“Brendan and Darla, let me charge you both to remember that your future happiness is to be in mutual consideration, patience, kindness, confidence, and affection. It is the duty of each of you to find your greatest joy in the company of the other and to remember that your love pledged today must remain undivided for a lifetime.
“It is your duty, Brendan, to be a considerate, tender, faithful, and loving husband to Darla. To support, guide, and cherish her in prosperity and trouble, to thoughtfully and carefully enlarge the place she holds in your life, to constantly show to her the tokens of your affection, to shelter her from danger, and to love her with an unshakeable love.
“It is your duty, Darla, to be a considerate, tender, faithful, and loving wife to Brendan. To comfort, guide, and cherish him in prosperity and trouble, to give to him the unfailing pieces of evidence of your affection, to continue making the place he holds in your heart broader and deeper, and to support him, value him, and work with him to make your marriage the very best that it can be.
“I call your attention to the seriousness of the decision which you have made and the covenant you are about to declare before God. The vows you are about to take are not to be taken without careful thought, because with these words, you are committing yourselves exclusively to one another for the rest of your lives.
“If you are ready to assume these obligations and duties before God as I have defined them, you will unite your hands and pledge your love and your lives to each other.” Peter looked over at me with an amused smirk, like he knew that all the warnings and fancy words didn’t mean a damn thing to me, because I already knew exactly what I was getting into. “You ready, Brendan? This is it. No going back after this.”
I chuckled as I turned to take Darla’s hands, bringing one of them up for a kiss, which made her blush crimson. I really loved that even after all this time, it was still that easy to make her blush.
“The only direction we’re going is forward,” I said. “I was born ready.”
“Okay. Do you, Brendan Carter, take Darla Jones to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” I vowed, swallowing the lump that rose in my throat.
Easiest two words I’d ever spoken in my life.
“Okay, Darla, it’s your turn. You ready?”
“I’m ready,” she sniffled, letting go of one of my hands to wipe away a few tears.
“Do you, Darla Jones, take Brendan Carter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” she promised with a breathtaking smile.
“Brendan and Darla have decided to write their own vows, so they will now exchange rings as a symbol of the lifelong love and abiding commitment that they’ve just promised to one another. Brendan, you’re up first.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned and took Darla’s wedding ring from Alex, then grabbed her left hand as I started to recite the vows that I’d written and rewritten so many times that I had them memorized.
“Dar, I’ve known you for so long that I literally don’t remember the first time I ever saw you. You’ve just always been part of my life, and I’ve always known that you belonged there. I knew even before the first time I kissed you that we were going to end up here, promising each other forever, one day. The path we’ve taken to get here hasn’t been easy, and we’ve been through so much pain and fear and heartache in the past few years, but I wouldn’t change a single thing. Our struggles have helped shape who we are, and they’ve helped us to grow, both as people and as a couple. Today is about making promises to each other, so I’m going to make you the same promise now that I made you on that awful night in the hospital a few months ago. I promise you that I will never let anyone hurt you the way you’ve been hurt again. And I also promise that I’ll love, protect, and take care of you and our daughter, and any other kids we have down the road, for the rest of our lives.” I lifted her hand and kissed it, then slid her simple white gold wedding band onto her finger. “Darla, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. I am honored and grateful to call you my wife.”
Darla turned and took a tissue and my wedding ring from Naomi. She dabbed at her eyes and cheeks before handing the makeup-covered wad back to Naomi, then turned to me and grabbed my left hand.
“Brendan, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day you dragged me into the carpentry room during our lunch period at school, even when I’m old and senile and can’t remember my own name. I was dizzy and lightheaded from trying to lug my ridiculously heavy backpack around campus with a freshly-set shoulder and a broken rib, and I was so scared that you were about to tell me that you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. But instead, you guessed the terrible truth that I was too scared to tell you, and you told me that you weren’t going to let me suffer alone anymore. You said that you believed God had a plan for our lives and you asked me to take a leap of faith with you.
“Saying yes to you that day was both the easiest and hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. I was so in love with you that it hurt and all I wanted in the world was to be with you, but I was so scared of what my father would do if he found out that I had a boyfriend. That was the first time I ever admitted to myself that I wanted something badly enough not to care what the consequences were, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without you, Brendan. You’ve always said that your job is to protect me, but I’ve always told you that your job is to make me feel safe, and there hasn’t been a single second when I’m with you that I haven’t felt completely safe. So, today, I promise you that I’ll always be your safe place too. I’ll always be there through the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between, and I’ll always love you and care for you the same way you’ve always loved and cared for me.” Taking a shaky breath, Darla slid a slightly thicker version of the white gold band that I’d gotten for her onto my ring finger, and I couldn’t help noticing that it looked like it had always been there. “Brendan, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. I am honored and grateful to call you my husband.”
I was a goner by the time she was done. Not that it surprised me. I knew I’d end up crying today. Honestly, the only thing that surprised me was that it had taken this long. It felt like I’d been waiting forever to make these vows with her, and I was just so grateful that we were finally getting the happy ending that we’d fought for, tooth and nail. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and wiped my cheeks as I turned back to look at Peter, who was wearing an ear-splitting grin.
“Okay, I’m going to stop being your minister for just a second and be your friend,” he said, chuckling weakly. “I am so proud of you two. When I look at you, I see two of the strongest people I know. I see two people who have overcome more obstacles than anyone should have to face, and have done it with the grace and maturity of people three times your age. I see two people who have supported and depended on each other for their whole lives, and who love each other with a passion and conviction that’s so rare and beautiful, especially at your age. I see a loving and devoted couple that each and every person in this congregation can draw inspiration from and learn something from, no matter how young or old. I feel so incredibly blessed and honored to be performing this ceremony today, and I’m so grateful to the Lord for putting the two of you in my life, and in my wife and sons’ lives. Let’s pray.
“Heavenly Father, once again, I want to lift Your children up to you. Please help Brendan and Darla to fulfill the promises they’ve made here today and to reflect your steadfast love in their commitment to each other. Give them kindness, patience, affection, understanding, happiness, and contentment. May their family and friends continue to support
them in difficult days, so that their love for each other may continue to grow for the rest of their lives. In Your holy Name I pray, amen.
“Brendan and Darla, having witnessed your vows for marriage before God and all who are assembled here today, by the power vested in me by the State of South Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Brendan, you may now kiss your bride.”
He didn’t have to say that twice. I pulled Darla into my arms and crashed my lips to hers, and it took all of my willpower to force myself to keep it PG because we were in public. I couldn’t stop a few more tears from trickling down my cheeks as our lips moved together in perfect sync, sealing the vows we’d just made to each other. Vows that it felt like I’d made the day I met her over fifteen years ago.
“I love you so much,” I choked out in a whisper.
“I love you,” she sniffled.
I felt our still-unnamed daughter kick, and I looked down at Darla’s stomach, caressing the spot where I’d felt the movement. It was kind of mind-boggling that in three months, this little girl would be fully grown and drawing her first breath.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and privilege to introduce to you for the first time…Brendan and Darla Carter!” Peter announced.
I brushed another soft kiss on Darla’s lips, then took her hand as we turned to face about seventy-five percent of our church congregation, all of whom had come to support us today. And then we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife.
Even though nothing had really changed about our relationship, at the same time, everything had. Finally, the lifetime of love that we’d shared had turned into a vow that bound us together, in the eyes of God and man.
THE END
(PSST! Want to meet Brendan and Darla’s daughter in a FREE bonus epilogue? CLICK HERE!)
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you enjoyed My Vows Are Sealed. If you did, I’d love it if you would leave an honest review.
Please remember that the Sealed With a Kiss series falls loosely into the romantic suspense category, so if you do choose to leave a review, please refrain from including spoilers so as not to ruin the suspense for new readers.
Keep reading for a sneak peek at the first book in the Sealed With a Kiss series, My Lips Are Sealed, which is the beginning of Zoe’s trilogy.
My Lips Are Sealed Chapter 1
I’M BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
“And we’re finally home,” my dad said as we walked back in the door. “How does it feel?”
“Right now, it feels like I just got home after being on the other side of the world for three months,” I sighed. “So it feels like I want to sleep for about four days straight.”
“I second that,” my fraternal twin sister, River, echoed. “But I didn’t want to come home. It was like another world there.”
“Yeah, it was,” I agreed. “Just what I needed after everything.”
“Are you going to call his parents, Zoe?” my mom asked me.
“Maybe in a day or two,” I told her. “Don’t I get a second to breathe? Or do I have to go right back to being the girl whose boyfriend went missing five months ago?”
“Cut her some slack, Mom,” River said. “We still have a week before school starts. She has time.”
“Thank you, sis,” I said. “Now, the first thing I’m going to do is unpack my pillow and blanket and take a nap because I’m still jet-lagged.”
I carried my suitcases down the hall to my bedroom and then shut the door and sat down with my back to it. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and they started trailing down my cheeks despite my attempts to stop them. New Zealand was amazing…while we were there. But now that we were back home, it felt like I’d never left.
Except that I’d sort of lost touch with all of my friends. I’d sent emails when I could, but not having international cell service made keeping in touch difficult. I knew they still loved me and River and would be thrilled for us to be back home, but I missed them. Not to mention that they hadn’t kept me apprised of the Brody situation while I was gone. So I felt like I was a world apart from everything.
I knew Brody was dead. It wasn’t rocket science. When he’d stayed missing for two weeks, I had resigned myself to that.
But St. Augustine was a small town. We were “the nation’s oldest city,” otherwise known as the nation’s oldest tourist trap. But for having such an enormous claim to fame, nothing ever happened here.
So, given the lack of real local news, a missing teenage boy, especially a popular kid like Brody, had made the front page of the paper every day. And if he was dead, there was nothing else to write about. So everyone kept acting like he was alive.
In the month and a half that I’d been here after he went missing, the cops must have questioned me twenty times as “part of their ongoing investigation.” I didn’t know what they thought they’d learn. My answers to their questions never changed. Because I was telling them the truth. I had absolutely no idea what had happened to Brody after he’d stormed out of my house and left me in tears that night.
The thing was, though, as much of a jackass move as that had been, I still cared about him. And I still missed him. New Zealand hadn’t completely erased the heartache losing him had left me with.
The change of scenery had at least given me some fresh perspective. Allowed me to get my feelings out on paper and form them into a song. But since I hadn’t been able to bring my guitars with me, I hadn’t put the song to music yet.
A quiet knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts.
“Hey, sis, you still awake?” River asked.
I tried to calm my tears, but it was hopeless.
“Yeah,” I sniffled. “I’m awake.”
“Can I come in?” she asked.
I smiled and scooted over so I wasn’t blocking the door.
My relationship with my twin sister was nothing like one would think a relationship between siblings would be. We were fraternal twins and didn’t even look like sisters, let alone twins. River had brown hair like me and my mom, but instead of Mom’s brown eyes, she had my dad’s blue eyes and fair Irish complexion. We didn’t have that whole “twin connection” thing that some people talk about, but we still loved each other, and we were best friends.
“Yeah, come on,” I said.
River opened the door and shut it behind her before sitting down next to me and giving me a hug.
“You know, you don’t have to jump back into anything you’re not ready to,” she told me.
“I know.”
“But I’m going to say something because someone has to. I know you loved him, and I know you miss him, but this is no way to honor his memory. Brody wouldn’t want your life to stop because of him. He’d want you to keep living it,” she said.
I’d never told anyone, not even the police, what had happened between Brody and I the night he’d disappeared. Something had always kept me from saying it out loud. Maybe because if I said it out loud, I’d have to really admit how much of a jerk he was. Or maybe it was because I felt like he deserved some privacy. But now, after all this time, I needed to get it out. And I couldn’t think of anyone better to tell than my sister.
“If I tell you something no one else knows, will you promise not to tell anyone else? Not even Mom and Dad?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said, furrowing her brows like she was confused.
I sighed. “You know I was the last person known to see him that night, right?”
“Everyone knows that. He was here that night. Literally here. In this room.”
“Yes, he was. But the thing no one knows is why he left when he did.”
“What do you mean?” she asked me.
“Um, we were in here making out on the bed. And he kept trying to get me to sleep with him. I told him maybe one day, but I wasn’t ready. And he got pissed at me and left. I cried myself to sleep that night. And then I woke up the next morning and found out he never made it home. I know it’s wrong
, but I can’t stop thinking that maybe if I’d just done what he wanted, I might have saved his life.”
“Zee, it’s not your fault,” River murmured, tightening her hold on me. “You can’t blame yourself. And you definitely shouldn’t regret standing up for yourself. If you’d given in, you’d regret that too. You know you would.”
I half-smiled. “Yeah, I know I would have regretted it. I wasn’t ready, and especially not like that. But he said something to me that’s stuck with me this whole time. He told me I wasn’t a little girl anymore and I needed to grow up and stop acting like one.”
“What a tool,” she scoffed. “I’m sorry. I know how you feel about him, but even you have to admit that was a dick move.”
I chuckled a little. “Yeah, it was.”
“Do you want my two cents’ worth?”
“Sure.”
“Maybe you’re not a little girl anymore, but that doesn’t mean you’re an adult yet. You’re turning seventeen in less than a week. You’re allowed to still be a kid. Besides, I think it takes more maturity to say no than to let yourself be pressured into something you’re not ready for. And I also think that when the time is right, with whoever it is, you’ll know. But, you know, that’s coming from a virgin. So take that for what it’s worth.”
“It’s worth a lot, actually,” I sniffled, wiping my eyes. “Hey, can I show you something?”
“Yeah. What?”
“Um, a song I wrote while we were in New Zealand.”
“What?” she asked, clearly shocked. “How did you do that when I wasn’t looking?”
“After everyone was asleep at night. I haven’t put it to music yet since I didn’t have my guitars with me. I don’t even know what I want the melody to be yet.”
“Let me see!” She sounded like a little kid on Christmas morning.
I got my journal out of my duffel bag and flipped to the back page, where I’d written the song out. Several pages had ended up crumpled up in the trash before I was finally satisfied with it, but I really felt like this was the best song I’d ever written. I handed the journal to my sister and let her read the song. And she had tears in her eyes when she was done.
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