Page 87 of Holiday Wedding
“You got it.” Wayne clears his throat. All our family hushes. Even the shuffling crowd stills.
He’s about to speak when the gate agent interrupts. “Here.” She thrusts the small microphone she uses to make announcements at Wayne. “Use this so everyone can hear.”
Wayne takes it from her and holds it up to us. “Is this okay with you?”
Caleb and I glance at each other, and I shrug.
“It’s fine,” answers Caleb.
There’s a minute of fumbling while Wayne attaches the microphone to his shirt. When he speaks again, his voice is amplified.
“Dearly beloved,” he intones, “we are gathered here today to witness the union of Caleb Augustus Lawson and Gwendolen Jane Wright. Let us support them on this day as they enter into sacred matrimony.”
I hear loud sobbing from behind me. I turn to see my mother and Marjorie crying as they cling together, their arms wrapped around each other. Jenny and Alvina are misty-eyed as well. Even Dean is choked up.
“For the sake of brevity, we will skip the longer vows today,” Wayne says, giving a wary glance at the crowd, but the fans and strangers keep their distance and stay quiet. Their focus is on us.
Caleb steps closer and takes my hands in his. His thumb strokes lightly across my skin. The touch is comforting as my nerves kick in, anxious but in an excited way. I want to savor this moment, but I also want it to speed ahead. To see what the rest of our lives will be like. All the things we’ll accomplish together.
This is it.
We’re really doing this.
Surprising me, Wayne’s voice holds a slight quaver as he asks, “Do you, Caleb, take Gwen to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, forsaking all others, ’til death do you part?”
Caleb looks at me, and the love I see shining there so brightly in his eyes is overwhelming in the very best way. It consumes me, surrounds me, assures me that no matter what happens, we will face life together.
Caleb says a loud and firm, “I do. Forever and always.”
Wayne beams at Caleb with pride. He turns his attention to me. “Do you, Gwen, take Caleb to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, forsaking all others, ’til death do you part?”
In my loudest voice, so all the world can hear my commitment, I answer, “I do. With my whole heart, I do.”
Caleb squeezes my hand, his eyes glowing with pride and love.
“With the authority given to me by the state of New York,” Wayne takes in a breath and proclaims, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Caleb, you may kiss your bride.”
Cheers ring through the airport, from our families and from the fans, so loud that it drowns out flight announcements from the overhead speakers. Caleb’s grinning, his biggest smile, as he brings his lips to mine in a passionate kiss.
I keep my eyes open until the last minute, wanting to etch his happiness into my memory. I take this moment and place it into one of the many rooms in my heart.
To be held there forever.
39
Wednesday, December 25
Wedding Day (Again)
Gwen
Our wedding ceremony, the fancy one, happens the next day, Christmas Day, in the Broadway theater where Caleb performs. It’s the place he brought me to years ago to win me back.
Even though it’s a holiday, the vendors and most of the guests still agreed to attend. Once they heard the circumstances of our delay—which was all over the news thanks to the onlookers at the airport—everyone had been sympathetic. It helped that most of the people attending are close friends and family.
The staff spent the late afternoon transforming this place and the hotel where the reception will be into our dream wedding. Our mothers had been there to supervise, while Caleb and I stayed at our respective apartments, getting ready.
Now, when I peek through the double doors that lead into the theater, I realize I should never have doubted the combined power of my mom, Marjorie, and an inspired work force. They’ve layered sheer white fabric in swooping bunting between the seats. Deep red roses, glossy berries, and boughs of pine cluster together in vases around the room and on the end of each row. Shining gold ribbons are tied into bows at the base of the flowers. The gold matches the elaborate gilded scrollwork that sits high on the theater walls and surrounds the stage where soon I’ll exchange vows with Caleb.
