Page 58 of Pretend You're Mine
“Naomi!” Teren scolded as soon as I opened the door. “We only have an hour to get you gorgeous!”
Behind him were a bustling array of hairdressers and makeup artists who he’d taken it upon himself to hire last week.
“You don’t think an hour is enough time?” I said.
Teren patted my cheek sweetly. “Dear sister. Of course it’s not enough time.”
Nevertheless, my brigade of pretty makers still made a go of it of it. All at once, my hair was teased and pulled and snagged, while my face was attacked by an army of brushes. I could barely speak without someone grumbling in disgruntlement.
“Do I want to know what you instructed them to do?” I said to the wall I was facing.
“Oh, you look beautiful honey,” Mom said.
“Thanks,” I said.
Although her words didn’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies. For my prom, I’d been so late that I’d run to it without looking at what Teren had unleashed on my face. He’d apparently gone for smoky eyes that looked good on the almond-eyed girl in the YouTube video, but made me look like I was a victim of domestic violence.
“That’s it,” I finally said. “I want to see what I look like. If I’m not done now than I’ll never be.”
A look in the mirror, however, found that my fears were unfounded. I looked amazing.
If only I could stop thinking about that pesky matter Xander was keeping from me. Damn him. Didn’t he know that the wedding day was stressful enough?
In any case, I didn’t have time to dwell on it, thankfully. Not with the way Teren and the others were hustling me up and out the door.
“We have five minutes,” he said as if a bomb would go off then.
Once we got to the church, then came the waiting game. Funny, how five minutes could feel like five hours when you were stressed enough.
Don’t screw up, a tiny voice in my head reminded me. What could Xander be keeping from us?
The other voice wondered.
“It’s time to go,” Teren finally said..
As stressful as walking down the aisle was going to be, I was grateful to be delivered from my stressed-out thoughts.
The organ hummed out the typical “do-do-do-do”. I took one step into the aisle, and then another. What I’d expected to be thinking of, was how everyone was staring, how many people Xander had in his family, how itchy the back of my gown was. But what I was actually thinking of was right now. How unreal this all was. Being married to a man I was genuinely crazy about.
When I reached Xander at the front of the church, one look at him, and all tension in me rested. Whatever happened, it was going to be ok. As long as I had Xander by my side, I could face anything.
The rest of the ceremony was as enjoyable as a stressful event like it could be. Family members made speeches, people chuckled, the priest did his thing. And everything went along on an easy autopilot, until it was the time to say our vows. When Xander got out a little card, despite what we’d specifically promised each other, I knew I was in for it.
“I know we said we weren’t going to write our vows,” Xander said. “So, after this you can smack me.”
The crowd whooped and applauded good-naturedly.
“To say that our how-we-meet was no fairytale is putting it lightly,” he said, as my stomach rolled. “I think that makes it even better.” Xander was smiling to himself, not able to look at me, not yet. His voice lowered, so that only I could hear. “And I didn’t really know what to say to this, still don’t. I don’t know how to tell you that I didn’t know there were women like you, women who brought out the best in me, challenge me. Women who are nothing short of spectacular.” Now his eyes finally met me mine. “I love you Naomi. And I’m so damn proud to be your husband.”
The vaulted ceiling of the church rang with the applause of the crowd, as if it was some kind of bell.
Now it was my turn to read the vows that were the standard ones. Unless….
I opened my mouth. Was I doing this? Yes, I was going off script.
“Not sure I’ll be able to follow that act, but I want to try.” I was talking quietly too. I could hear everyone shifting in their seats, trying to hear, but I didn’t care. This wasn’t for them. This was for my husband. “To make you get just how much you mean to me. How much this does. Even if you challenge me as much as you support me. But here’s the thing: I like that. Because it’s real. Because we earned this partnership. And that’s what it is.” I smiled at him, using all my self-control not to kiss him, not yet. “And for that, I can’t just say thank you. I don’t know what I can say except that I love you. I love you more than I ever thought possible and I promise you that I always will.”
