Page 50 of Meet Me at the Altar

“We were simply kids when we made the pact to marry one another in ten years if we weren’t already married. To me, it was more than a pact, Kalli. It was my life’s mission to get myself together and return to claim your heart, your body, and your soul.

“You have been destined to be mine since the day you stepped foot in middle school with those big watery eyes and a backpack you could hardly carry.” She laughed. “I could not imagine you belonging to anyone else as the years passed, so I never considered it. In some ways, it seemed as if time strolled casually along, and sometimes limping, but when I saw you again, it was like no time passed at all.

“I still knew your heart and your soul because they are a part of me. Kalliope Marie, with this ring, I vow to always protect your heart and your soul with my life. I vow to bring laughter to all your days, keep your smile on your face, encourage your curiosity, be your strength when you are weak, and inspire you to reach beyond the stars. I vow to always provide for you, to be generous to you, and thoughtful as it regards you. I vow to honor, protect, and love you all the days of my life.”

I held the ring up so that she could see the inside. She gasped when she realized the ring that was custom designed for her included the heart from the locket that I took all those years ago. The day after she met me in my hotel room, I took the heart to my jeweler, and I requested a custom ring to include her heart.

“Drè,” she cried out in a trembling voice. I slid the ring on her finger as she took her right hand and wiped her tears before she reached for the ring that Khatya held.

“Wow. I’m so nervous. I had no idea I would be speaking in front of so many people today,” she stated, causing everyone to laugh with her. “But I have no problem telling the world how I feel about you. Andrès Sebastian, with this ring, I vow to always honor you, give you a safe place to call home, and protect your heart from the world, to care for your feelings and emotions, and give you a safe space to pour into.

“I vow to never take your thoughts, dreams, and feelings for granted, but I will be your strength when you are weak, your fortress when the world is against you, and I will battle the world beside you. I will always see you, the pained little boy trying hard to win approval, the lost young man searching for his way, and the adult man proving himself in the world, but still needing a safe space to hide away in. I promise to always be that safe space for you and to love you with all that I am.”

Throughout her vow recital, I struggled to keep my emotions in check, but damn, she was making it hard as hell. There was no way that I could stand here and be strong and not buckle. She was speaking to my heart, my pain, my past, and my future. She was breaking those walls down that my stepdad forced me to erect.

She held up the ring and showed it to me, and I laughed hard and loud. My wedding band was also a custom design, and it included the onyx from the ring I had given her all those years ago.

“Great minds think alike,” she stated as she slid the ring on my finger and smiled at me. Then she reached up and wiped away the single teardrop that slowly trailed from my eye. I hadn’t even realized it had fallen.

“My bad, baby. Your words . . . this ring. I just wasn’t prepared.”

“You never have to apologize for letting your heart be seen, not with me,” she whispered, cupping my cheek.

“May Almighty God bless this marriage for the rest of your days. I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride,” Pastor Parker declared.

He didn’t need to tell me twice. I cupped my baby’s face in my hands and drew nearer to her. I brushed my lips gently over her lips, consuming her mint-coated tongue, and drawing a sweet moan from her lips before I pulled back.

“I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” Pastor Parker declared as we held our hands in the air.

Cheers erupted as the song “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul played from the speakers.

We made our way down the white carpet strewn with rose petals toward the other side of our yard where the large tent was set up for the reception.

“Oh my gosh, baby. How did you pull this off? Iknew that I wanted to be surprised, but I didn’t expect all these people, you singing to me, and the botanical garden in our own backyard.”

“It’s not over, baby.”

“Oh, wow.” She laughed.

When we heard the strains of Beyoncé’s “Run the World,” she declared, “That’s my cue, baby.” I kissed her as she ran to catch up with her bridesmaids. They had coordinated a dance to enter the tent, and I stood back and watched as my groomsmen joined me.

“She’s a good look on you, li’l bro. You’re definitely a different man than the one who came to Cali a decade ago,” Solomon declared, dapping me up.

“And that’s real, G.” Silas agreed, joining us with a stack of shoe boxes that he handed out.

We were fresh as fuck, my boys in their sage tuxes, and me in my all-white tux. We removed our dress shoes, and they put on all-white Forces. I exchanged my dress shoes for a fresh pair of all-white Alexander McQueen sneakers.

“Yeah, he’s been through enough shit. I’m proud to officially call you my bro now. You know how I always felt about you,” KJ announced.

“I appreciate you, man, for all the time you kept me up-to-date on everything that went on with your sister. I know it was hard at times, but I appreciate you.”

“Man, it was all good. I have no regrets,” KJ replied. “You’re a helluva lot better than that bitch-ass nigga she was seeing.”

“I don’t know why she wasted so much time on him,” I stated.

“I do. She once told me that if she couldn’t have you, did it matter who she was with?” KJ shared.

My heart swelled up at that. “I told her that nigga and her were both using each other as placeholders. I just wish I hadn’t wasted her time.”