Page 40 of Cheer
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When their wedding day was here, she wasn’t nervous.
She was ready to be Soren’s wife.
When Shaun knocked on the door of the bridal suite where she, Kelly, Shelley, Sasha, Brooke and April were getting ready, they called for him to come in.
He did so with a smile on his face.
He held a small box in his hand.
“Hey there girls. Could I have a minute with Kelly and Eva please?”
The girls nodded and Brooke kissed her cheek before leaving.
“I wanted to talk to you about marriage.”
Kelly smiled and Eva did too. He cleared his throat and then said, “I know you are marrying my son, but you feel like my daughter as well. So I wanted to tell you that marriage is a give and take. You both have to give and not expect the other to do all the giving. Go to bed angry if you have to, but don’t stay angry. If it won’t matter the next morning, or in five years, then it won’t matter. And I know you will love him and he will love you through thick and thin. We will always be here for you.”
He handed her the small box and she opened it to find a small necklace. It was a tiny sapphire.
Kelly helped her put it on. “Soren and Shelley’s grandmother wore this on her wedding day, as did I, and as did Shelley. It’s borrowed, blue and old. The chain is new. So you are all covered.”
She hugged Kelly and Shaun and had to take a second to fix her makeup.
“Are you ready? Soren is anxious to get this started.”
She nodded, “I’m ready.”
Kelly kissed her cheek one last time and then walked out of the room.
Brooke was there then and gave her a huge hug, “I will be sitting front and center with everyone. I just had to let you know you are so loved Eva. And that I feel honored to be here as your mom. I know your real mom is looking down at us right now. She has to be so proud of you. I know I am. That we all are.”
Eva blinked hard and felt a tear slide free. She hugged Brooke hard, “Thank you for showing me what it was meant to be loved. For giving me the greatest gift ever.”
Brooke hugged her once more and walked from the room.
Then Shaun was holding his arm out to her.
The music started and as they walked out of the room and toward the aisle, she looked up and saw Soren standing at the end of it.
He had his hands clenched together and his face held so many emotions that Eva could barely register them all.
Love, joy, happiness, heat, need and so much more.
He tracked her every movement and held eye contact with her the entire time.
He was smiling, she could tell, but she hadn’t looked away from his eyes.
She could also feel herself smiling.
When she made it close enough to him, he took a few steps toward her and everyone in the audience chuckled when he hauled her against his side and dipped her down for a quick kiss.
Shaun laughed, “You are supposed to wait until the ‘I dos’ for that.”
Soren put her back on her feet and gave his dad a pat on the back and then linked her arm through his.
The man marrying them had a gentle smile and talked about love and commitment and forever.
