Remember the Time

Chapter 13

"Attention, please."

Mariah turned from Michael towards the middle of the floor. Marlon had taken the floor to give his best man speech.

I wonder what he has to say. Marlon was just as invested in our relationship as Janet.

"Good evening." Marlon said, taking a moment to scan the room. 

He cleared his throat, shuffling his foot. "Well, I'm not really sure what to say about all of this. You know, Michael is my little brother and I've always wanted him to be with a woman that made him happy. I honestly don't think I've seen my brother smile harder than the day he told me he was thinking about marrying Mariah."

Marlon then turned to Mariah. "Mariah, you take care of my brother and you'll never want for nothing. That's a good man right there, and I know you're a great person, but let me say this: marriage is work. I'm gonna say it again, marriage is work and it's not easy but it's worth it. I hope ya'll stay married for the rest of your lives, I really do."

Mariah clapped. That was really sweet of him to say.

She leaned over. "I liked his speech."

"Yeah, it was good." He nodded. 

Mariah giggled. "I wonder what Janet's gonna say."

Janet turned away from Latoya. "You'll see soon."

Mariah inclined her head. "Now I'm curious."

Michael tapped her shoulder. "Everything is really nice. You and Janet did a really good job with this."

"Thanks. I know I was running everybody crazy." She shook her head. "This was not easy."

"Well, it was your wedding. You deserve everything you want." He said.

She shrugged. "None of that mattered the moment I saw you waiting for me at the alter."

Michael rubbed her knuckle with his thumb. "I was so nervous."

"Why?" She inquired.

The waiter set down their dishes before he could respond. She glanced at hers, smoked salmon with asparagus and some type of sauce then at Michael's chicken dish.

He smirked. "Can I help you?"

"Yours looks good." She said and then looked at her food again. 

He cut a piece off. "Here."

She took the food from his fork and nodded. "That's good."

Janet got up and took the mic in the center of the floor. "Hi everyone. First, I want you all to know that this is my wedding just as much as it's theirs."

Michael and Mariah both laughed; it was true that Janet was almost like a third party to their relationship.

"I remember back when Mike called me to tell me he was dating someone and I remember going 'oh God, not another one.' Then I met her and I'm like 'okay she's cool' and then after being around her for a little bit, I looked at Mike and told him 'you need to marry her, like today'"

Janet paused to allow the laughter to die down a bit before starting again. "So you know me and Mike went to pick out a ring so he could propose and here we are...six years later. I'm really happy for you two and congratulations. I wish you two a happy, healthy marriage."

After dancing for a while, the guests cleared the floor while Marlon and Morgan brought out a chair for Mariah to sit in. She sat down and eyed Michael seductively, wondering how he was going to go about getting the garter from around her thigh.