Part 9

Your life has changed entirely over the last seventeen months. Eight months ago you began living with your love in a fashion only befitting of a man who has built his entire relationship off impulsive statements. It was a moment you will never forget. The two of you were lying in bed one spring evening. "It's getting awfully late, I should probably head home soon," she said as looked at the clock. To this day you still don't know what possessed you to respond in this way but you grasped her arm and said, "Why don't you stay here?" She looked rather perplexed with your question. "You mean spend the night? What sort of evening do you have in mind?" she replied with a giggle. "No, I want you come live with me," you declared. This sudden surge of possessiveness unlike anything you had ever felt before had taken hold of you. "I want to spend every moment I can with you. So what do you say?" you ask. "This is all very sudden. If you're sure, I'd love to," she replied excitedly. From that moment on you've both had a great deal of new experiences, both good and bad. Fights, passionate moments alone, and a gentle warmth during the bad times. That brings us to the here and now, the beginnings of another new experience between you and your love. You are stirred from your deep sleep by the sounds of someone rummaging through a closet. Of course, it wasn't hard to figure out who it was when a voice rang out from inside. "Get up already! You need to get ready or we're going to be late," she yells in an agitated voice. Today was a special day, she had been invited to a friend's wedding, meaning you were to be her "plus one." Your first time going to a wedding, at least with someone on your arm. She is incredibly excited for the wedding, but you feel as though there are some other complicated emotions just under the surface. "I'm up. I'll start getting ready now," you reply as you rub your eyes. "I'll get your suit, just get showered and shaved," she snaps at you. Over the last couple of days she had been very agitated. "Women are so complicated. Oh well," you think to yourself. After shaving and showering you return to find your suit draped over the back of a chair waiting for you. You dress and meet her in the living room. You had always heard horror stories about Bridesmaid dresses, but to you she looked stunning, the long flowing pink and white highlighted with flowers looked gorgeous on her. "Your tie isn't even on right," she says after giving you a once over. She walks over to you and begins fixing your tie for you. "On the other hand, you look breathtaking," you respond. She pulls the tie a little too tight. "Your flattery will have to wait until later. We're in a hurry," she declares. The two of you leave your house and head towards the Church making small talk on the drive. During this time you find yourself thinking, "She's been awfully quick-tempered this morning, actually the last week she has been in a bad mood. Wait a minute, is she jealous?" As you arrive at the Church, you are greeted by your love's friends and acquaintances. "So this is your boyfriend, huh?" one of the women in the crowd of people says. "Yes, nice to meet you," you reply. You've gotten used to these sort of meetings, after your first time meeting her family this is nothing. You continue to make small talk until you hear, "Those here for the marriage ceremony please make your way inside," come from the steps of the church in a loud voice. As you enter the church, you notice the inside is decorated in a similar manner to the bridesmaid dresses, as if the women in them were just part of the decorum. "Well that's a little insulting," you think to yourself. You take your seat and continue to look around the room while your date is preparing for her role in the ceremony. After a few minutes of waiting you are once again accosted by the woman who spoke to you earlier. "I just wanted to say, treat her well. She may be a bit rough around the edges, but she deserves love and a good life," after saying this she quickly leaves without even waiting for your reply. The ceremony begins, and ends fairly uneventfully aside the ring-bearer tripping and falling into the groom. You never thought you would be the type to cry at weddings but as the ceremony went on tears welled up in your eyes to the bursting point. On the drive to where the reception was being held, the two of you were deathly silent. You could see she too had cried during the ceremony. She also seemed more bashful than usual, her eyes would dart away every time they met yours, her face was bright red the entire drive. The reception was quite the boisterous event, music and the sounds of talking filled the large room. "Why don't you find us somewhere to sit while I grab us a couple of glasses of Champagne?" you say. "Alright," she responds. Every one of your conversations had been very short all day as if her mind was somewhere else entirely. As you grab the glasses and look around for your girlfriend, you notice she is sitting with the woman from earlier and the two of them are talking. You walk over to the table and hand your lover her glass. "What are you two ladies talking about?" you ask. "She was just telling me that the two of you have been living together," she replies with a wink. "Why do I get the feeling she knows entirely too much about our relationship? I don't like where this is going at all," you think to yourself. "Yeah, we've been living together for almost a year now," you respond. "So I take it you two are the next ones we'll be doing this for?" she inquires. You are completely floored by her question. Your thoughts begin to race, "What do I say? I've never even really thought about it. I mean I would like to get married one day, and I do love her. Man, this is going to get really awkward if I don't say something soon." You look at your love, she is staring at the floor, her face bright red with embarrassment. "We haven't really talked about it, we've only spent the last eight months living together. I've enjoyed it, haven't you?" you ask looking at your girlfriend. "I've loved every moment of it. I wouldn't trade it for anything," she responds. The room goes silent, even the loud music seems to have vanished. "Well then, why don't we stop playing 'house' and move on to the real thing? I don't have a ring, but..." you say as you take your love's hand into your own and get down on one knee. As the words "Will you marry me?" leave your lips, she begins to cry and nod her head. Falling from her seat into your arms, she cries on your shoulder. The only word leaving her lips is "Yes," being repeated over and over. The two of you sharing a moment unlike any other met with thunderous applause and cheers by friends.