Page 80 of The First Kind of Love
Aeris goes first, unbridled love oozing from her pores as she stares at her future husband with the same bandwidth of admiration that spills in my stomach like sticky oil over coastal waters.
“Hayes Hollings, the moment I met you, I thought you were the biggest dillweed on the planet,” she jokes, rousing laughter from the audience. “If it wasn’t for you taking care of me on the anniversary of my brother’s death, I don’t think I would’ve had the strength to carry on. I was at rock bottom when I met you, and you didn’t even care. You weren’t looking to fix someone—you were looking for a reason to keep living, just like I was. I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I wouldn’t be here today without your love, your support, your constant reassurance…even your ill-timed innuendos.
“I came to you a broken person, but my past never dissuaded you. You remind me every day that I made the best decision in trusting you with my heart. Spending forever with you is the first future that doesn’t scare me, and I’m beyond grateful that you’re the person I’m going to love for the rest of my life.”
Moisture smears the edges of my vision, and a full-throated sob nearly impedes their exchange.
Hayes swallows before beginning, desperately trying to keep himself together. “Aeris Relera, the night you turned me down and made fun of my penis size was the best night of my entire life.”
Good thing there aren’t children here—at least, not children who can understand words yet.
“I was a complete loser when I landed on that barstool next to yours, and I’d given up hope on my career, my love life,everything. I was so used to living in the darkness that I didn’t realize how badly I missed the light…until I sawyou.
“And there you were, looking more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before, drinking away your sorrows. In that moment, I felt like I’d been put on this earth just to love you, to hold you up on the days when you couldn’t. I had no conception of what love was—and even less understanding of how to be a good boyfriend—but you gave me a chance when I was the least deserving of it. I’ll keep saying it until I’m on my death bed, butyoufixedme. You showed kindness and compassion to a heart wrought with scars, and slowly, over time, you healed the gaping holes inside me. I’d be nothing without you. I’d belostwithout you.
“You’re the reason I get up in the morning. You’re thegoddamn reason why my heart’s still beating and I’m still breathing. Getting to spend the rest of my life with you is a future that I won’t take lightly. I never pictured myself growing old—much less with the most incredible person in the world—but I’m going to spend every waking second loving you in hopes that you can feel afractionof the love you’ve shown me.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Hayes has Aeris’ name tattooed somewhere on his body. He’s so madly in love with her that even the blind could see it. And that kind of love never dies.
“Do you, Aeris Relera, take Hayes Hollings to be your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to laugh with and to cry with and to love no matter the tribulation, for as long as the two of you shall live?” the officiant asks.
There’s no hesitation.
“I do,” Aeris says.
“And do you, Hayes Hollings, take Aeris Relera to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to laugh with and to cry with and to love no matter the tribulation, for as long as the two of you shall live?”
Hayes is even quicker to the punch. “I do.”
“Can we please have the couple exchange rings at this time?”
I’m not sure why I was expecting a wild chicken or some elusive, fluffy ring bearer to trot down the aisle, but it’s baby Eda who presents the stunning rings to the couple, all smiles and laughter while she’s koala-ed to her father’s side.
Hayes places Aeris’ ring on her finger, and Aeris reciprocates the gesture.
This is it. The vows were a spoken commitment, and the rings are a physical one. Their souls are tethered to one another forever. Just the thought of that makes melovelove. I didn’t always, but there’s no other feeling like it in the world. Andwhen you finally find your person, you begin to realize the true extent of your purpose. Time is ephemeral, but the way we spend it is eternal.
The waterworks are still flowing out of me with no end in sight. It feels like my whole chest is aflame with emotion, and the only person in the world who can douse the fire is the one waiting for me, so consumed by my eyes that he doesn’t dare to look away, not even for a second.
With one last hurrah, the officiant closes out the ceremony. “Then, with the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!”
Wasting no time to fulfill his promise, Hayes grabs his wife and dips her, enveloping her in a kiss that’s hungry and searing and all-consuming. Then, with perfect timing, there’s a loud bang and a sizzle of light as fireworks burst into the sky, taking advantage of the fading sunlight to print their golden flares onto a backdrop of blue. Brilliance splices through the overhead palm fronds as a chiaroscuro dances across my vision. Cheers sound like cannons all around me, but the world stops when I fall into Fulton’s eyes all over again, just as I did when he first walked into my coffee shop.
“You’re killingme in that dress, Sunshine.”
“A little impatient, are we, Mr. Cazzarelli?”
“Oh, impatient doesn’t evenbeginto describe it.”
Fulton is behind me with his arms wrapped around my torso, his lips brushing over the carotid artery that’s one pulse away from entering overdrive. I squirm from the fluttery sensation of his mouth on my neck, and each expertly placed kiss has me internally begging for a moment alone with him.
“There are children present.”
A low noise grates up his throat and rings through my belly. “Eda’s a baby. She doesn’t count.”
Before I try—and fail—to list all the reasons why grinding at a wedding reception isnotappropriate, there’s a huge commotion over by the giant speakers, and I catch Aeris with her back turned toward a flock of adoring women.
“I’m throwing it!” Aeris screams, tossing her bouquet high up into the air as a handful of guests dive out of its path like it’s a live grenade. It’s a frenzy of dresses, flailing arms, and a litany of creative swears, but the die-hard, superstitious partygoers are in for a sore surprise when the flowers sail right into a little baby’s grabby hands.
