The make-shift altar on the green is made of strings of flowers and lights interwoven with soft, green leaves, giving an illusion of a natural altar that Rosalie had just happened to come across on her jaunts through the woods one day.
The bridal retinue – Isa, Scarlett and Julie's sister, Ana – glows in the mid-morning sun in their indicolite blue clothing.
The aisle, which is a long stretch of white cobblestones laid together, is littered with cornflowers and periwinkles.
At one end of the aisle, near the altar, Juliet stands, wearing a light, chiffon gown in pearly white with an asymmetrical skirt, clutching her bouquet of flowers, sprinkled with blue, and beaming. It's quite obvious that she can't see anyone else in the world.
At the other end of the aisle, at the foot of the stairs that lead to the reception hall, stands Ray. She wears a strapless white dress, with a fitted bodice and flamenco-style skirt, dotted with light blue and silver beading along the edges.
holding a bouquet of balloons, secured to her hand, in white, silver and blue. Her other than is gripping her brother's arm, as he smiles at the crowd.
Ray can only see Juliet.
There's a smattering of laughs as the crowd sees Ray's flower bouquet.
Elliot leans over and whispers something to Ray.
She nudges him with her shoulder and they begin to walk down the aisle.
I raise my hand to my mouth.
A tissue materializes before me.
I turn and see Aiden, who is sitting behind me, offering me a tissue. "Rosalie said that I'm not allowed to let your mascara run. I think she wanted me to surrender my handkerchief. Scarlett gave me a pack of tissues."
I laugh and take it from him and wipe the corner of my eye.
Elliot says something to Ray from time to time, their whole way down the aisle, she responds with a similar whisper, a nod, or a sniffle.
Aiden and I are seated in the second row, right behind Ray's Mom.
When Ray and Elliot reach the front, her Mom stands and gives Ray a big hug.
Elliot hands Ray over to Juliet, shakes Juliet's Dad's hand and takes a seat next to his mother.
Aiden reaches forward and squeezes Elliot's arm.
He turns in his seat and look at both of us.
He nods.
He smiles.
His eyes are brimming with tears.
I smile back at him.
He turns to look at his sister.
The wedding is almost, almost a blur.
From the calm of the ceremony to the full-swing of the reception, there hasn't been a dull moment.
The moment Ray and Juliet were declared married, Ray let loose the bunch of balloons that were tethered to her hand.
Ray then popped open a bottle of champagne and completely doused herself and Julie in the foam, which provided a fantastic Segway for them to change into their less formal reception dresses.
There were so many pictures taken of everyone and my cheeks have been hurting all day.
While Juliet danced with her Dad, Ray danced with Elliot.
Once the song ended, Ray pulled her Mom on to the dance floor and danced with her.
Elliot gave a toast, which included lines like, "From the day she was born, I have been waiting for Jenna to leave and finally, that day has come", "I wish Juliet all the best of luck in her marriage. I've lived with Jenna for many years and I must say that her dishwashing skills are abysmal", "Dad would have been so proud of you – of both of you – I know he is", and "I've always wished for my sister to be happy and I know that Juliet makes her nothing short of ecstatic, so Julie, welcome to the family. The Kingsleys will love you more than they love Jenna".
Since I am a sucker for weddings, I cried – as discreetly as I could.
Aiden kept handing me tissues.
The wedding has been going on so long that the sun has set, kids are sleeping, my feet are aching, people are dancing and the wait staff is handing out finger food and replenishing the drinks.
I'm standing in a corner, shoveling cake into my mouth because the seating arrangement that Rosalie so meticulously prepared has long gone to hell.
Isa, who is giggling and definitely tipsy, sashays her way over to me, Marco following close behind, probably to make sure that she doesn't fall and break her nose.
"Al!" Isa says, grabbing me around the neck and pulling me towards her, "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you."
I look over at the chair, three feet away, on which Isa was seated before she got up and walked over to me. "You were just there, babe."
Isa rests her head on my shoulder. "I'm tipsy, Al. That's three hundred miles away. Marcus had to point you out to me," she says, gesturing to Marco.
I laugh. "Are you tired?" I ask her.
"Good tired," she replies, "I'm so happy for them."
We look over at Jenna and Juliet, who are standing with Elliot and Ana, laughing.
"Me, too," I say, "I've never seen Ray so happy. I'm so glad that she got over herself and asked Juliet out."
"When are you going to get over yourself and ask me out, Al?" Isa asks, bopping me on the nose, blindly.
I look over at Marco and see him grinning. "I think that Marcus might not want that."
"Take her away," Marco says and Isa swats at him, but he ducks out of the way, "Anyway, I'm sure there are other people who will get over themselves and ask Al out."
I cock my head and look at him questioningly.
"Cake!" Isa says, looking at my half-empty plate.
"It is cake," I tell her, as she straightens, completely oblivious to anything Marco may have said.
"Marcus," she tells Marco, "I want cake, too."
"Then, cake you shall have, Isabella," he says, taking her hand, "Come on."
Isa waves to me and the two of them walk away.
The next person to come and stand beside me is one of Ray's aunts, who had been trying to talk to me throughout the reception.
I'm extremely awkward when it comes to talking to actual adults and I mostly just smile, nod and laugh at their jokes.
Aunt Gia comes and takes a seat close to me and sighs. "My feet are killing me," she says, good-naturedly.
Awkwardly, I giggle before wanting to stab myself for being so stupid. "Would you like a glass of water?" I ask her, because I'm completely unable to come up with anything better.
"No, sweetheart, I just finished my glass of wine," she says, "You know, Jenna is such a strange girl sometimes. Did you see her bouquet of balloons? And their cake was an entire mountain of cupcakes." She laughs. "I don't know where she comes up with these things."
Again, I laugh awkwardly, for lack of a better response.
"Now, you told me you're not married," she begins.
Painfully, I nod.
"Well, I don't see why. Pretty girl like you, you can probably find a man in no time." Her eyes widen. "Or a woman. You know, whichever you prefer."
Despite my embarrassment at her compliment, I'm quite glad that Aunt Gia is progressive.
"Don't you even have a boyfriend?" she asks me so sweetly, that I can't help, but giggle.
Rendering me a saving grace, Elliot chooses that moment to walk over and lean over to his aunt. "Aunt Gia, I think Mom has saved a chocolate covered strawberry with your name on it." He motions to the other end of the room, where his mother is standing near the dessert table, and a mountain of chocolate covered strawberries.
Aunt Gia looks bashful. "Well, maybe one," she says, before getting up.
As she pats my hand and walks away, I exhale and breath, but catch it almost immediately, because for the first time today, Elliot is standing right in front of me.
"Hey," he says, in his deep, calming voice.
"Hi."
"You clean up very nicely," he says, smiling.
I look down at my brick red midi dress with a thigh-high slit and probably turn the colour of it.
"You're not so bad yourself," I say to him.
Elliot shrugs. "I had a good stylist."
I laugh, softly. The day that Ray and I went with Elliot to pick out his suit seems almost like a lifetime ago.
"You're standing here all alone," he goes on.
I shake my head. "Your aunt Gia was just here. Before that, Isa was. And if you don't count either of them, I have my almost gone slice of cake."
Holding up the sliver of cake on my plate to him, I grin.
"Fancy rejoining the party?" he asks.
I angle my head.
Elliot takes a step forward and holds out his hand. "May I have a dance?"
I look from Elliot's outstretched hand to his face and back.
The hyperventilation has begun.
Breathing out a laugh, I put my plate down on the table closest to me. "Yes," I tell Elliot, nodding, "Yes, you may."
I put my hand in Elliot's and his fingers close around mine.
He gazes at me for a moment before leading me towards the dance floor.
There are other couples on the floor already and the song that's playing comes to and end and the other begins, just as Elliot and I step on to the dance floor.
Not letting go of my hand, Elliot gently pulls me towards him and puts his free hand on my waist.
Elvis Presley's gentle tone fills the air as he serenades us with 'Love Me Tender'.
The air around Elliot is filled with the subtle scent of his cologne and I want to revel in in, but instead, I look at him.
He's standing so close, looking down at me, with that smile of his.
I feel breathless.
Slowly, I smile up at him. "Did you plan this, doctor?" I ask, nodding in the direction of the DJ, because of the song that's currently playing.
One corner of his mouth raises in a smile, as Elliot tries to look innocent. "I'd say it's serendipity."
"How convenient," I shake my head at him, unable to stop smiling.
Elliot shakes his head. "Not convenient. Serendipitous."
I laugh.
Elliot has no problem swaying me to the music.
With the hand that's on his shoulder, I give him a gentle squeeze. "You did well today. The giving away, the toast, the saving me from a conversation with your aunt because I'm the most awkward person in the world."
Elliot squeezes the hand of mine that he's holding. "I'm glad you think so."
Biting the insides of my cheeks, I try to calm my breathing.
In a few moments, Elliot shifts my hand in his own and smiles at me, knowingly.
"What?" I ask.
His smile grows and he holds my hand as before. Softly, he chuckles.
Again, I ask, "What?"
His eyes are staring right into mine. He leans in a little and whispers. "Almost one hundred and twelve beats per minute, I'd say."
My gasp is audible, but only to him.
He chuckles silently.
Dropping my gaze, I try to shake off the heat that is rising to my face.
"May I interest you in a quote from an author?" Elliot asks, gently, in his placid tone.
Slowly, I look at him and nod.
"Dante Alighieri once said," he says, "Remember tonight...for it is the beginning of forever."
All I can do is watch his eyes. They're bright as always. There's a smile in his expression, but not exactly on his face. He watches me try to fathom his words.
My grip on his shoulder tightens a little because I feel a bit weak in the knees.
He holds me tighter around my waist.
"Aurora."
I meet his steadfast gaze.
"I'd like to buy you dinner, but this time, I want to learn everything about you."
END OF PART II: LEARNING
Part III: Growing will be following soon.
I hope you enjoyed today's seven chapters. I'll be back with the next part very soon.
Also, Elliot did it.
What will happen now?