Kade

“Aren’t you going to ask me if this is definitely what I want?” I say teasingly to my mom as she straightens up my tie. “Aren’t you going to tell me that it’s not too late if I want to run away? That’s traditional, right? Someone has to ask me that.”

She tuts loudly and slaps me on the arm. “You know for a fact that I wouldn’t let you go even if you wanted to. This day has been a long time coming and you and Lucie both want it. And anyway, we’re in the church now, everyone is here. Lucie will be here in a moment, it’s much too late for you to even think about running away now.”

“Oh well, that’s just charming, isn’t it?” I smirk. “It’s too late to run away because everyone is here. Real charming.”

“What are you talking about, Daddy?” Logan asks me, looking up at me with those adorable puppy dog eyes. It took him a while to get to the place of calling me ‘dad’ and it honestly makes me feel incredible every single time he does. “You aren’t going, are you?”

I lean down to look him in the eyes. “Of course not, I wouldn’t go anywhere. I’m just teasing Grandma, that’s all.”

“He’s being foolish,” Mom leaps in. “Don’t you pay any attention to him, you know what he’s like.”

“Good, because Mommy will be here in a minute and I think she wants to see you today.”

I smile widely at that sweet, innocent remark. “I should think that she’ll want to see me on our wedding day too.”

We haven’t invited many people to the ceremony, mostly because we want this to be a family affair. It took the hep of our families to get us here, so it’s only right that they’re here to witness us becoming something more real. But, we are having a much bigger party tonight. So big that even some of our college friends will be there. Lucie lost touch with Cindy and Rhiannon when she left college, and while their friendship will never be what it once was, it’s becoming something. I don’t know how much it’ll grow, but it’s still nice to see.

At that moment, the music kicks up which means that it’s time. The moment has finally arrived where I get to see my bride on our wedding day. It’s only ben one and a half days since I saw her last, but that feels like a lifetime. We usually see each other all the time. Even if work gets me busy, I make as much time as I can for my family. They’re the most important thing in the world to me.

“Right, buddy,” I say quietly to Logan. “Mommy is here. Are you ready?”

He nods and stands in position, so I do the same. I wait at the end of the aisle with a bright smile on my face, excited to see her. The doors open wide, her father steps inside, and following him is the most beautiful vision in white that I’ve ever seen in my life. I actually gasp because that dress is so beautiful on her. It has capped sleeves and lace detailing at the top, then it falls to her feet, just about skating the ground, but the best part about it is the way that it cradles her ever swelling baby bump. At nine months pregnant, and just about ready to burst, this might not be the best time for us to get married, but we’d already started planning it by the time we found out that we had another unexpected miracle on the way, and stubborn as ever, Lucie didn’t want to change things. She’s even finally trying to get that novel of hers written, although I don’t know how she’s going to find the time now. Two kids will be crazier than one.

She’s a beautiful pregnant woman, glowing and graceful with it. I love that I get to see this because I missed it the first time around. Lucie has told me that it wasn’t the same with Logan, she was very sick all the time, but maybe that’s different because this time we’re having a girl. Flora, is going to be her name. I’ve had a say in every aspect of this baby, it’s awesome… not that it does anything to lessen my bond with Logan. We’ve worked hard on it and now we’re incredible close.

“Wow,” I mouth to her as she walks down the aisle. “You look beautiful.”

She’s still gorgeous to me, I still get constant butterflies, and I’m sure it’ll always be this. Me and Lucie went through so much before we even got together that now I know we can weather anything. This wedding will be my first and my last for sure. We’re forever. My tattoo, the unwise ‘just for you’ tattoo that I got on my travels is so very accurate.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she replies with a smile as her father passes her over to me. “You’ve really made an effort. I appreciate that.”

I chuckle at her joke, loving the friendship that we have as well. That’s helped us many a time. She’s my best friend as well as the woman that I love. How many people can say that?

“We are gathered here today, to witness the union of Kade Roberts and Lucie Smith…”

As the vicar begins his speech, I tune him out and watch only Lucie. She’s radiant, beautiful, like an angel… wait! What was that expression on her face? I almost panic but it falls away as quickly as it comes. I’ll admit that I’ve been very paranoid, but as Lucie keeps reminding me, this is my first time around. She knows her body better than I do. I need to be calm for her…

“Kade, you have written your own vows?” the vicar grabs my attention. “Are you ready?”

I try to push my fears to one side as I recite the words that I’ve been practicing for hours in front of the mirror. It’s hard to find the perfect way to tell the woman that I love how much she means to me, but I’ve tried my very hardest. I just hope I get it right.

“Lucie Smith, you’ve always been in my life in one way or another,” I start with a teary eyed smile. “You were my friend first, the one person I could always rely on even when things seemed hopeless, even when times were hard.” I allow the bullying to fill my mind, and the spunky girl who tore them down. “Then you were the girl who I admired, who I wanted to be like… not that I totally made it.” I laugh, recalling the moment I got kicked out of college. “Then, you were the girl I pined for, the one I wanted.” My travels and the endless wishing is there, at the forefront of my brain. “Then, you were the mother of my child, the love of my life, my entire world. Now…”

I don’t get to finish my words because Lucie bends double – well, as far as she can manage with that oversized bump in front of her – and she lets out a guttural cry of agony. I knew I wasn’t worried! She’s in pain. I grab her and try to comfort her as much as I can.

“What’s wrong?” I beg. “What’s going on?”

“Keep going,” she replies through gritted teeth. “Don’t stop now.”

“It’s contractions,” her mother calls out. “She’s been having them for a few hours, but she still wants to get married first.”

I give Lucie a desperate look, but as always she’s determined as ever. I suppose I have to just get through this. I shoot the vicar a warning glance, letting him know that he needs to speed things along, and I continue.

“Erm, so I guess what I want to say is that I love you,” I wrap things up far more rapidly that I’m supposed to. “And I’m so happy that you’re going to be my wife.”

“I…” Huff, grunt. “I love you too…” She groans again. “I love you very much.”

“That will do!” I cry out, starting to really freak out now. “She can tell me the rest later.”

“Erm, right.” The vicar looks panicked, I guess this isn’t something that he usually has to deal with, but that’s understandable because it seems that everything me and Lucie do is off kilter. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her get her own way this time… “You… you may kiss the bride.”

I kiss Lucie rapidly and grab onto her hand. “Everyone, go to the reception, I’m taking Lucie to the hospital. Maybe… maybe we’ll see you later, I don’t know.”

“Will you stop panicking?” Lucie demands. “It’s fine, it’ll be a while yet…” She pauses as she hears a splashing sound on the ground beneath her legs. Her eyes widen in shock as she realizes that this is her waters breaking. Finally, she’s in the same place as me! “Yeah, okay, I think we need to get to the hospital… Mom, can you take Logan?”

In a way, this is perfect. Flora will be born on our wedding day. Not that I would, but it means I can’t ever forget our anniversary. With some help, me and Lucie finally get out of the church and into the car. When we’re sitting in our seats, I turn to face her.

“I really do love you, you know? And I’m very proud of you.” I take her hand in mine. “I cannot wait to take the next step into our journey together…”

“I love you too,” she pants heavily. “But you need to get a move on right now or this baby will be born in this car and I don’t think either of us want that.”

I slam my foot on the gas, trying to prevent that from happening, but her snapping doesn’t dampen my attitude at all. This is the scariest, happiest day of my life. It’s the beginning of my story really, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the plot turns out.