Page 26 of Jocked Up

Chapter Sixteen

The day before Christmas Eve dawned chilly but sunny as I sat in Amelia’s house with my hair in curlers with a woman studiously crouched over my nails, trying to turn my short stubs into a French Manicure. Amelia’s mother was busy steaming out my wedding dress and Peter and Petra were being entertained by my father. Drake was at our house, going over his own preparations. We were due at the church in an hour and a half.

Amelia’s mother had already insisted I start calling her Mom and Peter called her mama, a word that sounded almost like the French “maman”. My son now had a father, with a new birth certificate to prove it. He was over the moon that Drake was his daddy and told everybody he met that his daddy won the Super Bowl. I smothered a laugh as I thought about it, Peter couldn’t have been more proud of who his dad was. And Drake couldn’t have been more proud of his son.

Peter’s arm had slowly healed and now he didn’t even need a brace. To watch him you’d never know there were steel plates and pins holding his arm together. He carried on with his life as though nothing had happened, though both of our lives had changed so much from a year ago. We had a family now, a new little girl to love, and a man that we both adored.

I picked up Petra and snuggled her for a moment but she wanted back down with my dad so I gave her back.

“Time for the dreaded moment, Amelia.” I called back now that my fingernails were now dry. “Let’s get this contraption on me.”

A silk faille, trumpet dress in off-white hung on the back of the door. The dress was hand embroidered by Drake’s mother, and the lace along the neckline and forming the sleeves had come from Amelia’s wedding veil. My own mother’s veil, a delicate creation of lace that my mother had made herself, was dyed to match my dress and was ready to go as well.

The dress was a sheath of fine silk, and though it was simple, it was heavy. Amelia helped me into my corset then stood on the bed to hold the dress over my head. I held my arms up as she let it slide down. All those months of exercise had trimmed and toned my body, though it had done little to minimize my breasts. The dress slipped over my curves and Amelia zipped me in.

Looking in the mirror I saw a subtly sexy dress but one suitable for a church wedding. It was the shape of the dress, the way it hugged my body as it flared out at my feet that made it beautiful, that made me beautiful. I brushed a tear away as I looked in the long mirror in Amelia’s bedroom. She wrapped her arms around my shoulder and kissed the side of my head.

“Your mom would be so proud of you, darlin’. So very proud.” Only Amelia would have known what I was thinking in that moment. Well, Drake might have too but Amelia understood. I patted her hand and sniffed.

“Let’s do this, final touches to my hair, some makeup, and we’re off.” I breathed deep, not nervous about getting married but worried about the car breaking down or being in an accident. Or maybe the church would catch fire! I told myself to stop being silly and sat down to let the makeup artist and hairdresser argue over who was going first.

They made a decision and soon my face was made up, my hair lacquered around my head in a French twist that was simple but elegant, and my veil was attached. Time to go.

* * *

We were crammed into a limousine, my dad and I on the backseat as the women serving in my wedding giggled over my children. Dad cleared his throat quietly and I looked over at him.

“What’s up, Dad?” I asked, taking his hand.

“I was just feeling a bit tearful. We’ve waited so long for this day, Drake’s mother and I. We split up, you know, so you two could have a chance.” He looked away then.

“So that’s why. But how did you know?” I looked at him with confusion. “I never said anything.”

“Oh, parents notice things, glances, the way you’d talk about him, the way he’d look at you. We knew. We wanted you to have that first love like we’d had with our spouses, that consuming love that never stops, even after death. We were a comfort to each other but we could see even then that you two had far more to offer each other than we did to each other. So we let it go, for your sakes.”

“Thank you. Is that appropriate to say to something like that?” I didn’t know but it was a bit of a bombshell.

“Today is all the thank you we need, cher, all that we need. Now you just have to live happy and free together.” Dad patted my hand and smiled a happy but sad smile. I knew he was thinking of Mom too, in that moment I felt she was there with us, sharing in the moment.

Soon enough he was leading me into the church and Drake was there, in a black tuxedo, waiting for me. I had some winter flowers in my hands but my fingers were numb. When I went to hand them to Amelia I could barely let them go. We shared a quiet giggle and then I turned to Drake. That’s when the rest of the church, each pew filled, disappeared.

He lifted my veil and our eyes locked. There were no doubts between us now, no recriminations, and certainly no secrets. We were starting our marriage as new people, as trusting, loving, accepting people. Mainly, we were starting this marriage as two people that loved each other very deeply. I still felt a sense of wonder every time Drake said he loved me, the words had not grown old or tiresome.

I repeated the words as the priest instructed but really I had no clue what any of us said, all I could see was the happiness in Drake’s eyes. At last, the shadows that even he didn’t see any more were gone and there was only light in its place. Finally, Drake was sliding a platinum wedding band onto my finger and I was given one to give to him. I stumbled through the words, my tongue numb as my brain realized this was for real. I wasn’t imagining it all.

My eyes widened as Drake took me into his arms and our lips met. My arms went around his waist, accepting him even in my stunned state, loving him. Drake kissed me deeply, we were truly a married couple now and the church cheered. I even heard Petra’s tiny voice giving a shout as she watched her mommy and daddy from her grandmother’s arms. I broke away from Drake and laughed, brushing away the tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed as Drake brushed a tear of his own away.

We turned as the priest announced our new state and walked down the aisle together. The people in the church followed behind calling out well-wishes as we went out to the waiting car. The group would be meeting us at our house for our reception.

Drake took me into his arms as soon as we got into the car with the dark tinted windows. His lips melded to mine once more and I heard something that sounded like a desperate sob escape him. I held him as his emotions got the better of him for a moment. My giant of a man was overcome with emotion and I was going to support him through it. He held his forehead to mine as he breathed in deeply, holding me tight.

“I love you, dearest wife.”

“I love you, dearest husband.” I said in return, meaning it.

“Okay, let’s not ever say those words again now.” He laughed and I knew he’d be using those same words for the rest of our lives.

We huddled together in the back seat as the driver took us back to the house. Upstairs in our bedroom later Drake helped me to get out of the dress.