Trust and Faith

I Now Pronounce You...

Kassi was alone...finally. The bridesmaids were off getting their nails done at the spa downstairs, her mom was getting her hair done, Carol had taken the boys down to get ready with Brian, something they really wanted to do, and London was napping next door. For the first time in two days Kassi was actually by herself, alone with her thoughts.

The rehearsal dinner went very well last night, the preparations she was told were just finishing up. In just two short hours she would be taking her walk down to Brian. So why couldn't she stop shaking? She slowly sipped her champagne hoping it would calm her nerves but it wasn't doing the trick. She knew what she had to do. After taking a deep breath she grabbed her phone and dialed a number she would never imagine calling today.

He answered on the 3rd ring, "Calling me on your wedding day? That's not a good sign." Danny laughed when he picked up.

"Can I ask you something?" She immediately said.

"What's up?" He asked.

"What did I do wrong?" She responded.

Danny let out a long sigh, in a weird way he was kind of expecting this call. When he didn't answer right away Kassi continued, "Seriously just tell me, was I too snappy sometimes, didn't give you enough attention, didn't lose weight quick enough after having the boys? What did I do to make everything turn to shit?"

"Kassi stop!" Danny yelled to get her to stop talking. "You didn't do anything." He was then quiet for a moment reflecting on their marriage. "We got married too young, we thought that's what we were supposed to do. As great as our kids are, we weren't ready for that either. I cracked. I wanted to live my life without the responsibilities I had." He then took a heavy breath before speaking again, "I know this one will go much better because the two of you are meant to make it work, we weren't." He said choking on the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Thanks Danny." She said with a few stray tears falling.

"Enjoy today Kassi, you deserve it. And send me some pictures of the boys in their tuxes." He said.

"I will." She smiled thinking of her two little boys getting all dressed up today.

When he hung up with his ex-wife he had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Today he got together with some buddies and planned on spending all day getting wasted on the golf course. It was an odd feeling knowing that today Kassi would no longer be using his last name, she would be taking another man's. His kids would officially have a stepdad. This phone conversation was their own private way of saying goodbye to what they once had.

Back in her bridal suite Kassi was having that same feeling of closure. Hearing Danny say that she did nothing wrong felt like a ton of bricks being lifted from her shoulders. She worried for so long that history would repeat itself with this marriage. Now she could relax and the only worries going forward today would be normal bride jitters, like would her napkins be the right color or would she mess up her vows, or would that crazy 2nd cousin of Brian's get too drunk.

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"Knock knock." A voice came from the door to the bridal suite. Carol Quinn was dressed in a beautiful lavender mother of the groom dress.

"Hi!" Kassi smiled at her very soon to be mother in law. "Carol you look gorgeous!"

"Thank you darling." Carol said beaming at her son's bride. "I was actually hoping to give you something." She said sitting down next to Kassi. She then pulled out a silver box with beautiful teardrop pearl earrings. "I wasn't sure if you had your something borrowed."

"Oh my god! These are stunning!" Kassi exclaimed. "Are you sure?"

"The second I saw your wedding dress I knew they would be perfect. They were my mom's. She wore them on her wedding and I wore them to mine. I would love the tradition to continue." Carol smiled with some tears in her eyes. She would have loved her mom to be here to share this day with them all. Carol's mom always had an extra soft spot in her heart for Brian and he definitely took it the hardest when she passed several years ago.