Chapter 6 Orion
A Short Time Later . . .
Time To Get Married . . .
“You ready to be a husband, man?” Grant asked after he patted my back.
The day had finally come for a king and queen to be married. It was a long time coming. “I’m so ready for her to formally wear my last name. Marsha makes everything look better, including my name.”
Grant tittered. “That man is in love. There is nothing wrong with that. I feel the same way about my Norma. She told me about y’all’s new house. Can’t wait for the housewarming.”
Marsha and I decided to purchase a new build that was a few streets over from our homes. We agreed that we would move in after we came back from our honeymoon. I put my home up as a long-term rental and moved in with Marsha a month after we announced our engagement to the family.
Marsha and the girls worked with an interior design firm to decorate our new home so it would be move-in ready. Once we moved in, we would also rent Marsha’s place. “I haven’t seen anything in the house. I gave her free reign of all of that, but my man shack was all me.”
I stood in the mirror, adjusting my tie.
Of course, the wedding theme colors were purple, black, and gold.
I couldn’t wait to see my woman. Instead of having a best man and groomsmen, I had all best men.
Grant and my three sons would stand behind me as I swore before God and our people that I would love, cherish, honor, and respect Marsha for life.
“Pop Pop and Poppy!” A little voice sounded from behind me.
I spun around on my heel to see one of the most beautiful little girls in a gorgeous purple dress. “Look at my beautiful grandbaby. Come here.”
I scooped her up into my arms to kiss all over her face. “Pop Pop! You mess my makeup.”
My face scrunched as I looked at her, then her father who had walked in behind her. “She has on lip gloss, Pop. That’s it.” He answered my unasked question.
“Oh, because I was about to say. You look beautiful, baby. Such a pretty two-year-old.”
Her little face tightened and brows dipped. When she leaned her body back and crossed her arms over herself, I knew she was about to tell me off in her own little way. “I not two. I three.”
She wiggled out of my arms. Once her feet were on the floor, she looked up at me with a side-eye like I’d just committed the ultimate sin by not acknowledging that she was now three years old. Her little neck twisted before she pushed my leg with her little hands, then walked toward her Poppy.
“My three-year-old beauty,” Grant said after he picked her up. When he glanced at me with a smirk, I gave him the beautiful vision of my middle finger.
Bridgette’s ass would have you pining for her little toddler love. She was the most perfect creation of her mother and father. Euri walked over to me in a fit of laughter. “See, you done made my baby mad. Pop, you know she’s sensitive about being three now.”
“Her little ass has been three all of two weeks now.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “She got that sensitive but violent shit from you and her mama.”
All our attention went to the door that opened. In walked my other two sons and my baby. “Man, Pop, get this damn girl. How are you bad and not even one yet? She pulled a whole floral arrangement down,” Aaron fussed.
Maddie reached out for me. “Dada,” she mumbled with her sad face.
“Give me my damn baby,” I demanded. “If she was able to do all of that, then y’all asses weren’t watching her. Y’all know she’s been a little demon since she started crawling.”
A lot had shifted in all our lives since Kim’s junkie ass dropped her daughter off on Karla’s doorstep.
When we left Karla’s house that morning, it was clear that Maddie, which was her name and not short for anything, would be in our lives.
Marsha and I talked ad nauseam about Karla taking care of her.
We finally came up with a plan when Maddie was three months old.
Yes, Karla wanted to take care of her sister, but she was not ready and didn’t want the responsibilities of motherhood.
There was nothing wrong with that at all.
Marsha and I offered to adopt Maddie and raise her as our daughter.
That would give my baby girl the freedom to be who she wanted to be and still know that her sister was accessible and well taken care of.
There was push back from Karla because she felt like Maddie was not our responsibility, but we shut that shit down.
Yes, she wasn’t our responsibility, but she was Karla’s sister.
I knew that she loved Maddie the minute she said that she would take care of her, so that made Maddie important to us.
Marsha, the kids, and I all sat down to discuss it and all came to an understanding.
Maddie now had three brothers, and two sisters.
The time would come when we would tell Maddie about her birth mother.
The last thing that junkie Kim did before she overdosed was complete the legal forms so that Marsha and I could adopt our baby.
If you wanted to know what was wilder than dropping your baby off on someone’s doorstep, it was choosing to be new parents after fifty.
As crazy as it sounded, Maddie was the last piece of the puzzle in my and Marsha’s life.
There was this light that was now in Marsha that wasn’t there before and was one that I couldn’t have given her.
Maddie didn’t have our blood running through her, but she was ours, and she had our love.
“Are your brothers being mean to you, Maddie?” I asked her after she laid her head on my shoulder. I chuckled when I felt her head nod. She was already too much.
Aaron sucked his teeth. “Man, her ass.” He waved her off.
Derrick laughed hard at his brother. “Bro, how you let a lil baby get you in your feelings like that? Our lil sis can’t even walk yet.”
Aaron was the most upset about how Maddie was dropped off at Karla’s. All these months later, he was the one that had Maddie the most besides me and her mama. The month before we adopted her, Karla took care of her. Aaron damn near moved in to help her. Marsha said his ass was nesting or some shit.
I smoothed down Maddie’s purple dress that matched Bridgette’s dress. Bridgette was the flower girl while Maddie was my ring girl bearer. That shit was Norma, Karla, and Bruqlyn’s idea. We would see how this shit played out in just a bit. During rehearsal, Maddie said fuck that box and threw it.
“Gentlemen, are we ready? It’s time to take your positions,” the wedding planner, Shannon, announced. She came over with her assistant to get Bridgette and Maddie. “Maddie and Bridgette, your mommies want you.”
Maddie’s head lifted from my shoulder. Oh, now that she knew her mama wanted her, it was forget about me. “Go ahead so you can see ama.”
I turned to look into the mirror one final time. Euri’s arm went around my neck. “You ready, Pop? Finally locking down my mama.”
“Son, your mama has been locked down. It just took her a little minute to understand that.” I side-eyed him for a beat.
“To answer your question, I’ve been ready.
I thank God that she gave a nigga like me another damn chance to truly get it right.
” I glanced at Euri in the mirror. “I promise, I’m gonna make her happy and not hurt her, Son. ”
The pride that oozed from his eyes was something that I’d never seen before. He smiled warmly, then squeezed my shoulder. “I know you will, Pop. Trust me, I know.”
My breath was caught in my throat. She was so beautiful as she walked toward me.
Our wedding was intimate with a guest count of fifty people.
Marsha and I had small circles that intertwined.
Grant’s hand gripping my shoulder took me out of my infatuated gaze.
“Breathe, man. You gotta be conscious to say your vows.”
I chuckled because he was right. “A Thousand Years” was the perfect ballad to be the beginning soundtrack of our love.
Marsha was one of a kind, down to the purple and black lace wedding dress that she had custom made for our wedding.
This was my first time seeing it, and I had to keep my hands perfectly centered over my dick.
When she and Euri got to the bottom of the stage, I took the few steps down to meet them. The officiant did all the pizzaz about who would give her away. All three of our sons said they did. When the room was at its quietest, Bridgette yelled, “Me too.”
The venue erupted in laughter. Our nannies held Bridgette and Maddie at the end of the first row. They were the only two children here. I escorted Marsha up the stairs to the stage.
We needed to move this along, because Maddie was occupied right now with the ring box that she was supposed to bring to me down the aisle.
Once she was bored with that, she would want one of us, and we were all busy.
The original plan was for me to meet Maddie in the center of the aisle so she could give me the box, and I would carry her to the front.
Again, I didn’t like it, but the women wanted the photo opportunity.
Maddie crawled to me with the box in one hand.
Once she got to me, she sat her ass on that floor and played with the box, not giving me a care.
After I picked her up and got her to the front, she almost passed out when I tried to take the box.
It wasn’t worth it, so I let her have the shit. The ring wasn’t even in the damn box.
The officiant said all the things. “I believe the bride and groom have prepared their own vows.” He bowed his head at me to proceed first.
I cleared my throat. “Marsha, when I tried to write these vows, I thought I did good until I let your big head sons read it. They said it sounded like a surgeon general’s warning label.
I’m so in love with you that you’re a part of my DNA.
You’re my peace in the middle of all the chaos of this world, and I thank you for that.
For never taking your peace completely away from me when you could have.
I promise to keep your peace safe within me.
“Like it’s always been, our love is going to be crazy, off-kilter, even a little toxic, but in the best way.
I promise to love you, obsess over you, crave you, create storms when it comes to you if I need to.
I will bully love every second of every day when it comes to Marsha Westin. I love you forever and always.”
My eyes drew to the sniffles in the room. When my eyes came back to Marsha, there were tears trailing down her cheeks. I used my finger to wipe them. I knew that my vows might not have made sense to some of the people in the room. All that mattered was that they made complete sense to my love.
The officiant gave Marsha the go ahead. “Orion, if you asked my mind whether we’d ever get here, it would have said no.
My heart knew though. It always knew that it would be you and only you.
The thing is that it had to be this you, the evolved you and me for this to work.
There had to be forgiveness on both of our parts.
We had to choose the new us instead of being comfortable in the old. Now we have to keep choosing us.
“I promise to keep choosing you. I promise to keep choosing to love and honor you, even when you get on my nerves. We are a part of each other’s DNA, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
The love that I have for you is so intense that it hurts sometimes in the most wonderful way.
You call yourself a love bully, well, someone taught me to bully the bully.
I plan to bully the fuck out of love every day behind you. I love you, Orion.”
“Those were vows to remember,” the officiant said with a chuckle.
“Today, you two are choosing each other in every way. You’re choosing to be one, even when it is easier to be two.
Marriage is hard no matter how old you are when you get into it.
It requires grace, love, patience, humor, forgiveness, and kindness from both of you.
When you feel like you’ve run out, go to God and ask for some more.
You’re going to need it all. Trust me as a man that’s been married forty years.
“Your love for one another and your family will be y’all’s safe place. That’s the place that you need to bully your way into every day and vow to stay there. Keep that place sacred and just for you two,” he concluded.
I zoned out on all the other words. When he got to the part that I felt like I waited to hear all my life, I tuned back in. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.” The officiant finally said the magic words.
He was damn right I may kiss my bride. I pulled her into me by her ass to passionately kiss her. The groans of our grown ass children didn’t escape me. I just didn’t give a damn. Marsha smacked my shoulder. “Stop being mannish in front of all these folks.”
I pecked her lips and squeezed her ass a final time before I pulled back. The officiant shook his head with a chuckle. In a presenting fashion, he held his arms out. “I would like to present to friends and family, Mister and Missus Orion Westin.”
The room erupted in cheers. Norma walked in front of us and laid down a gorgeous, decorative broom for us to jump over. I helped my wife down the steps, we counted to three, then jumped over the broom. I couldn’t help but pull her into me for another kiss. “Hi, Mrs. Westin.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. With a bright, gorgeous smile and warm eyes, she responded. “Hi, Mr. Westin.”