"Why am I so god damn nervous?" I yelled, rummaging through the drawers in my cabin. After ten minutes of searching and coming up with nothing, I threw my hands up in the air and fell onto the v-berth. The wedding started in two hours and I couldn't find my damn shoes!
"Looking for these?" I turned around and saw Justin standing there, my white sandals dangling from his fingers.
"God I love you," I said, taking my sandals from him and placing them next to my dress. "I never thought I'd go insane over a pair of shoes."
"You're not even half as bad as Brian is," Maribeth said as she, Jessica, and AJ came into the boat. "Deprivation from you and pre-wedding jitters are about to throw him overboard." I laughed, sitting down and leaning against Justin.
I can't believe it's finally here," I sighed, resting my eyes.
"Well, it is," AJ said matter-of-factly.
"Aren't you happy?" Jessica asked, sitting down next to me.
"Happy, but nervous," I said.
"A little scared about the wedding night?" AJ teased.
"AJ, come here," I said. "I have a secret for you." He leaned in close to me and I slapped him upside the head.
"Owwie," he whined, rubbing his head. I rolled my eyes.
"Baby," Jessica mumbled.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"Well," Maribeth said, "Kevin, Howie, Nick, Joey, JC, and Lance are holding Brian captive on his own boat, Joanne, Rachel, Jamie, and Chris are up at the restaurant helping Bob and Connie set up for the party, the priest and rabbi are reviewing who said what and when, and the five of us are sitting here on your boat."
"Oh," was all I could say.
"What am I supposed to do, sit here and wait?" Brian asked, exasperated.
"Yes!" Joey, Lance, JC, Kevin, Howie, and Nick exclaimed.
"Yo, B-rok, calm down," Nick said, sitting his jittery friend down in a chair.
"But I can't. I'm too nervous," Brian said.
"Don't be," Kevin said comfortingly. "I'm sure everything's going to work out great."
"Well, you're only single for two more hours," Joey pointed out jokingly. "You'd better say your prayers.
"Very funny," Brian said sarcastically. "You are not helping."
"I know, but it's fun to watch you squirm." Brian rolled his eyes and turned on the television, hoping the next two hours would pass quickly.
"Full house," I said, laying my cards face up on the floor for everyone to see. They all groaned and threw their cards down.
"What's that, the fourth time?" AJ whined. shuffling the cards. I nodded and smiled, looking at my watch. It was 1:30.
"We should probably get changed, now," I suggested. Everyone agreed and the guys went back to the boats. I went into my cabin and closed the door I changed into the dress that Jessica had made me and put on the sandals, which had four inch spike heels and laced up to my ankles. When I was done, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," I said. The door opened and Jessica was standing there in a baby-blue satin gown with a v-neck and a low back.
"You look gorgeous," she said, coming in.
"So do you," I said. "See? I told you they'd look better than any froo-froo dress."
"Damn straight!" Maribeth agreed, coming into my room with a dress identical to Jessica's.
"The others changed beforehand, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," Jessica said. "they thought it better so they could stay at the restaurant and help to until the last possible moment, then come pick us up so they could walk up to the ceremony with us." She took some make-up out of her bag and handed me a compact. I put on a light amount of baby-blue eye shadow and some bronze lipstick, then looked at myself in the mirror.
"I'm so ugly," I muttered, clear out of the blue.
"That's insulting," Jessica said, laughing.
"Oops, sorry," I said, sheepishly.
"That's okay," she said. She pulled a box out of her bag and handed it to me. "Here, it's from Steven. He thought you might want to wear it." I opened the box and gasped. Inside lay a silver chain. Hanging in the center of it by a petal was a small rose pendant made out of rubies and emeralds. "It was mom's." I looked at Jessica with tears in my eyes. I hugged her tightly. "Hey, don't thank me. Thank Steven."
"Group hug," Maribeth said, joining us. We laughed and pulled apart.
"Now what about my hair?" I asked.
"May I suggest blue-bells?" I turned to see Justin standing in the middle of the boat, in a black tuxedo and a light grey shirt, holding a bouquet of flowers.
"How about I stick them in the bride's bouquet?" Jessica suggested. "I think you should leave your hair down."
"Thank you, anyway," I told Justin, taking the flowers and giving her a kiss on the cheek. I laid the flowers carefully on the counter.
"Just doin' my job," he said, saluting me.
"Great," I said, sarcastically, "I've been downgraded to a job." Maribeth put a clip in one side of my hair (a row of diamonds) and let a few strands fall over my face.
"Perfect," she said. I put on my mother's necklace and a pair of diamond stud earrings, then we went outback. It was warm out, the sun shining and the trees waving in the light breeze.
"May we escort you three lovely ladies to the wedding?" JC asked. He and Joey had been waiting for us on the back of the boat. (They, unlike Justin, are polite . . . sometimes). They helped us off the boat and we walked down the dock.
"Wait, weren't we supposed to wait for the others?" I asked as we walked towards the beach.
"They told us to tell you they'd meet you there," Joey explained. We walked along the beach, up the wooden steps, and onto the courtyard behind the bed and breakfast (the place I had run to at the yacht club party).
It looked beautiful! The gazebo was decorated with white, blue, and silver silk streamers. An aisle divided the rows of seats down the middle (duh!). It stopped at the alter/huppa, which was made out of wood and decorated with palm leaves and tropical flowers. When facing the priest and rabbi, we would have a gorgeous view of the Chesapeake Bay, which was glistening in the sunlight.
"Steven!" Jessica and I exclaimed, running up and hugging our brother. We talked to him and his fiancée, Lindsey, for awhile. I found out that, before she died, my mother had written Steven a note telling him to give me the necklace on my wedding day. They had another gift for me, but I wasn't getting it until later.
"Look at the blushing bride," Jamie said as she, Joanne, and Rachel came up to us. They were all wearing dressed identical to Jessica's and Joanne's, but they were light-grey instead of baby-blue. Joanne handed me my bouquet, which was a mixture of blue-bells, violets, and had a single white rose in the center.
"You ready?" Rachel asked. I took a deep breath.
"Let's do it." we went behind the curtain, which had been set up behind the seats so they couldn't see us before we started walking down the aisle.
"Bride or groom?" I heard Nick ask someone.
"Bride," they answered.
"Will," I whispered. He looked around, confused. "Will, behind you." He turned around and smiled at me.
"Hey," he said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations." Him, Jada, and I talked for a few minutes, then they went to their seats. After the entire crowd was in their seats, I looked up front and saw Brian standing there, his brother, Harold, by his side. I hid back behind the curtain, Steven by my side. when the music started, Jessica quickly put my shear, silk veil on (on me, stupid!) and got in line. The order we walked down the aisle went like this: Rachel and Nick, then Jamie and Howie, then Joanne and AJ who obviously despised me for making them walk down the isle together), then Maribeth and Kevin, then Jessica and Justin.
"You ready?" Steven asked. I nodded and swallowed hard. He smiled at me and the wedding march began. I heard everyone stand up (lousy tradition!) and Steven and I entered. I didn't look at anyone on either side of me. I just looked up at Brian. Our eyes met and he smiled at me. I smiled back, my fears dissolving instantly. When Steven and I reached him, Steven lifted the veil off my face and placed it behind.
"Mom would be proud of you," he whispered, kissing my cheek. He then took my hand and gave it to Brian, who took it and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it softly. Steven sat down in the seat next to Lindsey and the ceremony began.
Surprisingly, it took only a half-hour. Brian and I had written our own vows. When we were finished, the priest spoke.
"By the power invested in me," he said. Then he paused. "Oh, sorry, us." I giggled a little and so did the crowd. I looked over Brian's shoulder at Justin, who was holding back hysterics. "We now pronounce you husband and wife."
"You may kiss the bride," the rabbi said. Brian wrapped his arms around my waist as I slid mine around his neck. He kissed me softly, yet passionately. Everyone cheered and threw confetti (Screw tradition! I hate rice! And for all of you environmentalists out there, don't worry. It was all cleaned up later.) He took my hand and we walked down the aisle, going to the side of the bed and breakfast and climbing into the black limousine (there was a road that lead past the marina golf course to the restaurant, where the party was being held). When the limo started moving, I looked up at Brian. He cupped my face in his hand and kissed me.
"I've missed you so much," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"I've missed you, too," I said, "but it was worth it."
"That, it was." The limo came to a halt and I looked out the window. We were at the restaurant (I told you it was a short road). We got out of the limo and went into the restaurant. It was decorated formally, but had an oceanic theme. The decorations were silver and blue, but the centerpieces were birds of paradise (tropical flowers) and fake coral. I went over to the bar to make sure everything was ready as Brian did the same with the DJ. When I was done talking to the bartender, I felt a pair of strong arms circle my waist from behind.
"Before everyone gets here," Brian said. He pulled two roses out from behind my back and held them out in front of me. One was red and the other was white. I took them from his and turned in his arms, kissing him sweetly.
"Why do I always end up walking in on these things?" AJ asked as he, Maribeth, Joanne, Jamie, Rachel, Kevin, Howie, and Nick walked in.
"You might always walk in on these things," I said, "but I certainly don't want to know why you stand there and watch."
"It's their wedding day," Nick said. "Give 'em a break."
"Yeah, give us a break," I said, laying my head on Brian's chest. He kissed the top of my head.
"Everyone's on their way," Harold said as he walked in the room, followed by his mother and father. He came over and gave me a hug. "Hey, sis. Congratz.!"
"Thanks, bro," I said, laughing.
"Congratulations," Brian's father said, kissing my on the cheek.
"Thanks . . ." I trailed off, unsure of what to call him.
"Call me dad," he said, smiling.
"Can we talk for a minute?" I asked Brian's mom. She nodded and I gave Brian a quick kiss on the cheek. "Back in a flash." I led Mrs. Littrell outside to the place Brian and I had stood at the yacht club party.
"What's the matter, dear?" Mrs. Littrell asked. I explained to her pretty much my family history, about my mom dying and my father leaving.
"I didn't want to say this in front of everyone, but I had to tell you. The reason I'm comfortable calling you husband Dad is because I don't want to remember my real dad. I know the memories aren't going to go away, but it's certainly a big help. I feel really horrible saying this, but I'm not sure I'm ready to call you mom. My mother died too soon for me to get to know her, but I still feel connected to her. I'm following in her footsteps as best I can, trying to help people the way she did by making music that touches their soul. I don't want to forget her and I feel that I will if I start calling you mom."
"I love you and you are part of my family now," she said. "I understand what you're saying and I certainly understand it. If I were in your position, I would feel the same way, but I don't think I would have handled it as maturely as you did. Can you do me a favor, though?" I nodded. "Call me Jackie." I smiled at her and she hugged me.
"Awe, a Kodak Moment." We turned to see Brian and his (sorry, our) father standing in the doorway.
"Oh, hush up," Jackie and I said in unison.
"Uh, oh. You'd better watch out, son. She's learning fast," dad said. The four of us laughed.
"You coming inside?" Jackie asked me.
"I'll be in in a sec.," I said. She took her husband inside, leaving me and Brian alone.