I had no idea where to start, so I went over to kiss my mother and sisters and then was rushed into a seat off to the side while someone curled my hair and took off the makeup I had on and then started applying more. There were a whirlwind of things going on around me as I caught up my sisters and mother on what had happened and was trying to figure out more about what was happening now.
“Is dad here?” I said to my older sister, Mila.
“He’s out in the hallway, waiting for us to get you ready.”
“We didn’t know about this until yesterday.” My other sister, Daisy, crossed her arms and pouted in the corner.
“If it makes you feel any better, I had no idea until just now.” I tried to keep the conversation light because I could see in my mother’s eyes too that she wasn’t too excited to be here.
“I just don’t think it’s right what he is doing here.” My mother, Cecily, finally raised her concern.
“I know it’s not conventional—” I tried to justify because I actually understood where she was coming from. If it weren’t Greg and I, I would be raising the same exact questions if I were on the other side of this, but my family didn’t know Greg and me.
“That’s just the start of it.” Daisy commented again. “He basically threatened Dad into being here.”
“What?!” I swung around in my chair, thankful that the makeup artist had just finished and no one was working on my hair anymore.
“Yeah, came over to the house last night and told him he was going to be here tonight for you. Didn’t give him an option so, of course, we all had to be here,” Mila chimed in.
She made it sound like it was a nuisance them having to come here, to be a part of my life, to see me get married. I hadn’t been to any of my siblings’ weddings since they were all married by the time I was born, but they couldn’t even give me today and be happy for me.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” I looked around to each of them, but their faces didn’t change. My heart dropped that even on this day they still wanted no part of being in my life.
“I think we should get you into your dress,” Erica spoke up in the awkward silence.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I made my way over to the wall where the black lace dress was hanging. Alexa and Erica took it down and then held it open near the ground as I stepped into it after taking off my clothes, leaving me in just my underwear.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to wear those in this.” Alexa spoke up just before I stepped in.
I slipped off my panties. When the inner silk smoothed over me and Erica zipped me up, the whole dress hugged my body and I understood why Alexa had me take everything off.
This dress was made for me. I turned around and looked into the mirror, seeing it hug my curves at my hips and come down my arms to just past my elbows. It lay lightly below my shoulders, with just a whisper of lace peeking up. and the best part was where it billowed out just above my thighs to hit the floor and extend out in a small train behind me. I felt like I had just stepped out of a wedding catalogue or, better yet, a fashion magazine. This wasn’t just a dress you could pick up off the rack at a wedding store. This felt like something Greg had put a little bit of extra love into making sure I had.
He might not have known exactly everything I would have wanted in a wedding, but somehow he made it all come true.
“I never told him any of this.” Alexa leaned in to whisper to Erica and me, addressing the statement I had just posed in my head.
“I don’t know how he knew then...”
“Your guess is as good as ours.” Alexa laughed.
“Because he loves you.” I turned around at Margaret’s voice and saw her standing at the opening of the room. She made her way over to me as I stepped into the stunning white heels that Greg had gotten to complement the dress. It was almost the same lace and everything. It was all just perfect.
I leaned in to hug Margaret when she was within reach, trying to make sure the tears didn’t fall and ruin my makeup.
She pulled back and held me at arm’s length.
“He did such a good job.” She lowered her hand to my left hand and raised it, twirling her finger around my engagement ring. “When he asked me for this the other night, I thought he was crazy, but then he sat me down and told me everything, and I just knew by the look in his eyes that he meant every single word he was saying to me.”
“He told me today.” I knew I sounded pained and upset, but she picked my chin up and held it high.
“It doesn’t matter when he told you, darling. What matters is what he’s done and that he finally told you.” She laughed to herself. “Looking at all of this, I’m pretty sure I know where Greg gets his romantic side from.”
“Is he here?” I knew who she was referring to. David. I agreed with her completely. David was one to always settle Margaret and always treated her like she was the only important person in his life, even though he had three children.
“He’s right outside those doors with your father.” I moved around Margaret and to the side door that led into the hallway. I burst through the door and heard strong hushed whispers coming from down the hall. My father and David were huddled together, but when my father saw me walking towards them, he pulled away and put all of his attention on me.
David turned around and took me in, an audible gasp coming from his lips. His hand went to his mouth as tears started to fill his eyes. My father stood there with no expression crossing his face.
“Dad.” I said it as a simple word, but in that moment, it was so much more than that.
David moved to take a step forward, but stopped himself and looked over to my father, who was watching us intently. My father looked between David and me, but paused on me and then took a step away from David.
“Lilly,” He started off. “I’m so sorry.”
I felt a tear run down my face at his words. This day just wasn’t what I was expecting, and my father saying he was sorry in any kind of fashion was one for the books. He reached me and took my hands in his.
“I know I haven’t been there for you like a real father should, and that I never even knew about these people in your life.” He looked back to David, who was still standing off to the side. “That man of yours, though, told me I had to be here. He told me if I did anything for you in life, it was going to be walking you down that aisle.”
My dad pointed towards where the double doors opened into the main part of the church, where I had no idea how many people awaited us.
“But,” he looked from me and back to David again. “I don’t think that’s going to happen today.”
“What?!” I asked him, shocked that he was saying he didn’t want to walk me down the aisle while standing right there in front of me.
“I don’t think it’s my place to give you away, Lilly. Come here.” My father motioned for David to come closer to us. He took David’s hand and placed it into mine so that David and I were holding hands now, and not my father and I.
“When you said ‘Dad,’ I watched this man take a step forward to try to claim you as his daughter. I watched his eyes shine with happiness and tears fill them with sadness that he knew you weren’t his little girl anymore.” My father looked back at me. “I’m sorry that I have never felt like that, Lilly, and that I don’t have those emotions right now, but this man does.”
I took a hand from David’s and wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face. I didn’t care if my makeup was being ruined.
“If I do anything right in my life as your father, it’s this. David, will you do me the honors of walking my daughter, and clearly your daughter as well, down this aisle to the loving man who has swept her off her feet?”
My father was never one for too many words and I was pretty sure this was one of the few times I had ever heard him say more than one or two sentence sentences me— well, that I could remember.
“It would be my honor.” David answered my father’s question and then turned his whole attention to me. “Lilly, my darling, you look absolutely stunning.”
David leaned into me for a hug just as Margaret had, and my father backed away.
“We’ll make sure to sit in the back so you can have your family up front.” My father spoke up and stood now next to my mother and sisters. I assumed my brothers were already in their seats and waiting like everyone else.
They left David and me to ourselves, and I couldn’t help but bring him into another hug.
“Dad.” He pulled back and wiped a few tears away. “Thank you so much for being a part of my life and for being there for me over the past few years.
“The pleasure is all mine. I promise you.”
“Are you two done being sappy? We have a wedding to get to!” I heard Margaret’s voice from behind me and Alexa and Erica laughing at her. I turned to see them holding out a bouquet of black roses towards me. This man literally thought of everything.
Alexa peeked through the double doors and must have given a signal because the doors opened up and a soft lullaby of Clair De Lune started to play. Alexa walked out first and then Erica, who gave me a wink before she disappeared through the doors. Margaret was last and then I turned to David. My nerves were completely shot at the fact that I was about to walk down this aisle towards my husband for our second wedding.
David took ahold of my arm and lightly pulled me towards the door. I had no idea what was awaiting us on the other side and it spiked my anxiety even more. I stopped David just before the door.
“Wait—”
“For what, Lilly?” David’s voice wasn’t soft and consoling, but questioning why I was stopping us. “What is holding you back now?”
And that was the question to solve it all.
Nothing was holding me back, nothing at all.
The man I loved, who had kissed me two years ago and never said a damn thing about it, asked me a month ago to marry him and for some reason I said yes. I agreed to marry this man and then I wanted to run after it happened, but not now. I was running towards him and I almost didn’t understand how we had gotten here until I really thought about it.
Greg had made sure we had gotten here. He made sure that I knew just how much he loved me without really even saying it. He made me realize just how much I loved him, without my even really knowing it. Somehow this man had made it so that our lives followed this perfect path towards today and I was still speechless.
I stood straight and looked David in the eyes.
“Let’s do this.” I turned forward to walk. “My husband is waiting for me.”
We walked to the door and then turned to walk down the aisle.
The church was filled with rows upon rows of white and black roses, with black tulle lining the aisles. The only people sitting in the seats were my family, Greg’s, and our friends. I smiled at everyone as we made our way down the aisle and I finally looked up to Greg. I had waited because I just couldn’t look at him the moment he saw me, even though that was my favorite part of a wedding. I just couldn’t because I knew by the way his eyes were puffy and he was trying to hold himself in place that he started crying the moment I walked through those doors with his father by my side.
He was the most handsome man I had ever seen, waiting for me in the suit he had on from earlier, the scuff marks still on his pants from when he got down on one knee at Stone Mountain. Everything was coming into place today and I just couldn’t wait for the few more steps I would take in order to get to him.
David and I stopped just at the first step of three that led to Greg. He stepped down and David held out my right hand to Greg, who took it.
“Thank you, Dad.” Greg finally spoke up as he helped me up the stairs. I turned around quickly and leaned down to give David a kiss on his check and just loud enough for all three of us to hear, “Thank you Dad.”
Greg pulled me up to the altar, where it was just us and Pastor Charles. Greg held our hands between us and a flood of memories came back from being in Vegas.
We stood there saying our vows and the pastor asked us to exchange rings and then told us to repeat after him.
“Do you, Greg Moran, take Lilly Alexander to be your lawful wedded wife?”
“I do.” Just as before, the tears started to roll down my eyes. This time Greg reached out to wipe one away and smiled at me. The way his eyes shined I knew he felt it, too. This time was completely different from when we were in Vegas.
“And do you, Lilly Alexander, take Greg Moran to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
I took a deep breath and looked around the room. I looked to where my family sat huddled together and where Greg’s family sat, all smiles beaming up at us, and then Alexa and Erica sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for my answer. I snuck a peek over to Judge Baker and Tessa sitting in the back corner and by the smiles on both their faces, I knew we had lived up to the expectations they both wanted. Yeah, this time it was different, but the best kind of different.
This was what I had wanted and Greg had made it come true.
I looked back at him and, with tears in my eyes, I sealed our fate with two blissful words.
“I do.”