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My wife.
When she woke, we ordered room service for breakfast and then went for a swim in the lagoon surrounding our villa, sliding into the water over and over, laughing as we went. We ate a light lunch, as Victoria had told us she’d arranged a feast fit for royalty for dinner, and then took a short nap afterward.
Early afternoon saw us change into the first of two wedding outfits we’d be wearing. Since we were doing our wedding a little differently, we’d chosen to have dinner before the actual ceremony so we’d be able to see the stars as we exchanged our vows.
I dressed in linen pants and a short-sleeved button-down blue shirt that Emilia had told me matched the color of my eyes. When she stepped out of the dressing room, my heart skipped a beat.
She was wearing a dark blue, ankle-length floral dress with a halter neck. Her hair had been pinned up in a loose bun off her face, and her makeup was light, her lips a pale pink. It only accentuated her beauty.
“Wow.” I let out a whistle. “You take my breath away.”
The smile she gave me was wide. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Bennett.”
I gave her a kiss before taking her hand and together we walked to the restaurant, where our three special guests were waiting for us. After exchanging greetings, Victoria surprised us yet again by having arranged not only for us to have a private room to enjoy dinner, but our very own chef who cooked our meals right next to us.
Also present was a photographer, who unobtrusively snapped photographs of us with our friends as we enjoyed our wedding dinner. She never interrupted or asked us to pose for any photos, and we barely knew she was there.
Once the meal was over, we went back to our villas to change for the ceremony. I thought I would feel nervous as I dressed in white linen pants and shirt, but all I felt was joy at finally entwining my life with Emilia’s and excitement at this next chapter in our lives together.
Ours was a journey begun decades earlier in a foster home thousands of miles from where we now stood. It felt like another lifetime ago.
But I would have gone through it all again. Suffered everything I had if it meant I’d be where I was right now.
When Emilia stepped into the bedroom, my jaw fell open. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her. She wore a beaded lace dress that came to her knees. The bottom half of it flowed around her, cinched at the waist with a satin band, thin straps, and a sweetheart neckline. Her hair was loose and curled around her face, which only appeared to have a light covering of makeup.
The only jewelry she was wearing beside her engagement ring, which she’d already slid onto her right hand, was the pair of pink diamond earrings I’d gifted her upon her return home from the hospital. Marian had picked them up for me so I could give them to her our first night home, and I was delighted she was wearing them now.
She held out her hand to me, her eyes shining. “Shall we go get married, Jase?”
“Yes.” I took her hand and patted my pocket with my free one to make sure I had the box with our wedding rings in it.
We left the villa and met Marian, Victoria, and Julian in the lobby of the resort. Once we were all gathered, Victoria led the way to a private area near the beach.
It was gorgeous. An arch covered in flowers had been constructed on the edge of the grassy area near the beach, and flower petals had been scattered all over the place. The celebrant, a local lady with a beaming smile, waited for us under the tree. Marian, Victoria, and Julian walked down to where she stood, their path mapped out by large tiki torches staked into the ground.
Once they were in place, Marian standing on the left and Victoria and Julian on the right, Emilia and I held hands as we walked down the path to where everyone was. She’d opted not to carry flowers; it was just the two of us, our fingers entwined as we embarked on this new journey in our lives together.
The ceremony itself was short and sweet. We’d written our own vows and repeated after the celebrant as we promised to love, cherish, honor, and respect each other for as long as we both lived. I slid the gold band embedded with alternating pink and white diamonds that Emilia had chosen onto her now fully healed left ring finger, and she slid the solid gold ring I’d selected on mine.
When we’d committed to a life together in front of our dearest friends, the celebrant proclaimed us Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Emilia Bennett, and I needed no instruction to kiss my beautiful bride. When our lips met for the first time as husband and wife, the world fell away and it was just the two of us, overwhelmingly happy and ridiculously in love.
When we finally released each other, we were soon engulfed in hugs and kisses. The celebrant politely declined our invitation to join us for cake and dessert, sticking around only long enough to get us to sign all the necessary paperwork to make the marriage legal.
Victoria once again became our angel, having arranged for a sumptuous spread of desserts and a gorgeous, lush chocolate wedding cake with handmade Madagascar vanilla bean ice cream. We sampled everything on offer, from cheesecake to a traditional Maldivian dessert, which we were told was a type of milk doughnut.
I sat back in a large, comfortable chair and enjoyed a cold beer as Emilia parked herself on my lap. I peppered her face with kisses as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Are you happy, Mrs. Bennett?” I asked her quietly.
She gazed at me intently before her face lit up like a star in the sky. “Deliriously so, my husband.” She leaned over and kissed me, uncaring about the fact we still had our friends sitting with us.
“Oh my God, look!”
Victoria’s cry had us separating and looking her way. She was pointing upward, her neck craned back, and when we did the same, we saw what had caused her to cry out: a shooting star flashed through the night, illuminating the sky as it blazed a path overhead.
“Oh.” My wife’s soft cry caught my attention, and when I looked at her, I could see a tear tracking down her face. “Can you believe it, Jase? How perfect is that?”
“It’s serendipity.”
We smiled at each other and kissed some more. She then curled up on my lap as we chatted to our friends and ate our fill of sweet treats under the stars.
