My Kind of Beautiful (Finding Love 2)

“You look very handsome,” she says. “But nothing beats your firefighter uniform.”

She speaks loud enough that everyone hears, and they all chuckle, making her blush.

The officiant begins speaking, but I don’t hear any of what he’s saying. I’m too entranced by the woman in front of me. My soon-to-be wife, mother of my child, best friend. I never thought I would see the day when she would officially become mine.

“Do you, Aleczander Sterling, take Alexandria Scott to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, until death do you part?”

I laugh at the similarity of our names. Once upon a time, when Lexi was born, my mom was there and helped name her. It’s like it was fate.

“I do.” I slide the wedding band that matches her engagement ring onto her finger.

“Alexandria Scott, do you take Aleczander Sterling to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, until death do you part?”

“I do,” she says with a watery smile, as she slides my fire-proof wedding band onto my finger. We decided to go with traditional vows, since everything we wanted to say was said between us when we were alone.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the gentleman says. “You may kiss the bride.”

I step up to Lexi and, cradling the side of her face with my palm, press my lips to hers. The kiss is soft and sweet, unrushed. But then she wraps her arms around my neck and deepens the kiss, sliding her tongue past my parted lips. And the next thing I know, I’m lifting her into my arms as everyone around us claps and cheers.

Lexi pulls back, with the most gorgeous smile on her face. “Whoops,” she says, not at all sorry.

I set her down and, with our fingers intertwined, we face our family and friends, ready to start our lives together as husband and wife.

We walk back down the aisle, and after taking pictures, we make our way onto the back deck of the resort. The reception is being held outside. There are tables set up all around, a bar in one corner, and on the other side is a buffet of food. In the center of the large area is the dance floor.

The deejay announces us, and everyone claps, welcoming us. Before we have time to speak to anyone, the deejay asks us to the dance floor for our first dance.

“I can’t wait to hear the song you picked,” Lexi says. She handled most of the details for the wedding, but she left the first dance song up to me, and I took the job seriously, making Chase and the other guys listen to dozens of songs before picking the one that was perfect.

“I wanted ‘Love You Like I Used To’,” I tell her. “But Chase said it would be too fast to dance to.”

Lexi smiles. “I love that song.”

“You and Me” by Lifehouse starts and I take Lexi into my arms. Her lips curl into the most beautiful smile and I kiss her softly. “It’s just you and me, baby.”

“Yeah, it is,” she agrees.

As we sway to the music, neither of us can take our eyes off each other. Words don’t need to be spoken, as the song is saying everything that needs to be said in the moment. When it ends, I kiss her one more time before we make our way off the dance floor, since the next song will be the father-daughter dance.

As we’re walking over to her dad, Aiden approaches us. Lexi insisted he be at the wedding. Chase was nice enough to bring him and Georgia promised she would keep an eye on him for us.

“Congratulations, Lexi,” he says with his bright green glasses on. “Congratulations, Lexi’s husband.”

I laugh. “Thank you, Aiden.”

“Thank you,” Lexi says, giving him a hug. “And thank you for coming.”

“I drew you a picture,” Aiden says, handing Lexi the paper. It’s a picture of the two of us saying our wedding vows. He must’ve been drawing it while we were up at the altar.

“Oh, Aiden,” she says, choking up. “It’s beautiful.” Tears slide down her cheeks and she tries to swipe them away.

“Lexi,” Aiden says. “Lexi’s husband loves you.”

“He does,” she agrees. “He loves me, and I love him too.”

Lexi

The deejay announces that it’s time for the father-daughter dance, so I thank Aiden for the beautiful picture and give the paper to Alec to hold for me.

My dad comes over and takes my hand, guiding us onto the dance floor. He’s the strongest man I know, but today I’ve seen him shed tears no less than three times.

The music starts to play, and it’s a song I’ve never heard before. For several seconds I listen to the lyrics, as my dad and I dance. It’s about a father who loved his daughter first, before her husband. He prayed she would find a good man, but it’s still hard to give her away. As the lyrics continue, the tears I was trying to hold back fall.