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He took over the planning of all of the larger details while I focused on recovering from childbirth and forming a connection with our baby. It gave me so much more mental space to spend finding equilibrium again. I can’t imagine how it would be to have to plan a wedding while raising a childandhaving to work on top of it. I think I’d truly lose my mind.
I had to get my dress re-fitted again, but I don’t feel self-conscious or unhappy with the way it fits me. Instead of feeling stretched out and ugly, I feel goddess-like, like a true woman. In fact, there are some ways in which I feel even more beautiful than I did before. I love the way that my hips have filled out since giving birth, and my breasts grew two cup sizes when I started breastfeeding.
It feels strange to know that there won’t be any family or friends of mine at my own wedding, but Adas has made sure that I feel more than loved by everybody in his life. He flew in his whole family from Russia for the occasion, and they welcomed me with aggressively open arms and fierce love, just as he’d promised they would.
It’s a beautiful autumn day for a wedding, even though I was so nervous about having an outdoor ceremony to begin with. I’d feared so much that the weather would ruin the day and undo all of the hard work that Adas had taken on for me as a labor of love.
The autumn colors have taken over the whole landscape of the forest that we’d picked out together. It’s the perfect temperature outside, just crisp enough to keep everyone from being uncomfortable without being cold.
Even if things might be a little over the top for an outdoor wedding, it still feels like something that has been done for me purely out of true love and devotion. It’s moments like these that made me wish I had some kind of base for comparison, just so I could understand how neglected most other women in the world feel.
Because I don’t think Adas could neglect me if he tried.
When the ceremony starts, I feel the steady hum of anticipation vibrating under my skin, illuminating my soul with pure joy that only shares a place in my heart with the birth of my child.
Adas and I had to find new music that I liked for the wedding, and we spent hours listening to albums until we discovered a new band, Silk Road. I immediately fell in love with one of their songs, and Adas hired a full orchestra to play me an instrumental version to walk down the aisle.
Walking through a crowd of so many people I’ve never seen before feels so surreal, but the walk isn’t the event; it’s getting down to the end of the aisle to meet my husband. I can’t take my eyes off him the whole way, even if I’m supposed to glance towards the audience periodically. All I want to do is stare into his eyes as he silently begs me to just skip the fancy walk and run straight into his arms.
I hardly hear a word exchanged during the ceremony. The priest is Russian Orthodox, and even though I’ve been working on my Russian speaking skills, I’m far too nervous and excited to try and translate what he’s saying. The religious portion of the ceremony is all for show anyway. All that needs to happen is for me to sayI do.
When Adas kisses me for the first time as my actual husband, my heart skips a beat as the crowd around us goes crazy. Even Erik and Gregory, who had taken their sweet time in warming up to me, seem to share in our joy.
The night flies by like a blur, especially as the champagne starts to flow. I’ve probably never had more fun in my entire life, and I get to spend it all with the man who chose to fall in love with me before I even knew who he was.
Iulia is by our side for much of the night, but Adas’s family decides to take turns taking her off our hands so that we can spend our wedding night partying so hard that we forget everything the next morning.
Eventually, we stumble into our honeymoon suite, awkwardly sharing an elevator ride up to the top floor with another newlywed couple.
Neither of us says anything, but we both exchange knowing glances.
When we reach the room, the first thing I do is take off my dress, letting it fall to the floor at my feet as my ribcage expands freely for the first time all night.
“You know, this might not mean a lot coming from me, but that was probably the best wedding I’ve ever been to,” I tease as Adas opens the bottle of champagne on the table.
“I know that’s supposed to be a joke, but to be honest, it feels pretty good to know that I could have probably given you that experience better than anyone else anyway,” he says, smiling with self-satisfaction as he pours us both a glass.
We’re at the very top of the building, and he managed to get us the room with the largest patio in the building. There’s a whirlpool overlooking the city with almost nothing separating us from the curious eyes of the tenants in the buildings below. I feel like a Greek demigod, looking down at the mortals that worship me, question my motives, and curse me all the same.
No matter what others may think of us, we’ll always be on top of the world when we’re together.
In my ethereal joy and absolute freedom, I unlace my corset and slip my panties down around my ankles, opening the sliding door and jumping right into the whirlpool before Adas even has a chance to ask if I want another glass of champagne.
My hair is soaked, and my makeup runs down my face in black streaks like paint water, but I feel more alive now than I ever have. I know that a life with Adas will keep this feeling alive in me for the rest of my life, and as I look out at the lights of the city, I can’t help but feel like I’ll never truly come down from this high so long as he’s mine.
The End.
PREVIEW OF THE BRATVA’S TRIPLETS
1
AUDREY
“Audrey, did you get my email?”
I glance up from my computer, blinking a few times to adjust my eyes from the constant strain of the screen. Standing in the doorway of my office is Katie, the well-meaning but overbearing supervisor of my department.
My mom was able to get me a job at a law firm through her connections with the founder, but ever since I started, I don’t feel like I really earned my place here. I’ve made a couple of mistakes since starting, and even though everybody tells me that everything is fine, I have a sneaking suspicion that my colleagues think poorly of me.
