I’m doing the one thing I’ve never been more sure about than anything else in my whole life, so what’s to be scared of?
Surprises. That’s what.
I push it to the back of my mind, letting Zoe help me with my dress. The only person I can trust except Michael to put up with my moaning about the dress not fitting right anymore.
“I tell you, I’ve put on like twenty pounds and nobody’s saying anything,” I whine, feeling my face flush as Zoe tells me to suck it in so she can do up the lacing at the back.
“It’s these modern fabrics,” Zoe replies. “The humidity, it shrinks the lace right down, don't you know,” she says, a matter of fact.
I know for a fact that she knows nothing, absolutely zero about fabrics, dresses, or anything that doesn’t involve a script, makeup, and an audience.
But I love her for saying that. It’s just what I need to hear right now.
“Yep,” I affirm, almost gasping for a breath. “Humidity. Gets fabric every time…”
Zoe smiles to herself, pretending to busy herself fussing with the hem of my dress. Her own, fitting her perfectly.
A satin, strapless one piece that almost upstages my efforts with her figure in it.
If it wasn’t for the veil, nobody would notice me.
That’s not true. Now stop it. No more silly talk. Remember what Michael said?
I remember.
His continued lessons in self-respect, confidence and just knowing that I’m worth it.
Zoe has the intense look of a professional about to give a performance, running through a dozen things at once in her mind.
She was the perfect choice for a bridesmaid and helper overall.
“I just have to go check on our M.O.H,” she murmurs absently to herself, doing that thing she does when she checks off tasks out loud.
“The what now?” I ask, feeling a nervous ripple across my belly.
Anything in code, especially after Michael’s promised no surprises?
I don’t buy it.
“What the heck’s a M.O.H?” I ask, gripping her by the arm before she can leave the room.
She winces, and not from me grip her.
She’s been caught, and now she has to confess.
She sighs and puffs air out of her cheeks.
“Don’t tell my dad,” she says, making me promise before she leans over and whispers in my ear.
“It stands for Maid of Honor, and that’s all you’re getting. See you out there kiddo,” she says with a wink, and with a slap on my ass and a peck on my cheek for good luck, she’s gone.
Maid of honor?
What the hell…?
I figure she’s just winding me up. Making her last practical joke on a single woman before I’m tied to the old ball and chain for good.
But it still eats away at me, right up until it’s time to walk down the aisle.
I figured I’d be doing it alone, with Michael waiting for me at the altar.
Just like we’d planned.
I nearly have a heart attack when a well-dressed elderly gentleman sidles up next to me, taking my arm in his.
I gasp so loud the organist stops playing for a moment.
It’s my Papa. I thought he and Mama couldn’t come but here he is dressed to the nines and with such a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, I know that I’ve got more than one surprise coming today.
“I wasn’t about to let you walk down the aisle without me giving you away,” he says softly, patting my hand and urging me forward with his chin.
As we walk down the aisle, I can see Michael’s huge form from behind.
His perfect body fills out the custom made suit to perfection, each seam making his muscles look bigger and harder.
Zoe’s there too… and someone else.
“Don’t panic,” Papa murmurs.
“Mama and me? We decided to gatecrash a little… Before you and the big man get hitched, we were wondering if we might renew our wedding vows… while we’re here? It’ll be fifty years next month,” he says, his voice trembling with the emotions I can feel swirling in the church.
“I’d… I’d be honored,” I tell him, squeezing his hand and wishing they could be around for another fifty years.
“You got a good man there,” he murmurs. “He won’t admit to it, but we found out it was him who paid for your Mama’s hospital stay. Paid for everything until she was a hundred percent,” he adds, stopping briefly to dab his eye with his handkerchief.
My heart explodes in my chest, and I somehow manage to keep my eyes dry all the way through Mama and Papa Peterson’s wedding vows, until it comes to my own.
With the man I love before me, promising to always be there, forever and ever from this day on, it’s the easiest thing for me to say “I do” when it’s my time.
I promise him the same.
I love him more than he’ll ever know, and tonight I will give him my own surprise.