You made walking easy

Marriage And Then What?

MAYA POV

Since we've come back from our trip, we have been in the full swing of wedding planning. My home office has been taken over by anything and everything to do with weddings, I'm sure there's not a surface which hasn't been covered with a magazine or something. One of the first decisions we made was that we wanted a small wedding, no point spending money on people you don't talk to at least once a week! The next decision was having it at Vic's restaurant which is owned by her parents, they've had some renovations in the kitchen so we've opted for Guac-o-Dile. With them being a literal food van.

The next decision was who did we want to invite? That was also pretty easy, it mostly consisted of our family and the people we work with. When it came to entertainment, Carina treated that one drunk karaoke night as an audition process. As it turns out Vic is now going to be singing a song while Carina walks down the aisle. Andrea was able to come home for the weekend we planned to get married on, so he could give Carina away.

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Today was the day of our wedding. And I'm not gonna lie, I am shitting myself. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to have Carina as my wife, but it's more of the waiting until she is, that's nerve-wracking. Both Carina and I had decided to hide what we were wearing until we got to the alter. I knew Teddy and Amelia had gone with Carina and both reported that she looked beautiful. For me, I had Kai and Ada come suit shopping. The suit itself was quite easy to find, it all came down to adjustments and wanting it to slightly link with Carina's dress. Wanting that connection proved quite hard since I had to have Kai ask Amelia for a description of the dress, but I couldn't be told the description. The only person who would be told is the clothes fitter person.

So here I am in my suit, I'm standing at the alter waiting for my future wife to walk down the aisle. To my right, I had Mason. It was a given that I'd want him to be my best man, yes I know at the beginning of the planning I had my doubts about him turning up but here he is.

Fuck... she's breath taking. Carina finally makes her appearance as everyone stands. I start to rub my hands and rock on my feet, I'm trying to calm myself down. We decided Ben would officiate, he's the only one who's been in both of our worlds in a professional sense plus we look up to his relationship with Bailey. If you're asking why we didn't ask Bailey... she's terrifying and that's all I need to say. Anyway, Carina takes her stand in front of me and I take her hands. For a few seconds, we gaze into each other's eyes and communicate with each other, the love we have. We don't need words to show our emotions.

"Alright, let's get this started. We're here today to witness Maya and Carina take the next step in their relationship; marriage. I'm sure, we're all very happy to be here for this moment. Now I've been told by both Maya and Carina... more Maya that we need to keep this fast" Ben says earning a small chuckle from the guests.

"So Maya, I was told that you both wrote separate vows. Would you like to share yours first?" Ben asks, instantly making sweat start to show itself on my face.. thanks makeup for trying to do its job and failing.

"Carina, we've been together for many days and many experiences; both good and bad. We met through a spilt coffee which led to multiple coffee dates which didn't always have the same outcome. I've learnt about the idiosyncrasies of your heart and brain and have memorised them. I've learnt how you tend to throw whatever is around you, if I interrupt you while you're deep in thought, and how comparing American coffee to Italian is an effective way to stop you from talking to me for days until I apologise. I've also learnt that you have such patience for me, I don't need to try extremely hard to impress you. It's a new thing for me to know I don't need to buy your love and I'm so thankful. I love you, and I can't wait until we have a mini you and me running around our house. For years I've stuck to a plan of how to live my life and what to expect, when you came into my life you threw everything off track. You've made me excited for the future that I'll have, you've helped me relax and you've made walking easy." I finish and see that Carina is crying at the words I'd said. It takes a few minutes for her to compose herself so I look around the room and find my mom, Carina's parents sitting at the back... together. We'd invited them but they never responded so we thought they'd forgotten or lost the invitation. I don't think Carina has noticed yet.

"Maya, you've changed my life. I know both of us will have a life filled of drama, love and memories and I can't wait to do all of that with you. You're right, spilt coffee is how we met. But I know that we still would have been standing here somehow. You've become my home. Once I came to America I wasn't sure if I'd ever find home here but you are my home. Our first date where you took me to that street of European goods and we went into that Italian shop, I really noticed how you could see or predict emotions I hadn't shared and had taken action to help. Since knowing you, I've seen that the amount of love you give to me, you give to others too. I can't wait for us to have the family we've started to build together. Happiness has always been a destination, but you've made me realise that happiness is an emotion, and an emotion that comes naturally when I'm around you. I love you." Carina says back and now we're both crying.

"Okay, now that you've both said your vows. Let's move onto the rings. We're nearly there guys!" Ben says towards us, alerting both of our brothers to pass us our rings. We instantly slipped onto each of our fingers before I pulled her into a passionate kiss. As we kiss I hear "Right.. I think they've finished the ceremony themselves. Congrats to the wife and wife!" Ben shouts, both of us smile into the kiss.

After quite the ceremony, it was time for an after party. I was write with my guess that Carina hadn't noticed her parents. So, as we turned to walk down the aisle, there was an audible gasp and the floodgate of tears flooded from Carina's eyes. We started to walk as our friends and family clapped and cheered. Once we met the end, I shook Vince's hand and hugged Carina's mom.