We started our walk down the aisle and everything else blurred around him. My Lucah. I started to cry. I hoped this was me getting it out of the way before tomorrow.
After what seemed like eternity, I reached him. Dad kissed me on the cheek and Lucah took my hand.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“Very okay,” I said back and he wiped the tears from my face like he had so many times before. There was an audible sigh from the audience and I realized that we weren’t the only two people on earth.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, blah, blah, blah,” Pastor Todd said and everyone laughed. We did the ring part without putting the rings on each other’s fingers or saying our vows and then came the kiss.
Lucah seized me and lifted me off my feet.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he said before he put his mouth on mine and we kissed hard. Cheers erupted and then someone cleared their throat. Oh. We’d been making out. Oops.
Lucah put me down and grabbed my hand.
“The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can go to sleep and the sooner we go to sleep the sooner I can wake up and marry this woman!” We both dashed down the aisle laughing.
~*~*~
Roy took us back to my parents’ house, which was strung with twinkle lights, even more than they used for Christmas. Mom was at the center of it all, waving her hands like a conductor of a symphony. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was plan an event. Since the reception would be outside tomorrow night, tonight’s dinner was inside. She’d rented an extra-long dining table and chairs so we could fit everyone at one table. It was going to be tricky, but we’d manage.
I could feel myself glowing from the inside out and my face hurt from smiling. So this was why people were so hopped up about weddings. I got it now.
The dinner was casual, but there were a lot of toasts and plenty of embarrassing stories about Lucah and me and lots of laughing until my ribs hurt. It was nothing but pure, uncontrollable joy. I wanted this moment to be tangible. Something I could hold onto. Maybe keep safe by pressing into an old book, or storing in a locked chest.
“You look happy,” Mom said, giving me a hug as we sat in the living room drinking coffee and tea and saying how much we needed to go to bed because we had to get up tomorrow.
“I am. I am so happy I feel as if I’m on something.” Between the pregnancy hormones and the wedding, I probably was. Love that natural high.
“How’s the baby?” she asked for the umpteenth time. I told her BG was fine, just like the last time she asked. True, I didn’t really know at this point, but I could just tell.
“That’s your mother’s intuition. We all get it. Welcome to the club,” she said, patting me on the shoulder and then handing me another cup of tea.
“I hope so. I could use a little more intuition.” A lot more. I could use a lot more. Maybe then I wouldn’t freak out so much over every little situation. I’d just know what to do.
The girls had long ago passed out and April and Tate went up to their room with them and the baby, who had been sacked out for hours.
Since it was the last time I was going to be spending the night as a single woman, I’d set up beds for Sloane, Chloe and Marisol in my room so we could have a sleepover together.
“We got you a little something. You’ll see when you get up there,” Sloane said as we headed toward the stairs. This was the last time I was going to see Lucah before tomorrow. I waved them on ahead and turned to him.
“The next time I see you, we’ll be getting married,” he said.
“I’ll be the one in the white dress. Just so you know.” He nodded and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a pad of sticky notes and a pen.
“White dress,” he said as he wrote it down. “Got it.”
“Dork,” I said.
“Future wife,” he countered and I leaned in to kiss him.
“None of that. It’s bad luck!” Dad yelled and we broke apart like we’d been caught doing something bad. Lucah licked his lips and held his finger up so I’d wait.
“Just one more thing.” He pulled off the note about me being in a white dress, wrote something else and then wrote another note. He slapped one of the notes on me and one on his chest. Mine said BRIDE and his said GROOM.
“Just so we don’t forget.” He winked at me and then backed away.
“See you tomorrow, Sunshine.”