Clay

The spring has been a good one. Not too much rain, and the snow was gone by the end of February. Penny and Wanda got to finish the models on their development in record time, because of course they did. The two of them are like forces of nature. Unstoppable, and I don’t know why anybody would even want to try.

Except Ron, of course. He is still pretty salty. But looking at him right now in his suit and tie, standing under the blossoms of the apple trees, he looks like he is taking it pretty well. After all, he did offer the orchard to us for our wedding. That was a pretty nice gesture.

The trees are young and spindly, sending out the best they can, though I’m told it’ll be another year or two before they can actually bear fruit. These things take time. Trees don’t mature as soon as they are planted. The best fruit seems to come from the older ones.

Ethan shifts nervously from foot to foot, shrugging uncomfortably in his tux. In the last seven months or so he has grown a full five inches. There’s a certain shadow on his upper lip, and his voice sounds much more like a man than a boy now.

He looks up at me twice. Once with that automatic looking away, and then once more where I know he is reminding himself to look directly at me. It’s a habit I’ve been trying to instill in him, making eye contact. He’s taking to it very well.

When our eyes meet, I can hear all the uncertainty and excitement in his thoughts. He’s wondering if he’s doing his job right. He’s wondering if people are staring at him. He’s wondering how the day will go.

He’s wondering how our lives will go.

I can’t answer that right now, but I can show him. I am confident that I will show him some pretty awesome things.

The music picks up, drawing everybody’s attention to the entrance of the orchard. Under the trembling white blossoms of the apple boughs that form a natural arch, Penny and Wanda suddenly appear. A scattered bit of applause breaks out for some reason, followed by nervous laughter from a few people. Penny automatically begins laughing too at the incongruity of applause. I can hear the rippling sounds of her voice carried across our friends and these new leaves. It’s a beautiful sound.

“Jesus,” Ron mutters in awe.

“Oh, wow,” Ethan echoes.

I can’t say anything with my heart in my throat. It’s just such a magical sight: dressed in white from top to bottom, her long dark hair cascading in gleaming waves over her bare shoulders, a bouquet of red and violet ranunculus in her slender hands. Absolutely worthy of applause. Worthy of a standing ovation.

Worth waiting almost sixteen years, actually.

I didn’t even know this is what I was waiting for. I didn’t even realize that I’d been holding a place for her in my heart this entire time. Ironically, that’s what the pact was, even though I put it out of my mind almost immediately. It just seemed like too much to wish for. This perfect creature couldn’t possibly be mine. She had always just slipped through my hands like trying to catch a fish in open water between my fingers. So tantalizingly close. So real, yet not something I could hang onto.

And yet, here she is.

I feel that connection between us pulsing as she draws closer. Wanda holds her by the elbow, guiding her forward in the traditional father-of-the-bride position. Though there are about two hundred people here, Penny is really the only one I can see clearly. Absolutely clearly, as though she stands on the other end of a tunnel.

When they reach the front row, Penny leans down to kiss her mother on the cheek. When she stands again, I can see that subtle swell around her middle. That throbbing bit of us, brand-new, just pushing forward like the blossoms on the apple boughs. A brand-new life, trembling and uncertain, barely more than a wish at this point.

But something I wished for my whole life.

Just a few more steps, and Wanda steps to the side as she guides Penny toward her place across from me. Just inches away. Just the two of us, finally together.

As she looks up at me, I can hear that superhighway between us. Like the last few inches of construction are finally done and it’s really here. This really is a connection, one that can never be undone.

She’s happy. She’s filled to overflowing with optimism and delight. She’s happy for Ethan, too, I know. She’s optimistic and secure. She’s everything she always wanted to be when we first met, even though it took us so long to get here.

As I slip the ring on her finger, it is as though I’m slipping the last piece of a puzzle into place. Finally, at last.

“Man and wife.”

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