35. Epilogue James
I stood at the head of the grand ballroom exactly one year after telling Ivy I loved her for the very first time, and while it was Valentine's Day, and most decorations usually looked similar this time of year, everything was different. Pride puffed my chest out a little farther this year as I looked down at the chairs organized in rows instead of around tables.
The chocolate fountain flowed, though little fingers of children would later grace it while adults danced and celebrated. Ivy's mother sat in the front row wearing a stunning purple gown, on the shoulder of which was spit up. Franklin sat on her lap, my pride and joy, my son. He was barely six months old and was already sitting up on his own.
I beamed at them, and she made his little hand wave up and down at me. I couldn’t have been a prouder parent. Even in my mid-forties, I found myself loving being a father. Ivy nursed him, though I helped her throughout those rough nights, and when the business really started to take off, she hired her sister full-time as her assistant. It was great seeing them work so well together.
But today, as I stood waiting for my beautiful bride to walk down the red velvet carpet toward me, all I could think of was the life we would have together now.
Ivy and I had never been more in love. I proposed to her officially on her birthday in July and told her I didn't want to wait another second to be married to her. She convinced me to wait until after the baby was born, and when she pushed a Valentine's Day wedding, I knew it was perfect.
My eyes scanned over the cluster of our guests, only fifty, as this year's ceremony and my annual Valentine's gala were combined, and Barbra's friends had been taken off the guestlist. But Sam, who stood to my left, was never more supportive. When he saw how Ivy and I clicked, he knew it was fate too.
"Holy smokes, you're a lucky man, James," he whispered in my ear when Ivy walked in. She walked alone, with no father to escort her down the aisle. Sam offered, but Ivy was so damn independent, she said she would give herself away, which made me chuckle.
And Sam was right. I was a very lucky man. The sweetheart gown she wore accentuated her fuller breasts, large from pregnancy and now from nursing. The white silk Mikado was my idea. I loved drenching her in all the finest things because only the best was good enough for my wife. The couture gown had been designed by Isabel Marant, despite Ivy's protests. She wanted simplicity, and I wanted to unburden myself from the millions of dollars just wasting away in bank accounts.
It was totally worth it. She was phenomenal in that gown.
She held her head high as she walked toward the dais. Mimi, who stood across from me, grinned at the sight of her sister, and Ivy's eyes seemed to meet hers. For a moment, they smiled at each other until she pulled her gaze away and met mine. When she looked at me, I felt complete. It was a wholeness I had craved my whole life, one I would never take for granted.
Ivy ascended the steps and took her place across from me. She handed her bouquet of white and pink roses to her sister and then took my hands. When Franklin started to cry, she pouted a happy pout and pressed her hand to her chest, mouthing "my milk" to me, which made me chuckle. It was like her to bring some comic relief to this moment.
I wasn't a man for tears. Even at the worst moments of my life, I never let anyone see me cry. But standing here looking at her and knowing what an incredible woman she was made my eyes fill with emotion. I teared up and smiled at her, wanting to pull her against me and kiss her to show her how much she meant to me.
The minister started his prayers and readings, but we were locked in time, fixated on each other's gaze. In Ivy I'd found a friend. I'd found someone who wanted to see me do well and succeed as much as I wanted her to. I had found a strong, independent woman who was all the while capable of being intimate and bonding. I found love and I found hope.
And most of all, I found healing. The wounds of my past were irrelevant every time I looked into her eyes. She had a way of melting me down and building me back up, of challenging me to be the father and partner I should be, and she had my heart.
"Would you like to exchange your vows?" the minister asked, and Ivy nodded. She reached to Mimi's hand, and her sister placed my ring in her palm. I stretched my hand behind myself to Sam, who placed Ivy's four-million-dollar wedding band in my palm, and then we turned to each other.
"Ivy, you may go first…" The minister's nod gave her permission, and I listened intently as she cried and struggled through her vows.
"James… I know the way we met and started this relationship was anything but conventional. The day I met you was the day I moved in with you." She paused, and people chuckled. I was tempted to look at them, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. "James, you are my heart. You are my life. You are the good I have in this world. You taught me to love myself, and you taught me to be me. I will never, ever be able to thank you for the way you changed my life. Every day, I promise to honor your heart, to champion your dreams, and to be everything a wife and mother should be. And when I fail, I know you'll be there to pick me up. I love you."
As she finished, she slid the ring onto my finger and blinked a few tears out. Her touch was still electric. We could have sex seven times a day and it would still do the same thing to me every time.
"James," the minister nudged, and I was glad for my turn. I had been waiting months for this moment. He didn't have to tell me twice.
"Ms. Hart," I said, smiling, and she snickered and covered her mouth. "I think you know that you are my world." I sobered and offered her a very serious expression. "I tried this once before and it didn't stick, mostly because I failed at understanding what true love is. With one simple sentence, you expressed it more perfectly than anyone ever had in my entire life, and that was the moment I knew I loved you." I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles, then continued.
"I promise to cherish you. I promise you will always get to speak your mind, have your choices, express your heart. And most of all, I promise there will never be a day that you lack anything and everything you want. If you want attention, I'll clear my schedule. If you want affection, I'll pour it on you like the sweetest perfume. If you want space, I'll wait outside your door with a platter of the finest foods, waiting for you to invite me in again.
"You are my goddess, and I worship you, your heart, your passions, your body…" That one drew a hushed gasp and a few snickers from the crowd, and I finished. "And you are the only one I’ll ever want for every day, the rest of my life." I held her gaze for a moment until the minister interrupted.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce to you, Mr. and Mrs. James Carver." Then to us he said, "You may now kiss your beautiful bride." Even the priest knew she was hot.
I lifted her veil and folded it behind her head, and then I cupped both cheeks and brought my lips to hers in a heated kiss—our first of many as a married couple. Ivy kissed me back, and the entire room erupted into applause and cheers. I had never been happier in my life, and I didn't think anything could ever make me this happy again. It was all her, and my heart was now complete.