Page 31 of Remind Me
“Sure, I’m gonna go and check on the boys to make sure Christina hasn’t killed them yet.” Thomas chuckled as he came into the room and Belle closed the door behind her as she left.
“Is everything okay?” He nodded.
“I have something I want to say, so please hear me out. From the moment you stepped into our lives, I knew you were going to be a big part of our family. My darlin’, you haven’t had things easy and you have been dealt some pretty rough blows, but you haven’t let it stop you from becoming one of the strongest and most amazing women in the world. You pushed Cash through his exams so that he got to where he is today, you helped Beau when he needed it. You have given Austin a new studio to call his own even though you could have used the space for your own shop. The fact that you picked our Cash to spend forever with, makes me feel like we did something right raising him. I know every girl dreams of this day and having their father walk them down the aisle toward their future. I also know you were dealt a pretty shitty hand as far as parents go but I wanted to ask you something.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to hold back the tears. I nodded for him to continue. “Vannah, would you allow me the honor of walking you down the aisle today?”
The truth was, I had wanted to ask him if he’d do it but every time I tried, I chickened out. He and Christina had been the parents that I had always wanted and as much as my aunt and uncle tried to step up, it was here that I began to feel like I was home. Standing up, I moved over to him and wrapped my arms around him.
“I would love nothing more than for you to do it. I can’t think of anyone more suited. You have welcomed me into the family with open arms and I love you all for saving me. You say I am strong and amazing? Well, I learnt my strength from you guys. You have shown me the beauty in this world. I’ll never be able to thank you for that.”
“You don’t need to thank us. We would do anything to see the smiles on your faces.” I hugged him again, a little bit tighter this time. With a deep breath, I pulled back. “You ready to do this?” I nodded and he squeezed my hand.
“Okay, wait in here, I will go and make sure everyone else is ready.”
“Thank you.” Letting me go, he moved to the door and opened it up. I took a seat again. The weight of what was about to happen suddenly hit me. I was about to start a new chapter of my life. I was going to be a wife and a mom. I was about to marry my best friend. Do people actually get this lucky in life? All I had to do was look at Christina and Thomas to know that they do. They may not have had a smooth ride but with the right person by their side, they got through it. I knew without a doubt, that Cash and I would be the same.
Sticking his head back in, I got the all clear that we were good to start. When I heard “Everything” by Lifehouse starting to play, my stomach flipped. We made our way through the house where my flowers were waiting on a table. Picking them up, I took Thomas’s arm as he held it out to me. We walked out the door, along the porch and down the steps to where everyone was waiting. My eyes didn’t move after they met Cash’s as I made my way toward him. When we got to where Cash and the minister were waiting, I turned to hug Thomas.
“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear. He gave me a squeeze before letting go to stand with Christina. I moved over to Cash to stand in front of him.
Chapter Seventeen
Rev. Josh Dunn
“Are we ready?” Cash and Savannah both nodded. “Then let’s get you two married. We are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Cash and Savannah. You have come here to share in this formal commitment they make to one another, to offer your love and support to this union and to allow Cash and Savannah to share this with the people dearest and most important to them.” I paused for a moment to look between them before continuing.
“Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage; only you can do that through love and patience, through dedication and perseverance, through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other, through tenderness and laughter, through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences and by learning to make the important things matter and to let go of the rest. What this ceremony can do is witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as life mates and partners. ‘Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealous. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited.’”
“Cash, do you take Savannah to be your wife, to live together as a friend and partner? Will you love her as a person, respect her as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat, and keep her beside you as long as you both exist?”
“I do.”
“Savannah, do you take Cash to be your husband, to live together as a friend and partner? Will you love him as a person, respect him as an equal, sharing joy as well as sorrow, triumph as well as defeat, and keep him beside you as long as you both exist?”
“I do.”
“It’s now time for the vows. Cash, would you like to start?” Cash nodded before taking a breath.
“Vannah, when you came into our life, I had no idea how much you would actually mean to me. I was so focused on my goal of joining the police force and didn’t need a distraction, but you turned out to be the thing I never knew I needed. You kept me from straying from that path while making me fall in love with you. You stuck by me until the very end and helped me become the man I am today, because when I am with you, I am the best version of myself. Now, before our family and friends, I make a vow to be the man you need. To help you with your dreams and help you reach the stars. To stick by you through thick and thin. To love you until the end of our time. I love you to the moon and back and then some.”
Smiling once Cash had finished his, I turned to Savannah.
“Savannah, would you like to say yours to Cash?”
“I choose you. I did back then and I still do, to this day. I choose to build my life with the man that I love. When we first met, I was battling my demons and without knowing it, you helped me. You showed me that the world isn’t full of darkness. You pulled me out of that and brought me into the light. You were the hero that I had been searching my life for. The fairy tale that I had dreamed out. While it hasn’t been without our challenges, you have loved me unconditionally. You accept my imperfections and see me as perfect. In front our family and friends, I vow to help achieve your dreams and build our lives together from this day forward. I will make sure to keep you on your path. I will celebrate your triumphs and successes and help you overcome any challenges before you. I will pick you up when you fall and build you back up. I will love, honor and cherish you, to infinity and beyond.”
“Who has the rings?” Thomas stepped forward and handed me a box. Holding out the rings before me, I continued. “A ring is an outward symbol of an inward expression of your commitment to one another. As it is a circle, it has no beginning and no end. As you wear it every day of your life, it is a constant reminder of the vows you have spoken today.” I handed Cash Savannah’s ring.
“Cash, please place the ring on Savannah’s finger and repeat after me. This ring I give you as a token of my love and devotion to you. I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your husband. With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours.” Cash repeated my words before sliding the ring onto Savannah’s finger. Taking Cash’s ring, I passed it to Savannah.
“Savannah, please place the ring on Cash’s finger and repeat after me. This ring I give you as a token of my love and devotion to you. I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your wife. With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours.” Savannah repeated my words before sliding the ring onto Cash’s finger.
“For as much as Cash and Savannah have consented together in holy wedlock and have witnessed the same before you, their witnesses, and thereto have pledged their faithfulness each to the other and have pledged the same by giving and receiving each of a ring. By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Cash, you may now kiss the bride.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cash
Icouldn’t take my eyes off Vannah as she walked toward me. Seeing that Pa had asked her if he could walk her down the aisle made me so thankful for my family. I don’t think she would ever admit it but that was something she would have missed, by the way she reacted to movies when you see a father walking his daughter down the aisle, or sharing their first dance. It made me wish that her parents had been the ones she deserved, not the pieces of shit she got lumped with. The whole time Rev. Dunn was talking, it took all my self-restraint not to pull her into me. Hearing the words “You may now kiss the bride” are six of the best words I have ever heard in my life. Reaching out, I placed my hand on her waist and pulled her into me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as her body pressed against mine, I dropped my head, pressing my lips against hers in a deep heated kiss. Pulling back, my eyes met hers and I couldn’t hold back the grin, the sound of our family clapping and cheering filled the air around us.
