Mileven in Heaven

I Hear Wedding Bells

[Flashback to the beginning of May]

On one chilly spring evening, the lovely El Hopper sat by her bed, with her sweet dog, Eggo, and a phone in her hand. She dialed her favorite number other than her own name, and that number was her boyfriend's.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey there, handsome..."

"Hey there, gorgeous..."

"*smiles* What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just about to go shopping with my mom. I'm glad that you called actually," he said.

"Oh? And why might that be?"

"Well, my mom's kind of making me do this thing called cotillion because my cousin's getting married in a month. It's basically these classes where you learn how to ballroom dance and table manners and all of that. It's every Wednesday this month and you have to get all dressed up and stuff, but it might be kind of fun. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to take it with me. The reason I'm asking is that I just don't feel right about dancing with other girls if one of those girls isn't you."

"Aww, Mike...That's so sweet! Of course, I'll do it with you."

"Really? Aww, El, that's great!"

"I'm excited. I love dressing up...And dancing!"

"I know you do," he said, giggling.

[Late June]

El had seen the movies. She knew how it went, how when two people are in love, they get married, but she had never actually been to a wedding herself. This was her first wedding and she was so looking forward to it, even more so than Mike.

They filed into the pew, sitting side by side with their fingers intertwined. El whispered in his ear:

"When is the bride coming out?"

"Soon, I promise," he said patting her leg.

El watched in awe as the bride came out. She thought she looked absolutely beautiful and loved her dress. In fact, she was so captivated by her beauty that she forgot she was supposed to stand up, so Mike pulled her up by the hand, wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his chin against her shoulder.

"Doesn't she look beautiful?" El whispered.

"Not as beautiful as you would look in that dress," he said.

"*smiles* You really mean that?" she asked.

"I really do, and frankly, I'd marry you tomorrow if I had any control over it."

*smiles*

As she watched them exchange their vows, a tear rolled down her face, but not because she was touched by the moment but because she was touched by the truth it held for her existing relationship. As Mike listened to these words, he gazed over at El for what felt like an eternity. He caught her eye and she turned her head in his direction, now locking eyes with him. He looked at her with a stare of sincerity, one that had a certain seriousness to it, yet was also a look of endearment. His deep brown eyes were so brutally honest that they made his feelings blatantly obvious. Through one look at his eyes, El could tell everything he was thinking. It was almost as if he was saying these very words to El herself.

Though they were just kids when they fell in love and only teens right then, this moment held meaning for them, as it was almost as if they exchanged these vows with their eyes through smiles and rolling tears. They made a promise with their eyes. In that promise, they vowed that someday that would be them. It was almost as if they were the couple up there saying all those wonderful things in that very moment. And this promise they made was almost as binding as the rings that would soon appear on the couple's fingers and as real as the ground beneath their feet.