The Wedding

TWO MONTHS LATER
February 14

Julie stood in front of the full-length mirror and examined her reflection. She couldn't believe that her wedding day had finally arrived. She heard someone come into the room and turned around.
"So, are you nervous?" asked Rachel coming inside. She was followed by Jess, Jen, Angela, and Stacey. All the girls were Julie's maids of honor. She couldn't decide on one person so she chose all of them.
"A little, but not the bad kind of nervous, the good kind of nervous that only makes me more excited," replied Julie smiling.
"That's good, and might I add, you look so beautiful!" complemented Jen.
"Thank you," replied Julie and turned to look in the mirror once again. Her wedding gown was long and it had off-the-shoulder sleeves. The bodice was tight and it had a very delicate flower pattern sewn into it. The skirt of the dress was full and it was made from silk. There were pearls sewn onto the skirt and they looked like they were cascading down the dress. Julie was wearing a simple pearl necklace around her neck and dangling teardrop pearl earrings. Her dark brown hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders and her long veil rested on her head and fell down to the floor behind her.
"I knew that you and Nick would get married someday," said Angela. "You're just so perfect for each other it's amazing."
"Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, nothing will keep you two apart," commented Jess.
"Even though I haven't known you for as long as the other girls have, the first time I saw you and Nick together, I knew it was a match made in heaven," said Stacey with a smile.
"Thank you, everyone, so much, without all of you me and Nick wouldn't have gotten through everything that life had put us through," said Julie tears of joy gathering in her eyes.
"No crying," warned Rachel. "You'll ruin your make-up," she added. Julie nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

*~*~*
"Nick stop fidgeting!" snapped Brian as he tried to fix Nick's cuff link.
"I can't help it! Bri in just under an hour I'm going to marry the girl of my dreams!" exclaimed Nick but he tried to stand still.
"There, done," said Brian and stepped back to look at Nick.
"I can't believe our little Nicky is getting married," said Kevin shaking his head.
"I'm not little, and don't call me Nicky," said Nick and looked at himself in the mirror. All the guys, plus Nick's little brother Aaron, were in the room with him because they were all his best men.
"Sorry," said Kevin grinning.
"Bri, do you have the rings?" asked Nick.
Brian nodded. "Yep, they're in my pocket," he replied.
"Good," said Nick and looked at the clock for the millionth time.
*~*~*
Julie stood anxiously at the doors to the church. She was waiting for the wedding march to start playing because that would be her cue to walk in. She looked at her cousin Todd, who was the one who was leading her down the aisle since her parents were divorced, and smiled. Todd smiled back.
"You make a gorgeous bride," he said and squeezed her arm.
"Thank you," said Julie and then heard the wedding march. It was time.
The doors opened and Julie and Todd started walking. Ooo's and ahh's were heard from the crowd of friends and relatives gathered inside. Julie smiled widely at everyone she knew and before she knew it, she had reached Nick. Todd released her arm and Nick took it and then they both turned to face the priest.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join Nickolas Gene Carter and Julie Margaret Lanar in holy matrimony…" began the priest and Julie's mind drifted back to all the times she had spent with Nick.
Nick's mind was doing the same thing. He was so happy that he couldn't even describe the feeling. He felt like his heart was soaring and it would never stop. He knew that this was the beginning of the rest of his life and that it would be as wonderful as he imagined, probably even better. He also had a surprise planned for Julie and was going to give it to her as soon as they were pronounced husband and wife.
"Now, do you Nick, take Julie to be your lawfully wedded wife, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" asked the priest.
"I do," said Nick and slid the wedding ring onto Julie's finger.
"Now, do you Julie, take Nick to be your lawfully wedded husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" asked the priest.
"I do," replied Julie and slid the wedding ring onto Nick's finger.
"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!" announced the priest. "You may kiss the bride," he told Nick.
Nick turned to Julie and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Everyone in the church stood up clapping and cheering.
"I have a surprise for my wife," pronounced Nick and led Julie to the piano that was in the church.
"What are you doing?" asked Julie curiously.
"You'll see," said Nick smiling and sat down at the piano. He turned to face everyone in the church. "This song I wrote for Julie, it's called 'I Will Always Love You', and I give a special thanks to Kevin, who taught me how to play the piano," said Nick and smiled at Kevin, who smiled encouragingly back. Nick cleared his throat and began to play. The beautiful melody drifted from the piano and straight into Julie's heart. Then Nick began to sing and Julie knew that she would remember those words for the rest of her life.

"There are some things on this Earth that will last forever
I know that one of them will be you and I together
Our love is stronger than anything else in this world
And I know that we'll get past the anger and the hurt

CHORUS
You are the one thing in my life
That I can always depend on
Cause you are the one that I dream of
Every night when I'm alone
So please remember when I say
I will always love you

Always and forever…

The things that we've faced in the past
Are now behind us and we've passed this test
The love we have for each other will never fade
No matter how many mistakes we would have made

CHORUS
You are the one thing in my life
That I can always depend on
Cause you are the one that I dream of
Every night when I'm alone
So please remember when I say
I will always love you

So now I give my love to you and I know you'll keep it safe
Cause you have the key to my heart and the key to my life
We were two but are now joined as one
And our life as husband and wife has just begun

CHORUS
You are the one thing in my life
That I can always depend on
Cause you are the one that I dream of
Every night when I'm alone
So please remember when I say
I will always love you

Forever and always…

I…give…my…love…to…you."

Nick finished singing and turned to look at Julie. "You have inspired me to write these words and they express a fraction of my love for you, because my love is so great, it cannot be put into words," he said sincerely looking into her eyes. Julie's eyes moistened and she leaned in to kiss Nick.
"Thank you, for being such a wonderful person and for already being such an amazing husband," she said softly when their lips parted. Nick smiled, stood up, and put his arm around Julie. Together, they made their way back down the aisle and out of the church, while their guests cheered for the newly married couple.

chapter 13 epilogue