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“I’m so happy for you,” she whispered emotionally. “I can’t believe this day is finally here. Of course, I always knew it would arrive, and that it would be Arella you married, but it seems like no time since I realized you loved her and now this. I’m getting a daughter and a grandchild. The last time I was this happy was the day they placed you in my arms, Jordan.”
“Mom, don’t cry,” I pleaded. “You’ll make Mia cry too.”
Mia slapped me in the back of the head. “Will not. Shut up, jerk.” But I heard her sniffling, and I smirked at my dad over Mom’s shoulder.
After a few more moments, I kissed Mom’s cheek and straightened, being careful so she didn’t lose her balance. It had been decades since the accident that had nearly taken her life. She’d struggled to learn to walk again and still struggled with pain from it every day. But she was here, and other than the occasional migraine, she didn’t have many health issues.
“Let’s take our places,” Mia suggested, taking my father’s arm. “You look handsome in your suit, Mr. Moreitti.”
“Thank you, Mia,” he murmured, sparing her a glance before turning his attention back to where it always stayed—on my mom. “You look beautiful.”
The two of them walked down the aisle while Mom and I were slower to make the journey. I didn’t want to rush her, especially when she’d requested that I walk with her without her having to use her cane. Sometimes she wanted to pretend like she wasn’t disabled, and if I could give her that small thing, I would every time.
Mia took her place at the altar, while Dad stood at the front waiting for us. Mom took her time, smiling both at members of our own family as well as some of Arella’s whom she’d grown close with over the years, through my friendship with Mia. Once we reached my father, Mom hugged me again, lingering a little longer this time.
When she finally released me, it was just in time for the doors to close, and I felt my heart begin to pound. As if sensing my switch in emotions, she cupped one of my cheeks. “You’re going to be a great husband and father, honey. I’m so proud of you. Be happy.”
My throat clogged with emotion, making it impossible to do anything except nod. Seeing the tears in my eyes, she kissed my cheek and then took her seat.
Jaw clenched in an attempt to hold myself together, I stepped up beside my best friend and turned just as the double doors opened. Damien walked his mother down the aisle, his head held high as he escorted her as I’d done with my mom. Each of Arella’s sisters walked down the aisle alone, starting with Bliss, then Heavenleigh, and finally Nevaeh. Palmer followed as the maid of honor before the doors closed again.
As she took her place, she flipped me off, but I only winked at her and we both shared a grin.
The music changed, and my breath seemed to catch in my throat as I waited for the doors to open once more.
Moments later, Drake stepped through the doors with his second-eldest daughter on his arm. The sight of my beautiful bride nearly knocked me on my ass. The vision of her in her wedding dress would remain with me until my dying day. Her dress had a plunging V-neck, a figure-hugging skirt beneath the many layers of crisscrossing organza, which was ruffled and double-layered, with hidden tulle beneath to make it extra poofy. Arella’s hair was in a low, textured side bun with the same diamond and pearl pieces her sister had worn in her hair at her own wedding just a few years before. Her makeup was done with a soft, smoky eye, and her lips looked succulent with whatever lipstick she was wearing.
Mia had provided me with every last detail of the look Arella was going for as her honorary cousin was getting ready earlier. My best friend had stayed with the others as the bride was turned into the breathtaking woman who walked toward me.
The building could have caught on fire, but I wouldn’t have been able to look away from her. This moment would last for eternity, but the closer she got, the blurrier she became. I couldn’t hold on to my tears any longer.
When I saw her chin trembling and the tears threatening to spill from those eyes I loved so much, I took a step forward. Needing to erase her tears, I met Arella and her father at the bottom of the steps. The priest didn’t have time to ask about who was giving her away, because I had already lifted her off her feet and carried her up the few steps before he could open his mouth.
Behind me, I vaguely heard Drake chuckle and then Lana teasingly telling him to take his seat beside her.
“Jordan,” Arella whispered. “You need to put me down.”
“Can’t,” I whispered back as I turned us to face the priest, her feet dangling over the floor by several inches. Not that anyone would know. With as long as her skirt was, it hid the fact that her feet didn’t touch the floor. “Be thankful I can find the willpower to let the man do his part without demanding he jump to the end to declare us husband and wife.”
Her lips tilted up in a ghost of a grin. “I love you so much.”
The priest started speaking, but I didn’t hear a word he said. My eyes, still blurry with happy tears, were glued to Arella’s mouth. I wanted to destroy her lipstick and kiss her for the entire ceremony, but I knew it would embarrass my mom. I was wondering if I really cared or not when Arella nudged me.
“Jordan,” she hissed. “Repeat the vows.”
Without having heard a single word the man wanted me to speak, I said what was in my heart instead. “I, Jordan Moreitti, take you, Arella Stevenson, to be my wife. My partner in life, and as the other half of my soul. You own me, but I declare here and now, before everyone we both care about, that I am yours. Through good times and bad. In sickness and in health. I will be by your side until I take my last breath.”
Tears poured down her face, yet her makeup remained perfectly in place. She swallowed with difficulty, and it took her a few tries before she could speak. “I-I, Arella Stevenson, take you, Jordan Moreitti, as my husband. My partner in life, and as the other half of my soul. You own me, but I declare here and now, before everyone we both care about, that I am yours. Through good times and bad. In sickness and in health. I will be by your side until I take my last breath.”
The priest cleared his throat loudly before pronouncing us husband and wife. “I present you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan and Arella Moreitti.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Jordan and Arella Stevenson-Moreitti,” I corrected, without looking at the man. Arella’s mouth gaped open at my declaration. “I am yours as much as you are mine. Right, love?”
“Right,” she whispered before grabbing my face and pulling me in for a kiss that sent the world spinning.
Epilogue
Lana
