He looked at Celia and she dabbed at her eyes. She stared at Brin and handed her the flowers while I reached into my pocket for her vows. I handed them to her, and she licked her lips as she unfolded the card and peered at it for a second. Her voice was shaking when she began, and I stroked her cheek with my thumb.
“Remington. It is so hard to describe my feelings for you. You’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember: as a brother figure, a best friend when I was hurting and too scared to talk about it, and for the longest time as my crush. I always thought of you that way but never thought that it would ever mean anything. We were there for each other through our hardest times and I’ll never forget that.” The look in her eyes told me that she was thinking of our first night together but not describing it as I did. “I thought about you when I was off at college all the time. When you talked to Brin each week, I wanted to ask for the phone just to hear your voice. I wanted to know how you were and to tell you that I missed you. When we both came back to San Diego at the same time, I knew that my feelings were still there. I tried to ignore them, much like you. It just wasn’t going to work for either of us.” She covered my hand with her own. “Being with you over the last several months has been incredible. You’ve supported me through so much and helped me make some great choices. I have fallen in love with you in more ways than I could ever count, and I will spend my life showing you how much I love you. I will remind you every day that you saved me. You make my life complete.”
She slipped my ring onto my finger as she took me as her husband and we stared at each other, waiting for the next words. When the preacher announced us and told me that I could kiss my bride, I cupped her face in my hands and claimed her as mine. I meant to keep it chaste, but something exploded between us and I felt her hands on my waist. We kept going at it until whistles and cheers filled the air, making me pull away and stare at her. “I love you.” I whispered before kissing her again.
“I love you.” We turned to face our guests with our hands joined and Brin handed Celia her flowers as we headed back to the house. She lifted the bouquet into the air and laughed the entire way, allowing me to pull her up the stairs for another long kiss. We were breathless as we parted, and I stared into her eyes. “You’re my wife,” I breathed as she blinked tears away.
“You’re my husband,” Celia told me before kissing me again.
The reception was a similar setup to Ryan and Brin’s. We had a bar outside on the large deck and a makeshift dance floor inside. Catered food lined the counters with plates and silverware, featuring a gorgeous cake on a round table against the wall. Everything was perfect, and we walked inside once pictures were taken.
Everyone cheered, and we started mingling immediately. The crowd was just forty people that we knew and loved, and we hugged every one of them. People started piling their plates with food and sitting down at the tables set around the room as well as outside and the music started.
Brin and Celia went to the dance floor, dancing silly moves to the songs as they laughed together. Celia was being held by everyone there that could get their hands on her, being taken into the crowd to dance a few times. Ryan took her at one point and Brin walked over to slip her arms around him and her daughter, making Celia and my mom cry again.
I danced with my family and some of the guests while Celia had a special dance with my father. She slow danced with me every song she could, being corny with Brin the other times. I loved watching her smile and have fun on a day that I knew that she was hurting. I felt proud that I made her feel that way.
Mom pulled me to the dance floor and smiled at me as we swayed to the song. “I’m proud of you, honey.” I smiled down at her as she took a deep breath. “You have grown up to be such a wonderful man and the way you love that girl makes my heart melt. I know for myself and her parents that you are going to cherish her and protect her. You always have.”