Page 90 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
Ethan nodded at the foot of the hill where a not too small crowd of people was gathering.
“Oh... You think Tam's here?” Tam was one of my cousins, and the reason he counted as 'special guest'
was that he'd made a name for himself as an actor in Hollywood. “He missed the family photos.”
“There'll be enough pictures of him,” Ethan said. “And he's right on time too.” Just as he said that, Kade and Shane slipped by us and up the lighthouse. They were going to have a small and intimate ceremony up on top of the lighthouse with just their kids and pets, and Tam's timely arrival was guaranteed to distract all potential media attention away from them.
“Did you plan this?” I asked Ethan.
“It was Nick's idea, really. He calls it his wedding gift to Kade.”
“That's genius.”
“I thought so too. Aside from your dad losing his hat, everything's going well so far.”
“Let's just hope everything keeps going according to plan,” I said, gazing up at the lighthouse and the blue skies above it.
“Oh, I don't know.” Ethan grabbed my hand. “The day might hold a few surprises.”
I returned my attention to him. What was he talking about? “Good surprises?”
“I think so,” he said with a smile, but he didn't share any more details with me.
Only a little while later, I stood by my brother's side as he said his vows. He looked into his fiancé’s eyes as he spoke and there was so much love in his gaze that I felt oddly touched just to be sharing this moment with the two of them. Zander was perfect for Nick. He always had been. I was glad they'd found each other, that my brother wasn't going to end up in a bad marriage the way Ethan and I had. Nick told me I was the smart one, but really, it was him.
Although I liked to think I'd learned a little bit over the past few months.
My eyes sought out Ethan in the crowd of guests. He was sitting in the back, but in his new suit, he looked so stunning I spotted him nearly immediately anyway. Our eyes met and he smiled and I almost forgot to listen to what my brother was saying next to me.
Focus on the ceremony, Rhys,I admonished myself, returning my attention to the wedding.
“You know, I never thought I'd want to marry anyone,” Nick was telling his husband to be. “But you're not anyone, you'rethe one,as clichéd as that sounds. There's nothing scary about marrying you because I already know I want to spend the rest of my days with you no matter what happens. We're really only making it official now, and having a party.” Nick grinned. “We're celebrating that we'll always be together, that we'll always look out for each other, that we'll always be a team. That's what I'm promising to you. I will share my life, my love, my joy and my recently acquired army of stuffed penguins with you.”
I had to laugh at that, and so did Zander.
“I feel honored,” Zander responded. “If you'll trust me with your penguins, I'll trust you with my books, even knowing you'll get food and coffee stains on them. You're more important to me than my books, and I never thought I'd say that to any man or woman, but it's the truth. I don't have to lose myself in a story when I'm with you because you turn life itself into an adventure. You make my life infinitely better for being in it, and I know I'm the luckiest alpha alive to be standing here with you. I promise that I will always cherish you and our child until the end of my days.”
After my brother and his husband to be had exchanged their vows, the officiator started speaking again. “I stand before this couple this day to unite them in the bonds of matrimony. If there be anyone present that may show just cause why these two individuals may not be lawfully wed, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
From the front row, I heard the sound of a giggling baby—probably Sam on my mother's lap—but no one said anything. Of course not.
The officiator turned to Zander. “Alexander Cornelius Kerner, do you take Nicholas Jonathan Kramer to be your lawfully wedded spouse?”
“I do.” Zander didn't leave room for a pause, and he never took his eyes off his husband to be.
The officiator turned to Nick. “Nicholas Jonathan Kramer, do you take Alexander Cornelius Kerner to be your lawfully wedded spouse?”
“I do.” Nick's response came just as quickly.
“Exchange the rings.”
On his cue, Conner stepped up in his navy suit and offered the rings on a velvet pillow. Nick and Zander took them and put them on each other's fingers, both of them wearing the brightest smiles on their faces.
“By the authority vested in me by the State of Maine, I hereby pronounce you husband and husband.
You may now kiss.”
They did, and as their lips touched and the crowd erupted in cheers, cannons fired and confetti rained down on them and the whole wedding party.
