Valentine’s Day

“Do you think the wind is too cold for Charlotte?” Elliot hurried around the side of the car to open the door for Mandy and escort her to the sidewalk.

“Nonsense,” Mrs. H huffed from the front seat. “It must be sixty degrees today, and you have three blankets on the child. She is going to end up with heat rash at the rate you are going.”

Elliot slid back into the car to get Charlotte’s car seat. Mandy had insisted on riding in the back next to her and Elliot had sat on the opposite side. Robert dutifully drove their unique family as Mrs. H handed out parenting advice like a dentist gives out lollipops.

The four of them made their way up the courthouse steps and through the main doors. Kim and Nate were already inside and rose to greet them.

“Where is my perfect niece?” Kim kissed Mandy’s cheek and then peered down at Charlotte Grace who was peacefully sleeping in her soft cocoon of blankets. “Is she sleeping any better?”

Elliot’s tired eyes met Mandy’s and she saw the twinkle that was always there.

“She slept four hours in a row last night,” Mandy boasted, “I think we are getting the hang of this parenting thing.”

Elliot moved to Mandy wrapping an arm around her and whispering, “You are an incredible mother.”

Kim loved seeing how affectionate Elliot was with Mandy. She deserved a man that loved her, and Elliot was head over heels in love.

One of the clerk’s walked over the where they were standing, “If everyone has arrived, Judge Thompson will see you now.”

A flutter of anxiety swished through Mandy’s stomach and she instinctively grasped Elliot’s free hand. In his opposite arm he carried baby Charlotte in the car seat. The group walked into the Judge’s office and he introduced himself.

“I understand we are having a wedding today?” The judge was in his fifties, a large man with a powerful stature. Age had softened some of his harsher features and his stomach wasn’t as trim as it had been in his earlier years. What Mandy noted right off was that he had kind eyes.

Elliot nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Before anything else could take place, Nate cleared his throat nervously. Elliot smiled as if he knew what his best friend was going to say even before he said it. Right there in the Judge’s office, Nate sank down on one knee.

Kim blinked as he took her hand in his own. She was already wearing his ring, so she hadn’t the slightest idea what he could be doing. Glancing around wildly she noticed that everyone had made a circle around them and her younger sister Mandy was smiling widely.

“What are you doing?” Kim hissed trying to yank her hand free.

Nate’s brow quirked, “Step three of your extended proposal. You can’t think that I would allow you to miss out on the third step.”

“We are already engaged,” Kim said stupidly, not understanding why her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest or why emotion was suddenly clogging her throat.

“That we are,” Nate agreed, “So, I had to step up my game. I knew that you didn’t want a big fancy wedding, but I wanted this day to be special for you. It was Mandy’s idea actually. She said that the only way today could be better would be if she could share it with you.”

Kim’s eyes met Mandy’s, she was nodding at Kim, the brightest smile on her face showing all of the love and appreciation that she had for her older sister.

“I don’t understand,” Kim whispered.

Nate kissed her shaking hand, “Kim, will you marry me—today?”

Mandy let out a tiny squeal of excitement and Elliot hugged her closer to his body. Kim felt the fat tears plop onto her carefully made up cheeks. She loved Nate more than life itself, and he knew it.

“You won’t mind?” Kim could hardly choke out the words as she asked Mandy if she really was offering to share her wedding day.

Mandy shook her head, “Nothing could make me happier!”

Kim turned back to Nate who was starting to get a little nervous, “The answer is yes, in case you have forgotten.”

Kim laughed through her tears and there was a distinct sniffling sound from Mrs. H.

“Yes, a thousand times yes!” She cupped Nate’s face in her hands and he rose to kiss her. Their lips met and the people that loved them most watched as he kissed her tenderly.

Judge Thompson cleared his throat, “You are jumping the gun, son. We don’t usually have you kiss the brides until after the ceremony.”

Nate pulled back, the smile on his face was contagious, “I have always been quick on the draw.”

**

“WE ARE ASSEMBLED HERE in the presence of these witnesses to celebrate the joining of Elliot Brand and Amanda Johnson and Nathanial Livingston and Kimberly Johnson in the unity of marriage. There are no obligations on earth sweeter or tender than those you are about to assume. There are no vows more solemn than those you are about to make. There is no human institution more sacred than that of the home you are about to form. True marriage is the holiest of all earthly relationships. The state of matrimony is based this deep, invisible union of two souls who seek to find completion in one another.”

Judge Thompson’s deep voice filled the office as he asked them to face each other and join hands. He asked them if they would love each other in sickness and in health. He spoke of comforting through the good times and in bad. There were promises to honor and be faithful to one another, to cling to each other in all things.

The each solemnly vowed that they would. Mrs. H was opening crying at this point and Robert seemed to have something stuck in his eye. Charlotte chose that moment to be heard and started wailing from the car seat. Mrs. H went and took her out, but it was obvious that she wanted her mother.

Mandy released Elliot’s hand and went to take the baby. She returned to where she had been standing, “It is better this way. Charlotte should be a part of this too. The baby was now swaddled in her blankets happily sucking in her pacifier. Her deep blue eyes flashing up at her parents. There wasn’t a lot that Charlotte knew about. But she did know that the two-people staring down at her loved her more than life. She knew that she would be safe with them, and that they would see her through all of the challenges that life had in store for her.

Judge Thompson cleared his throat, “Where was I? Oh yes, by the power invested in me by the state I hereby pronounce you, Elliot Brand and Amanda Johnson, and you, Nathanial Livingston and Kimberly Johnson, man, and wife. You may now kiss the brides.”

Mrs. H wiped at her eyes as she watched the man that she had known as a child turn into the person that he was always meant to be. Mrs. H wondered if Elliot’s mother was there in some small way and felt warmth in her heart telling her that she was pleased with how Mrs. H had taken care of her son.

Mrs. H handed Robert a tissue. He didn’t even try and pretend that he didn’t know what it was for as he blew his nose noisily. This startled Charlotte and a fresh set of tears began. There was a flurry of movement as Elliot fussed over Mandy who was certain that the baby needed to nurse again. Kim and Nate argued over who had really proposed to whom or vice versa and Judge Thompson was smiling at the group with a fond expression.

Life would have their ups and downs for these newlyweds, that was just the way of the world. But he was confident that the two marriages he had performed that day would withstand the test of time. You can’t be in the people business as long as he was and not know a thing or two about love.

And these two couples—they were something special.