by Macy Farmer
“Brad wanted the photographer to set videos up and take a bunch of pictures of your face when you saw the cake, along with all of us getting ready,” Melissa chimed in. She pointed across the room and there stood the photographer snapping away. Pausing to check the lens, Melissa caught his attention and waved him over.
“I didn’t even see you there. Thank you for doing this for us at such short notice.” My eyes went immediately back to the cake. “Look at all the detail… Amazing.” Reaching out to touch it, Colleen smacked my hand away.
“The colorful fall leaves are made of fondant. For decoration they had wrapped a bronze silk ribbon around each of the round tiers.” She pointed back to the leaves, “They airbrushed all of those leaves so that you would get the autumn affect. You said you loved it here that time of year, how the leaves were the color of fire…”
The fall themed wedding cake matched perfectly with the theme of our wedding.
“The vibrant autumn colors are a beautiful contrast to the white fondant cake walls. Thanks Colleen.” I sniffled, hugging her tight.
“Okay, Nat, no crying! It’s time for breakfast. Afterwards we all need to start getting ready.” Aunt Susie definitely took her newfound parental role seriously. It felt good to have a motherly figure around. The thought had me thinking about my mom. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, wondering, “Is she here in spirit?” Moments before sadness consumed my very being, my aunt’s voice saved me, reminding us, “The guys will be here in an hour and you get married in two. Let’s get a move on, ladies.”
There was a lot going on all at once, but it wasn’t chaotic. It was surprisingly going well. Thankfully, Melissa’s parents showed up bright and early with Matt and James. With the guys not here yet and us ladies still having to get ready, we needed all the help we could get. They made sure all the final touches were completed and set up the music. They also started escorting people from the front of the house to my backyard. The wind chimes were ringing every time someone came up the drive. The relaxing sound soothed my soul so I didn’t undo my spell.
We were in my bedroom putting on our dresses for the last time when the butterflies in my stomach started to flutter. Familiarity and the feeling of home calmed the butterflies, and I knew Bradley was on the premises. The closer he got the faster my heart raced, pounding against my chest. My chest filled with warmth as I dashed to the window to get a peek of my fiancé. Unfortunately, the guys were quicker. They were already gone. Hoping to get a glimpse of my fiancé from the back window, I raced to the kitchen. Instead of seeing Bradley, I saw all of our guests and by the size of the crowd, it looked like everyone we invited came to watch our nuptials. Holding my stomach, I tried to keep the rippling waves of my anxiety at bay. Suddenly, it felt like I was going to pass out.
My hands dampened as my anxiety grew. Trying to gain control and prevent myself from hyperventilating, I inhaled a series of deep breaths. Nothing seemed to help calm my nerves.
Aunt Susie walked through the back door, across the kitchen and stopped right in front of me. “This is from Bradley.” Reaching out she grabbed both my shoulders and pulled me into a warm comforting embrace. Minutes later she let me go and handed me a piece of paper. With trembling hands I read the words breathlessly aloud, “For all of eternity, my Natalia. See you soon. Love, Bradley.” Colleen, Melissa and I all started crying… But not my aunt.
“I’m going out there to slap the shit right out of him.” Hearing my Aunt Susie cuss made us all bust up laughing.
“Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful day.” Grinning wildly, I shouted, “Let’s go get me married!”
“No, not yet! We still need something old, new, borrowed, and blue,” Melissa said as she handed me a beautiful silver necklace that had a white wolf dangling from it. “The wolf was made by a local Indian tribe. They believe that the wolf carries the spirits of their ancestors and that it will give you strength. So there’s your something new.”
“Thank you, Melissa, it’s beautiful. It looks like Seager.” Spinning around, “Please, would you help me put it on?” The intricate wolf howling at the moon was carved out of bone. The eyes, made of turquoise, seemed to give a spiritual effect. The lengthy sterling silver necklace set the wolf pendant dangling perfectly just above my cleavage.
After pulling a small jewelry box from her purse, my aunt walked across the room and handed it to me. “I was going to give this to you later, but here’s something old.” Whilst I opened the box she explained its history, “Your grandmother gave both your mom and I a matching set of pinky rings. Your mother gave her ring to their good friend and lawyer, Harvey, for safekeeping. He recently gave it to me to pass it on to you. Wear it with pride.”
It was a beautiful silver ring with an ‘L’ on it. My hands were shaking again terribly sliding it on my left pinky. To my relief, it fit. Hugging my Aunt Susie, I thanked her for the gift and for her coming into my life.
“Okay, now it’s my turn.” Colleen laughed like a little girl as she presented me with my something borrowed. “You can borrow my bracelet that Jesse gave me on our wedding day.” It was a white gold charm bracelet that had two grizzly bears dangling from each side. “I want it back before you leave for your honeymoon.”
“I will, I promise. Thank you, Colleen. I’m honored.” Overwhelmed with emotion, tears escaped, streaming down my cheeks. Quickly, so to not mess up my makeup I grabbed a tissue to dab my cheeks dry.
“Wait, I’m not done yet.” She pulled out a blue garter from her bag. “Here put this on, it’s your something blue. Brad is going to love removing that from your sexy leg.” Laughing flirtatiously, she finished, “Especially if you blush like that.”
“Thanks again, Colleen.” I’d chosen a slightly full petticoat slip to enhance my dress. The slip, along with my boots made it difficult to put on the garter by myself. “Maybe we should have thought about this before I put my boots on.” My white ankle boots had a three-inch thick heel, and were covered in lace. I loved how they looked and even though no one would really get to see them, I had to buy them.
“Okay, ladies, I’m ready to marry the man of my dreams and he’s out there waiting for me. How about we take this show on the road?”
Standing in the open doorway, my eyes were immediately drawn to a white carpet runner for us to walk on. It started at the bottom of the steps, ran across the length of my entire backyard, and up to the alter. Turning, I looked at my aunt. After giving her a puzzling look she whispered, “Magic. Like this…” She raised her hand in the air and with her index finger pointed upward rotated her wrist in a circular motion three times, muttering an incantation. A wall of white mist formed a few yards from the bridge, blocking the view. Like myself, my aunt believes in superstition. She created the misty shield to prevent Bradley from seeing me before it was time.
Colleen, Melissa, Aunt Susie, and I followed the white runner to the misty wall and paused. We stood, waiting for the music to start.
The waiting was the worst. My anxiety and nerves had my stomach twisted in knots. If that wasn’t bad enough, excitement about my upcoming honeymoon seemed to feed the negative vibes, causing my palms to sweat, heat to radiate around my chest, and my fingers to tingle. It was all very overwhelming.
Time felt as if it were slowing down, almost standing still. To help ease my anxiety, I tried stealing a glance of Bradley standing at the altar, but, between the mist and my aunt, it was impossible.
When the music began, Melissa started walking down the carpet, followed shortly after by Colleen. Each blew me a kiss for luck before leaving.
My aunt leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Looks like you forgot something.” Raising her hand above mine, she pointed her index finger at my empty hands and spun her wrist in a circular motion.
A lush bouquet of beautiful silk flowers appeared in my hands: white and burgundy daisies and poms, orange and yellow gerberas, and a couple calla lilies with some asters and baby’s breath. The blend of flowers
and colors were truly magical.
When Melissa and Colleen reached the bridge where my future husband waited, the mist dramatically dissipated. After it cleared, I saw a beautiful natural setting for the ceremony filled with colorful leaves. Homemade lanterns hung from the trees along the edge of our forest. My eyes drifted to our guests. Rows and rows of white chairs with orange sashes on both sides of the aisle led to my future husband, the love of my life.
A smile slowly spread across my face as my gaze slowly drank in the entire view of his perfect body. He wore a white Mirage tuxedo and had never looked so good. The standing mandarin collar and lapels were trimmed in satin; the pockets were slightly angled and trimmed in the same. His pleated slacks, tie, and vest completed the delicious picture. I stopped for one breathtaking second to take it all in, this vision of my handsome man. It took everything I had inside me not to run and jump into his arms. Bradley was everything I’d ever wanted in a man, a true Knight in Shining Armor. And, there he stood at the altar, waiting for me. A fairytale come true.
My aunt had to prod me to start moving forward. As I walked towards Bradley, I pried my stare away from him to see what Jesse and Dave were wearing. They wore black tuxedos with a vest and tie. Seager stood there also, wearing a black tie, and wagging his tail. I smiled and turned right back to Bradley, who stood there smiling proudly. He looked as though he was the luckiest person in the world, but I already proudly held that title.
As my aunt placed my hand into Bradley’s, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, “You better take care of her or I’ll put my foot up your ass.” She spun slowly, winked at me and went to take her seat on my side in the front row.
The moment we touched, a bolt of electricity shot through me. All of a sudden I had a strong awareness of my own heartbeat. It pounded harder, beating rapidly against my chest. I’m surprised we didn’t see sparks fly when our hands intertwined with one another’s. Bradley led me to the podium, his eyes seductively gazed across my body, slowly making his way back to my face. A shiver ran through my body. My cheeks filled with fire. Bradley noticed immediately and chuckled.
“Natalia, you take my breath away.” The inner vampire could be seen in his dark and hungry eyes. Along with his eyes, the wide and devilish smile upon his face told me there was only one thing on his mind, and that was he wanted to take me right then and there. I love that smile, it makes me feel all warm inside, hungry for him as well. The need to touch and explore his body was overwhelming.
The gentle touch of his fingers brushed across my left cheek, filling my mind with fantasies of our upcoming first time together. I closed my eyes, embracing the magic of his touch.
Wanting Bradley to hear my thoughts and to know how he made me feel, I let part of my shield down. With all our vampire, wizard and witch guests, I had to leave most of my shield up. Over the last week, with my aunt’s help, I had perfected my skill to ensure that no one except Bradley would hear my thoughts. It was one of my surprise gifts to him.
Dazzled, I barely heard a word the judge said. When he asked if I took Bradley to be my husband my reply, “I do,” was barely audible. Cupping my left cheek with his hand, Bradley chuckled and leaned in closer, his lips mere inches from mine.
“Do you, Bradley Jenkins, take Natalia Middleton to be your wife? To cherish and love her through sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” he said before adding, “In this lifetime and in every lifetime in our futures.”
Tears were inevitable. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t cry sooner. But when Bradley promised to be mine for all of eternity, there was no stopping the tears from falling.
As we exchanged rings, Bradley announced, “With this ring I promise to love you for all of eternity.”
In between the tears I managed to say, “Me too.”
The judge started to say, “You may now kiss…” but Bradley couldn’t wait for him to finish the sentence, he kissed me, crushing his lips to mine. He placed his hands on each side of my face, deepening our kiss, his thumbs caressing my cheeks, wiping away my tears. My arms were around his waist, our bodies molded together; our tongues were dancing passionately, with delight, when the judge announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Jenkins.
All the hooting and hollering in the background brought our intimate moment to an early end. I hugged Bradley tightly and thought, “When are we leaving for our honeymoon?” He let out a boisterous laugh that echoed through the forest.
“Be patient, Mrs. Jenkins. We’ll be on our way soon.” He kissed the side of my head.
“I like the way that sounds… Tell me, my dear husband…” His smile grew. “How does it sound when I call you my husband?” I giggled and his lips were on mine again, silencing me.
“It’s music to my ears,” he replied.
“You look beautiful, Nat. Nice necklace,” Seager mindfully thought.
“Thank you, Seager. Melissa gave it to me. It looks like you. You look great wearing that tie.” I bent down to hug him. “I love you. It’s because of you we’re together.”
Bradley never let go of my hand as we greeted and hugged the seemingly endless line of guests who congratulated us. My aunt introduced us to a bunch of relatives I had never met before while Bradley introduced me to many witches, vamps and grizzlies that were strangers to me. The only people that I knew, besides the bridal party, were Harvey, my parent’s lifelong friend and my lawyer, Melissa’s parents, Matt and James.
Once we hugged and kissed our guests, Bradley pulled me onto the dance floor for the bride and groom dance.
As we danced around the yard, staring deeply into each other’s eyes, no one else existed but the two of us. Bradley sang the words to our wedding song in my ear as he spun and twirled me along the grassed dance floor.
“You look very handsome Mr. Jenkins. I love you.”
After kissing the tip of my nose, “I love you, too. Did you see all the beautiful flowers Melissa decorated the yard and tables with?”
Dazzled and unwilling to take my eyes from his I shook my head no. Once again I had to pry my eyes away from his handsome face. Instead, I took in the beautiful fall themed decorations. Burnt orange and red Gerbera daises lay wildly on every table. Autumn colored leaves, lay sporadically, spread on top of the tables and ground, appearing as if they’d fallen from the trees. My favorite colors burnt orange, white, red, green and yellow were everywhere.
“Wow, they’re beautiful. I love daisies.”
“I didn’t think you’d noticed the flowers or decorations,” he said, kissing my forehead and pulling me in even closer, entwining our bodies.
Gazing back into his eyes, I smirked teasingly. “I was busy looking at my sexy, handsome husband. Would you prefer that I continue to look at the flowers and decorations?”
“No, but I thought you should get a good look so that you could thank Melissa for her hard work. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself for forgetting and you’d be unable to concentrate on more important things…like our upcoming honeymoon.” His lips took hold of mine again. Bradley pulled his head back momentarily, “Do you think it would be rude if we left sooner than expected?”
“Now who’s being impatient?” I questioned as we both burst out in ear piercing laughter. Everyone stopped and turned, looking at us. Smiling, we continued dancing, momentarily living in our own little world.
After everyone took turns dancing with us, we all gathered at the cake table to cut the cake. My aunt insisted on saving the top tier, saying that we had to freeze and save it. On our first anniversary we were to defrost it and each eat a piece for good luck. To appease her, we agreed.
Unsure how to slice it, we cut our pieces from the upper tier of the cake. Holding onto the cake knife, Bradley placed his hand over mine and we made the first cut together. Afterwards, we fed each other a piece without smashing it into each other’s face.
Jesse yelled, “Come on, Natty, smash it in his face. Shove it up his nose!”<
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“Yeah, Brad,” Coll chimed in, “Smash a piece in her face. Just don’t mess up her hair or stain her dress,” she laughed.
“It’s tradition!” they yelled simultaneously.
“There’s only one way to shut them up, Bradley.” The corners of his lips curled in agreement.
We each picked up and held a piece of cake in our hand. Staring each other in the eye we reached back…
“Do it, Natty! Do it!” Jesse dared.
Without warning, Bradley spun around and smashed a piece of cake in Jesse’s face while I got Colleen.
Wiping icing and cake from his hand with a napkin, Bradley stood tall and challenged the remainder of our guests, “Does anyone else wish to mess with my beautiful bride and me?” Thankfully, no one took him up on the offer. I didn’t want a food fight to break out and someone to get food all over my gown.
“It’s time for Brad to take off the garter,” Dave yelled from the other side of the yard. It was as if Bradley had been waiting for this announcement. He walked me over to the chair Dave strategically placed right in the middle of the circle our guests had formed.
“Hmm, you’re blushing already,” Bradley whispered as he let his hands drift up my leg. Then, he lifted my dress and slip slightly, and dove in after my blue garter. I held the dress down over him worried someone would see up it. He quickly returned without the garter. Pressing his lips to my ear he whispered, “We’re leaving right after you throw the bouquet.” In a flash he was back under my dress.
Butterfly kisses were pressed against my inner upper thigh before I felt him tugging at the garter with his teeth. Not until he got to my foot did he use his hands. Jumping up, he spun around towards our guests and shot it across the yard like a rubber band. Dave jumped up and caught it with great exaggeration, hooting and hollering while spinning it around his index finger.
I looked back at Bradley and his face was right in front of mine. “Throw the flowers so we can go. I want to see what else you have on under there.” Black narrowing eyes, full of hunger, and a hard jaw line had me giggling. The man can be so impatient sometimes. I stood up, spun around, and just before I threw my bouquet, Colleen grabbed my wrist, stopping me.