I stand to my full height, reaching out for my dad’s arm and grasping onto it, steadying myself as I look back at Nate, taking one step toward him.
The first of many more.
My knees grow weak at the sight of my beautiful wife-to-be walking toward me. I sin
k down to the wooden platform beneath me, unable to keep myself standing as tears of joy and wonderment roll down my cheeks. I can hear the sound of our friends and family gasping and a few sobs ringing out, but I don’t move my focus away from Amelia’s determined eyes.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and Tris helps me to stand up as Amelia steps closer, Carl at her side with every one she takes as I send a silent thank you up to the heavens. Although I know most of this is down to Amelia’s determination. She always wants to go one step further. And she’s achieved it.
They reach the altar and I take a shaky step toward her, Carl placing her hand in mine as we both help her step up onto the small platform, the ramp going unused until Maya pushes up the chair.
Everything else goes silent the moment she looks at me with a soft smile on her face and I cup her cheeks, brushing my thumbs over them as my breath catches. “What—how?”
She smiles wider. “I wanted to be able to walk down the aisle.”
“But…” My eyes flick behind her to Maya who has tears streaming down her face, complete with a big grin. “I don’t understand.”
Her face turns pained. “I won’t be able to stand for long but I really want to be able to do this without my chair.” Maya wheels her chair over to her but she refuses to sit down as she says, “I’ll explain properly later on.” Her gaze flicks to the man who will be witnessing our vows. “Shall we get married first?”
I chuckle and she lifts her hands, wiping away an errant tear off my cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
She nods before whispering, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I squeeze her hand, a peculiar feeling flowing through me at seeing her standing in front of me. “Yes, you could.”
She puts her other hand on mine as the officiant starts to speak. “But I wouldn’t have wanted to.”
I turn my head toward him, focusing on what he’s saying and silently telling him not to drag on, knowing she won’t be able to stand for the long period of time it usually takes.
We say our vows and those magic words, “You may kiss the bride,” are announced. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her to me and relishing in the feel of her body against mine.
I press my lips against hers, trailing my tongue along the seam and trying but failing to hold in the groan as her tongue meets mine.
Hoots and hollers sound around us, causing both of our lips to spread into huge smiles when we pull away. Framing her face with my hands, I whisper, “I love you, Mrs. Cole.”
“I love you, too, Mr. Cole.” Her grip on my biceps tighten as she murmurs, “I need to sit now though.”
A mischievous look crosses my face before I bend and scoop her into my arms. She lets out a laugh, tipping her head back as we turn toward our family and friends, seeing everyone cheering for us.
I clear my throat. “If everyone could go home now, I’d like to spend time with my wife.”
Amelia slaps me on the chest. “You horn dog!” she shouts, but her tone is light as she wraps her hand around the back of my neck, lowering her voice. “There’ll be enough time for that later.”
I throw my head back laughing as I carry her down the aisle and over to the tent that’s been set up for the reception. I know the tradition is to stand and thank everybody for coming and to do photographs, but they can wait for an hour while she rests. If it was up to me, I’d take her to our room and let her sleep—no, that’s a lie, we wouldn’t get any sleep.
Once I’ve got her sitting down at the head table, I kneel down, placing my hands on her knees, knowing she can feel it now. “I’m going to go and tell the caterers there’s a change in schedule.”
I go to stand back up, but her hand on my arm stops me. “What?”
“You need to rest for an hour. We’ll do drinks and speeches now, and then photographs, and then we’ll eat.” Tilting my head, I ask, “Is that okay?”
She worries her bottom lip as all of the guests walk into the tent, but I can see the tiredness on her face. “Yeah, okay.”
Nodding, I place one last kiss on her lips before walking over to Tris and telling him the plan, watching briefly as he walks over to my wife—my wife. I’ll never get tired of saying that.
When everyone finds their seats, I tap my glass to get their attention. “Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming today to celebrate with us, as you can see, the program has changed slightly, so without further ado, I’ll hand you over to the best man for the first speech.”
Tris clears his throat, smiling at us before taking the mic from me and addressing everyone. “Now, I’m not one for giving lengthy speeches so you’re in luck.” Everyone chuckles. “I’ve known Nate ever since he had long flowing hair in college.”