Page 123 of Deking

“Who gives this woman away?” the preacher asks.

Will rolls his shoulders back and clears his throat. “I do.”

I take her hand as Will moves to sit down in the front row next to Rachelle, and we move up to our spot.

“I really want to kiss you right now,” I confess without thinking about it.

The preachers microphone picks it up and the crowd begins to chuckle as I cringe.

“Not yet, buddy,” Kellan teases.

“So impatient,” Lyla quips, making me chuckle.

“Since these two are so eager to make this official, let’s jump right in,” the preacher says.

As he talks, my eyes don’t move away from my girl. I swear as I stare at her, everything calms. I don’t care about the people watching us intently or worry that I might fuck this up. All that matters is her.

This is finally happening. After all the planning and plotting, she’s about to become my wife. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

“Now, Wyatt, repeat after me. I, Wyatt, take you, Lyla, to be my wedded wife. I promise to be faithful to you and honest with you. I will respect, trust, and care for you. I will share my life with you. I will forsake all others and be yours alone as long as we both shall live.”

I repeat the words, sentence by sentence, back to her with conviction. When I’m done, a tear rolls down her cheek, and I can’t help but reach out and catch it.

“Don’t cry, baby,” I murmur softly, making her smile.

When Lyla repeats the words back to me, it hits me harder than I expect it to.

Don’t cry. Don’t fucking cry,I repeat through my mind as my eyes well.

“You may kiss the bride!” the preacher says loudly before stepping away.

I pull Lyla into my arms and kiss her as our friends and family cheer around us.

For seven long years, I’ve been waiting for this moment, and I don’t know if it could get much better than this.

Only months later when our child is born do I realize that it can keep getting better and better.