Mine (an African love story)

29. Say You Love Me

I turn around to see Ama standing there with a beautiful pink, off-the-shoulder dress. Her hair was curled to perfection. Wow, she's about to be my sister.

I gulp and nod slowly.

"I-I'm fine."

She cocks her head and gives me a look, before walking towards me. She places her hands on my shoulders.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" she asks softly.

I sigh and nod.

"I'm about to become someone's wife, Ama. I'm not just his girlfriend anymore, this is forever. I'm scared."

She sighs and gives me a small smile.

"Turn around and look at the mirror." she says, guiding me with her hands. 

I slowly turn around and I stare at my reflection. I shrug and let out a small giggle.

"It's just me." I tell her.

She shakes her head with a smile.

"No., you're Anima Hayford, soon to be Forson. You are the most special girl in Danny's life right now, besides Keziah of course. He is head over heels for you, like obsessed with you. There's nothing to be afraid of. You guys were made for each other and I promise you, Danny is never going to let you go." she tells me.

I exhale and nod at her. I face her and give her a tight hug.

"Thank you so much Ama. I thought I was going to lose it."

She giggles and hugs me back.

"No problem babe. We're sisters now. Now, go meet your father, he's waiting to walk you down the aisle."

I nod and smile at her.

* * *

I grip my dad's arm as we slowly walk down the bright green grass. Danny and I decided to have our ceremony outside, in a beautiful meadowland with lavenders and daisies. Now that I'm actually seeing the meadowland with the white, decorated chairs and the decorated altar set up, I am so glad that we chose this venue.

I let out another breath as we near the altar. My father squeezes my shoulder to comfort me, probably noticing how tense I am. I look at him and smile.

"Thank you dad."

He gives me a small smile. I know he's happy for me. He's always seen Danny as his son, and I know he feels relief that I am going to be in the hands of Danny for the rest of my life.

We get to the altar and he gently pushes me towards Danny.

"Don't think that because you are getting married, you are escaping me. You are still going to be my little girl." my father warns me, with a hint of a smile on his face. I giggle and Danny chuckles at him. My father walks back to his seat in the front row, next to my mom and Danny's family. Danny grabs my hand gently.

"You're so beautiful, it hurts." he whispers with a smile as I stand in front of him. He wipes the single tear off my cheek and I become a blushing mess. We haven't even read our vows and here I am with the waterworks. 

I look down at my heels, my heart thumping in my chest. I still get butterflies around him after all these years of knowing him, it's hard to understand what he does to me. I hear him chuckle at the affect he has on me.

Aunty Gifty breaks our hands apart.

"Eii, you guys move too quickly. At least get through the vows." she playfully says, and we giggle.

We asked Aunty Gifty, our Sunday school teacher, to officiate the wedding and she happily agreed. She actually said that she had been waiting for this day and would not have allowed anyone else but herself to officiate.