Page 193 of The Wedding

He said a few words. Loudly, near a microphone, so everyone down in the audience could hear what they said. Jamie did not retain any of it. Like at Helen and Monique’s wedding, she tuned everything out, her brain so far into overdrive that it blanked out.

All she saw was Etta, the woman she would call hers forever.

“Jamie,” someone hissed. “It’s your turn.”

“Huh?” What had happened? Who? Where? Jamie looked into Etta’s face, which did its best not to burst out laughing. Seena had trouble as well.

The officiant? He merely gazed at Jamie and repeated, “Do you, Jamie Joy, stand before us today with full consent to be wedded to this woman?”

What! Had they made it this far already? Did Jamie miss the part where Etta went first and said she consented to be married?I wanted to hear it…Jamie had to focus!

“I do,” she said. Her voice trembled. How could she sound nervous now? Of all times!

While they hadn’t written their own vows, they had chosen others to repeat. Etta was the first to speak, and this time Jamie actually heard it.

“I, Etta Coleman, take this woman, Jamie Joy, to be my lawfully wedded wife from this day forward. I promise to love and cherish her, to protect her from harm, to provide for her to the best of my abilities, and to be the greatest wife that she could ever ask for. I swear upon my life and my dignity to honor her, our relationship, and what we have set forth before the universe to mean our marriage. Should she become the mother of my children, I will honor her as such and swear to be a good and honorable parent. I will not defame my wife, and I will remain loyal until my dying day, so help me God.”

Jamie was glad that she only had to repeat what the officiant said, because she sure as hell could not remember or read anything else. She couldn’t even remember what came next, and could hardly believe it when Adele passed two rings into Etta’s hand.

“With this ring, I be wed,” Etta said softly, slipping the fitted band over Jamie’s left ring finger. It melded with her engagement ring, only now it looked stronger, more powerful. Her sweaty hand took the ring from Etta’s and attempted to shove it on her finger.

Oh my God. I am putting a ring on her!This was, perhaps, the most symbolic thing Jamie could have done in her relationship so far.It’s like… collaring her… in a way. This was a woman used to having all the power. Slipping a ring over her finger meant Jamie was as close as any woman would get to symbolically tying this woman to her!

“With this ring, I be wed.” Jamie was shocked at how easily the wedding band went over Etta’s finger.Hopefully, I’ll see it on her hand for the rest of my life.‘Til death did they part.

The officiator said the one thing Jamie had been waiting to hear for so many weeks.

“May I present to you Etta and Jamie Coleman.”

A roar of cheers erupted from the garden. Etta took Jamie’s hand and turned to face them, the other arm slipping comfortably around her waist.

“Do we tell them that you might not legally change your name?”

“Nope,” Jamie said through a smile, waving at the crowd below. “I want them all to bask in the fact that I can legally be called Mrs. Colemanif I want.”

“It suits you well.”

They began the procession down the catwalk as two wives. “Yeah, well, you could always be Etta Joy, you know.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of my competitors.”

Jamie caught sight of her parents, both of them waving frantically with huge smiles on their faces. Beside them, Anne Coleman stood, stoic. Or at least Jamie thought so until she pulled out her handkerchief and patted her face.

“Somehow, I think that was the point, wife.”

“I could get used to you calling me your wife.”

They diverted into the manor, where more than one officiant – and their lawyers – stood by the marriage license, ready for them to sign. The fact that Etta wrote her name with no hesitation before handing the fountain pen to Jamie filled her with more confidence than having her tell the whole world that she loved her.

Chapter 60

They arrived at the reception with a flourish, Jamie already glad to have slipped into some white satin flats.I did it the moment we finished taking the photos. Jamie couldn’t wait to feel her soles again. If only the reception were outdoors! Sweet grass beneath her feet!

Instead, they were at the community center in the hills. For most of her life, Jamie associated “community center” with metal folding chairs and paper streamers. Except that those centers hadn’t been in the hills. Here, it was like a mini-country club, but without the rules and expectations. The who’s-who could rent a cute manor to host parties and even small business affairs. There was a ballroom that accommodated the hundreds of guests filing in. A separate room for the cocktail hour? Bonus.

Jamie and Etta stood in front of their banquet table, greeting their guests as they came by. It was three, with rays of afternoon sunlight bathing the ballroom and illuminating Jamie’s dress in a publicly pleasing way. Naturally, many asked her who designed it, and she was happy to drop the nameBonita Bocelli… which nobody knew, of course.

Raul dipped in to do Jamie’s hair for the reception: the classic updo that would stay out of the way while she dined and danced with her wife. Ettaadmitted she fancied this even more than the loose hair. “You look very refined,” she told her.