align / j.g.

13

naomi

wedding day, today's the day i marry jack.

my hair is done in a wonderful braided updo bun. my makeup is fairly neutral and natural. my dress looks even better than when i had put it on in the store. i feel beautiful.

"my baby," my mother held the sides of my face with tears welling in her eyes.

"go on out and wait for dad to walk me." i joked as i was trying my best not to mess up my makeup by crying.

soon enough, it was actually time to walk down the aisle. my dream wedding, only not to a man i love.

my father led me down the aisle and all eyes were on me, i looked up at jack.

jack

naomi, unbelievably stunning. i was at a loss of words at the fact she was somehow even more beautiful. my wife.

naomi

jack did look handsome, i do like him but as an acquaintance as i really feel as if i know close to nothing about him.

we stood there, said our i do's and kissed then went to our reception. jack told me how beautiful i looked, as did everyone else.

overall, the wedding was beautiful and a seemingly perfect day.

**

after everything, jack and i went home and he kept reminiscing but i didn't feel like speaking, so he continued on. i tried my best to listen, yet somehow ended up zoning out. it wasn't until we get back to jack's house and he has to tap me for me to realize i need to get out of the car now.

"you could've just told me to shut up." he laughed and sat back for a moment before getting out of the car and opening my door for me. "i truly did not mean to bore you so much."

i quietly thanked him and as soon as we walked in the door i went to my room and changed into sweats a t-shirt and took my makeup off. i found my way back downstairs and grabbed a snack before heading to the living room after hearing the tv being turned on.

i flopped down onto the other side of the long couch, opposite of jack.

"do you think this is going to work, jack?" i questioned him.

"what are you on about?" he asked, not understanding what i meant.

"this marriage, you and i, do you think it's going to last?"

"yes, i do." he turned and faced me so i knew all of his attention was on me.

"there is absolutely no way you know that." i furrowed my eyebrows at his optimism when he doesn't know me.

"you're right, i have no idea. i'm as clueless as you are, but i want it to very badly." he sat up and reached for my hand and i reached out to him. he took one of my hands in both of his and looked up at me. "i cannot make you love me, naomi. maybe you never will. although, i truly do believe i can love you. i believe we can make this work, we will only have to work at it. i will have to learn about you and you'll have to learn about me, maybe that will be a good thing and maybe it won't." i was a bit taken aback by jack's words as he spoke. "we have to promise to always try."

"i promise to try, jack." i whispered rather softly. "i just didn't want to stay in this drug business stuff, i especially didn't want my kids to have to grow up in it."

jack nodded understandingly, "i have thought about it too, the future seemed far away a few days ago and now i'm married and the future is suddenly now. i don't know if i would want kids to grow up in this environment either, but that's a very complex discussion and how we could is an even bigger issue." he paused for he moment and kissed my knuckles. "but i promise we will talk about it and do whatever makes our hearts happiest. we will figure everything out. it will be alright, naomi. get some rest we have our honeymoon to get ready for." he smiled and i nodded.

"only if you do too." i stood up and stretched my back.

"race you upstairs." he grinned and before i knew it we were both sprinting upstairs. i won, of course. "i would've never mentioned racing if i knew you were that fast." he spoke, out of breath.

"you're looking at a track star, gilinsky." i laughed as i caught my breath, it's been a while.

"goodnight, mrs. gilinsky." jack smiled and walked off to his room and i walked into mine.