Chapter Twenty Four
Osi
“See it won’t be so bad,” Sapphira was smoothing her hands over my suit jacket over my shoulders.
“Are you telling me that you arranged this cold snap?” I glanced over my shoulder.
She flashed a superior smile, “Of course me and old Mother Nature are close.”
“What else did you arrange?” I narrowed my eyes at her. When Ramsay said that Ollie and Sapphira could plan our wedding, I thought that she would eventually takeover. Party planning was one of her many talents but she shocked me by staying out of it.
She’d told them, “Rustic, low key and quick since no pregnant wanted to be out in the typical August heat and killer humidity.”
Ollie had taken his duties to the extreme. He and Bean had purchased a horse farm in the next county north and had it reconfigured for this day. He also flew all of the ladies, kids and my mother to New York City to find the right dresses.
When I told my mom that I’d planned to get married in jeans and a white shirt she threw a fit. It got so bad that Mad intervened. So that is why I was standing in front of a full-length mirror in a new charcoal gray suit with a pearl gray shirt. I put my foot down about the tie. I think the only one of us that wore one regularly was Tye and he had them hanging from a board in his office so that he could put one on only when absolutely necessary.
“You look so good,” Sapphira told me.
“Nobody’s gonna be looking at me.”
“I will.” She moved to stand beside me. “Cause you’re my boy.”
“I haven’t been a boy for years, mom.” I wrapped my arm loosely around her waist to give her a gentle squeeze.
“You’ll see soon enough, your kids are still your kids no matter how old they get.” She looked up at me.
“Can you believe?” I meant how much our lives had changed.
“I don’t spend much time questioning, I just add an extra thank you in my prayers and go on.”
My mom was truly the type to take it all in stride. “Forward, forward, forward.” I recalled her words that she would repeat when things got tough.
“Only way, otherwise you fall behind.” She gave me a small smile. “Now, when you’re standing out there, don’t fidget. You make sure to stand still. I hate it when the groom looks like he wants to hit the dancefloor.”
“All right, I won’t move around.” Christ, she was really going to give me instructions.
“And Ramsay…she’s a good woman. She will probably fight with you every day but that will keep you in line. You don’t like things easy. You never did.” She told me.
“I don’t think we are going to have it easy with twins.” Ramsay was already making checklists of what were needed times two.
“No you won’t, but you’ve got lots of people who will pitch in and help. But you’d better not go out of town for a few months. It’s easy to get overwhelmed at first. You never know what they want.”
“You mean the babies or your spouse?” I grinned a little.
“If I know you, you’ll just tell Ramsay but I think she’ll be a little harder to crack. So you’ll have to use your detecting skills. As far as babies go, it’s usually gas or maybe an ear ache.”
“Okay. I’ll remember that.” I wasn’t too worried. Ramsay and I would figure it out.
There was a knock on the door, Mad didn’t wait for permission to enter, he walked in. “Feeling nervous?”
“Nope.” I shook my head.
“According to the Irishman, We’re supposed to be heading out.” Mad and Ollie were in the middle of a contest as to who could tell the biggest story with the strongest accent. I gave Mad the advantage because he could do so in his native Welsh.
“Then I need to get to my seat,” Sapphira took one final look in the mirror and held out her hand to me.
I kissed her cheek. “Love you.”
“Of course you do,” she told me and the warmth of her smile told me that she loved me right back.
We followed her to the doorway to the seating area. I call it that because it was a wooden arch that was bordered by wooden doors with a cascade of flowers hanging from a basket. There was an aisle made from wooden planks. There were four rows of chairs on either side and at the end were brash buckets that contained lanterns surrounded by tiny white flowers.
“Wow,” I looked at the scene. The aisle led to a huge tree that had hundreds of lights hanging from it. Not wrapped around it like a Christmas tree but each was hanging from limbs. It was breath-taking. We were to say our vows as the sun set.
I followed Mad to our appointed places. Bean had decided that Mad would perform the ceremony and Ramsay was a happy with that decision. We’d also forgone the issue of picking attendants. I know Ramsay would have been torn between choosing her sister or Billie and I, well…Ramsay was my best friend.
Our friends and family accepted our thoughts effortlessly. Bean and Ollie were acting as the parents of the bride since Ramsay’s had not been invited. I’d insisted on meeting her mother and father. I know the others thought it was a mistake but a man should look his woman’s father in the eye and lay claim to her. Those were my feelings and when my girls’ time come, I’ll expect the same.
We’d flown to Palm Beach to meet Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Yeah, they never told me that I could use their first names. Ramsay had warned me that they were cold but I don’t know how they managed to produce two women who loved fiercely. I don’t know who was more disappointed, them or me. Ollie and Bean had assured Ramsay that they would welcome the Kent’s into their home for the ceremony even though they hadn’t spoken in years. When Ramsay announced that they weren’t invited, I understood and supported her decision but I know that a little part of her heart hurt.
I’d encouraged her to talk it over with her doctor. She was going to a doctor in the same practice as Cress’s. She saw her twice a week and I think it was helping. Ramsay seemed less stressed.
I took my place and turned around to look at the guests. The men were all in suits and I was sure that we’d be in a race to see who could lose their jacket first. The women looked beautiful. There was no color theme but Edwin had helped with each selection.
A guitar started playing softly. Forde pulled a decorated wagon containing Eric who was smiling and waving at everybody. Our only male attendant was dressed in black short pants and a gray shirt that matched mine with no tie. His father pulled the wagon to a stop in front of his chair next to his wife. “OHHH,” Eric called and waved at me. The Forde’s youngest son loved me. I mean the minute that I hit the door, Eric wanted to be in my arms.
The music got a little louder and Lucy and Livy walked side by side dropping handfuls of sunflower petals. They were wearing white dresses with blue ribbons in their hair. They gave me huge smiles and then took their seats by their mothers.
The guitar player switched to a song that I didn’t recognize but I liked it. It was melodic but it stayed in the background because all of our attention was on Ramsay.
She looked so amazing. I mean, she was a beautiful woman but something about the pregnancy had softened her. Ollie was wearing a suit that was the shade as mine and he was smiling proudly. But my woman was glowing. Her golden hair was loose and in waves. It was pulled back from her face in some kind of clips that glistened in the waning sunlight. Her dress was strapless and her dress had some kind of overskirt that trailed behind in in the light breeze. She looked regal and yet warm and open.
When she got close I moved to meet her. I had to touch her.
She gave me a smile that made my heart stutter. It was so filled with happiness.
Ollie placed her hand in mine.
“You didn’t run?” I teased her.
“I’m exactly where I want to be.” She told me confidently.
I couldn’t stop myself and I didn’t really want to, I kissed her.”
I definitely heard my mother mutter, “Couldn’t wait five minutes.”
When I stopped kissing her I stared into her smiling eyes.
Mad’s voice made me remember that there was a ceremony to get through. “Now that we got that out of the way,” he chuckled as did our guests.
I grinned an apology.
The ceremony was short and to the point. Mad did recite a new work that he created for us, for today. Then he gave me permission to kiss my wife. My wife, Ramsay Browne.
The reception was held under a huge maypole covered in lights. The food was great and easy to eat, the bar well stocked. Tye had taken the microphone after dinner and I thought that he was going to do a toast. He was the most talkative of our group. Billie had joined him as he’d explained that the next part was their gift to us. A band appeared and I heard Ramsay’s sharp intake of breathe. I looked at her sharply. I didn’t know if it was the babies or what.
“She remembered,” she whispered. She looked so amazed, her mouth was in a perfect “o” shape.
“What babe?”
“The band,” she looked back at the makeshift stage area. “I told her that I’d heard a song on my way home and it had explained things perfectly. She gave me a CD the next day and I found five songs that were sort of the story of us. I told her all of that and…” she pointed at the stage.
“What was the song? The first one.”
“Sympathy,” she told me with a sad smile. “The Goo Dolls, they do the songs of our life.” She then leaned in closer to me and kissed my cheek. “She heard me.”
“Of course she did.” I told her as we got to our feet as the band hit some cords in preparation for their performance.
Billie and Tye approached us. Billie smiled hugely, “Surprise.”
Ramsay threw herself into her best friend’s arms. “It’s the best ever.”
I told Tye, “Thanks man, she’s right, it is great.”
The two women were still hugging. Tye said quietly, “It was really important to her to do this.”
“She’s pretty spectacular.” I tapped Ramsay on the shoulder and when she released Billie I said, “where’s my hug.”
Billie opened her arms wider for me. “She’s going to make you so happy.” She said against my shoulder.
“Thank you.” Suddenly my voice was rough.
“Hey, give me my man back. I’m not into that sharing shit.” Ramsay told us.
Billie let me go and told my wife, “Well babe, it’s your loss.” Then she winked at her husband.
I’m not a man who prays but I sent up a silent hope that Billie would improve and that her dreams would come true.
“So we heard there was a party tonight,” the lead singer spoke into the microphone.
I took Ramsay’s hand and moved to the front of our group with Billie and Tye beside us.
Much later, we were in our bed at the apartment. I’d tried to make plans for a honeymoon and she’d said nothing sounded amazing. Then I’d offered a few nights at one of the fancy hotels in the area.
“I’d rather go back home.” She told me.
“Are you sure?” I remember that she’d given Tye and Billie shit for weeks at their poor choice of wedding night destinations which had been their house in Brown County.
“I’ve been just about everywhere. I’d rather be around our things, so we can sleep as long as want, I don’t have to get dressed up and if I want to eat ice cream three times a day nobody is going to care.” She ran her hand over my chest and let it rest over my heart. “I just want to be with you.”
“I bought six kinds of ice cream for tomorrow.”
“I might not get out of bed,” She was resting on her side with the body pillow helping to support her body. She leaned back into my front.
“And I’ve got no problem with that.” My voice rumbled in my chest.
She was quiet for a few moments. “I love my ring.” She was looking at her left hand in the sliver of light that the bathroom’s nightlight provided.
“You sure?” She had told me that she didn’t want an engagement ring. Zoe had come up with the idea of the design. It was a wide band, almost to her knuckle and it appeared to be made up of a multitude of tiny chains in different metals. It actually was one piece but it was an original from a metal crafter in Texas that Sly knew for some reason.
“Yeah. Plus it matches yours.”
I extended my arm so that my hand was beside of hers. Then I laced my fingers with hers. “Mine.”
“Yours.” She moved our linked hands to her belly and we fell asleep that way.