Page 354 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

She had looked around at their guests when she first entered, smiling as she walked past them, but now she looked only at him as she took the last few steps to reach him. He took both her hands in his and stood facing her for their vows. Her expression was full of trust and love and sweet innocence. It made him feel like he was about a mile high.

He hardly noticed as Fox put the guitar away and slipped in between him and Stella as his groomsman. “We are gathered here tonight to witness the marriage of Katherine Ann Strand and Dominic DeParma,” the officiant announced. “The bride and groom have written their own vows which they will exchange now. Dominic?”

He pulled out the small card on which they had printed their vows. “I, Dom, take you, Kate, to be my best friend, my lover, the mother of my children and my wife. I love you and I choose to spend my life's journey with you. You are my confidante and my inspiration. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”

Kate's lips trembled and tears glittered in her eyes but her voice rang out clearly as she repeated the same vows to him.

He'd had a wedding band made to match the diamond band of the engagement ring, and she'd picked out a plain gold band for his finger. They exchanged rings with the traditional words, “Take this ring as a token of my love, which has neither beginning nor end.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the officiant announced. “Dominic, you may kiss your bride.” They were words he had never thought he would hear in his long, long lifetime. This was a moment he never would've imagined could happen for him.

The sweetness of it all—the incredible change that Kate had brought to his life: her unconditional love, freeing his intuition from the prison of darkness, the tiny life that they had created together—it was nearly overwhelming. He bent to kiss his fairy-protected bride and gave thanks to God for the blessings in his life.

After dinner he held her close to him for the first dance, which was to Fox's rendition of “For Emily” by Simon and Garfunkel. After that, Fox gave over the entertainment to a cover band they had hired. After several songs of dancing and mingling, Kate kissed him and excused herself. She went and took up the mic and the members of the Morphs took over the stage, plugging in their own instruments.

“All right, we're going to pick things up just a little bit here,” Kate said, her on-stage persona shining brilliantly. “This next song is for my new husband,” Kate said, smiling warmly at him. Then the Morphs launched into a fast ska beat and she ripped out a punk version of Chicago's “You're the Inspiration.”

Only Kate could turn a cheesy love song into something so cool. She tore the song up through “I wanna have you near me, I want to have you hear me sayin'…” then the band went silent and she slowed the tempo way down, singing a breathy a cappella, looking right at him, “No one needs you more than I need you…” The guests all cheered but she saved her smile for him alone, giving the band a count to hit it again for the second verse.

When she came off the stage, he gathered her up into his arms and just looked down at her beautiful face. He wanted to remember this moment, this night, forever.

THE END

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