Camden
To say I was anxious was an understatement, so when the doors finally opened and revealed my Riley, it was a relief. A breath pushed out of me and it was almost as if my body was relieved to even lay eyes on her.
My wife.
She walked toward me, arm linked through her mother’s elbow, and even though the room contained many other people, it may as well have just been us. Our gazes locked and nothing in the world could have pried my eyes off her.
There’d never been a woman more beautiful than my Riley as she walked down the aisle to me.
I’m sure her dress was stunning, and all the added attention to her makeup and hair was probably good too, but it wasn’t how she looked that made her beautiful, it was how she made me feel. I felt so fucking lucky to be the one who got to spend forever with her. I could hardly contain my emotions and was caught off guard as a tear slipped down my cheek.
I wasn’t usually an overly emotional man, but seeing her and knowing she was mine, that we got to spend our entire lives together making each other happy… well, it was all hitting me hard.
Riley and her mother made it all the way down the aisle, both of them smiling widely. When she was within reach, I held out my hand. She came willingly and I leaned over to kiss her mother on the cheek, trying to convey with one gesture how thankful I was for the opportunity to love her daughter, then led Riley back to the officiant.
The music stopped and everyone took a seat, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Riley.
“Hi,” she said softly, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Hi,” I replied, watching as one of the tears broke free and streaked down her face. I brushed it away with my thumb and then mouthed, “I love you.” That made more tears fall, but she smiled and mouthed, “I love you too.”
“Good evening,” the officiant said to everyone. I’d been introduced to the man just a few minutes before, but I couldn’t remember his name for the life of me. And that was fine. Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, I wouldn’t want to remember his name or even what he looked like. I did, however, want to remember the way Riley looked as she walked toward me, how we felt standing in front of each other, her hands in mine, ready to get married.
“People don’t usually come to Las Vegas to get married in a lengthy service, so I’ll make this short and sweet.”
His quip made everyone laugh, Riley and me included.
“Marriage is not just a piece of paper, it is a commitment to be a partner every single day of the rest of your life. Marriage isn’t about a dress or a ring, it’s about two people promising to put the other person above anyone else until death. You kids look plenty happy, and I’m sure you love each other a lot, but I’m here to tell you there will be days in the years ahead where you’ll question that love, where you’ll wonder if you have what it takes to stick it out until the end. Remember, love is a feeling, but marriage is a choice. You must choose, every day, to be true to the one you love, to give your marriage as much attention as it needs, and even when you think it’s fine, put the effort in anyway.”
Riley smiled at me and I squeezed her hand. Even though this man was a Las Vegas marriage officiant and he probably married hundreds of couples every year, I took his advice to heart. I never wanted to be complacent with Riley. I never wanted to take our relationship for granted or fall away from the closeness I felt with her in that moment. I vowed to work every day at making her happy.
“Did you want the traditional vows, or have you prepared your own?” he asked us with a smile.
Before I could answer, Riley spoke. “Is it okay if we just wing it?”
“You want to wing your marriage vows?”
She shrugged. “Yeah?”
He laughed but then said, “Be my guest.”
Riley turned and handed her bouquet of peonies to Hadley, then took both my hands in hers and looked up at me with the most brilliant smile.
“Camden,” she started, then stopped to cry a little. Hadley handed her a tissue and she started again after a few moments. “Camden, I think often about how so many things had to line up just perfectly for us to meet the way we did. To think that someone else could have sat down next to you, or that the Kiss Cam could have landed on two other people, or if I didn’t have a loudmouthed best friend who gave you my personal information, we wouldn’t be standing here right now and I wouldn’t be the luckiest woman in the world to be marrying you. But I want you to know that I am well aware of the part I’ll play in our forever. I know life won’t always hand us happiness, so I promise that even in the bad times I’ll hold your hand. I’ll live in the beautiful house you bought us, but I promise I’d be happy with you in a crappy apartment in the bad part of town. When you’re sick, I’ll make you soup, and when you’re sad, I’ll hold you. When you’re angry, I’ll help you plot your revenge, and when you’re happy, I promise I’ll be happy with you. I promise I’ll always keep Guinness in the house, even if it’s the grossest beer ever made, and I’ll always let you win at Skee-Ball. I promise I’ll always put the life we’ve built together first, and I will make you a priority every single day.”
Not a damn dry eye in the house. Jesus.
I rubbed my thumbs over the back of Riley’s hands and tried to put two thoughts together.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised to find myself standing in front of you, speechless. You’ve had that effect on me a lot since that first night we met. But rest assured, Riley, no matter how we would have ended up meeting, the two of us were destined. Nothing as perfect as you and me together could be anything but fate. I’m not sure how I’ll ever top this,” I said, waving my hand around for emphasis, “but I promise I’ll never stop surprising you. I live for the look on your face when I give you something you didn’t even realize you needed. Your smile can make the worst day better, the saddest day happy, and I intend to see you smile every day for the rest of my life. I’m also going to bust my ass to provide for you, not because you can’t provide for yourself but because I want to give you everything I can. It’s the least I can do since you’ve given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
I heard the females in the chapel sighing, but I continued.
“I’ll try my best to make sure you have everything you want, but I’ll always be there to give you what you need. I’ll get you out of your head, because I know sometimes you get lost in there. I’ll make you laugh because I know you love it, but also because the sound of you laughing is the best sound in the whole world. I’ll hold you close when you feel like you’re floating away, and I’ll rub the tension from your shoulders every night since you seem to want to carry the world on them all on your own. No one would have loved you like I’m going to love you.”
Because I couldn’t stop myself or hold back any longer, I pulled Riley toward me and pressed a kiss against her lips, then smiled against her mouth when I felt her arms wrap around my neck.
The officiant cleared his throat and then laughed. “You, uh, skipped ahead a few steps.”
“Sorry, not sorry,” Riley replied spritely, making everyone laugh.
“Do you have rings?”
Riley and I both turned to our best people to retrieve the bands.
“Camden,” he said once I’d turned back to face Riley. “Place the ring on her left ring finger and repeat after me.”
I held the ring at the tip of her finger as he spoke the words and I repeated them, knowing I’d never say them to another woman.
“I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed.”
I slid the platinum eternity band down her finger and then grasped her hand in mine, watching as she sniffled and smiled all the while.
“Repeat after me, Riley,” the officiant said.
I watched as she placed the ring on my finger and looked into my eyes, saying, “I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed.” I looked down as the ring slid into place, but something was off. The ring I’d chosen was titanium, but the ring on my finger was platinum. I looked up to Riley and even more tears were shining in her eyes.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said through a cry, “but I switched your ring out with another.”
“What?” I asked, looking back and forth between the ring and Riley. Behind me I heard my mother crying, and I glanced over to see my stepdad consoling her. “You switched my ring?”
“That’s your father’s ring. Your mom thought you might like to have it.”
“What?” I said again. “My father’s ring?”
“Yeah,” she replied, nodding as more tears fell. “I hope that’s okay?”
I looked back at my mom again, then to Riley.
“His wedding ring?” I looked down at the ring on my finger. Suddenly it all clicked into place, and along with understanding came emotion. My fist clenched and I brought it to my mouth, pressing the closed fingers against my lips, trying to keep in the sobs that had caught me off guard. Riley was immediately as close to me as she could get, one arm around my waist as the other hand came to my cheek.
“I’m sorry, Camden. I’m sorry. We thought it would be a nice surprise. I should have asked you first.”
On instinct, I opened my arms and wrapped them around her, pulling her chest against mine and burying my face in her neck. I cried silently against her for a minute, trying to pull myself together but failing. I’d never experienced emotion so raw before. All the while, Riley was running her hands up and down my back, apologizing over and over.
Once I’d gained some composure, I pulled back and took her face in my hands, bringing her gaze level with mine.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I can get your new ring. I think Hadley might still have it.”
I silenced her by kissing her again, softly that time.
“Thank you,” I said against her lips. “I didn’t even know this existed.”
“You’re all right with it?”
“Yes.” I smiled, our noses still touching, her body pressed against mine. “Yes. I was surprised, but a good surprised. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I kissed her again, which prompted the officiant to clear his throat one more time.
“I’m going to assume neither of you has done this before, so I’ll give you a hint: You’re supposed to wait to kiss until the end.”
“Sorry, not sorry,” Riley said again, and that time even the officiant laughed.
It was with tears in my eyes and Riley in my arms when he finally said, “By the powers vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride… again.”
So I did.