14. Before God and Everybody
I never thought I’d see the age of forty-seven let alone be dressed like a king waiting to marry the woman I loved since we were kids.
Life is funny like that. One minute you’re a reckless young Nigga standing on corners thinking survival is the biggest thing God could offer you, and the next minute?
You’re standing inside a luxury venue overlooking the Crestwood skyline while violinists rehearsed Ribbon in the Sky by Stevie Wonder as a processional, and white doves wait outside to be released after the ceremony.
I adjusted the cufflinks on my black tux slowly while staring at myself in the mirror.
This shit still didn’t feel real. The ballroom downstairs looked insane.
There were crystal chandeliers hanging from vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling white roses.
My sisters spared no expense with my fuckin’ money, but my Millie Millz deserved it all.
The candles lining the aisle reflected off the glass floor, and gold detailing was everywhere, complementing the white-and-gold color scheme Milla chose.
By the altar, there was a massive floral arch filled with roses and baby’s breath, dripping and shaping the arch by the altar.
This wedding screamed of wealth, not gaudy though, soft and delicate like my baby, Camilla.
“Are you having cold feet?”
I looked toward my dad, standing behind me in his own tux.
My pops cleaned up nice when he wanted to.
I smirked slightly. “Not even a little bit. I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life.” I exhaled quietly, adjusting my watch.
My dad nodded slowly as if he understood completely. He walked over, fixing my lapel slightly before speaking more softly. “You deserve this, son.”
Damn. That almost hit too hard this early in the day. Because truthfully? A part of me still struggled to believe I deserved this beautiful happiness after all the blood and chaos my life had carried. Before I could answer, though, the dressing room door swung open dramatically.
JoJo walked inside, already irritated.
“There’s too many people here.”
There goes my son being negative.
“Good morning to you, too,” I muttered.
JoJo rolled his eyes before dropping into one of the chairs dramatically, while AJ laughed behind him, entering with Demir right after.
“You gotta ignore him,” AJ said calmly. “He’s been acting weird all week.”
“I’m not acting weird.”
“You argued with the tailor yesterday about changing your tux color when you know everyone’s tux is black,” Demir pointed out immediately.
“I just wanted to stand out.”
“It’s not your day, asshole,” AJ deadpanned.
I bit back a smile as I watched them argue.
I know why JoJo was showing his ass. Although I’m the only father figure he has ever truly known, he wasn’t used to sharing space with me.
As the middle child, he’s always felt like he had to compete with Demir for attention.
Now he feels like he has to share his mom more, since I'm home. While his tantrums were pissing his mom off, I got it, and honestly, I didn’t mind it.
This felt like fatherhood more than anything else ever had.
Fatherhood wasn’t perfection; it was presence.
JoJo crossed his arms afterward, glaring toward me.
“You really gotta marry my momma this big?”
The room quieted slightly after that. AJ sighed instantly. Demir frowned at him. My dad looked ready to intervene. But I held up one hand gently.
“Nah.” I walked over, sitting across from him calmly. “Let him talk.”
JoJo’s jaw tightened immediately. Because that boy loved hard but feared loss harder.
“This ain’t even y’all anymore,” he muttered quietly. “It’s like–” He gestured vaguely. “Politics and cameras and all this extra shit.”
The honesty surprised me slightly. Because truthfully, he wasn’t wrong. This wedding was beautiful as fuck, but I didn’t need any of it. I could have married my Millie Millz in our living room.
“You think my wanting to marry your mama changed because people are watching?”
JoJo looked away instead of answering.
“Aight.” I sat back calmly. “Lemme tell you something.”
His eyes lifted reluctantly.
“I loved your mama before the cameras.” My voice stayed steady. “Before politics. Before prison even.”
JoJo got quiet.
“And when this campaign is over?” I shrugged slightly. “I’m still gon’ love her after that too, and knowing your moms, she’s gonna want to renew our vows every few years, and it can be as small and quiet as the family needs it to be.”
Something softened in JoJo’s face immediately, though he tried hiding it.
“I just don’t want people changing stuff,” he admitted quietly.
I knew that was the fear. Not the wedding, not even me, but change. I understood that feeling too well. I leaned forward again, lowering my voice so only he could hear me.
“Josiah.”
He finally looked directly at me.
“Ain’t nothing changing except paperwork.” I smirked faintly. “You’re still stuck with me getting on your nerves every day.”
JoJo tried fighting his smile for a second before finally losing.
“There it is,” I muttered, pointing at him. “That little ugly grin.”
“It’s not ugly.”
“It's definitely ugly,” AJ chimed in.
My dad burst out laughing behind us. And just like that, I felt the tension crack open enough for love to breathe through it again.
About thirty minutes before the ceremony started, Crestwood’s elite filled the room.
Every pew was filled with politicians, pastors, business owners, reporters, campaign donors, family, friends, and even old street legends trying to look respectable.
I loved seeing Black folks from Crestwood who survived enough to finally celebrate something soft.
The aisle itself was covered in ivory rose petals while massive gold candelabras flickered along both sides.
The floral arch behind the altar had to be fifteen feet tall, easy.
I looked around, trying to calculate how much this shit cost. When I told YaYa to make it special, I should have known her and Channy would do the fuckin’ most.
“Don’t look at the price breakdown,” Xavier muttered beside me, suddenly like he read my thoughts.
I snorted softly. “I already know y’all rich Niggas lost y’all minds.”
“But to marry your love has to be worth it. I can’t wait to give Channy the wedding of her dreams.”
X was right. Because this wasn’t just a wedding anymore. This shit felt historic. I spotted Jazzy in the front row, nervously adjusting her dress while talking to Chanel. My daughter looked beautiful in her red floor-length gown.
She was grown. That still fucked me up sometimes. Twenty-four years stolen, and now I caught myself staring at her every chance I got, trying to memorize moments I should’ve had already. Jazzy noticed me watching and smiled softly.
She mouthed, “I love you.”
I nodded at her and gave her a big smile. I was happier than I ever imagined a man like me deserved to be, honestly. The string quartet suddenly shifted songs, and the room’s energy changed immediately. It was showtime.
I adjusted my cufflinks again, trying to steady my breathing, when Xavier stepped beside me fully.
“You good?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s a lie.”
I smirked slightly. “Why does everybody keep asking me that today?”
“Cause this is the first good thing that ever happened to you, and you’re acting like somebody’s gonna take it. Your shoulders are tense. Relax man”
Damn. X was right, but no matter how hard I tried to shake the eerie feeling in my gut, I had to admit I was waiting for the other shoe to drop because prison-trained men expect loss. Even joy felt temporary sometimes.
I looked down toward the altar quietly.
“You ever get over that feeling?”
X knew exactly what I meant, too. The fear. Waiting for happiness to disappear.
“Nah,” he admitted honestly. “You just stop letting fear make decisions for you.”
Xavier understood survival in ways most people never would. X understood surviving grief and still somehow learned how to love softly afterward.
“You ready?” he asked.
I nodded and took my place at the altar with him, Zay, and my sons, to the right of me. My dad was the officiant.
I slowly looked toward the church doors.
And right on cue, the lights dimmed lower and a collective hush swept through the room.
The doors opened, and Camilla stood at the entrance looking like every prayer I ever had finally decided to take human form.
As the violinists played Ribbon in the Sky, everything around me disappeared instantly.
I didn’t hear the crowd or even see the cameras. There was no noise; all I saw was her.
My Millie Millz stood beneath soft golden light, wearing a fitted satin gown that hugged every curve God blessed her with, while a cathedral veil flowed behind her across white marble.
A tiara rested against her long, beautiful hair, sparkling beneath the chandeliers.
Diamonds wrapped around her throat, and tears filled her eyes immediately the second she looked at me.
I forgot how to breathe.
“Sheesh,” Demir whispered somewhere behind me.
AJ elbowed him instantly. But my little man wasn't wrong. Camilla looked unreal. She was beautiful enough to humble a man.
My dad leaned toward me quietly.
“That’s your wife.”
The sound of the word ‘wife’ damn near dropped me emotionally right there. Because after twenty-four years, we finally got to have one another with no barriers.
Soft piano melted into live strings while candlelight flickered across crystal and gold.
White doves rested inside decorative cages near the altar, waiting for release after the vows.
Cameras flashed softly from designated media sections while every important person in Crestwood sat watching us, as if this moment belonged to the city, too.
But the second Camilla reached me? None of that shit mattered anymore.
I stepped forward automatically before my dad could even fully place her hand in mine.
“Jare,” she whispered emotionally.
Her voice almost took me out immediately.
“You’re so beautiful,” I said.
Camilla laughed through tears instantly. “You're trying to make me cry before we start.
I couldn’t stop staring at her, and I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. A montage of the last twenty-four years played through my mind.
Twenty-four years of prison calls, visitation rooms, and longing were between us, and now she stood in front of me, carrying my baby, while the whole city watched me finally marry the woman God made for me. That shit felt bigger than words, honestly.
My dad spoke softly about love and redemption and second chances while the skyline glowed gold behind us through massive stained-glass windows.
Then, finally, my Dad told the crowd, “Our couple has chosen to write their own vows.”
The entire room softened because everybody knew Camilla and my story already. I took a slow breath before unfolding the paper in my hand. My hands shook slightly.
I looked directly at Camilla. “My Millie Millz.”
Her eyes flooded instantly.
“There was a time in my life when life convinced me I didn’t deserve softness anymore.
” My voice stayed steady somehow. “Then every time I heard your voice on those phones–” I swallowed hard.
“You reminded me I was still human. I loved you before I knew what love really cost.” My eyes stayed locked on hers.
“And when the world tried to harden me into somebody unrecognizable–” I smiled faintly.
“You still looked at me as if I were gentle.”
Camilla sobbed openly now, along with half the room.
“You waited for me when you ain’t have to.” My voice cracked slightly. “You loved me when all I had to offer was collect calls and dreams.”
Even Zayden looked emotional now.
“And now?” I stepped closer, taking both her hands. “Now I get to spend the rest of my life proving waiting for me wasn’t a mistake.”
Camilla covered her mouth, crying harder immediately.
“I promise to love you loudly.” I smiled softly. “I’ll love you publicly and privately, when the cameras are gone and when the city isn’t watching anymore.”
The church erupted emotionally after that.
Channy was fully sobbing beside Milla, as Milla wiped her eyes. Jazzy cried openly, standing next to her aunt. YaYa was running around as the self-promoted wedding planner, although we hired plenty of help.
Then Camilla somehow gathered herself enough to read hers.
And God, her vows buried themselves into my soul.
“You were the first man who ever made me feel seen,” she whispered shakily. “Even before you knew I existed the way I wanted you to.”
The room laughed softly through tears.
“I loved you through bars and bitterness and survival.” Her voice trembled harder.
“And somehow after all that?” She smiled through tears.
“You still came home soft for me. You are the love of my life, Jared Davis.” She stepped closer.
“And if I had to do every painful year over again just to end up here with you?” Her hand tightened in mine. “I would.”
My Dad smiled emotionally afterward. I held Milla’s hand, ready to be pronounced husband and wife.
“By the power vested in me—”
Then I heard a sharp crack split through the church, and the sound of people screaming, and I began to run frantically.
My Dad shielded Milla and my sisters. At first, my brain didn’t process what the fuck was happening.
I was in shock. But my chest felt like something had violently slammed into it.
Pain exploded through me instantly.
Camilla screamed as she tried to fight her way out of my dad’s arms.
The force knocked me backward hard enough that the altar blurred sideways beneath flashing lights and chaos.
The church erupted instantly, with guests ducking beneath pews and glass shattering. I was losing consciousness, but I could still hear Millie Millz’s voice.
“JARED!”
Her scream sounded terrified enough to cut straight through my chest harder than the bullet did.
I hit the glass floor hard, struggling to breathe, while warmth spread rapidly beneath my tux.
There was so much fuckin’ blood.
Everything started happening fast after that. Xavier vaulted over chairs, immediately reaching for his gun, while Zay screamed for security to lock the exits.
“It had to be a sniper,” somebody yelled.
Camilla dropped to her knees beside me, sobbing instantly while pressing shaking hands against my chest.
“No no no no—”
“Milla—”
Blood filled my mouth immediately.
JoJo appeared beside her outta nowhere, looking horrified.
“CALL THE FUCKING AMBULANCE!” he screamed so loud his voice cracked.
Demir cried openly near my Dad while AJ tried pulling him back from the blood.
Jazzy stood frozen in complete shock before finally breaking down.
“Daddy!”
Camilla leaned over me, shaking violently now.
“Stay with me,” she cried desperately. “Jared, please—”
Everything went black after that.