43. Vivi Theoretical
vivi: theoretical
I NEVER IMAGINED THAT I would stand beside my mother as she said wedding vows to a man who wasn’t, you know, my dad. And I really never imagined that if that unlikely scenario came to fruition, I would like it so darn much.
Chase wanted to do his vows first, and he said to Mom, “I had time to prepare for this, you did not. So I wrote vows to you, but you can say the regular ones. Okay?”
She nodded. She was so happy she was crying.
Crying. From happiness. My own stoic, hard-shelled mother.
She was so happy that I couldn’t help but be so happy too.
“Caroline, the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I had found the woman I was meant to spend my life with. You walked into that studio and everything inside me went There she is. And so, now, today, I want to promise you that I will love you for the rest of my life, that I will support your dreams and aspirations no matter what they are, that I will love your children as much and as well as if they were my very own—”
Well, now, that was sweet. That one even got me.
Fortunately, I had a tissue to dry my eyes with, and I realized, looking around, that pretty much everyone was crying.
Maybe that was natural. We had all seen my dad gallivanting around on national television with a reality star.
Maybe everyone had felt sorry for my mom then.
Now, she had found her man. That much was clear.
“I will always respect you, always cherish you, and always be the one by your side, no matter what.”
The poor priest, who, I mean, was in on this plan but still looked sort of shell-shocked, said, “Caroline, repeat after me.”
But she shook her head. “I’ve got this.” Of course she did.
Because what was Caroline Murphy if not good off the cuff?
“Chase, I don’t know if you know this about me, but I am a list maker.
I plan everything in my life.” The whole crowd laughed, because duh.
“Except for you. I have planned nothing about you. You were the ultimate, unexpected gift, and you have shown me that I can be happy in a way that I thought was only theoretical. You have unlocked something entirely new inside me that I didn’t know existed, and I will, plain and simple, love you and stand by you forever. ”
The doors were still open, and I could see an ambulance with its lights on pull up outside. As Mom and Chase kissed—a little longer than I needed to witness, thank you very much—Adam and a paramedic helped Sloane out the side door, quick as a wink.
I wondered what Gransley would do. On the one hand, she had two daughters’ reception to dance at.
On the other, she had a whole new life being born into the world.
For the first time ever, it struck me how tough it must be to be a mom when you had so many different people who needed you.
Maybe it was hard for my mom sometimes. But she always put Preston and me first. I was happy to see her putting herself first for once.
And, well, the fact that it was what I wanted too didn’t hurt one little bit.
I put my hand on the paper in my pocket, the one I had barely had time to read.
But I knew the gist. Tyler loved me. He was sorry.
And you know what? I was sorry too. As the entire crowd flooded out through the doors and across the street to the historic site, where the real band was already cranking up underneath the most massive, beautiful tent I had ever seen, I locked eyes with Tyler across the room.
When I was confident he had seen me, I walked out the front of the Yacht House, onto the dock.
I took my shoes off and sat down at the end of the T-shaped dock, my feet trailing back and forth in the water, thinking about how my heart was so full it was about to burst. I made the plan that I would talk to Tyler, see the first dances.
And then I wanted to go to the hospital to check on Sloane.
Or maybe I should stay with Taylor and AJ since their mom was giving birth and my mom and aunt were both, technically, having their wedding night? Ew. Double ew.
Tyler sat down beside me. Not ew at all.
“You guys never do anything halfway, do you?”
I shook my head. “It isn’t really the Murphy way, no.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m so happy. And my mom’s pregnant too. So I get a new stepdad and a new sibling. Makes me want to stay closer to home for college.”
“But then you won’t get to go to college with me,” Tyler said softly.
I grinned up at him. “I’m so proud of you,” I said. I meant it. My heart swelled and pounded. He was so handsome. And so close.
He had written me a letter. So now it was my turn. “I acted like an idiot,” I said. “You were right. If you had been in that closet with one of the other girls, I wouldn’t have cared at all. It’s just that I’m jealous of Katelyn.”
“I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “ ‘I am what’?”
I slapped him lightly on the arm with the back of my hand.
“Stop.” I sighed. “Look, Tyler: Honestly, I’m afraid that you’re going to get tired of me, that this long-distance thing is going to get old, and you are going to leave me.
Specifically for Katelyn.” I rolled my eyes.
I hated being the jealous girlfriend here. But it was what it was.
I looked up at him, the setting sun reflecting in his eyes. “Viv, that’s not going to happen. There is no one like you. And, besides that, I love you.”
I smiled. “I love you too. And I don’t want to fight anymore.”
I kissed Tyler, and as he wrapped a big, strong arm around me, I knew that Mom and Emerson were right to be worried about all those things they’d been so worried about at the beginning of the fall.
But, also, they were wrong. Because having all these firsts with someone who loved me this much couldn’t help but be right.
“There’s so much I want to say to you,” I said.
Tyler stood and helped me up. “Me too. But we have time. So much time.”
I nodded. “Let’s go dance.”
“And sneak champagne from the bar?” He winked at me.
“Oh yeah. Definitely.”
He put his arm around me, and I realized that I didn’t even need the champagne. I was drunk on Tyler, on love, on this day, on happiness. And I realized that there was truly nothing better in all the world than being in a Peachtree state of mind.