They started walking towards me and I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest. I never thought I’d be here with any woman. I never thought I’d be with Celia again and now that I was, I would never let her go. I noticed movement in the rows of guests, but my eyes were locked with hers. Her eyes were big and stood out with the makeup that she wore along with a lipstick that matched the pink flowers of our wedding. They were wrapped around her head over the loose curls that bounced over her shoulders. She looked beautiful, and I shuffled on my feet as she smiled, revealing the tears in her eyes.
Today was bittersweet for her. She was thrilled to be getting married but missing her parents greatly. Wearing her mother’s engagement ring and soon the wedding band that went with it comforted her as well as her dad’s wedding ring on a long chain around her neck. I told her that they’d be here watching us with smiles on their faces and she cried in our bed. I assured her that they saw everything that she was doing. I believed that since they were such a close family, at least before her father died.
My father stopped in front of me and we smiled at each other. He kissed Celia’s cheek again, and I reached out for her hand as she thanked him for this. Celia stepped up to stand beside me and we smiled dreamily at each other for a moment before the preacher cleared his throat after chuckling to himself. Celia joined in as she gazed forward, and I shook my head at her. We kept the ceremony short and somewhat generic apart from writing our own vows. Nothing that was written down already would ever be enough for my bride.
I felt in my pocket for the card with the notes jotted down on mine and then Celia’s. She made me swear on my life that I wouldn’t read them but didn’t want to shove the card down her dress and have to fish it out. She had a good point, and I agreed, taking the folded card, and sticking it right into my pocket when Brin brought it to me. She warned me as well and I rolled my eyes, telling her I’d know soon enough what it said.
The preacher introduced us and thanked the guests for being here on our special day. He said a few more things before he looked at me, asking if I was ready. I nodded, licking my lips as I fumbled in my pocket again, pulling out my unfolded card and staring at the words blankly for a long moment. They seemed so right when I wrote them, and I knew that they still were. My nerves were just in overdrive right now.
“Celia, there was a time when I never thought I’d see this day. I never wanted to settle down with anyone but you, now that I look back. We were like family and best friends growing up. We were with each other constantly and I took that for granted, feeling the loss when we weren’t so lucky anymore. There was a part of me that always thought about you because you were in my heart.” She smiled at me and I pressed my lips together. “I went through a hard time a few years ago, as many of you know. I had all kinds of people around to comfort me and guide me through it, but it was Celia that I wanted to talk to. It was Celia that made me feel better if only calmer. We didn’t even need to talk, but she helped me by being there for me.” I had no plans in telling this crowd just how she did help me. “When I saw her again a year ago, I was stunned at how much she affected me. I tried to push that feeling away and force my need from my heart, telling myself that we were friends. I tried to tell myself that we were only supposed to be friends. I knew in a short amount of time that wasn’t the case and we started something new. There had always been something between us, but I wasn’t losing my chance this time.” I stared into her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks, taken aback by her beauty. “I love you, Celia. I have always loved you and I will be forever grateful that we met again and had this chance. I will spend that much time proving how much you mean to me.”
My voice faded as I stared at Celia and heard a sniffle in the crowd. It had to me Mom, and I smirked at Celia as she laughed. The preacher guided me through the process of slipping the diamond band on her left hand and I swore in front of friends and family that I would take Celia to be my wife.