Personal Chef

Chapter 75

Roslyn then said, "Chelsea and Shawn, do you, with your family and friends as your witnesses, present yourselves willingly and of your own accord to be joined in marriage?"

At the same time, we said, "We do."

As I spoke the words, a lifetime of happiness with Shawn flashed in front of my eyes. Even though we'd been through so much, this was just the beginning. We had so much in store for us.

"Your wedding rings are the outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible bond which already unites your two hearts in love," Roslyn said.

Shawn pulled both of our rings out of his breast pocket. Mine was a diamond band to match my engagement ring. His was a simple wide platinum band with a matte finish.

"Together, please repeat after me: I give you this ring. Wear it with love and joy. As this ring has no end, my love is also forever."

Shawn and I looked into each other's eyes and repeated the simple vow in unison.

I removed my engagement ring momentarily while he slipped my wedding ring on, and then I put my diamond ring back on top of it. I slid his ring onto his long finger.

Roslyn smiled at us. "May your life together be blessed with prosperity and good health. May you always share open and honest communication between each other. May you respect each other's individual talents and gifts and give full support to each other's professional and personal pursuits. May you cherish the home and family you will create together.  May all the years to come be filled with moments to celebrate and renew your love. May your love be a life-long source of excitement, contentment, affection, respect, and devotion for one another."

I felt a tear fall down my cheek. Shawn reached up and gently brushed it away.

"And so now by the power vested in me by the Province of Ontario, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss."

"I love you," my husband whispered as he leaned forward and kissed me.

The room erupted in cheers, but I hardly heard them because I was so lost in my first kiss with my husband.

After we broke apart, Shawn took the microphone. "Thank you so much Roslyn. And thank you everyone for sharing the happiest moment of our lives with us. If you'd like to find a table, dinner will begin in a couple minutes."

There was no seating chart, so people filled in at tables wherever they wanted. The waitstaff started taking soup orders. I knew that through the kitchen doors the cooks were probably rushing to ladle the soup into bowls. Part of me wanted to jump in and help them, but I knew that was ridiculous.

"Everything is under control," Shawn whispered in my ear, having read my mind. "If each food course takes time, no one will care."

I smiled up at him. "I'm so glad I married you."

Instead of sitting, Shawn and I walked around and spent time with each table. It was important to us to connect with our guests and to thank them for coming to share our big day with us. We spent a little extra time at our parents' table.

"A surprise wedding," Manny said with a laugh. "Congrats on pulling that off!"

Shawn shrugged. "It wasn't that hard since the engagement party was already in the works."

"I should have suspected something when I saw you had on a white dress," my mom said. "It beautiful, sweetie. Vintage?"

I told them the story of how I'd found it and that I knew it would be perfect as soon as I tried it on. It's like it had been made for me, with no alterations needed.

Karen said, "It's a good thing the whole thing was a shock. I think that if I'd had time to think about it, I would have been crying throughout the ceremony."

"That didn't stop me," my overly sentimental dad said.

Shawn's tour photographer, Josiah, had unsurprisingly brought his camera to the party and started snapping photos as soon as he realized it was actually a wedding. He pulled us aside and asked if we wanted any posed pictures. We stepped away from the table and took several by a large arrangement of flowers.

"Send those to me as soon as you can," Shawn requested.

"We'll take more with our families after dinner," I said to him. "Go sit down and eat! You don't have to work the party."

We skipped the soup and salad course since we were making our rounds talking to our loved ones. We sat at the bar to eat our entrees, though, since we were both famished.

"We're married," Shawn said as he held up his wine glass.

I clinked mine against his. "This is such a strange feeling. It's like everything has changed, but at the same time, nothing has changed at all."

When dinner was done, the real party started. Music was blasting, champagne was popping, and people danced in the open space in the center of the room. I kicked off my uncomfortable shoes and Shawn lost the jacket before we hit the dance floor.

When it was time, Roslyn wheeled out the traditional, but simple, white wedding cake that had been hidden in the kitchen. We cut the first piece together and fed each other the first bites.

"Are we taking cake back to our hotel room tonight?" Shawn murmured in my ear as the cake was cut and served to all the guests.

We'd booked a suite at the Ritz-Carlton for the night at Shawn's insistence. He'd argued that if we couldn't take a proper honeymoon, we should at least have one night in a luxury hotel.

"I'll go tell Ros to box up several slices for us," I whispered back.

"Several? Damn. It's going to be a good night."

I laughed. It was going to be a good night. For one thing, we hadn't had sex for over two weeks. We'd agreed that having lots of pent up sexual frustration would make for a better wedding night, so we weren't allowed to even get off on our own. Shawn had slept in the guest room on several occasions because sleeping next to me drove him crazy.

I couldn't wait to be alone with him.

Recipe:

https://iambaker.net/the-perfect-white-cake/