“Melissa and Chase will now exchange rings as a symbol of love and commitment to each other. Your wedding rings are special; they enhance who you are. They mark the beginning of your long journey together. Your wedding ring is a circle—a symbol of love never-ending. It is the seal of the vows you have just taken to love each other without end. Melissa, I understand your groom has chosen to wear his ring as a tattoo on his finger.”
Our guests laughed again.
Kennedy had had the ring tattooed on last night at the same ink shop where he’d had the tattoo put on his back when he was in SEAL training. We’d decided wearing a metal ring on his finger didn’t make sense for a man like him. He didn’t want something that could be removed by an enemy, or lost in the field. He wanted his commitment to me marked permanently on his skin. To say he’d gotten lucky last night after seeing the final result was an understatement.
“Melissa, please touch the ring on Chase’s left hand and repeat after me,” the officiant said.
I handed my bouquet to Megan and picked up Chase’s hand in one of mine, tracing the freshly-inked tattoo with my finger.
“As a sign of my love,” the officiant recited.
I looked into Kennedy’s eyes. “As a sign of my love.”
He winked again. I melted a little more.
“That I have chosen you.”
Our baby kicked, making me smile. She wanted to celebrate our commitment, too. “That I have chosen you.”
“Above all else.”
I swallowed, thinking how much I already cared about Kennedy and how much more I knew was possible. Every day I let him into my heart even more than the day before as my trust and joy grew. “Above all else.”
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
As Kennedy placed the titanium ring I picked out–because it was lightweight and no-fuss, of course–on my finger and repeated the promise, our baby kicked again.
Maybe she was doing theI’m right dance.
Maybe she knew all along. She was the one who brought us together. The one who would keep us together. Not out of obligation or duty but out of an ocean of love.