I didn’t release my breath until Sebastian had brought her to me and she was safely at my side. I felt a strange, poignant ache in my gut when I saw that she was wearing the pearl necklace and earrings I’d given her. It had taken a while, but she’d finally learned how to accept the jewelry I bought her, taking one step further away from her fears of the past.
Strangely, my bride didn’t look nervous at all, and her face was lit up in an enormous smile.
We turned forward, and I reached for her hand. “You don’t look nervous,” I said in a low voice that only she could hear.
“I’m not,” she whispered. “This is my fairy tale. I’m going to enjoy it.”
I grinned as I remembered that Eva considered herself some kind of Cinderella. And I continually reminded her that I was no Prince Charming.
I felt myself relax. I might not be some hero in a fairy tale, but as long as Eva kept looking at me like I was, it didn’t really matter.
“I’ll get my wish later,” I said into her ear.
“Pervert,” she said in a hushed voice, admonishing, but so full of teasing affection that I was no longer nervous.
Hell, I was marrying the woman that I loved more than anyone else in the world. Now that she was beside me, everything was all good.
“Are we ready?” the minister asked with a smile.
“Yes,” we both said in perfect unison.
Eva and I turned our heads to smile at each other. Happiness was a heady feeling, but I was pretty sure I could get used to it. Neither one of us had experienced that emotion very much in the past. Maybe I’d had money and Eva hadn’t, but we were profoundly connected in so many other ways that we understood each other’s pain.
Now, we were learning to accept happiness as it was due, and we savored every minute of it.
Hell yes, I was ready.
“I think I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life,” Eva whispered as the minister opened his Bible and fumbled for the pages he wanted.
My heart soared at her words because I knew exactly what she meant. Every bit of pain and sorrow we’d experienced in our life had brought us to this moment.
I squeezed her hand to let her know I understood. “I’m waiting rather impatiently for the honeymoon.”
A laugh escaped her mouth, totally destroying the solemn atmosphere, but for me, there was no better sound in the world. I smirked as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her amusement at my irreverent comment.
She failed.
I caught her body as she threw herself at me and chortled with abandon, “I love you.”
“I love you back, sweetheart,” I whispered in her ear as I hugged her to my body, savoring her sweet smell.
The minister coughed, obviously a sign that he was now organized, but I ignored him until I was damn ready to let her go.
Finally, we broke apart, and I took her hand again, nodding at the gray-haired man to start the ceremony.
Maybe it wasn’t how a fairy tale wedding should start, but this was us, me and Eva, and I thought laughter was a perfect way for our life together to begin.
~The End~