“Your fiancée called me,” Caspian offered with a faint smile. He was dressed in a tuxedo and camouflage tie, just like the rest of them, looking tall, dapper and well put together. “She wanted it to be a surprise. Axel. We need to talk.” He exhaled, looking forlorn. “I wasn’t ignoring you. There was—”
“Let’s talk about this later,” Legend interrupted. “They need us in place.”
“I’m just glad you’re here, brother.” Axel grabbed him, wrapped his arms around him tight, and squeezed. As the three of them began to walk, Legend pulled his shoulder back, making Axel halt while Caspian kept going for a bit, then waited for them.
“Here, take this tissue. You’ve got lipstick on your mouth,” he whispered to him.
“Oh.” Axel quickly took the Kleenex and patted his lips.
“And you smell a little bit like sex. You were just fuckin’, huh? Tell English I’m down for a threesome, or we can just leave yo’ ass outside for a few minutes if she’d prefer.”
Axel, without thought, punched him in the shoulder with brute force. Legend rocked off his feet, howled, then laughed loudly, all while holding his arm as if he’d been shot.
“Damn, man! Don’t shoot the messenger. Ain’t shit we can do about that right now, playa. I was just kidding about the threesome.”
“Sure you were…”
“Seems you were a busy beaver today. Literally.”
They both burst out laughing as they made their way towards the minister, and the ceremony finally began.
After a few words from the minister, the bridal party came down. English’s sister was her matron of honor, and Melanie her maid of honor. All of the women, some Black, some White, some Hispanic and Asian, a rainbow of ladies, were dressed in purple and white satin gowns.
Then, everyone stood as English walked down the aisle with her father to the sounds of Avant’s ‘You & I,’ featuring KeKe Wyatt. English’s hair was curled to look like jet black roses in a bouquet—it was the damnedest thing he’d ever seen, matching her beauty to a ‘T’. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his father finally arrive, and take his seat.
English floated towards him like some angel in a dream, just like she had once he realized he had fallen so hard for her, there was no turning back.
Traditional, Christian vows… Tears and applause… He kept his words short, but his heart was beating damn near out of his chest every time he had to open his mouth. The intensity of his emotions at times failed him. He had to dab at his eyes a couple of times, just to make it through. People kept staring at English. She was breathtaking. He knew then that Legend had been half right. English weakened him—she did have a hold on him—but she gave him strength, too.
“You may kiss the bride!” the minister announced when all was said and done.
Axel stared at her, his lips quivering and tears stinging his eyes once again. He died a little with embarrassment when he heard people saying, ‘Awww,’ at his reaction. But that was okay, in the scheme of things. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drew her close and gave her their first kiss as husband and wife…
Epilogue
…One year later
“Huh, baby?” Axel made his way inside the house, looking forward to watching a bit of baseball. The Cincinnati Reds were playing. He hoped he wouldn’t get a work call in the middle of the game. That had been happening a lot lately.
“I said I’m going to lie down. I’m not feeling too well.”
“What’s wrong?” He locked the side door, then found her in the kitchen with a bottle of Pepto Bismol, and a woeful frown on her face. She ran her hand over her stomach and shook her head.
“I just keep feeling queasy today. I stayed home and worked from here instead.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” He kissed the top of her head. “I wish there was something I could do. As far as you working from home today, I told you that it’s too close to your delivery date to be goin’ to work full time right now anyway. The baby is making you sick again. My mama said I did the same to her, even after birth. In fact, she said I made her sick just yesterday.”
English burst out laughing.
“I’m going to lie down, Axel.” She kissed his lips, and he smacked her rear end as she turned to head up the steps.
They were enjoying their new house in Lexington, not terribly far from where they were before. It was spacious, fairly new, had good bones and curb appeal. After washing his hands, he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer, then made his way to the living room, sighing with relief. It felt good to be home after working for over twelve hours straight.