“I know I said I wouldn’t cry, but I don’t know if I can help it,” Becca said, her hand fanning her face to presumably cry out her tears.
“I don’t remember you saying anything about that,” I replied, running my hands along the lace of my dress. It fit perfectly, even better than the last time I had tried it on. Huh. I guess all those fittings really did pay off.
“I might have said it to myself, but still, Jade, you’re a freaking dream,” she exclaimed, beaming with pride. “I can’t believe you’re getting married today. It feels like just yesterday we were cheering for our high school football team and studying for tests ten minutes before class. We’ve come so far from the people we used to be, and I am so grateful that you’ve been my constant through thick and thin, through every trial and tribulation that life has to offer, and there’s no one else I would have rather had beside me. Thank you for being the greatest best friend of all time.”
“Awe,” I cooed, blinking back tears and silently cursing myself for already having the urge to cry. I narrowed my eyes on Becca. “You’re going to make me cry and then we’ll have to spend another thirty minutes fixing the mess.”
“Ugh, I don’t even care, I just really want a hug, so suck it up and let it happen, I promise to help fix your makeup and control my tears of joy, okay?” She didn’t give me a chance to respond before she was pulling me in for a tight hug.
We stood like that for a few minutes, holding each other and sobbing into each other’s shoulders. Thank goodness my sleeves were off-the-shoulder and strapless, otherwise I’d have streaks offsetting the white of the dress.
Becca pulled away, patting beneath her eyes to dry her tears. “Dylan is going to fall over when he catches sight of you.”
I smiled, ready to walk down the aisle and exchange vows with my future husband. “I don’t even know how I’m going to walk on steady feet. I guarantee when I see him, I’m going to want to run straight to him and attack him with kisses.”
“Yeah, well, try to control yourself from doing that, yeah?” She said, laughing. “Are you feeling better about the size of the wedding?”
“I am.” I nodded, remembering the amount of work mine and Dylan’s mother had put into this day. “Intimate or grand, I only care about one thing and that’s marrying Dylan. So, as long as that happens, I’m good with anything, honestly.”
“Good. Now let’s freshen you up because you have an aisle to walk down.”
* * *
“Mrs. Conrad, I have a surprise for you,” Dylan said, grabbing my hand and lacing his fingers through mine.
“Do you now?” I asked, curious. “And what surprise is that?”
“Follow me.”
We walked into the kitchen of the venue we were having our reception at and as soon as we got close enough, my heart swelled with happiness and my eyes widened, tears threatening to spill for the umpteenth time that night.
“You did not,” I gasped, looking over at my husband. “How did you even pull this off?”
“It was easy.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Just made a few phone calls and made it happen.”
“Pizza from the first place we hung out,” I smiled, remembering the first night we had met. “Aside from the floor meeting, of course.”
“Yeah, well, that was mandatory,” he said, blue eyes locking onto my brown ones. “The pizza place was something you did willingly, and if I had known then that you’d end up meaning what you do to me now, then…”
“Then what?” I nudged.
“Then nothing,” he said simply, pulling my hand toward his lips and grazing his lips against my knuckles. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Love shouldn’t be this easy, Dylan,” I said, in awe of the man standing beside me.
“Shouldn’t it?” He questioned, head tilting slightly as he released my hand. “Life’s too short for it to be anything else, Mrs. Conrad.”
“You and your lines,” I said, clutching my chest. “I’m not sure how much more my heart can take.”
“Hopefully a lot because you have the rest of forever to hear them,” he said, grinning wide.
“And there you go with another one.” I opened up one of the many boxes of pizza lining the counter and grabbed a slice, letting the scent invade my sense. “I can’t believe it. I don’t think I’ve been there since, like, graduation.”
Dylan remained silent, watching me gawk over the food.
“I needed this today,” I said through a mouthful of cheesy goodness. “It just feels like we’ve come full circle. I didn’t think this day could get any more complete, but clearly I was wrong.”
Dylan walked over to me, his arms loosely wrapping around my body. “I love you, Jade Conrad. Thank you for taking a chance on me all those years ago.”
I sighed, absorbing his words as I swallowed the pizza in my mouth. “We’re throwing out thank you’s right now? Well, in that case, thank you for taking a chance on me every single day since the day we met—–especially today.”
“Jade, it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done, I can tell you that.”
I tossed the pizza onto the counter and wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing his mouth to mine, showing him in that kiss just how grateful I was for him.
Love was something I had never fully understood until I experienced it with him. I used to remember thinking that I had loved Tian so much it hurt. Love shouldn’t cause pain, it should heal it. I needed to learn that, which was why I didn’t regret my time with Tian. He was part of my story—my journey.
Dylan pulled away, lips stained coco from my lipstick.
I reached up, wiping the smears from his skin.
“Okay, I get that you two are newly married and super in love, but you need to entertain your guests,” Becca announced as she walked into the kitchen. “You two are being gross again, aren’t you?”
“Usually,” Dylan said with a smug smile on his face.
Becca rolled her eyes. “Disgusting and cute all at once, I’m not sure how you two do it. Also, that’s a nice color on you, Dylan. It really makes your eyes pop.”
I barked out a laugh and his eyes narrowed, playfully pinching my sides.
“Oh, is that pizza, from … ?” Her question faltered as she walked over to the boxes, eyeing the logo on top. “Oh my gosh, it is. I haven’t been to this place in forever. We totally have to revisit Flatts soon. Maybe you two can honeymoon there? Really relive the glory days.”
I just shook my head and grabbed Dylan’s hand, leading him out of the room before he could say something equally as witty back. Those two could go back and forth for hours and we did not have that sort of time. But, I will admit, I questioned that decision when we were once again bombarded with questions from family and friends about what we planned to do now that we were married.
I kept my hand locked in Dylan’s the entire time, using him as an anchor when conversations dulled. Most of these people I had met once, and some I had never met at all. Our mothers had invited every person they had ever met it seemed, but that just meant more presents for us to open later, so I was okay with that. Plus, it helped that they were nice and appeared to be genuinely happy for us.
Towards the end of the night, I grabbed my phone to snap a selfie of the Dylan and I together when a number on the list of unread notifications caught my eye.
I slid it open, curiosity getting the best of me. I smiled, reading the message.
“What’s up, wife?” Dylan asked, glancing between my face and the phone. “Did someone post another unflattering picture of us from our husband-wife dance? We could always blame it on bad angles, you know.”
“No, what?” I laughed. “That’s not what it is.”
I held up the phone for him to see the message I had just finished reading.
Tian: I promise this is the last you’ll hear from me. I just wanted to wish you a happy wedding day. You deserve this, Jade. Thank you for being part of my life. I’ll never forget you.
I didn’t reply back. There was no need to.
“Nice guy,” was all Dylan said.
I smiled as his passiveness. He was rarely a man of few words, but I didn’t know what I expected him to say, if anything, at all.
I held up my phone and snapped a picture of the two of us looking into the camera. His hand rested on my shoulder and my own hand was holding his. We were smiling, a little too wide, but we looked happy and in love. That picture perfectly depicted the state of bliss we were in, and I made a mental note to canvas it later on.
“Love you, soulmate slash wife of mine,” Dylan whispered against my cheek before pressing a light kiss there.
“Love you right back, soulmate slash husband,” I repeated, giving him a kiss of my own.
My, my, Jade Young—err, Conrad—look how far you’ve come.