“Jessie, get up, get up, get up,” Cassie said, jumping up and down on my bed until I finally opened my eyes. Looking up at her as she did so, made it hard for me to believe sometimes that she wasn't the same enthusiastic five year old girl I had met years ago. She was still enthusiastic, but now she was ten and old enough to not call either me or Carlos “big kids” anymore. “You have to get up or you're going to be late,” she complained, still jumping like she wasn't convinced by my groan that I was awake. “You don't want to be late to your own wedding, do you? What would Loco think?”
“That the only one my little sister is driving loco, is my soon to be wife,” Carlos' voice answered from the doorway and I heard Cassie squeal as I sat up.
“You can't be in here!” Cassie insisted, dropping down from the bed and running over to the door to push him out. “Mommy said it's bad luck for you to see Jessie before the wedding.”
“And let me guess, you're supposed to be the body guard that keeps me out?” Carlos said, his smile amused.
“Yes, now get out!” Cassie said, trying to push him backwards. Despite her growth in the past few years, she couldn't do anything to push her brother out of the room.
“Five minutes, Cass,” Carlos said. “Give me five minutes with Jessie and then I'll leave.”
“Nope,” Cassie said with a shake of her head. “I don't want to get in trouble for you. Wait until you're married then you can see her all you want.”
“Five minutes,” Carlos insisted. “You owe me.”
“What for?” Cassie asked.
“Every favor I ever did you in your entire life,” Carlos answered. “All I'm asking for is five minutes with Jessie.”
Cassie looked back at me like she didn't know what to do and I just shrugged, not making it easier for her. “Fine,” she sighed. “But only five minutes. And you have to be gone before Mom shows up.”
“Deal,” Carlos said, and kissed her on the top of the head. “Now leave please.”
“Whatever,” Cassie mumbled, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
“You know,” I finally said, drawing Carlos' attention to me. “It is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”
“See, I thought that rule only applied if you were wearing the dress,” he shrugged. “Which, you aren't. But while we're on the subject, that's kind of a dumb rule anyway. I mean, if the groom didn't see the bride before the wedding than they wouldn't be fiancées or anything, right?”
“You're ranting,” I laughed. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing,” he answered, sitting on the bed next to me. “In a couple of hours I am going to be officially married to the girl I love and nothing about that is wrong. I just came to make sure you weren't going to back out on me or anything.”
“Of course I'm not,” I said. “Why would you even think that?”
“Nerves?” he offered with a half smile.
“Well, tell them to shut up then,” I responded. “Because I am not changing my mind and I am not leaving you hanging on our wedding day. I said I would marry you and that's exactly what I plan on doing.”
“Good to hear,” he said, brushing my hair behind my ear. “I want to kiss you so bad right now, but I figured it would be worth it if I waited until after we said the I dos and everything. What do you think?”
“That you're torturing yourself by sitting in front of me right now and not letting yourself kiss me like you want,” I answered.
“That's true,” he laughed and leaned forward, ready to kiss me. Before he could, I leaned away and shook my head.
“I wasn't done yet,” I said. “I was also going to say that while you are torturing yourself that way, you also have a point. If you could wait a few more hours, then it would be worth it.”
“Pure. Evil,” he smiled at me as the door suddenly opened. “Cass, that was not five minutes.”
“No, but Mommy and Jessie's Mom are coming, and like I said before, I don't want to get in trouble for you,” Cassie responded.
“Fair enough,” Carlos said, getting up from the bed and moving towards the door. “Thanks for the heads up, sis.” Carlos glanced over his shoulder at me and smiled my smile. “See you in a few hours?”
“I'll be the one you're dying to kiss,” I smiled back and he laughed.
“Shouldn't be hard to spot at all.”
* * * * *
After a couple of hours of make up, hair and putting on the dress, everything stopped feeling like I was going to prom again and started feeling like the wedding it was. My stomach was doing anxious flips and halfway through Samara complimenting how I looked, the words started to fade out. Everything around me seemed to be happening at a distance until I suddenly found myself standing behind a tree, waiting for my cue to walk down the aisle. The wedding was being held in the same yard of Carlos' summer house that Alex's wedding had been held, and while I had seen it decorated for a wedding before, now it seemed completely different to me. Now I really noticed the flowers set up along the sides of the chairs, and the fact that there were dozens of people sitting and whispering; waiting for me to come down the aisle. And more than anything, I seemed to be hyper aware of the fact that at the end of that aisle Carlos was standing and waiting for me.
The music started playing, everyone around the corner grew quiet, and my heart seemed to pound in my chest. After months of planning it, and years of waiting for it to happen, I was finally getting married to Carlos and not surprisingly, I was nervous. “Ready?” my stepfather asked, holding his arm out for me to take.
“Promise to drag me the rest of the way if I freeze up?” I asked, only half joking as I put my arm through his.
“Something tells me I'm going to have to restrain you to walk, rather than drag you,” he smiled. “But if it makes you feel better, then promise.”
“Thanks.” And then I was taking those important steps forward. Rounding the tree and coming out down the aisle, I faintly heard some people whisper about my dress or how beautiful they thought I looked. But my main focus wasn't the people talking or me looking at them to smile my appreciation for them being there; my main focus was Carlos whose eyes I met as soon as I turned the corner. Even from this distance I could see the warmth of his brown eyes as he smiled at me, and though I'm sure he didn't want me to see it, I did notice his hands shake slightly where he stood. His eyes seemed to shimmer from the sunlight and I realized that there were tears in his eyes, which immediately made my own eyes water.
I never understood before why people cried at weddings, but now that it was my own wedding I understood. It wasn't that they were sad about losing the opportunity to be with other people, as was often joked about, but because they were completely overcome with joy and the thought that they were finally getting what would make them the happiest. They were announcing to their friends and family that the person standing next to them would be in their life forever and no one would ever interfere with it. In understanding that, I even understood why they always make the walk down the aisle in movies and shows so slow. Because both the bride and the groom wanted to close the distance so badly but they knew they had to wait and the wait seemed to take longer than the walk actually was.
Watching Carlos as I walked slowly towards him felt like the most agonizing thing in the world and all I wanted was to run the rest of the way. Any nerves I had before were suddenly gone and the only anxiety I felt was that the ceremony would be too long and keep me from the one person who never gave up on me, even when I told him to.
When I finally made it to the end of the aisle, where my stepfather passed me off to Carlos, I had to refrain myself from throwing my arms around him. By the look in his eyes and the squeeze he gave my hand, I knew that Carlos felt the same way and somehow that made things a little easier. The Priest started his part of the ceremony but again I couldn't focus on anything but Carlos. I just stared at him, thinking how insane it felt that I was getting my Prince Charming for the rest of my life, when only a few years ago I thought he didn't exist. Carlos stared back at me, but I couldn't imagine what it was he was thinking, except that whatever it was made him extremely happy because his smile was the brightest I had ever seen it. For some reason I thought back to the night he proposed to me, and the way he seemed so nervous like he didn't know how I would answer, and it dawned on me that even though he knew how we felt for each other, he was never one hundred percent positive that we were going to actually get married. My smile grew wider at the thought that I was proving him wrong for once instead of him proving me wrong.
“Jessie Morrison, do you take Carlos Rivera to be your lawfully wedded husband,” the Priest said, and I zoned back in to the only important part we needed to pass so I could finally kiss Carlos. “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, til death do you part?”
“I do,” I said without hesitation.
“And do you Carlos Rivera, take Jessie Morrison to be your lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, til death do you-”
“I do,” Carlos said so fast, he interrupted before the last word was out. Everyone laughed lightly and Carlos shrugged. “Sorry, but I do.”
“Well then,” the Priest went on with a smile. “If no one should object to this union...” He paused to see if anyone would object but thankfully, they didn't. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
“About time,” Carlos said quietly to me and I laughed slightly as he kissed me. Again, the sounds around us seemed to go off at a distance, and all I could focus on was Carlos' lips on mine, showing how happy he was that we were finally married and that the wait to kiss me had indeed been worth it. I barely heard Jeremy and Emmett cat call behind him about letting me up for air soon and then Carlos broke away from me with a shaky laugh, leaving only his forehead against mine as he looked at me. “It's official now,” he whispered. “I'm yours and your mine. Just you and me forever.”
“Yeah,” I whispered back. “Just you and me forever.”