"Lara and Gloria were on their way over here to let you know the justice of the peace had arrived," Wyatt said and stroked Sam's face. "Sammy told Gloria about Sam, and she told the boys and they told me."
"Those kids are like a spy network," Rico said. He saw his grandmother and Sammy on the edge of the orchard with Lara and Gloria, and he gave them a thumbs up to let them know everything was OK. Or it would be now that Wyatt was there.
"Tell me what you need," Wyatt said to Sam, his voice deep and steady and full of love.
"I feel better. All I need is for you to hold me," Sam said and leaned his forehead against Wyatt's.
"I can hold you like this through the whole ceremony," Wyatt offered.
Sam accepted immediately. "OK." But then he pushed away from Wyatt. "No, I can do this. I just got overwhelmed. Everything hit me all at once."
"I know what you mean," Wyatt said with understanding. "They formed a line back there to slap some sense into me."
Laughing shakily, Sam kissed him. "I feel much better now. Let's go get married."
He had perfect timing. They could see the justice of the peace making his way to them. He was a dapper, older guy. When he came over, he was introduced all around as Ron Jasper.
"Jasper? Like the fisherman guy?" Rico asked.
"Ben is my older brother, and he does like to fish. Too bad he wasn't up to getting up the hill. He really wanted to be here," the other Mr. Jasper said.
"You're getting married by a Mr. Jasper. That's great. You love that guy," Rico said to Wyatt and Sam.
"Yes, we do," Wyatt agreed.
"Everyone kept calling him Judge Ron," Rico said to defend his ignorance. Mostly it was his grandmother. Now he knew why she got that Cheshire cat look whenever she said it. He wasn't bad looking for an older guy.
As the ceremony was about to start, the guests lined up to form an aisle among the trees. Mitch was trying to keep Sammy from getting nervous, and Rico was doing the same thing for Sam, or trying to. The best thing for him was being able to see Wyatt. He was just across the way, waiting for them to walk down the aisle together.
They were doing that first. There was no music except the singing of birds. To that tune, Sam and Wyatt walked toward each other, linked arms then walked as one toward the justice of the peace. Seeing them like that, Rico felt like they were already married. In their hearts they were.
They weren't going to commit themselves to each other in the next few minutes. They had already done that. Now it would be official, stamped and sealed. Rico never felt that two people needed something like that to be together, but now the thought of it made his chest hurt.
The flower girls went next. Sammy got to walk right next to Gloria, so she wasn't too nervous. Then DJ and Riley followed with Wyatt's aunt between them. DJ looked kind of petrified, while Riley looked like he was using superhuman effort to keep himself from sprinting over to Wyatt and Sam.
Rico escorted his Grandmother down the aisle. Sam wanted her to stand in for his family, and she looked ready to cry as she gazed at Sam as proudly as any mother or grandmother.
"Hold steady, Grandma," Rico whispered to her. "Don't fall apart on me now. Wait for the vows."
She stepped to the side, and Rico went up to stand with the groom. He found that Mitch wasn't standing too far away, and he gave him a wink and a smile.
It was kind of hard to look at him right now and not feel overwhelmed, but Rico couldn't help it, couldn't tear his eyes away from how gorgeous he was.
The ceremony started and forced Rico to pay attention. After the justice of the peace spoke about the meaning of marriage, it was time for the vows.
Hoping he would be less nervous if he got through his part, Sam was going first. Rico got the ring out and noticed that his hand trembled. Looking up from the ring, his eyes went to Mitch. Mitch and a wedding ring—Rico didn't need to put those things together. He better not, or he would lose it.
Rico resisted the urge to loosen his tie. It was fine. Focusing on Sam's vows, Rico listened for his cue to hand over the ring.
Tentatively at first, Sam started speaking in a low but steady voice. "Wyatt, I feel like I didn't start hoping or dreaming until I met you. It's like I didn't even start breathing until you came into my life, and my heart only started beating when I first saw you. Now I have a whole life that's more wonderful than I could have imagined. I want to be with you forever." He took the wedding ring from Rico, held his breath for a moment then put it on Wyatt's finger while biting his lower lip. "With this ring, I promise to love you and cherish you even after forever ends." Sam's voice broke, and Wyatt took him in his arms and looked so happy that he would cry.
"Break it up, you two," Rico whispered to them. His voice sounded kind of rough, but it wasn't like he was going to cry or anything.
Sam and Wyatt pulled apart. It was Wyatt's turn, but first he looked at the ring on his finger, smiled, and took a deep, shaky breath. Clearing his throat, he looked into Sam's eyes and started speaking.
"Sam, today I feel painfully, indescribably happy and that's thanks to you. I feel like I'm marrying an angel and that I couldn't possibly deserve you, but I'll try to earn every moment of happiness I've found with you. I promise to make you as happy as you've made me. I love you so much."
They both looked teary eyed as they gazed at each other, almost like they had forgotten anyone else was there. Then Wyatt held Sam's hand and kissed it before continuing.
