I asked her.

She sat back in the chair a little and stared at me for a moment. “How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.”

White lilac to my grandfather always reminded him of my grandmother. Lilacs were a symbol of first love. White a symbol of purity and innocence. When he and my grandmother were married at seventeen they knew no other loves. They spent a lifetime loving each other. When she died four years before he did, she took his heart with her.

I rose to my feet and extended my hand to Disa. “When my Grammy left my Granddad after over sixty years of marriage, she took his heart with her. He loved only her. Disa, I will only ever love you,” I told her.

She inhaled softly. She was trying not to cry. Disa stood on tiptoe and I leaned down so that she could kiss me. “And I will only love you, Ben,” she told me.

Although I had slept with many women, she had only been with me. From this day forward, we would only be together. I hoped Granddad was watching over me today. I could almost feel him smiling on me with Grammy by his side.

I held Disa’s hand and turned my back to the single men standing behind me waiting for me to toss the garter. Lucky for AJ, the resident didn’t catch it. Seth did though. Our mother wasn’t sure of his interest in Merci Riley. I wasn’t sure of her either. Not because she wasn’t a good person but because she had been through a lot. She had been confined to the compound. She hadn’t lived life yet. I didn’t know how she would react to being free. I didn’t want my brother to get his heart broken.

Disa tugged me to the bar. We were toasting each other n