Always Beautiful

by Oien, M. K

  “Who gives this woman away to this man?” Henry asked as he stood before us at the altar. That was one thing that I hadn’t known until a month ago. Not only were Zeppelin’s parents both lawyers, but his father was ordained as well. It was incredibly special to have him performing the ceremony for us. “Her mother and I do.” My father spoke up. He shook Zeppelin’s hand and patted him on the back before stepping back from us and taking a seat next to my mother who was crying like a baby in the front row.

  “You are the prettiest damn thing I have ever laid my eyes on.” Zeppelin whispered to me. I smiled at him. “You clean up pretty well yourself.” I whispered back. “I like that tux on you…A lot.” I added as I waggled my eyebrows at him. Zeppelin narrowed his eyes at me. “Settle down Angel or I won’t make it through the ceremony.” He warned with a wink.

  I giggled and turned my head to look at Henry who began speaking for the ceremony. My gaze shifted to the left and I saw Hannah. She grinned at me and wiped a tear from her eye. “Gorgeous.” She mouthed. I rolled my eyes and shot her a smile.

  The ceremony was short and simple and to the point. We didn’t write our own vows because neither of us could find the words to even begin to explain how we felt about each other. When it was time to exchange rings, Hannah passed me Zeppelin’s and Dixon, his best man, handed him mine. Facing one another now, we each were asked to repeat after Henry.

  “I, Zeppelin Thomas Rhoades, give myself to you Lucille Marie Harris. Unconditionally forever, I promise to love, honor, and obey you; in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. This ring is a token of a bond that can’t be broken and proof that two souls are one.”

  Zeppelin gazed into my eyes the entire time that he spoke. His voice waivered toward the end and a few tears fell from his blue eyes and down his cheeks. This caused me to cry even more. He placed a kiss upon the band before slipping it onto my finger. I repeated the words and placed his ring on his finger as well. An eruption of applause began before Henry closed the ceremony with a prayer. When he was finished speaking, he pronounced us husband and wife.

  “You may now kiss your bride.” He said to Zeppelin with a grin. “Thank God!” Zeppelin said as he turned toward me. He placed a hand on my cheek, cupping it and grasped my waist with the other. Resting his forehead against mine, he whispered, “You’re mine forever Angel.” And then he pressed his lips against my own. My hands moved to his waist and I kissed him back with everything I had in me. I barely registered the applause and hollers from our guests and the wedding party.

  Reluctantly pulling away from me, Zeppelin kissed my forehead. Taking my hand in his, we stepped away from Henry and began walking down the aisle. I had my love, my life, beside me. It didn’t matter what the future might bring or where it would lead us. We would be together as long as we were allowed and he was all I would ever need.

  Zeppelin Rhoades came into my life like an unexpected storm. One minute all was calm and peaceful in my world. I was right on track of where I thought I was supposed to be. I had a plan set and a purpose. The next minute, he was my plan and my reason for living. He overturned my life and consumed me like a blazing, powerful wildfire. He’s ultimately my greatest love, my soul mate, the one whom I could literally not breathe without.

  Sometimes life throws you things when you least expect it. These are usually the best gifts. Zeppelin taught me that if you counted your blessings and opened your eyes, you could find the beauty in everything. He also revealed to me what it felt like to truly be loved and the importance of allowing your-self the opportunity. Even if it hurt like hell at times, I fell for him hard. At the risk of losing him and even myself for a while, I still fell. To me it was worth every minute.

  Epilogue

  ~Zeppelin~

  I opened my tired eyes and stared up at the ceiling. A slow smile spread across my face as I turned my head to the right. I could feel the weight of her arm around my waist. Lucky, my angel, my love, was fast asleep. Her lips were parted slightly as she breathed in and out softly. I kissed my sleeping beauty’s forehead and carefully got up out of bed.

  I made my way out of our bedroom, clad in flannel pajama bottoms. I wandered down the hall toward the source of the noise that woke me this early in the morning. I entered the other bedroom next to ours and my eyes focused on the tiny little girl who lay in her crib. She was crying, her small hands balled into fists beside her head that was covered in light brown hair.

  Every single time that I laid eyes on our daughter, my heart warmed and grew bigger. She was perfect, just like her mother and I was blessed to have them. I reached in to the crib and picked up our miracle. She stopped crying and snuggled her head against my bare chest.

  “What’s the matter Mercury?” I whispered softly to her as I patted her back gently. “You must be hungry. Let’s go wake up mommy and she can feed you.” I went back into our bedroom and sat down carefully on the bed beside Lucky who was still sleeping soundly. With one arm holding Mercury, I used my other to run it along Lucky’s arm.

  She stirred and moaned before opening her beautiful eyes to look at me. “What’s wrong?” She asked with a slight frown. I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong Angel. I think Mercury is hungry.” I said as my gaze shifted back to our baby. Lucky sat up against the headboard and held her arms out to take her from me. I watched as my wife lowered her thin tank top and began feeding Mercury.

  She grinned and looked over at me. “What?” She asked. I’m sure she could see the look of wonder and awe on my face. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of looking at you or her.” I admitted. She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re bound to get sick of me at some point.” She teased. She licked her lips and tucked her hair behind her ear.

  It had been just over two years since Lucky and I got married. We had our ups and downs like any normal couple, but we were so much stronger and closer than others that we knew. I had been cancer free now since the beginning of 2013 after my relapse. I took each day at a time, but the prognosis was good and I was expected to live a full and happy life. I fully intended to do just that.

  We had moved into our own house here in Portland after Lucky graduated from medical school last year. I was so incredibly proud of her for achieving her dream and starting the career that she always wanted. Seeing her hard work pay off and the joy it caused her helped me to start making my own goals for the future. I was in the middle of completing business courses at a local community college so that I could pursue my own dreams.

  I’ve had to struggle and fight for my life over the course of the last few years, but being where I was now was worth every minute. I appreciated my life and loved it as well as those around me. I had supportive friends, a beautiful wife, and the cutest baby girl in the world. Life didn’t get much better than that and as far as I was concerned, I could die tomorrow and be perfectly content with the way things panned out.

  I know that Lucky was in the middle of feeding Mercury, but sometimes for no reason other than an irresistible urge, I had to kiss my angel. I leaned my head toward hers and carefully cupped her cheek with my hand. I moved my mouth against hers and her soft, perfect lips welcomed me. A small moan escaped from her throat and I pulled back. I placed my lips against Mercury’s tiny cheek.

  “There’s no chance that I will ever tire of you Angel. You’ve made me the luckiest man on the planet.” I told her. “We’ll be eighty years old and I’ll still look at you and kiss you.” Lucky giggled and shifted Mercury in her arms. She had fallen asleep in the middle of her feeding. I looked down at the little girl snuggled into her mom and sighed contentedly.

  Life isn’t a fairytale with the dream scenarios and the perfect castle. You could get awfully damn close though. And I was certain that I was living my own special story and we would live happily ever after.

  The End

  Always Beautiful Playlist

  The xx Angels

  Thousand Foot Krutch Let the Sparks Fly

  AFI Silver and Cold


  Jason Derulo The Other Side

  The Verve Bittersweet Symphony

  One Republic All This Time

  Incubus Pardon Me

  Mat Kearney Sooner or Later

  Brand New The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

  Gary Allan Life Ain’t Always Beautiful

  Sum 41 With Me

  One Republic Mercy

  Led Zeppelin Kashmir

  The Fray Ungodly Hour

  Acknowledgments

  I have to say a BIG thank you to my supportive friends and family that are always there for me when I need them. Whether I’m bawling my eyes out over something I created or have questions, you are always there for me and I appreciate it immensely. I have to thank my daughter for being an inspiration to me and for pushing me to continue this dream. You are my biggest fan Emily and I thank you for that.

  As it stated in the dedication, this book was very emotional for me to write and reminded me a lot of the different people I have lost due to cancer or illness. I wouldn’t be anything without my amazing grandparents on both my mother and father’s side. There was one particular person who kept popping into my mind while writing this story and that was a little boy by the name of Skyyler B. whom I was lucky to have known for many years. He showed me what it was like to have a life threatening illness and still live every day like nothing was wrong. He was a fighter and a positive kid and a lot of Zeppelin’s character is based off of him.

  I want to say thank you to three amazing ladies who believed in me early on and helped me out tremendously in making this story as good as it could be. Sarah, Nikki, and Donna; My amazing beta readers who took the time to read Always Beautiful and made brilliant suggestions. You girls absolutely rock and I am so grateful for you!

  To the ladies of the WFD group and the Indie Author Support Group, you are all fan-fucking-tastic and I would be so lost without you! Madeline Sheehan you are an inspiration, a kick ass bitch, and one of my biggest heroes. You seriously have no idea how big of a help you have been for me just by including me in the “cool kids club”. You taught me to just write my ass off and forget about what other’s think.

  To all the amazing bloggers out there that have helped me from the beginning, I can’t say thank you enough. Reviews, Freebies, and More, Book Boyfriend Reviews, Bookaholics Blog, Maria’s Book Blog, Romantic Reading Escapes, and many many more. You are always willing to share things for me and help me spread the news about my current works and upcoming releases. THANK YOU!

  I want to say thank you to all of the amazing friends I have made in the last few months that encourage me every single day. I feel like we are a little weird online family. I’m talking about you Twitter peeps who live in my home away from home, my happy place. You all rock and entertain me to the point that I sometimes I get a bit distracted but we always have fun.

  And finally, to you the readers who took another chance on me and read this novel. It is my great pleasure to create a story that you love and can relate to. I hope to entertain you further in the future and your love, support, encouraging words, and reviews are most helpful. So thank you for everything and I look forward to hopefully speaking with you all.

  Contact M.K. Oien

  Facebook: Author M.K. Oien

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-MK-Oien/143383079167780?ref=hl

  Twitter: @MKOien

  https://twitter.com/MKOien

  Goodreads: M.K. Oien

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7077781.M_K_Oien

  Email: oienmelissa@gmail.com

  Other Books by M.K. Oien

  Something to Believe In (Silver Series Book #1)

  Amazon:

  http://www.amazon.com/Something-Believe-In-Silver-Series-ebook/dp/B00DQDQ41W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385487549&sr=8-1&keywords=something+to+believe+in+m.k.+oien

  Barnes and Noble:

  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-to-believe-in-mk-oien/1115920149?ean=2940016540795