The music shifts and people turn toward the double doors. Once they open, Dhara walks toward the alter, a huge smile on her face as her eyes are laser focused on Fletcher. If they’re not together soon, Whiskey is going to lock them in a room. It’s all she talks about — how they love each other but are too dumb to realize it themselves.
My eyes are on the doorway when Evelyn steps through. I quickly glance at Katelyn, who is dabbing her eyes, but go back to watching the little girl that I’m going to raise as my own. Her hair is pinned up, making her curls bounce as she walks toward us. When she reaches me, I kneel so that we’re eye level.
“Aren’t you the prettiest girl in the room?”
She shakes her head and looks over her shoulder. “Mommy is, just wait until you see her,” she whispers.
The music switches and the vibe in the church changes. Everyone stands and I’m forced to move from where I’m standing so I can see my bride coming down the aisle.
“Damn,” I say aloud as Whiskey makes her way toward me. Her dress is tight around her chest, poofy at her waist, and according to Dhara and Elle, this is her dream dress. I don’t know anything about fashion or wedding dresses, but I do know that Whiskey looks fucking hot, beautiful, and drop dead gorgeous in it… and I can’t wait to take it off her later.
As she gets to me, I’m tongue-tied and my palms are sweating. I want to touch her, kiss her, and tell her how much I love her. I want to pick her up and carry her out of here to an empty room and make love to her. Mostly importantly, I want to profess my love and desire to be her husband in front of everyone so that there’s no question in anyone’s mind that this is where I belong… with her. I can’t take my eyes of hers. We stare at each other, both of us smiling, dreaming about our future. She may already be my wife, but this was how our wedding should’ve happened the first time.
The preacher clears his throat, and everyone sits as my knees shake. They’re knocking together as if playing their own song.
“We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Jameson Foster and Ajay Ballard. Who gives this woman to this man?”
I look at the Sheriff and pray that he’s in a giving mood today. “Her mother and I do, happily,” he says as he kisses Whiskey on her cheek. He then places her hand in mine and helps guide her up the stairs to where I’m standing.
“I can’t believe you did this, Ajay.”
“Do you like it?” I look around, seeing everything more vividly now that she’s here.
“I love it and I love you.”
“I love you too,” I lean forward to kiss her, but Quinn pulls on my tuxedo. “Not yet,” he whispers loudly enough for his parents to hear, who start to giggle along with everyone who saw me try to sneak one. I smile and shrug.
The preacher talks about our love story, from when we met to how we found each other again. He tells about our lives and how they blend together and what our future holds, and how our parents can’t wait for the pitter patter of baby feet. I glance at Katelyn, suspecting she might have said something. She shrugs as if to say it wasn’t her, but I know better. When he tells us it’s time for our vows, Whiskey hands her bouquet to Dhara and grips my hand.
“Ajay, all my life you’ve been the guy who helps me up after I’ve fallen, who holds my hand in the dark, who makes sure I get the last bite of ice cream. Even though we took a detour in our lives, I know we were meant to, that we had to pass that test before we could find each other again. Our love story may not be perfect, but it’s ours and no one can take that away from us. I can’t wait to restart our lives, to raise our children, and to live happily ever after.”
My eyes go wide at her choice of words. I want to ask her if she’s pregnant but figure this isn’t the time nor place to blurt something like that out. Instead, I clear my throat and try my hardest not to picture her with a growing belly.
“Ja…” I stop and shake my head. “I’m sorry, I can’t say your name because to me you’ll always be my Whiskey Girl.” Everyone around us laughs. “Whiskey, from the day I met you, I knew you were always going to be in my life. You’re the one person who saw me for me and not where I was from. You never cared that I didn’t have the same things as you, and it never escaped me that you always had enough of everything to share. You’ve seen me at my worst, and baby, I’m here to say that my best is yet to come because without you, I’m only a shell of who I can be. You’re my partner and my wife, and as I stand in front of our friends and family, I swear to you that I will always be the man that deserves to be loved by you. I love you, Whiskey, and I love Evelyn, and I can’t wait to build a life with my girls.”
Whiskey nods and a single tear falls down her cheek. I let go of her hand and wipe it away with my thumb.
“Jameson Foster, do you take Ajay to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, until death do you part?”
“I do,” she says with the biggest and brightest smile I’ve ever seen from her. Yeah, this day is so much better than last time.
“Do you, Ajay, take Ja, er, Whiskey…” Everyone laughs, but I must hand it to this man as he knows what to call her, “…to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, until death do you part?”
“Fuck yeah, I do.”
“Ajay said a word,” Evelyn says loudly. I lean to the side and see her watching me. I beckon her to come to me and she does.
“Ajay, what are you doing?” Whiskey asks, but I ignore her question.
When Evelyn is standing next to her mom, I drop to my knee and pull a necklace out of my pocket. “I know your mom and I get rings and you’re probably wondering what you get, right?”
She nods as I fumble with the necklace I had made for her. Katelyn comes over and finishes the task for me.
“Evelyn, I’m wondering if you’ll accept me as your dad?”
Evelyn fiddles with the heart, which is etched with our names and today’s date. She looks at her grandparents, her mom and finally at me. She shrugs. “Can I call you dad?”
“Of course,” I tell her. “Or Ajay, whatever you want.”