Thirteen: Brighter Than the Sun

 NOTE: There's a song you can play that goes along with the chapter, so if you want to listen, just click play when you get to the part of the chapter that has the video.

   "Gods..." I mumbled to myself, staring at my reflection, the reflection of a brunette twenty-four year old in a crisp, clean, billowing white dress, in the floor length mirror. My makeup, pink lipstick, Merveilleux Visages' number nine, the color Sunset Peach, eyeliner, Elegante Augen's zero seven zero, the color midnight storm, and Merveilleux Visages' crystal diamond shimmer pink blush, was perfect, yet my dress, my bouquet... Something wasn't right.
   "Knock, knock!" I heard a feminine, heavily accented- British, definitely British, definitely James' mother- voice exclaim.
   "Ah, um, yeah, come in please!"

  "Pardon me, dear, I just wanted to say-" She paused, looking at me through her thick spectacles. "You look bloody brilliant, purely gorgeous dear."
   "I do?" I nervously bit my lip, turning to face her.
   "Dear, don't bite your lip, you'll ruin your lipstick."
   "Is it too much? The makeup and everything with the dress? I just... I need to look perfect." The butterflies in my stomach were fluttering rapidly, their pastel wings churning like they were stuck in a dryer, going round and round.
   "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." She smiled, laughing slightly, as she reassuringly pat my shoulder.

   "It's true..." I whispered quietly, as she glanced at me, peculiarly.
   "What's true."
   "Uh, British elderly women are wise." I spoke softly, staring intently at my pumps.
   "Do you think I'm bloody Mary Poppins?" Her voice was delicate, soft, yet there a razor sharp edge you hardly noticed until you scraped against it.
   "Isn't she young and, like, Julie Andrews?"
   "Millennials." She sighed, shaking her head. "The novel, it was a book, you're a schoolteacher, are you not? You should know this. And the perfection quote, dear, was said by Vince Lombardi, who was an American football, he participated in your National Football League; I'd hardly consider the wisdom to be from some ancient British woman."
   "I'm so, so sorry, I-" My face began twisting into shapes of agony; she was to be my mother-in-law in a few hours and I was hardly acquainted with her, I couldn't begin with her disliking me, with her having a bad impression of me.
   "Oh, dear, Lavender, I was teasing, horse play, as you say, I don't want a kerfuffle." She gently pat my shoulder, as I nervously smiled.
   "Alright... Is my dress okay? I think it's a bit too formal for an outside wedding." The intricate lace bodice and pearl buttons, the rushing; the V-neck, floor length, ballgown was gorgeous, however it didn't seem to match the tropical island paradise ambience.

   "I went out for a gander this morning, took a shufti round this boutique, it's quite quaint, not very posh, though there was a simply smashing dress on display- pink lace, strapless sweetheart sheath dress, bout a hundred twenty pounds, I could take you to look, if you'd like."
   "Would you?" I gasped, a smile spreading across my face. Perhaps it was the stereotype that British woman were either doting nannies or strict, peremptory, elderly women or maybe it was the psychotic, persnickety, nagging monster, ehem, mother-in-law stereotype, either way I was terrified of Ms. Carlton having a particular sense of disdain towards me, the lady who would make her only son, her only baby boy's second wife, prior to the age of twenty-five. I'd yet to meet Poppy, James' sister who six years younger than he was; she was too busy preparing for uni, where she'd be a business major, so my sole impression of the in-laws was based entirely on his mum. "Thank you so much, Ms. Carlton."
   "Please, call me Judith, better yet Judy, that's what my mate's call me."
   "Okay, thank you Judy." I smiled widely, as she embraced me, warmly.

♢ ♢ ♢ 

   "I can't believe my baby girl's getting married." Dad whispered in my ear, as he took my arm and began walking me down the aisle, a time-worn wooden bridge. "I remember when you were in diapers and now you're marrying a man, who I'll kill if he hurts you."

  Stop me on the corner
I swear you hit me like a vision
I, I, I wasn't expecting
But who am I to tell fate where it's supposed to go with it
Don't you blink you might miss it
See we got a right to just love it or leave it
You find it and keep it
Cause it ain't every day you get the chance to say

   "Daaad." I groaned in mock aggravation, attempting to hold back a storm of sunny giggles. Not only was this the man who had to get a hip replacement and had chronic arthritis, who was anti-hunting-for-sport and donated part of his income ever year to the ASPCA- he wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone James- the only thing that he'd seen me in that slightly resembled diapers were disposable overnight pullup princess panties.
   "I could take him." He said, as the sunshiney, flowy sounds of Colbie Caillat embraced my eardrums. it was impossible to have a tropical wedding and not include one of her songs.

I've never seen it, I found this love, I'm gonna feed it
You better believe, I'm gonna treat it better than anything I've ever had
Cause you're so damn beautiful
Read it, it's signed and delivered let's seal it
Boy we go together like peanuts and paydays and Marley and reggae
And everybody needs to get a chance to say

   "I love you. Lavender, your mother and I both love you. We always will and I know you love James and, as a parent, we have to step back and let you begin, let you have a fresh-" He began sniffling. "I'm go-oin-ng-g to give away part of my toast... And my daughter."

    

 Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky
 

   "You and James have a future brighter than the sun."

"Lavender, I love you. You're my best friend. Our love is so strong. I believe our love can do anything. So today I commit to give my life to you in marriage. I commit to you that I will love you forever. I will give my life for you and I promise to always protect your life with mine. 

   I will celebrate with you in times of great happiness and I will not just stand by you, but carry you during times of life's greatest sorrows. I will cherish your health, but one day when it fades I will be with you in any sickness or weakness you face, from now until the day that I die. 

   One day we will celebrate great riches, but even if those parish and we are left with nothing, I will always stand by you, and you will always be taken care of. I will never give up on our love, for I may have only known you for seven months, but in that short time I've learned and loved more than I ever had before. I spent so long trying to think of what I could say to tell you how much I love you, my joy, my passion, I didn't know how to express it, I promised myself I would say what was in my heart and not what was in some anonymous wedding vow website, so here it is: I love you, and I and grateful that you're letting me spend the rest of my life proving how much I love you." 

Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart
It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun
Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun

   "James..." His smile was radiant, as I felt my heart swell. "On this special day, I give to you in the presence of my family, of your family, a family that will become one, my promise to stay by your side, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad.
    I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, for I may be a teacher, however it is together that we truly learn. I will always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live. James Colton, I love you and I will always love you... I love you so much, you stole my heart, now I'm going to steal your last name."

   "Aww... Bloody hell, promised myself I wouldn't cry..." I heard Judy whisper to herself, as she wiped at her eyes with a lace handkerchief. 

   "I take it you, Lavender Mumsy, take me, James Colton as your lawfully wedded husband?"

 

  "I do." He slipped the ring onto my finger slowly, as he gazed into my eyes. "I hope you take me, Lavender Mumsy, as your lawfully wedded wife, because if you don't, I think it might make things a bit awkward."

   "I certainly do."

   "Wonderful. You should kiss me now."

 
Brighter than the sun


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