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Nick beamed at me, wiggling his eyebrows lightly.
Oh, he wouldn’t dare put anything dirty in his vows, would he?I mean, I wouldn’t put anything past this man, but still, my parents were in the audience... and his mom... and his grandparents.
“Allison, last year when we walked into city hall, I knew it was more than just signing papers. At least for me.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the poor pastor frowning. I could see how someone would be extremely confused by that if they didn’t know the details.
“All I wanted was to make you happy. That’s all I want today as well—to see you content, happy, in love with me,” he added, as if there could be any doubt. “I promise to make you the happiest woman for as long as I live. To be the best husband and the best father figure to Jack and Annie.”
I heard little sighs of surprise from the twins—they probably hadn’t expected to hear their names—but they thankfully remained silent.
“The three of you changed my life completely. Even though we started out on this journey with an entirely different goal. I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out, with the life we have together now. I love you.”
“And I love you,” I whispered.
Nick looked at the pastor and nodded.
“Now, it’s time for Allison’s vows,” the pastor said.
I swallowed hard, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, only to remember that it was pulled back in a bun.
“Nick, I’ve never loved someone the way I love you, with all my heart and every cell in my body. It’s as if my soul had just been wandering around all this time, waiting and waiting. I’d never realized that. Then, when you came into our lives, I didn’t realize it in the beginning either,” I confessed. “But as we spent more time together and I discovered what an amazing person you are, I fell for you completely, and—” My voice cracked, and I stopped for a moment to collect myself.
Nick squeezed my hand, and I managed to continue. “And I know that I will fall more and more in love with you every single day. Every time I think my love for you can’t grow more, you prove me wrong, and I can’t wait for every single day for the rest of our lives. I know it’s going to be epic.”
“Hell yes, it will,” Nick said, and the crowd laughed. The pastor just smiled.
I’d debated making my vows longer, but I knew I couldn’t do it without bursting into tears.
“You two are clearly more in love than ever,” the pastor said. “I hope we’ll see each other again whenever you feel the need to renew these vows. I wish you both a very happy marriage and a wonderful life along with these two children. Are you ready to give the rings?” he asked the twins, who nodded enthusiastically.
Even though we had rings already, Nick insisted that we needed new ones.I couldn’t disagree with him. This time, we both obsessed over it—well, me more than Nick. When I showed him the five-hundredth option, I could practically feel his eyes glazing over. He very eloquently told me that he’d be happy with whatever I chose. We decided on platinum wedding bands that had a simple design along the middle—interlaced leaves.
“Repeat after me,” the pastor said, and I heard confusion slip into his voice once again. We’d told him exactly what we wanted him to say for the ring exchange.
“With this ring, I take you to be my wife,” he said, and Nick repeated after him in a strong voice. As he put the ring on my finger, I could feel our bond grow stronger. Logically, I knew it was impossible, but that was how I felt.
Then I took the ring from Jack, and the pastor said, “With this ring, I take you to be my husband.”
“With this ring, I take you to be my husband,” I repeated. My voice was a mere whisper.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
I grinned as Nick tilted closer to kiss me. “I think we completely confused him,” I whispered.
“Yes, we did,” he said right before kissing me. To my surprise, it was a much, much tamer one than the one he’d given me at city hall a year ago. Then I felt him grab both my hands, putting them on his shoulders. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck, and then he deepened the kiss.
Oh, I realized his strategy. He’d wanted my arms to cover us up. Then he kissed me shamelessly, tongue and all, until I nearly forgot we were surrounded by our families.
When we finally paused, I heard clapping and realized everyone was already on their feet. Someone was whistling again. I was right; it was Leo. The pastor was also clapping and smiling.
I felt something tug at my dress and glanced down to see the twins looking up at us with big eyes.
“We want to ask you something,” Annie said. I crouched to their level, as did Nick. The two of them looked at each other. “We talked to Gran.” They referred to Nick’s grandmother as Gran just like he did. “She helped.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“We know Mommy and Daddy loved us very much and that they’re up there.” Annie pointed to the sky.