Sweet Rome (Sweet Home)

by Tillie Cole

  Unable to contain my happiness, I smashed my lips against hers and my mind drifted to the one last missing step. I wanted Molly forever, and in my heart I knew there was only one thing that would make everything perfect.

  Breaking away from her lips, I stared my girl right in the eyes and said, “Marry me.”

  Her mouth dropped in shock and she stuttered, “W-what?”

  Holding her face in my hands, I repeated, “Marry me. Marry me tomorrow, tonight, as quickly as we can. Just… fuckin’ marry me, Shakespeare. Let me make you officially mine.”

  “But… But…”

  I pressed her against the wall and reiterated, “I love you. I love you more than anything. I can’t and won’t be without you ever again. I want to give you everything possible. I want to give you happiness… I want to one day give you children… Marry me. Be with me. Have forever… with me.”

  Her breath came quick as I kept my gaze locked on hers. A wash of contentment settled over her face, and then she made my fucking life.

  “Yes!” she cried.

  “Say it again.” I needed to hear that one small—but powerful—word once more… just to be sure.

  “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you!” She giggled and I kissed her with everything I had until she chuckled against my lips.

  “What the hell are you laughing at now, Shakespeare?” I asked, her happiness becoming infectious.

  “That the two ill-fated lovers—in our story—found a way to be together against all the odds, all of the obstacles, finally getting their happily ever after.”

  Fucking Romeo and Juliet…

  Ah, whatever. My girl wanted a fairy tale? She could damn well have one. Holding her close, I whispered, “For never was a truer story of love conquering woe than this of Molly Juliet and her Romeo.”

  We both paused for a moment, gazes locked, before we burst out in laughter.

  “And where, Romeo Prince, did you learn that?”

  Shrugging, I answered, “Google. Where else!” Molly couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

  Bringing her left hand to my mouth, I kissed her bare ring finger. “You need a ring.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll sort it later. I don’t need a ring yet. I’m happy with just having you.”

  “Fuck that!” I said a bit too loudly. “We’re sorting it right now.”

  “But… but… the draft…”

  “Is done. We’re going to Seattle. No need to stay here any longer, and right now we’re getting you a ring.” I paused and looked down at my flustered fiancé—fuck! my fiancé—and a question came to mind. “Or should we just get married now?”

  Swallowing, she whispered, “What? Where?”

  I shrugged. “Vegas? We can be there in a couple of hours.” The excitement that thought brought was almost too much to take. She could be my wife in a couple of hours.

  “No,” she said in a low voice, and the excitement within me faded.

  “No?”

  Clutching my hand, she said, “I want to marry you, as soon as possible, but not at some cheap chapel or by some dodgy fat Elvis!”

  Pulling her to my chest and wrapping my fist in her hair, I asked, “Then where?”

  Smiling sadly, she said, “My parents eloped to Gretna Green.”

  “Where the fuck is that?”

  “Scotland.”

  Scotland? Fine, whatever. “Done. We’ll get the next flight out.”

  Shaking her head but laughing this time, she said, “No. I’m joking. I don’t want that. I want us to have our own story. I want us to make our own memories. I want this wedding to be done right.”

  I groaned in exasperation. “Mol, for fuck sake, I just want to make you mine. You own me in every way, shape, and form. Just give me this, soon. Let me have you too.”

  Brushing a hand down my cheek, she pressed a kiss on my lips and whispered, “Okay, baby. However you want. Wherever you want.”

  “Done, we’ll get married as soon as we’re back in Bama, but right now, we’re getting you a ring.”

  Taking Molly’s hand, loving the sound of her excited squeal behind me, we reentered the green room, walked to our friends, and I put my arm around Molly’s shoulders. Our friends threw each other questioning glances, watching us closely.

  “We’re getting married,” I announced proudly, “and right now we’re getting Mol an engagement ring. If you want to come, let’s go.” All their mouths hung open in shock before Cass beamed a huge grin, bellowed out a deafening whoop, and then they all began diving on us in excitement.

  * * *

  “So what kind of dress are you thinking about?”

  “Well… I—”

  “Because, I have some ideas, you know, about silhouettes that would suit your frame,” Ally went on, and I couldn’t help but laugh as Molly sat, stuttering her way through the barrage of questions her friends were firing her way. We’d been engaged all of three hours and her friends had all but planned the whole damn wedding day.

  “And I can do your hair so you can check that off the to-do list. Oh, and I can get my momma to make the bridesmaid dresses.” Lexi paused and her eyes widened. “That is, of course, if we are your bridesmaids…” She gestured to the girls in the booth.

  Molly reached over the table and clasped Lexi’s hand. “Of course you guys are my bridesmaids. You’re my best friends.” Cass and Lexi beamed with excitement, and Molly turned to Ally. “And I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor?”

  Ally gasped and water filled her dark brown eyes before she launched into my girl’s shocked embrace. “Oh my God, darlin’, I’d be honored!”

  Molly awkwardly patted her on the back, a happy smile on her face, and she caught my watching gaze, rolling her eyes, causing me to laugh.

  She was so damn cute.

  After accepting my proposal, we’d all hit the bustling streets of New York and began our search for her engagement ring. Ally had only one place in mind and dragged us to Tiffany’s, quipping, “Rome’s rich as all hell. It’s not like he can’t afford it!”

  When Molly caught the prices of most of the rings, her eyes had almost popped out of her head. Squeezing my hand, she said, “Rome, I… I can’t, some of these rings are as expensive as a car. It’s too much.”

  Shrugging and pulling her close, I replied, “You’re worth it, baby. Get whatever you want.” But I could see she was resolved in her decision.

  Despite Ally’s insistence on a huge rock and my willingness to buy her anything she damn well pleased, thirty minutes later, we found ourselves in a small, vintage jeweler in Little Italy. My girl picked out a 1930s simple, half-carat diamond ring. As soon as the seller had told her the story behind it, Molly was in love.

  Apparently it had belonged to a couple who’d spent their whole lives together, never once spending a day apart, after surviving religious persecution in Germany, and came to the States after World War II. They’d lived until an old age, had a huge family with lots of kids, and passed away within days of one another, the one left behind unable to survive on their own. In their will, they had asked that the ring be sold to a young woman who truly loved and deserved it.

  Molly had listened to the old jeweler with tears glistening in her eyes, and I knew she’d found her ring of choice. She was all about the deeper significance of things, and thought that this ring, after everything we’d been through, was perfect.

  And seeing that thin piece of gold on her finger was fucking perfection to me too.

  Jimmy-Don’s girly shriek shook me from the recent memory, and I watched him jump up and down in the booth of the bar and swerve to me, hands pressed to his chest. “Gee, Rome, please say I’m your groomsman. I have the perfect tux in mind! I have the whole day envisioned… It’ll be just… just magical!”

  Cass scowled at his mockery of the girls’ excitement and laid a punch on his arm. Molly broke into fits of giggles at her friend.

  I slapped Jimmy-Don on the back and said with all seriousness, “You kno
w it, man. Reece too.” That quickly stopped their jokes and I could see that the two of them were genuinely taken aback, speechless even.

  “I’m getting us champagne to celebrate,” I said, standing from the booth and tipping my chin at Austin. “Carillo, coming?”

  He nodded his head and joined me walking to the bar. “How you feeling, man? Pretty fuckin’ awesome, I imagine.”

  Taking a glance back at Mol and all our friends, happy and laughing, I said, “Too right, man. I can’t believe a chick like her is actually going to marry me. I’m one lucky bastard.”

  Turning back to the bar, I ordered a bottle of Cristal and faced Austin. “So you gonna be my best man or what?”

  Austin swallowed and a slow grin spread on his face. Slapping his hand in mine, he moved in to grip my shoulder. “Fuck, man, of course I will!”

  “Only seems right after knowing you my whole damn life. Plus, you’re the closest thing I have to a brother. We’ve both been put through the ringer and both still here to see another day.” The poor bastard had had a rough six months, but thank fuck, he was now in a better place.

  “I’m fuckin’ honored, man, honored!” He flicked his gaze to Lexi sitting next to Molly, and a contented expression set on his face. “Only if you return the favor one day.”

  Smiling now myself, I said, “Done deal.”

  For the rest of the night we celebrated hard and I’d never felt so happy. Molly and I were going to Seattle, my little Shakespeare had agreed to be my wife, and on our return to Tuscaloosa, we had a wedding to plan.

  35

  Birmingham, Alabama

  One Month Later…

  “Are we all set?”

  “We’re good, son. Just need to get y’all changed into your tuxes and wait for the bride to show her face.”

  It had been a month since the draft, and on my and Molly’s return to Bama, my aunt and uncle heard the news of our engagement and offered us the use of their house in Birmingham for our wedding. We’d decided to keep it small. In fact, only our friends knew of it. It wasn’t a day for the press or for people to ooh and ahh at the real-life Romeo and Juliet of Alabama, the friggin’ ‘tragic lovers’ the papers had made us out to be.

  Since the Tide had won the championship, the hype surrounding Molly and me had been crazy, the draft only heightening the attention further, and we needed to get the hell away, get away from the media circus our marriage would no doubt become.

  Our marriage was about us. No pomp, no ceremony.

  “Is she okay?” I asked my uncle impatiently as he put the finishing touches to decorating the garden.

  “She’s great. Ally and the girls all slept in her room last night, giggling and staying up late. Your Aunt Alita is in her element, getting Molly all dolled up for today.” He stopped and looked up from attaching the last fairy light to the white wooden altar. “Your girl looks absolutely breathtaking, son. Breathtaking… You’ve done good.”

  All I could do was scowl.

  “What’s that face for?” Uncle Gabe asked, smiling his fucking knowing smile at me, just as Austin, Reece, and Jimmy-Don entered the yard.

  “That I wasn’t with Mol last night! We haven’t spent a damn night apart since I got her back, and I didn’t sleep a wink in that hotel room, knowing she was here. I fuckin’ hated it! You’re lucky I didn’t just screw tradition and turn up in her bed.”

  “Hey!” Jimmy-Don protested. “We were great company! Why wouldn’t you want this over Molly?” He ran his hands down his body and licked his lips suggestively.

  I ignored him, and my uncle patted me on my back. “You know your aunt wanted you guys to do it right. Believe me, son, it’ll be worth it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” My uncle gestured around the yard. “Well, what do you think?”

  The garden area had been completely transformed. At the end of the lawn, masses of bright flowers and solar lamps made a footpath to a large, white wooden altar where the pastor would stand. Fairy lights were everywhere: in the trees, draped over the outside of the house, the fences… Mol was going to love it; it was the perfect romantic setting.

  My uncle had been killing himself, getting the house ready for today. I knew it was because he still felt some guilt over what’d happened over the past year, hell, the past twenty-two years, but he shouldn’t have. It was all under the bridge now that my daddy was in prison and my momma had apparently gone to live with her sister in Louisiana.

  They were completely out of my life. For good.

  “It’s great, thank you,” I replied, surprising him by slinging an arm around his shoulder and planting a kiss on his head. Yeah, yeah, I was all caught up in the moment too.

  Suddenly, a loud slam of a door caused us all to look around.

  Aunt Alita bolted out of the house, all flustered. “Gabe! Rome! The pastor is here.” She gestured wildly with her hands at the five of us, still in our jeans and shirts, “Ay, ay! You’re not even dressed! Vamose! You have thirty minutes!” Screaming like a Spanish banshee, she reentered the house almost as quickly as she came out.

  Austin, Jimmy-Don, and Reece just stared at the now-empty doorway, and laughing, my uncle put two hands on my shoulders from behind. “The joys of married life… something for you to look forward to!”

  Even though my fucker friends snickered at my uncle’s comment, all I could think was that those thirty minutes couldn’t pass quickly enough.

  Standing at the altar was surreal, and the friggin’ penguin suit I was trapped in almost choked me. Austin stood to my left as my best man, Jimmy-Don, Reece, and Uncle Gabe as my groomsmen.

  Music started playing, some classical shit my aunt had picked out, and it immediately set off the nerves. I wanted to be married. I wanted to marry Molly so much that the reality of this moment was hard for me to digest.

  It was actually happening.

  Aunt Alita walked out of the house first and my uncle beamed with pride as he looked at his wife. Aunt Alita was Ally in twenty years: long brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin—very beautiful. Even after all these years of marriage, he was obviously still crazy about her. He had walked away from my grandparents and all his family for her, and it was comforting to see that true love could stand the test of time.

  Cass and Lexi walked out next, wearing matching pink dresses and holding small bouquets of white flowers. Lexi was stripped of her usual heavy makeup, and Austin shifted beside me, a huge damn grin on his face as he watched her walk closer.

  Ally was the last of the bridesmaids—Molly’s maid of honor—and I knew that in just a few minutes, my girl would step out of that door. My heart beat furiously in anticipation.

  As Ally took her place next to Cass and Lexi on the opposite side of the altar, I closed my eyes, taking a long, calming breath, and when I opened them again, that same breath was knocked right out of me.

  Fuck. Me.

  Molly had just stepped out of the house and was walking slowly toward me… and she was so beautiful. Her long, brown hair had been swept away from her face, held up by a white rose. Her dress was white lace, sleeveless, high-necked, and hugged every part of her stunning body. Finally, she held a bouquet of white roses in her hands—and she was gripping onto them as though her life depended on it.

  I couldn’t help but smile as she kept her eyes on the floor. She hated attention, even this small affair, but when she nervously darted those golden browns to meet mine, a relieved smile tugged on her lips, her shoulders relaxed, and she never looked away from me as she made it to my outstretched hand.

  As soon as her hand met mine, I leaned in and whispered, “Hey, Mol.”

  Blushing, she replied, “Hey, you,” and we both broke into laughter, the tension dissipating to excitement and happiness.

  “You look beautiful,” I said quietly, and the pastor cleared his throat. His face was humored, and narrowing my eyes at his subtle reprimand, I stepped back, signaling for him to begin the ceremony.

  I couldn’t exactly go apeshit at a ma
n of God now, could I?

  After listening to the pastor’s advice and prayers, and bible readings from Uncle Gabe and Ally, it was time for the vows. We’d decided to write our own, and, gripping onto Mol’s hands and clearing my throat, I began.

  “Molly. Last year, you captured my heart, being exactly who you are—the kindest, most supportive person I’ve ever known. Not only did you make me fall madly in love with you, but you became my best friend and got me through both good and bad times. You’re the reason I smile every morning and you are the person who gives me comfort when I’m down. You believed in me when no one else did, and you showed me how to love when I never thought I could. But most of all, you gave me your unconditional acceptance.”

  Reaching out, I wiped a tear from Mol’s eye. “I’m not sure a lifetime is long enough to try to give you all that you have given me, but I promise I will spend all of my days striving to make you happy. I will laugh and cry with you, and if you run, I’ll be right there running beside you. I promise to love you forever, and I promise, when the day comes, that I will be the best daddy a child could hope for.”

  Tears blurred my vision, but I needed to finish. “I have never been more certain of anything in my life as I am that we were always meant to be. We are better together than apart, and no matter what happens in our lives, I know that waking up and seeing you each morning will always be the best part of my day.”

  “Romeo… that was beautiful…” Molly whispered tearfully, and I had to fight to keep my emotions in check too. Sniffing and crying sounded all around us, but I only had eyes for my girl.

  “Molly, your vows, please,” the pastor instructed, even his voice sounding a little husky.

  Pulling herself together and straightening her shoulders, Molly spoke. “Romeo. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be standing here, marrying my soul mate at age twenty-one, I would never have believed them. If someone would’ve told me all that we would go through as a couple, I would never have believed them.” She shook her head in disbelief and pressed her soft hand against my chest, her golden eyes fixed on mine. “You saved me, Rome. You saved me from a life of loneliness. You showed me there was more to life than I’d been awarding myself, and you showed me how to depend on you and to let you into my heart. I will laugh and cry with you too, and I promise you I will never run from you again and will forever stand by your side. My father told me that one day I would understand what it would be like to give someone the gift of my soul, and I do understand—I gave it to you from the very first moment we met. You are my everything, Romeo Prince, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life next to the best man I’ve ever known.”