30. CALLUM – BREATHLESS
CALLUM – brEATHLESS
The music starts, which means our girl will be walking down the aisle soon.
Is this the kind of wedding she would have wanted? All the flowers and people? Is this what she dreamed of when she was a little girl growing up?
When I turn to look behind us, the bridesmaids start their walk down the aisle to a light and airy song. Very traditional.
“Where’s Beckett?” Knox asks, looking at Will. “He was just going to check on the girls and he’s still gone.”
“I don’t know.”
“There’s Ev,” Jax whispers.
“Is he in the wedding? I can’t imagine he’d miss it,” Emmett says.
“News to me, if he is,” Will whispers.
When I look at Ev’s face, I can tell she’s been crying. My heart lurches in my chest and I resist the urge to bolt out of my seat and run to her.
“She’s been crying,” Jax whispers over his shoulder.
“I see.”
“Do you think everything is ok?” Knox asks. “With… you know.” His brow twitches with concern.
“Yes,” my tone betrays my confidence.
She finds me and gives me a smile and a wink, with a slight roll of her eyes, and shakes her head.
“She’s fine.” I blow out a breath of relief.
The men’s shoulders collectively relax at the same time.
She starts her walk down the aisle, her fingers rubbing the silk wrapped stems of the flowers. When she gets to us, she gives us a quick glance and smiles.
She is mine. Ours, but mine. God, I love that woman.
She takes her spot at the front of the church and the music stops. People shift in their seats, looking from the back to the front as silence settles around.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“This can’t be goo-” Before Will can finish getting the words out Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard blares.
Donna and Dave are in the row in front of us and Donna is smiling and clapping, completely lost in happiness, next to a woman who I would have to imagine is Lizzy’s mom. She’s beautiful, with a sort of regal sophistication. She’s wearing a tight gold dress that shines against her deep brown skin. Her hair is short and tightly curled, with the tips dyed a deep gold color. She seems very much the opposite of Lizzy. Across the aisle, who I suspect is Tony’s mom, is sitting there with a more reserved smile. When I see her eyes grow big with surprise, then settle, I follow her gaze.
“Oh, no,” Will groans.
“Oh, yes!” Knox claps excitedly, twisting in his seat and propping his arm on the back of the chair, pulling out his camera.
Beckett is strutting… strutting towards the crowd with his hand in a rainbow unicorn fanny pack.
“I love this so much!” Knox says, bouncing in his seat.
He must know what’s going on, because I have no clue.
“I didn’t put two and two together on how or why his bowtie matched the girls' dresses perfectly,” Will huffs with a question of disbelief etched into his face.
“He’s all yours. Did you not know?”
“No.” Will’s face is glowing.
We all let out soft chuckles as Beckett does a pirouette and then tosses out a fistful of white rose petals.
“He’s the flower man!” Knox exclaims before letting out a woo!
Beckett continues to dance and toss flowers down the aisle and into the crowd. When he gets to our row, he puts the flowers in the palm of his hand and blows them at us, spins and tosses another handful into the crowd on the other side.
Everyone is laughing at Beckett and clapping along with the music. When he gets to the end, he puts both hands in his fanny pack, pauses and on the last beat of the song, his hands shoot out and flower petals rain down on him and the crowd goes wild. The other bridesmaids shift back a step and allow him to stand behind Ev, who is wiping the tears from her eyes.
I sign, “Are you ok?”
“So good,” she responds as best she can, with a bouquet in her hands. Then she signs something else that looks like “Lizzy knows.” The look on her face confirms my thought, and I nod. It was only a matter of time. The question is how long she’s known.
There is a pause in the music again, and I Get To Love You by Ruelle plays.
Something pulls inside of me and I can’t help but look at Ev. Knox does the same thing and I have to assume Jax and Emmett do too, because her eyes get wide before she melts. She quickly nods her head towards Lizzy and then shifts her body, very clearly commanding us to stop looking at her and to focus on the bride.
After a reluctant moment, Knox turns his head towards the back. Her eyes flick back to mine for a brief second and pulse wide before she winks and looks back at her best friend. If we weren’t married already, I would interrupt this wedding and marry the fuck out of her right now.
Everyone stands and my eyes glance at Tony, while everyone else looks at Lizzy. I will look at her, but watching his expression the first time he sees his bride…
When we got the pictures back from our wedding, that is the one that stood out to me among the others. The moment we first saw Ev. Everyone is so focused on the bride when she walks in that they miss the look of pure love and joy on the groom’s face. Tony’s eyes glaze immediately and he bites on his bottom lip and fidgets in his spot as he watches her. Clasping his hands in front of him, he gives them a light squeeze before his thumbs begin to rub the back of his hands.
Smiling, I turn just as Lizzy takes her first step down the aisle.
She is as radiant as the glowing sun.