I cock one eyebrow, I look nice? She looks like a goddess. Truly stunning. I tell her as much when she gets close enough to grip onto my hands. I whisper over and over about how beautiful she looks until I’m interrupted.
“We are gathered here today,” Al booms out, loving his role as officiary as well as best man. I had my doubts when he first suggested it but now I think it’s the best idea ever. It keeps our ceremony even smaller. “To celebrate the union of Logan Matthews and Tamara Owens. A marriage that has been a long time coming, if you ask me…”
“No one’s asking you,” I bite back. “Now let’s keep this snappy before the twins kick off.”
“Alright, alright.” He rolls his eyes. “Fine. Shall we just skip to the vows then?”
“Yes, good idea.” I take in a deep breath. “Tamara Owens, I love you a lot, I think you know that by now.” She smiles knowingly. “And I’m so happy that we’re going to be married. To make sure you know how much you mean to me, I promise to be the best husband in the world. For richer for poorer, in good and bad health, until death do us part… I don’t know if those are the correct words…” We all share a chuckle. “But you get the drift. I’ll be faithful, loyal, trustworthy, and I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy every single day. You’re the girl from the train who shocked me, stunned me, turned my life upside down and made me fall in love.”
She chokes back a tear and smiles at me. “Oh, Logan, you should have let me go first. Now I’m a wreck.” She fans her eyes and tries to regain control of herself. “Okay, I’m ready.” Her voice cracks so I can tell this is going to be a quick one, not that I mind. We have the rest of our lives to share our love. “Logan Matthews, you have made me a happier, better person. You and the kids have made my life a sunnier, brighter place. I don’t know what I would do without you now. You’re amazing.” She takes my hands again and I can feel the deep shake in her body. “I promise to be the best wife ever too. I promise to… to make sure that we always have a happy and contented home, and that… we always have pancakes in for breakfast. Can you tell I’ve forgotten what I was going to say?” I squeeze her hands to reassure her. “I promise all the usual stuff too, but I think you already know that. I’m going to love you and be everything to you for the rest of our lives. We’ll have brand new adventures every single day, it’s going to be absolutely wonderful. I… I just can’t wait…”
I can’t keep seeing her struggle like this so I take control and I crash my lips into hers, sharing our first, hurried kiss as man and wife. Her soft grateful lips kiss me back just as hard.
“Urgh… I guess, you can kiss the bride then?” Al calls out loudly. “Honestly, what’s the point of me having this job if I don’t get to do all of the good parts? I’ve been practicing and everything.”
I laugh and rest my forehead on Tamara’s with my hand hooked around the back of her neck. I use one of my thumbs to wipe her happy tears away. We did it. We got here. We succeeded after everything.
“It’s me and you now, forever. How exciting is that?” She gulps and nods, still unable to speak. “I love you, Tamara, I really hope you know that. I love you more than I ever thought possible.”
“I do,” she rasps back. “And I love you too. You have no idea how much.”
Of course then India starts fussing, she wants to get in on the action so me and Tamara break apart. I grab baby girl and she takes baby boy, as they were once affectionally known, then we half embrace once more but as a family this time.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I can’t wait to find out. And with this incredible family by my side, it’s bound to be amazing.