“It’s beautiful.” I take it out of the cushioning and flick it open and closed before putting it into my purse.
Matteo watches me with a content expression, patiently waiting for me to stow it as he offers me his hand.
I take it, letting the warmth from his much larger hand spread to mine.
The drive to city hall is short, and a familiar voice calls from the left as we step out of the car.
Ash’s waiting for us with none other than Zeno.
I turn to Matteo, who only shrugs and whispers, “We need witnesses.”
My mouth drops open because yes, we do need witnesses, but I thought we’d use the ones they provide, which thankfully is common practice when the bride and groom don’t have any themselves. The fact that Matteo actually arranged for his friends to be here for our wedding was the last thing I expected. My eyes water, and I blink several times to push the overwhelming feeling away.
Ash gives me a half hug before Matteo can interfere.
Zeno lifts his chin and says, “Hey.”
Even his signature frown is absent today.
Ash claps his hands together and rubs them. “Let’s do this.”
Everyone agrees, so we make our way up the steps of the beautiful and iconic city hall building. Inside, we take care of the paperwork and wait for our number to be called. It doesn’t take long, and we follow the clerk from the small antechamber into a ceremony room, where he takes his place behind the podium and Matteo and I face each other in front of it, holding each other’s hands.
He gives us a warm smile that drops a little the instant he sees our witnesses on the side, which I’m guessing is due to Zeno and the frown that is back in place. But the clerk composes himself and focuses back on us, spreading his arms wide.
“We have gathered here today—”
Matteo clears his throat. “Can we just skip to the important part?”
I squeeze his hands but only get a shrug from him. This man.
The clerk gives a nervous laugh and nods. “Of course, of course.”
Then he begins again, glancing at the paper on his podium before looking at me. “Do you, Gemma Fiore, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?”
My complete attention is on Matteo as the clerk reads the vows, and I’m trying hard to commit this moment to memory. Not only the way my heart is beating like a drum in my chest, but also how the tingling nerve endings in my body and the breathlessness add to this overall elation over my wedding to this man.
The clerk is done, waiting for my answer, so I smile at Matteo and say, “I do.”
His eyes close for the quickest of moments, but I swear, I saw relief in them.
The clerk repeats the same vows for Matteo, and warmth fills every corner of my chest cavity when he doesn’t interrupt the vows, so the promise can be like a living, breathing thing between us.
“I do.” The two words come out of his mouth with ease, and without an ounce of hesitation, at least none that I can hear.
Matteo is the first to pick up my ring, and I marvel at how much I love it as it sparkles in the light. It was love at first sight, and I immediately knew I only wanted one ring. No extra band or anything else. Just this beautiful piece with a slim band and an oval cluster of different-sized diamonds at the top.
He slides it onto my finger and says, “I’m yours.”
Two simple words that mean the world to me. To not just belong to someone, but to have that person belong to me too. We didn’t talk about the wedding ceremony much before, and I thought we’d just repeat whatever the clerk told us to say, like it happened at my wedding to Luigi, but this . . . this small declaration is everything.
With shaky hands, I pick up the black tungsten wedding band and slide it onto his ring finger. To go along with his promise, I repeat the same words, “I’m yours.”
Matteo yanks me against his chest and fuses his lips to mine as I vaguely hear the clerk announcing us husband and wife. I’m not sure if he ever tells Matteo he can kiss the bride, or if he decided to throw in the towel. Either way, Matteo takes that part of the wedding ceremony seriously, thoroughly showing me how well we fit together.
Ash claps and hollers loudly when we pull apart and glance around, and Zeno tips his head in our direction.
“Congratulations.” The clerk gains our attention once more and has all of us sign the marriage certificate. He explains the mailing procedure of the official document and leads us out of the room where we part ways to leave the building.