Madison's POV
My heart was beating outside of my chest as the soft ceremonial music lightly floated in the air. My palms were sweating and I wanted to scream yet jump for joy and sing at the same time. Today was the day that Noah and I were getting married, bound to each other for the rest of our days. Though there had been almost two years between my proposal and today, it still felt so surreal. But I knew this was right. Being able to wake up next to him every morning and hold him every night felt absolutely amazing and I wanted that forever.
"Are you ready, Madison?" Gracie asked me, her arm hooked in mine. Despite the fact that I really didn't like her when we first met, Gracie, Noah, and I had grown close over the past few years, especially once she'd realized that being gay wasn't some terrible sin that would end the world. She'd become like a sister to us.
I nodded as I let out a shaky breath. "Yeah."
We made the short journey to the aisle. The sun brightly shined on us as it trickled through the canopy of trees and various decorations while blades of grass softly crunched beneath our feet. Noah wanted nothing more than an outdoor wedding and I could see why. We were in a breathtaking clearing in the middle of the forest surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. Noah had demanded on decorating everything with Gracie, and I had to admit that everything looked delicate and amazing. It was beautiful.
We stood back as little Lily who wasn't so little anymore walked down the aisle and sprinkle flower petals on the walkway, a giant smile on her face as she did so. My heart jumped. Noah and I were going to have a little girl like her one day.
"It's go time," Grace gently said before she led me down the aisle, taking the place of the family that I no longer had. But the good thing about being gay was that you could choose your family and I knew that mine loved and cared about me.
As we walked, my heart jumped into my throat as the eyes of our friends, classmates, and coworkers followed me. Once I made it to my designated spot at the altar, Gracie gave me a soft kiss on the cheek and a reassuring smile, reminding me that everything was going to be okay.
I just wanted everything to be perfect for him. All I cared about was him.
Connor took his place beside me, acting as both of our best man. Abbi sat a few rows back with one hand resting on her prominent belly, her engagement ring glistening in the sunlight. She was due any week now. Next to her sat Mr. Hill, John, and Lily who'd climbed onto John's lap.
A few moments later, Noah appeared in the center aisle his arm linked with his Nonna's as he walked down the aisle, his Nonna still going on strong despite her growing age. Tears instantly sprung to my eyes as I watched him approach me. He looked beautiful as always with his hair neatly slicked back, a suit he looked unbelievably sexy in, and the gentle smile on his face that I fell in love with all those years ago. It was hard to believe that he was mine. All the nervousness that I felt melted away and was replaced by pure joy, pride, and love.
Once he reached the altar, we took hands, giant smiles on both of our faces. "Hey, babe," he gently said.
"Hi," was all I could say, my body still in shock of what was happening.
"We are gathered here today to witness the union of Madison Williams and Noah Bruno in holy matrimony," the priest announced, causing me to bite my bottom lip in an effort to restrain the ever-growing smile on my face. "We will now commence with the vows they have written for each other."
I hadn't realized that my tears as spilled over onto my cheeks until Noah reached out and gently swept them off my face with his thumb and said "Don't cry, baby." I smiled and kissed the palm of his hand then held it.
"Noah Lorenzo Bruno, you are easily the best thing that has ever happened to me," I started, my voice dripping with emotion and rawness. "Before I met you, I was lost and scared and uncertain of what life had for me. But when you came into my life, everything suddenly made sense. You've shown me what love is and how to fight for it even when it seems like the world is against us, and I love you for it. I always will. You've been with me through the worst moments of my life and you've created some of the best moments of my life. I know that you'll always be there. You've made me such a better friend, lover, and soon-to-be father, and I can't thank you enough for it. With these vows, I promise to give you all of my heart and soul, and to be there to fight for you, love you, and provide for you through thick and thin. I can't wait to start a family and continue to grow with you, but most importantly, I can't wait to fall in love with you over and over and over again. Ti voglio così tanto bene, mio re (I love you so much, my king)."
Noah smiled as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. "I don't know if I can follow that," he said with a soft chuckle, causing the audience to chuckle as well before he took a deep breath and started. "Madison...there are no words in the world to describe how much you mean to me. You loved me before I even knew how to love myself. I always feel at home with you, always, and you always make me feel equal to you. You always respect and love me and give me your all, and it makes me fall in love with you again and again and again. You've never made me feel like I was a burden or not good enough. You make it easy to love you. I promise to always love and protect you the way you've loved and protected me. I promise to always be a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on. I promise to be there for you and give you all of me. To be a rock for you and our family. I love you, Madison."
"I love you too," I instantly said back. "I love you so much."
The priest grinned as he looked at us before saying, "If anyone objects to this holy union, speak now or forever hold your peace." There was silence. "Good. Now please bring forth the rings." Mr. Hill instantly appeared, bearing the beautiful rings we'd picked for each other. Once he was in front of us, we offered him a quiet thanks and slide each other's rings on our fingers. "Do you, Madison Matteo Williams take Noah Lorenzo Bruno to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have, love, and honor in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," I instantly said.
"And do you, Noah Lorenzo Bruno take Madison Matteo Williams to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have, love, and honor in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," he said, his voice shaky with emotion.
"Then it is with great pleasure that I now pronounce you Mr. and Mr. Bruno-Williams. You may now kiss your husband."
I smiled before I cupped Noah's face and placed a controlled yet passionate kiss on his lips, causing the crowd to clap and cheer. He instantly kissed me back and slung his arms around my neck, deepening the kiss a bit before he pulled away with a drunken smile on his face. "We did it," he softly said.
I smiled. "Yeah, I guess we did." I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could, wanting him to feel every ounce of love I had for him. "I love you so so so much, baby," I whispered into his ear.
"I love you more."
"Impossible."
He chuckled as he pulled out of the hug and kissed me again, this time, his hands wrapped around my waist and pulled my hips against his. I smiled against his lips and kissed him back. I could almost taste his yearning through the kiss, but he controlled himself because we were unfortunately not alone. After a few moments he pulled away, slightly breathless and said, "I can't wait to do that every day for the rest of my life."
"I can't wait to do other things every day for the rest of our lives," I said with a wink.
He laughed. "Classic Madison."
I smiled before I took his hand in mine and raised it above our heads. "This is my husband!" I yelled, causing the crowd to clap and cheer louder.
Just then, "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen started playing causing my smile to grow.
"You said you wanted all the gay greats to play," Noah shrugged before a smile grew on his face.
It was crazy to think that it felt like I'd met him yesterday and he'd so quickly become the love of my life. The star of my universe. And I loved him so much for it.
And I would never stop.
Suddenly, I felt pressure against my lower legs, causing me to look down to see Lily with her arms wrapped around my legs and smiling. I smiled and picked her up. "Hey, Lil."
"You two are double daddies now!" She said with a smile, causing Noah to chuckle.
"Yeah, we are."
"When will you have your babies? I wanna have play dates with them!"
"Soon, kiddo. But they're gonna be too young to play just yet."
She shrugged. "That's okay. Babies are cute anyway."
She looked around before her eyes landed on the cake and lit up. "Oooh, is it cake time yet?" I raised an eyebrow at Noah, asking him the silent question.
He chuckled and took my free hand in his. "Yes, it's cake time."
We spent the rest of the day surrounded by our family, our true family, sharing laughs, love, and creating memories that would soon be stories for our children.
And there was nowhere else I'd rather end up than in the arms of my husband, feeling his love for me in ways words could never describe and repeatedly promising ourselves to each other without uttering a single word.
***
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!! I hope it's going well for y'all and I hope that you all get to be openly, unapologetically you!
I hope you guys liked this cute little chapter in Madison's POV. I wanna know if you'd be interested in a chapter from Madison's POV regarding the first night he and Noah met at the night club. I feel like that would be super fun.
Oh yeah, I've also entered this book into the Wattys, so fingers crossed that our boys and their story make it!!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did, please feel free to comment and vote. Also let me know if there are spelling/grammar mistakes so I can fix them! I love y'all a lot and I will see you next week!
Love y'all- Jordan
PS please pray for my dumb but bc I decided that it would be a smart idea to take three summer classes, get ready for a national dance competition, work, enter film contests, and write at the same time...gosh I'm dumb. It's worth it though.