David stood under the pavilion trying to remember to breathe. He was staring down the walk way that his wife and children were going to be walking down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. God damn it, David Michael, pull yourself together. It’s not the end of the world; it’s your fucking wedding. What the hell is the matter with you, he thought to himself. Then he spotted his three youngest daughters coming down the aisle, dropping flower petals as they walked, followed by his youngest sons who carried the rings he and their mother would wear the rest of their lives. He smiled at the girls, a lump forming in his throat. Good Lord, my girls look beautiful. Just like their mother. And the boys are handsome devils. Too bad they look NOTHING like me. He was attempting to make a joke to himself.
Jacob and Jordan were the next to appear. David choked on his pulse when he laid eyes on his Jordan. She was the spitting image of her mother. Holy fuck! Who knew that my smart assed little Jordan, my little tom boy, cleaned up so well? And Jacob… I know I’ve seen the boy in his tux before, but damn! Put him next to his twin sister, and the boy is devilishly handsome and they look so much alike.
Malachai and Maya came out and David smiled. Malachai had let his hair grow out enough to be able to spike it up all over the top of his head. He was having a hard time believing that Maya, the little girl that he’d sat on his knee and read stories to before he and Brie met, was now walking down the aisle at his wedding. There were no words for what he was seeing.
He then watched his brother in the band walk their wives down the aisle, then his younger brother walk Angela down the aisle and he took a deep breath. Here she comes, he thought to himself as he stared down the walk way. He hadn’t seen her since the night before when they laid down for bed the night before. He had no idea what her dress looked like or what she looked like in it. His pulse was racing as he waited for her to appear. Breathe, David, breathe. In through your nose, out through your nose; nice and slow. When she came out on her brother’s arm, his heart skipped a few beats. A slow smile spread across his face. For the love of all that’s holy, can she look anymore beautiful? She slowly approached the altar where he was standing. When she and Matt reached him at the altar David held his hand out to her and Matt placed her hand in David’s and went to sit down. When they were standing in front of the preacher, he folded her veil back so that he could see her face. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she made herself be still. He resisted the urge to reach up and wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to witness the union of Hannah Brielle Tuchman to David Michael Draiman. If there be any amongst you that have objections or reasons that this man and woman should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace”, the man said. No one said anything. The preacher continued. “May we please have e the rings?” James and Jeremiah handed the rings to their parents. “Do you, Hannah Brielle, take this man, David Michael, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?”
She smiled brightly as the first of the tears that had welled up in her eyes rolled down her cheek. “I do”, she said as she slid David’s ring on his finger.
The preacher turned to David. “Do you, David Michael, take this woman, Hannah Brielle, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?”
He slid the ring on her finger with a smile. “I do.”
“Then, by the power vested in my by the states of Illinois and Colorado, I now pronounce you husband and wife. David, kiss your bride.”
David’s hands came up to gently hold her face. “I love you”, he whispered to her before pressing his lips to hers.
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