A Christmas Wedding:
The final chapter of Christmas Home
Clyde -The Wedding
“OMG, I’m crying again,” I said as Mrs. Cole helped me get ready. We’d been given several options for the wedding, including the old mansion that used to belong to Ruther.
None of the locations felt right. Our new home, the place where I lived with the man of my dreams, that’s what felt right.
Of course, over a thousand people had told us they were coming to our summer wedding. No invitations were necessary, apparently, so we rented a big ol’ tent that acted as a place for the community to gather for the ceremony.
The fact that Corey and Ruther had already had the ribbon-cutting ceremony, formally giving the meeting house, barn, and park land to the town, made it feel that much more special. It seemed like the perfect place for us to get married.
Mrs. Cole was catering the reception, and so much food was needed that she had to close the restaurant. Even with all the work, she wouldn’t let me help, saying it wasn’t proper since it was my wedding.
Instead of a cake, Mrs. Cole had made everyone’s favorite desserts from the café and put them in little ramekins stacked around an enormous cake-shaped stand. Of course, that was my fault since I’d said during the cake tasting I didn’t care much for cake, and it was a shame we couldn’t just have cobbler.
The effect was magnificent, if a bit strange, but I loved it. I wasn’t a normal kind of guy anyway, and country desserts made by Mrs. Cole? Damn, we were lucky.
“You’re going to make me smear my mascara,” Mrs. Cole chastised.
I chuckled and pulled my bestie in for a hug. “I love you so much. You…you’re the reason all this worked out for me. Imagine if you hadn’t taken that ragamuffin I was back then into your employ, then your life. I’m grateful for you, I hope you know that.”
“Well, I’d have been much worse off, that’s for sure,” she said. “Now, wipe them tears off your cute face, and let’s go get you hitched. ”She handed me a handkerchief, and I wiped my face again, stuffing the hankie in my pocket, knowing I would need it again soon enough.
She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Clyde. Thank you for letting me give you away.”
I smiled but didn’t respond because it risked more waterworks. Our photographer would be right outside the building snapping our picture the moment we came out, so I didn’t want to have my first picture be with a tear-streaked face.
My resolve to keep the tears to a minimum for the ceremony was blown to bits when we stepped outside, and I caught sight of my handsome husband-to-be, standing amid the hundreds of twinkle lights that adorned our home. Ruther had taken my comment to heart when we got engaged about our home being the Christmas home, and even though it was summer, he still decked the house out in Christmas lights for our wedding. God, I loved him.
Corey stood beside Ruther as his best man, smiling from ear to ear. Mrs. Cole walked me down the makeshift aisle to my beloved, and kissed my cheek again before joining Mr. Cole in their front row seats.
I wept throughout the service, which probably didn’t surprise anyone, and the waterworks only got worse when it was time for our vows.
“Clyde, I love you so much. My heart is so attuned to yours. Before you, I was damaged and didn’t think I’d ever be whole again. Despite the cliché, it couldn’t be more accurate for me to say you completed me. With all my heart, I promise to love you with as much as I have in me for as long as I live and breathe and have the privilege of calling you mine.”
I sniffed, pulled the hankie back out, and wiped myself clean enough to get through my vows.
“Ruther, I never thought I’d have all this. Your love, and the love of our friends, our family. I love you so much, it hurts sometimes. We’ve both survived the dark and through you, I’ve found my light, my direction in life. I vow to love you with all my heart and soul, and cherish you, forever and always.”
I held his hand tightly as the officiant finished the ceremony, barely hearing her words pronouncing us husbands, as I stared into the eyes of a man I never thought would love me as much as I loved him. I kissed him, long and deep, to the cheers of our family and friends.
Some might say my new life started today, as a married man, but it really began the day I showed up in Crawford City, alone, desperate, and without a friend. Crawford City embraced me, and paved the way for me to find myself standing here, in front of a man I would’ve never dreamed could be mine.
Like the home we lived in, my life felt as if it’d been a big ‘ol Christmas present handed to me when I least expected it.
Never expected, but oh how much I appreciated it!