The two of them are quickly ushered behind me as the two thick, polished wooden double doors open up. Straight away, I can feel my jaw nearly brush the floor as I watch the woman I love take her first few cautious steps in her wedding regalia.
Kathleen’s wearing a lovely, beaded vintage dress is exactly what I had imagined it to be; all the little details I knew the love of my life might search for in a dress are there.
Standing behind me, my sisters seem to be speechless as they watch Kathleen make her way down the smooth floor, tapping me gently on the back in a show of solidarity.
My eyes are burning, and this might just be the best day of my life. So much emotion bubbles to the surface and so much love for Kathleen has yet to reach its peak.
As I glance back at my sisters, I almost can’t believe the stunned expressions on their faces that must match mine perfectly.
“She looks so damn good,” Robin whispers across to me first, sounding awed by Kathleen’s beauty in her dress.
Riley is quick to tap my shoulder, sounding disbelieving. “Now, how the hell did you manage to pull that off, big brother?”
“I really don’t know,” I laugh, pressing under my eyes while I turn away where Kathleen can’t see me shed a tear.
I didn’t plan on being such a mess so quickly into my wedding. Damn these emotions.
Kathleen reaches me, radiant in her gown and long hair curled and lovely down her back. She is otherworldly and breathtakingly beautiful, body and soul.
“Have you been crying?” She giggles as I stand in front of her. She looks even more smitten with me than before, and she takes a step forward so that she can use her thumb to wipe the tear away from underneath my eyes.
I can’t help but shake my head as I take in the sight of my love for the first time, admiring how beautiful her dress looks against her pale skin.
“You look incredible, Kat,” I tell her with a smile that’s so wide it hurts my cheeks, squeezing her hand in mine and feeling the familiar way that her fingers fit into mine perfectly.
However, Kathleen can’t hide her own tears, and as her eyes water, Robin gently dabs away her tears from behind her to keep her makeup intact for the picture later. She looks perfect after a moment, and their system seems to work well.
As the ceremony begins in earnest, I keep my eyes on my new wife-to-be, keeping my hands holding hers firmly throughout the entire thing.
I don’t ever want to let her go.
Nothing will ever part the two of us.
Her pale green eyes remain fixated on my own throughout every word that both of us speak until the all-important ones are proclaimed loudly to the room, echoing like an oath to my ears.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the preacher smiles at us, taking a step back so I can wrap my arms around Kathleen’s soft curvy body, pulling her tightly into my side to press a kiss to her lips. This one is sealed like a promise.
“I can’t believe how gorgeous you look right now,” I whisper into her ear as I pull my new, lovely wife into my chest to hold her close. “That dress is just perfect, more than I could have ever imagined for you. I love it, and I love you even more.”
We’re in the reception room in a few minutes, surrounded by the people who love us and under the twinkling beauty of the fairy lights above us.
Kathleen takes a step back so she can twirl the glittering skirts underneath my arm and show off every detail of the lovely dress she picked out so many months before at the dress shop with her family.
“It was actually the first one I saw,” Kathleen tells me. “When I saw it that day Mom, Stevie, and I went shopping, I knew it would be the one for me. I also knew you'd love it as soon as I saw the lace on the bodice. I remembered how you told me once that you liked lace wedding dresses. I like it just as much as you, and I think this one is vintage from the 1960s.”
“I didn’t even think you were listening to me when I said that,” I tell her over a chuckle, surprised but pleased that she’s remembered things about me. “I love you,” I can’t help but say, and Kathleen’s eyes glisten.
My hands move down her body, over the intricate beading, to rest against the lace design that covers her waist. She looks up at me with those big eyes, and I can see my whole life laid out at her feet.
She leans up to kiss me, brushing those soft lips over my own. Her hands slide under my suit jacket, holding my waist. Her face is radiant and so very familiar to me.
Kathleen Snow is warm under my hands, my little love, my brand new wife.
EPILOGUE
MONTHS LATER
Kathleen