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At one point my dad has to use the bathroom, leaving Blake and me alone.
I feel Blake’s foot working its way up the inside of my thigh, pushing my legs open.
I gasp and shoot him a ‘not now’ look, but it doesn’t seem to stop him.
“And just how much of that story did you already know?” I ask him, curious about the whole story.
“I heard it on the news today in the kitchen. Most of it anyway… I had no idea they were getting married though,” Blake says, cocking a brow suggestively.
“Ha! Next thing she’ll be pregnant and then what will dad do?” I laugh, absently running my hand over my belly under the table.
Figuring tonight might not be the best time to talk about a lot of things, not just what really happened to dad’s newest neighbor.
“I love you, Blake Mason,” I tell him. Filing the conversation away for later. Maybe later tonight in bed, or maybe in a few more weeks. We’ll see.
“And I love you, Krystal Carter,” he growls in his deepest voice, probing me with his foot and making me jump just as dad reappears.
“Everything alright?” My dad asks, noting my flushed face and Blake’s knowing smile.
“Never better, Jack. Never better,” Blake replies. Mouthing the words I love you to me again when my dad’s not looking.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Blake
It’s the most nervous I’ve ever felt. And none of them my own.
I can’t wait to have Krystal walk down the aisle, to claim her again, really claim her properly by making her, my wife.
It’s her dad Jack who’s a bundle of nerves. First, he’s mixed up the times for the limos, and now he’s frantically calling me telling me he’s lost the rings.
Not like him at all, he’s a real gun at work. His new position as head of accounting for me is the best thing I’ve ever done, and he’s so keen on his new salary he’s insisted on paying for the whole wedding.
That’s what I’m having Krystal tell him is happening anyway. He’ll be getting a hefty bonus come Christmas time, and that’ll be the end of that.
A stickler for tradition, Jack’s biggest must-have was that Krystal and I not see each other before the wedding day.
Having not been apart for more than an hour or two for the past several months, we both knew it would be hard.
But for me, it’s past some traditional nonsense, and I’m more eager than ever to exchange our vows so we never have to be apart like this again ever.
The rings are found, and with what I sense is Krystal’s help, the limos are on time with a few simple phone calls.
Something I thought Jack could handle, but seeing his only daughter about to be given away for good seems to be taking its toll on him.
All’s forgiven and forgotten though as soon as that organ starts to play the bridal chorus, giving me shivers as I force myself not to turn around and peek.
Krystal’s set up her own video cameras, and hired a couple of her old college classmates to photograph her big day at my request.
I want to see everything I’m not allowed to right now.
I want to watch my bride as she walks towards me, want to see her face, her dress. Everything.
And she’ll get to see me, waiting like a good groom should.
Reclaiming what’s already his. Making it a formal and proper thing, something I insisted on if we’re going to have a family someday.
I won’t have kids born out of wedlock, I told her. I don’t know why she found it so amusing, but she agreed to marry me without any real surprise on her part.
We’ve already made our pact to each other with our bodies, now we’ll do the same with our spirits. Before the holiest of all witnesses.
It’s the same church, the same priest who married her dad and baptized Krystal before her mom left Jack on his own with her.
The same church was Krystal’s idea, and I’m not sure if the ancient padre has a tear in his eye or they’re just watery with age.
Krystal and I also agreed to have Jack give her away as well as be the best man.
It’s a proud moment for him to see his only daughter wed, but I can see there’s a sadness too. At not having his wife here to see their baby girl all grown up. But also because he really is giving her away.
Her own life ahead of her, our life together. Her own family at some point in the future.
Our family.
He’s a part of it already, but I kinda feel for Jack. He’s a good man.
Our vows are traditional, with only the emotion in her voice and the conviction in mine making them stand out from anyone else who might happen to read or even say the same words.
