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My darling Elliot has been nothing but a sturdy rock despite being only two years older than the rest of the gang. He carries himself with a kind of timeless wisdom that most of us fail to attain even as we slide deeper into adulthood. I am insanely lucky to have him as my son.
“You look amazing, Momma,” he says as I reach him and his daddy, the man I am about to marry.
“And you look positively handsome, my love,” I say and kiss his temple sweetly.
“All right, then. Are we ready to proceed?” the pastor asks, holding the book as he readies himself for the ceremony.
My sisters and my parents are wearing their beach outfits—colorful pinks and greens and oranges. Nothing fancy. We didn’t want the fuss. Piper, of course, had to spring for a peach-colored cocktail dress and a sculptural hat worthy of a Kentucky Derby fashion show, but she’s bawling like a little girl at the sight of me in wedding attire; her raccoon eyes have absolutely spoiled her outfit and she knows it. It’s okay, though; they’re tears of joy, much like Vincent’s.
This is all we have, and it is more than we could’ve possibly asked for. I would’ve liked Todd’s family to be with us, but they chose to remain distant and out of their only son’s life. Maybe someday they’ll change their minds. Maybe someday they will set their pride aside and come meet me and their amazing grandchildren. Raising them has been a challenge, yes, but it has also changed the way I experience motherhood altogether.
This is all we have, I say to myself again as I smile at Todd and give the pastor a soft nod to begin the ceremony. The words flow freely, like birds on the wind, like rivers down the mountain, like time itself as the world turns, as the sun rises and sets, as existence itself unravels, taking us all along for the ride.
“Love is eternal and never bound only to the flesh and the bone,” the pastor says as Todd and I hold each other’s hands and look into each other’s teary eyes. “Love is kind and never jealous. Love is sweet and bitter all at once, hopeful and selfless, full and sating every time. Before we are born, love wanders aimlessly through a sea of souls, searching for those predestined to be together. Not always, love finds us and brings us together when we least expect it.”
“Pfff, tell me about it,” Todd chuckles.
I gaze into his eyes and love the way he makes me feel. He’s been with me throughout thick and thin. My body went through some trials and tribulations with the pregnancy, but we pulled through. My babies and I pulled through. It was hard and exhausting to carry them. Yet I did. Every day and every night, despite the crippling backaches and swollen legs, I carried them and I brought them into the world. It took us twenty whole hours, but we did it.
We’re a big family now, a happy and a full family. We don’t need much else. I’ve taken a long sabbatical from work, while Todd has devoted most of his time and resources into building us the perfect house just outside of San Diego, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and with a deep green forest at the back. We want to raise our children as close to nature as possible. Together, we can do pretty much anything we set our minds to.
“Do you, Todd Connors, take Rebecca Alderson to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the pastor asks.
Todd smiles and takes one of the rings from Elliot’s cushion and gently slips it onto my finger.
“I do,” he says. “I do, a thousand times I do, until I can’t anymore.”
“And do you, Rebecca Alderson, take Todd Connors to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“You’d better say yes,” Piper blurts out from the sidelines, prompting my sisters to break down into waves of hysterical laughter.
I’m laughing and crying at the same time as I lift my gaze to meet Todd’s, putting the ring on his finger in return. “I do, for as long as I draw breath and for as long as I have a beating heart, I do.”
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife,” the pastor declares with a beaming smile as he closes the book and takes a couple of steps back. “You may kiss the bride…”
Todd does not need to be told twice.
Elliot drops the cushion into the sand and quickly covers his eyes, giggling as Todd wraps his arms around me and pulls me into the deepest and most meaningful kiss we have ever shared. It’s the kiss that seals the deal, the kiss that binds us forever together in the eyes of the law and of all the gods out there, in the eyes of the universe and our families alike.
We’re cheered and congratulated and showered with well wishes, and all I can do is sob with happiness as my husband holds me close. Our children zoom around, herded by Laura and Callie—the quintuplets don’t understand much of what’s going on right now, but someday they will see the photo albums and they will know what a beautiful and perfect day this was.
There’s music playing from a nearby terrace. We haven’t booked a table anywhere. We decided we’d just invade one of the beach bars closest to the hotel. What’s the point of making plans when life turns everything inside out and upside down, anyway, Todd said to me not that long ago. Why go through the stress and tribulations of planning the perfect wedding when we could just grab the people who mattered the most and go somewhere to tie the knot and make it truly meaningful?
As Todd and I clink glasses of champagne at the head of an impromptu wedding table, as we look each other in the eyes and quietly reaffirm our promise to one another, I realize that it doesn’t get better than this.
“There you have it,” he says, while the rest of the world fades into the background for a moment. “You got my name. My ring on your finger. You got what you wanted, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes. You finally caught on, huh? You finally unraveled my most nefarious plan,” I laugh, leaning into him. I hear our kids chirping and laughing, Callie urging one of them to stop tugging the tablecloth. “There’s a disaster coming,” I add, not taking my eyes off Todd.
“I don’t know,” he whispers. “I fancy myself quite the athlete in the bedroom. I did promise you a wedding night you wouldn’t forget.”
“My love, I have no doubt you will deliver. It’s your eldest son I speak of.”
“Oh?” Todd asks.
But as soon as we both hear the glass breaking and Laura shouting,“Crap!” we burst into laughter and come to terms with the fact that it will be a little while longer before we can quietly retreat to our honeymoon suite to make love until the sun rises. For now, we turn around and snap at the same time, champagne flutes still in hand.
“Brandon Connors, you devil of a child!”
And to think we brought five of them into this life. It will get tiring. They’ll grow up and become harder to handle. But they will also grow up and become amazing humans on their own. We’ll watch our children blossom, all six, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they become better people for a better planet. And in the meantime, we will love each other deeply.
We will hold each other.
We will kiss each other. And we will spend every precious moment we have together.
The End
