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"Oh baby." Colin's eyes widened as he breathed the endearment out slowly as the leather bound collar with a simple heart charm fell into his hand. His eyes fell to her neck and there was a brief pause as she realized he misinterpreted the gift. Her own breath froze in her lungs as they locked eyes for a second, and she almost forgot why she even gave it to him until a big black and white mass slammed itself into Colin's front, knocking him backwards.
Olivia raised to her knees, clapping and cheering as the Dalmatian puppy pounced all over Colin, who was sputtering and squirming on the ground, trying to get his bearings.
"Olivia! Woman, help me!"
Olivia laughed and whistled. Getting the dog's attention, she scooped some of the rice into a small bowl and giggled as the puppy came over, wagging her tail excitedly. Her entire body was shaking. Colin sat up, thrusting a hand through his hair as he looked rather bewildered at the dog then at Olivia before a huge smile graced his face.
"You got us a dog?" Colin said incredulously, rising up to his knees and shuffling next to her. He reached forward and petted her. "She's beautiful. What should we name her?"
"Well, I was thinking we could name her Ginger…she didn't come with a name. She's an orphan, just like us," Olivia said, looking up at him. "I love you, husband," she whispered, touching his cheek, "my other half."
Colin's eyes watered as he stared down at her. Feeling a lump swell in his throat.
"God, I love you. Are you as complete as I am, amor?" He choked out, leaning forward to press his lips to hers. Olivia wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, letting him know without words that she was. Finally.
And for a moment, their souls lit up brightly, finally connected.
Knowing this was only the beginning of their love story.
Chapter twenty-six
Epilogue
What? Olivia thought, her eyebrows furrowing.
“This isn’t the song I’m walking to?” she whispered to Jonathan, not able to turn and look at her wedding party proceeding her.
She scowled in slight confusion as the sounds of “I can’t help falling in love with you” accompanied by a lone guitar drifted throughout, Allison leading the way with her basket of flowers, and Stella and Vanessa quickly taking their turns after. They looked gorgeous in their deep green dresses. She could hear the murmur of the guests through the curtain and it made her butterflies worse. She brought a shaky hand up and smoothed it over the delicate lace of her veil, a choice that she’d wavered on. But since her boat neck dress was satin and simple, just flowing over her body and down her arms, she’d splurged on a beautiful, expensive long veil to complete the look, and it made her red hair stand out beautifully.
“Relax, Ollie. This is how it was designed to go. There’s no mess up,” Jonathan replied, tucking her hand into his arm and leaning down to press his head against hers. That’d become their thing as they got closer. The brotherly gesture was doing much to soothe her.
“Ok, but if that’s the song they’re walking to, then what’s my song?” she whispered back, curious.
Olivia and Jonathan were off to the side, not facing the entrance as Colin had instructed them that he didn’t want her to get a peek of anything before the curtains raised. Olivia closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking Jonathan’s arm in a harder grip. As nervous as she felt, this was the biggest day in her life and she didn’t know what she was about to walk into. Only that Jonathan and Vanessa had assured her she wouldn’t be disappointed.
Colin had taken over every detail of the wedding ceremony and wouldn’t let her peek at anything. He’d converted the office room at the guest house and changed the code on the lock so she couldn’t snoop, using that space for wedding planning.
“Breathe, Ukhat,” Jonathan said softly, leaning forward to press his temple against hers. Jonathan was Colin’s best man, but had offered to walk Olivia down the aisle so she wouldn’t be alone. He would hand her off and join behind Colin once they got to the top of the isle. And after Colin told him his plans for the ceremony, he was validated in his decision, knowing Olivia would need the support.
The guitar slowly transitioned into the song that they were meant to walk down the aisle to and he’d turned her to face the beautiful satin white curtains that blocked her from the view of the venue and entry way. Olivia’s eyes smarted as the lights completely dimmed behind her and the curtain began to rise, showing her sparkling gold light that started off muted but then became brighter and brighter as the curtain raised, casting her and Jonathan in a warm glow.
The aisle in front of her was lit with twinkling fairy lights of all sizes, hanging down in sporadic spots all around in front of her from the ceiling of a humongous glass dome. The stars above them twinkled in the night sky. The rest of the venue was dark, and she couldn’t see anything beyond the lights, the floor on either side of them was lit by chunky candles of all sizes and beautiful white and pink Earth Angel roses spread all over. She gasped, and the tears she’d been holding back fell down her cheek as the lone singer began to sing “Yellow” by Cold Play. Her sweet, breathy voice transitioned the song romantically.
The singer began as she and Jonathan took their first steps forward onto the white carpet. On the first set of the bundles of lights were small polaroid photographs clipped to the strands, and she bit her lip as she took in the first photo. It was of her through the window of the diner the night they first met in the storm. She gasped again as her eyes landed on another picture of her, smiling at her phone as she texted while she sat in a seat nearby him while they waited for his ride to drop off his car.
A small sob escaped her throat as they got to the next cluster of lights and their pictures. Her, looking lost outside of the food bank, her leaning against her car as she stared off into the woods next to the diner pensively, her looking up to the heavens as she tried not to pray for a miracle, her green eyes conveying so much emotion.
The next cluster of lights held various pictures of her that he’d taken at the diner during all the times he’d come in trying to convince her to go out with him. Some of the pictures showed her smiling at her customers as she poured a cup of coffee, another was of her at the cash register trying to get the correct change, another one was of her sweetly touching a baby’s face.
Her tears came freely, her hand was shaking, covering her mouth under her veil. The next cluster of lights was of her the day she’d come to his office and was staring at the trees through his windows, struck by their beauty. The next one was of her bent over their agreement, a scowl on her face. The next one was of her sleeping peacefully in his car as he took her to his home for the first time.
The next cluster of pictures were of her curled in on herself in the bathtub the first night, her sleeping peacefully in bed, even her in her hideous hospital gown and cap as she waited to be wheeled away for her surgery. She giggled a little at that. She and Jonathan shared a small smile as they continued.
More pictures of her, Colin, Allison,Vanessa and Jonathan. Kissing in front of their decorated house for Halloween, them all sharing a drink the day of Thanksgiving over the turkey, them all in front of a vast fireplace and Christmas tree. The two of them dancing at the New Year's party where he’d picked her up and they were spinning, pure joy on their faces. And a candid picture she’d never seen of the two of them kissing at their secret wedding at the house. She looked over, seeing Jonathan was handing her a handkerchief so she could dab her eyes. She smiled thankfully.
As she continued, she saw herself bent over a focaccia bread with small tweezers, trying to place a design perfectly, the tip of her tongue stuck out as she concentrated. Her watching a movie in the lounge of their bedroom. Her dressed up in her red dress, inspecting her heels. Her first day at university, standing in the front of the fridge, trying to figure out a snack to take with her. Then she was in front of Colin, she was panting, gasping for breaths, emotional and crying. She peeked up at him through the veil and saw that his face was just as emotional, and he was holding back tears of his own.
The singer trailed off the song as the lights dimmed slowly on the guests. Until this point, she hadn’t even known the layout and looked in shock as she realized they were on a platform in the middle of a circular dome, their guests spread out in a three sixty degrees around them. She shivered, feeling very laid open. He stepped into her and placed his palm on her cheek over her veil and leaned in, pressing his forehead into hers.
“That was so beautiful, Colin,” she whispered, her breath hitching. “Thank you so much, baby.” More tears slid down her cheeks. She dabbed at them again, not wanting to get her veil wet, thankful that Vanessa had commissioned a celebrity make-up artist to come and do her makeup for the big day. The woman had focused on a minimal natural look while still making her look otherworldly beautiful, and not a speck of makeup was out of place or smeared. She felt like a princess.
As they said their vows and kissed, sealing their union, fireworks exploded in the air above them and they tilted their heads up, looking at the spectacle through the glass dome.
Colin reached forward and caressed her cheek, bringing her eyes back down to his. "Happy ever after, baby." He whispered, lowering his lips to hers once more.
"Happy ever after," she mumbled back as they smiled and rocked against each other.
Lost in their own fairy tale.
