“I love you,” I whispered to Cedric as he looked at me in awe.
“I love you so much…you look so beautiful.” He was beaming from ear to ear.
The priest began the ceremony amidst the beautiful background noise of our baby girls crying for food. My breasts immediately tingled and I could feel the milk rushing through them at the sound of twins crying in unison.
Just a few more minutes, baby girls.
Father Mike started the vows.
“Cedric, will you have this woman as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony…”
Cedric lovingly said ‘I do’ and after a minute passed and in the middle of my turn, just as Father Mike asked, “Will you love him, honor him, comfort him, and keep him in sickness and in health…”, a beautiful butterfly landed on the pink rose boutonniere Cedric wore.
It stayed still, facing me as if it were part of the ceremony.
Cedric looked down and smiled. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. I couldn’t be sure.
After I said ‘I do’, amazingly the butterfly moved from Cedric’s rose to the skirt of my dress.
It stayed there fluttering its wings and I glanced down at it from time to time as Father Mike spoke.
“Cedric and Allison have consented together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God, this company of friends and family, and have given and pledged their promises to each other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving a ring, and by joining hands.”
As soon as Cedric and I exchanged rings, the butterfly flapped its wings and landed on top of our joined hands.
Cedric’s hands started to tremble a bit and I realized he knew what I was thinking.
Was it Amanda?
“In the name of the Lord and by the authority vested in me by the state of Rhode Island, I pronounce this couple to be united in marriage. Cedric, you may kiss the bride.”
The sound of ocean waves crashing filled the air and we kept still as the butterfly remained on our joined hands as we kissed for the first time as husband and wife.
Just as our faces parted to the cheers of our family and friends, the butterfly flapped its wings, disappearing into the sky above.