Page 83 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

He shook his head. “Nope. Don’t answer that. I want you to think about it. Go back over everything that you two have experienced together over the past few weeks. Think about how she treats you when no one is around and the cameras are off. When you do that, I think you’ll know if your fear is rooted in fact or fiction.”

“This whole show is fiction!”

Smiling, he nodded. “You’re absolutely correct, dearheart. The show is fiction. But you and Kris and your feelings for one another; what about those?”

Jitter Cam 12-D’Vaughn

When I came onto the show, my sole purpose was to come out to my family and boost my self-esteem a little. What I got was so much more than that. I’m not in a place to do a lot of talking and you’ve already gotten plenty of tears from me, so I’ll keep this short.

I’m going to marry the woman that I love on Saturday.

Chapter Sixteen

Kris

The Big Day

My heart was pounding. I paced back and forth in front of the door, wishing desperately that I could go to D’Vaughn and talk to her before I walked into the room where the ceremony would be held. She’d been pretty closed-lipped during the rehearsal and I’d been stewing on that for the past two days. Ms. Miller was a traditionalist and insisted that we not see each other after the dinner on Thursday, so I was going into this blind. Despite the declarations of love we’d shared at the end of dinner, worry was still sitting heavily on my chest, and I didn’t want D’Vaughn to make her way to the altar without knowing how much she meant to me, and how much I wanted this with her. I just needed a few more minutes.

“Oye, can you please stop pacing? You’re starting to make me seasick.”

I ignored Rhea, my mind too full of thoughts for me to even think of a comeback. We’d gotten dressed, taken pictures, and had moved to the sitting area of the dressing suite I’d been assigned.

“Hey now! Looking sharp there!”

Glancing toward the familiar voice, I noticed Kevin and Joe coming toward us. Kevin looked dapper in a tailored suit, his hair braided back into a small bun with the sides of his head shaved. Joe wore slacks and a button-down, but the same work boots I remember him wearing at that first brunch six weeks ago were on his feet. After shaking both of their hands, I backed away and tried to keep from pacing again.

“How you feeling?”

I gave Kevin a wild look. “Nervous as fuck.”

Joe let off a bark of laughter that was echoed by everyone else in the room. Along with Rhea—who was my best man—Raul, Ray, and Darren were all standing with me. Glaring at all of them, I turned back to Kevin.

“Do you have any news for me?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “What kind of news?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe a heads-up on whether or not D’Vaughn is gonna meet me at the altar in her white dress.”

Raul laughed loudly. “You tweakin’. Why would she wait ’til the last minute to run off on you?”

“And not for nothing,” Darren added, “if she were gonna run, I wouldn’t be here right now. That has to count for something.”

I pursed my lips and said nothing. I know they were trying to help, but they didn’t know the stakes. Kevin dropped a hand onto my shoulder.

“I just came to get you because it’s time. Let’s go.”

We followed him out of the suite and down the hall toward the area where the ceremony would be held. Soft music was playing and I could see through the open door that the room was more than half-full, with both sides of the aisle packed with people. My gut twisted. The plan was for us to proceed inside as rehearsed, but before the officiant began, Kevin would come in and make the announcement. It sounded easy enough, but was a disaster waiting to happen.

Taking a deep breath, I met Rhea at the door and we walked inside, moving at a moderate pace down the aisle as we made our way to the platform at the end of the room. I pasted a smile on my face, waving at the family and friends who’d come to witness what they thought was a conventional wedding. Shortly after we were settled in place, the attendants began to enter. Instead of pairing everyone off, our families had decided it would be better to have everyone walk inside in a single line, in alternating order, and then fan out toward their assigned sides as they reached the end of the chairs. Ray was first, followed by Cinta, then Raul, D’Niesha, and Darren. As soon as Darren took his place, “For You” by Kenny Lattimore began to play and my eyes zeroed in on the entrance.

D’Vaughn appeared in the doorway and my bottom lip began to tremble. She was a vision that I would never forget as long as I lived. The white princess gown was all tulle and lace perfection, wrapping around her elegantly and sweeping the floor as she made her way toward the altar—toward me. We locked eyes, and I knew then that there was no way I was letting her leave this building not knowing that she was mine from here on out. She ascended the steps of the platform and came to stand in front of me and I just...stared at her. Her thick hair framed her face, hanging around her shoulders in a blown-out twistout. She wore a crown made of flowers and half a dozen tiny blooms were pinned in her hair. The thin straps of her dress were covered in lace flowers which ran all over the bodice of her dress and faded out as the skirt fanned around her legs.

My heart was so full and pumping so quickly, and my throat was tight, and I wanted this to be real so, so badly that I didn’t know what to do or say or if I was even at liberty to say anything just yet.

I just knew that I loved her and that this couldn’t be the end for us. It wouldn’t.

“We made it,” D’Vaughn breathed, her eyes trailing my body from head to toe.