His Gothic Valentine

“I, Rainn, take you, Everett, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.

I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. Everett, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” I say, sliding the ring onto his finger.

“I, Everett, take you, Rainn, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. Rainn, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

“By the power vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania and almighty God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride,” the priest says.

The kiss he gives me sears my soul and makes our union official.

“Ewww, get a room,” Rainbow says. I break the kiss and look over at her. My little maid of honor. She’s wearing a dark red dress and no shoes. She hates shoes. I decided not to wear shoes too so we would match.

I pull her into a hug. She’s already damn near as tall as I am.

“I’m going to miss you, Bow,” I tell her.

“No, you won’t. Why can’t I go with you?”

“Because I need to spend time with my husband, alone. You understand, don’t you?”

“No,” she says sullenly.

“You will one day, I promise.”

“You’re going to forget all about me,” she says with a hitch in her voice. “You’ll have babies and forget all about me.”

“I could never forget about you, Bow. You’re my sister, my bestie.”

“You say that now,” she says, tears falling on my dress.

“I’ll only be gone two weeks; then we’ll hang out, I promise.”

“Two weeks is for-ev-er.”

“It’ll go by so fast; you’ll see.”

“I don’t like this, but I don’t see what I can do about it,” she finally says, letting me go. “Bring me back something awesome,” she tells me with a bit of her sass coming back. Then she goes to stand by my mom.

My dad steps forward and hugs me, then shakes Everett’s hand. My mom and Gran hug us both, and Grandpa hugs me and shakes his hand too.

Finally, we are alone and on the way to the airport. I opted to wear a short black dress, and now I have Chucks on in order to make it travel attire too. Of course, I’ve got my pearls on. I never looked at pearls again the same way, and he loves them too.

We were seemingly so opposite, but opposites attract, and I’m his now.

“I love you, Everett,” I say, settling into the seat of the taxi.

“I love you too,” he says, kissing me.

I am so ready for our life to begin.

Epilogue

EVERETT

Ten Years Later

We outgrew my house years ago and moved to a large home in Virginville for a steal. With six daughters, we needed the space. I am definitely outnumbered. I did learn that the women in this family don’t have boys. They never have, which I find very interesting. I’m still with the sheriff’s office, though I was promoted to detective five years ago. On the way home, I stop at the florist. It’s our tenth anniversary. Rainbow and her husband are watching the three older kids, and my in-laws have the younger ones. A few weeks ago, I ordered two dozen black roses for my girl, and I’m picking them up today. Every week, I bring her a dozen red ones, but our anniversary required something special. Roses for Rainn, as Jean at the florist, calls my weekly pickup, but this pickup is different. The vase and bouquet are so large; I could barely get them in the truck.

At home, I follow the sound of “Wicked Game” and find her soaking in the bathtub. It became our song after that night. She looks peaceful, almost like she’s sleeping, but I know better.

“Hey baby,” I growl as soon as I see her. Even in the large tub, her boobs aren’t entirely covered. “Happy Anniversary.”

“Happy Anniversary, but you know you don’t have to keep saying it. When you said it with your cock this morning, that was enough, trust me,” she says, causing me to chuckle.

“I thought we could go dancing at the club tonight,” I tell her.

“Ooh, really?” The club is being run by Rainbow and her man now, but we help out all the time. It still surprises how well a goth club named after the French word for orgasm does in this tiny village, but people come from all over to party here.