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Winnie glances at me. I roll my eyes.
Show-off, I mouth at her.
Let him have his moment, she mouths back.
He’s already married.
Patton glares at us and clears his throat loudly.
Snorting, I squeeze Winnie’s hand as we look at him again and try to keep our faces straight.
We haven’t written long vows, thank God, so the ceremony finishes relatively fast. You know how it goes.
I promise to love her for the rest of my life, to have and to hold to my very last breath, and she promises I’ll always be her first and last, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.
Even then, I’ll find her again.
Come heaven, come hell, or a hundred more lives in the Great Beyond, I willalwaysclaim this woman.
“I choose you,” she says, her voice shaking. Mom lets out an audible sob behind her. “I choose you today and tomorrow, next week and next month, next year and all the years to come. Every day I wake up, every moment, I choose you, Archer. I choose you forever.”
Damn, she’s good.
There’s not a dry eye in the house by the end.
Finally, Colt steps up and presents the rings to Patton, who directs us to put them on.
First, I slide mine on Winnie’s finger. It’s white gold and it matches the ring that sits beside it.
She doesn’t know it yet, but I had them engrave a small bee inside our rings.
I don’t give a crap how eccentric or overdone it seems. I’ll lean into my wife’s life obsession because I know I’ll always be manic about loving her.
Then it’s my turn.
She slides her ring on my finger, and there’s this heady feeling of release, of relief, of finally being able to breathe again.
I don’t wait for Patton to tell me I can kiss the bride.
I wrap my arms around her and crush my mouth down on hers. And yeah, maybe I’m a little emotional and watery-eyed, but no one can tell besides Winnie.
She pulls away and wraps her arms around my neck. “I hope calling you husband never gets old. Because I already love it, hubby.”
“How do you feel about wifey?”
“Hate it!” She wrinkles her nose and kisses me again.
We’re both laughing, though.
Only our second kiss as husband and wife.
Only our first morning on the edge of eternity.
It shouldn’t feel different, but it does.
That quiet inner voice whispers she’s mine now in every conceivable way. I can feel the ring on my finger, a promise written in gold.
In time, I know I’ll get used to it, but right now, I’m hyper-aware it’s there. Another physical reminder I have a wife.