“It’s fine mom,” Luke rolled his eyes as Pam straightened his tie. “You’ve been fixing it for a good twenty minutes.”
“I know baby, but it’s your big day,” Pam smiled at her son who grinned brightly at her. “You need to look your best.”
“But I always look my best,” Luke laughed, green eyes sparkling. Pam was struck for a moment by how much he looked like his father.
“Yes you do,” Pam smiled and smoothed out her blue dress. Luke spun around to fix his collar in the mirror. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I think I am,” Luke kissed her on the cheek and hugged Pam tightly. “I love you mom.”
“Oh sweetheart, I love you so much,” Pam hugged her son tightly, squeezing for a moment and then letting him go to wipe at her eyes.
“Are you ready yet?” His sister, Sarah, asked from the doorway. She was dressed in the yellow bridesmaid dress with white flowers in her hair. “Mary is freaking out and thinks you’ve left her at the alter, you’d better get down there.”
“You heard her mom,” Luke grinned. “I’m going to get married!”
He rushed out of the room and she could hear his groomsmen cheering him on in the next room. Pam felt a small smile spread across her face and quickly looked in the mirror.
The years had defiantly had an effect on her. The corners of her eyes were wrinkled with laugh lines and her curly hair had a slight amount of grey in it.
“Hey!” She looked up to see Jim standing in the doorway. He was wearing a crisp black suit and was still as tall and thin as ever. The only aging he had done was that the skin around his eyes wad wrinkled and grey stood out against his temples. “What’s taking you so long? You are the mother of the bride after all.”
“I’m coming,” She turned and grabbed her husband’s hand, going to sit in the church.
The wedding was absolutely beautiful, Mary looked stunning in her long white dress. Luke eyes shone with tears as he said his vows and slid the ring onto his new bride’s finger. They kissed among cheers and walked down the aisle as a married couple, staring into each other’s eyes.
At the reception, Luke stood up and raised his glass of champagne.
“Okay, I know it’s not exactly traditional for the groom to give a speech, but I would like to say something to my…my wife,” He smiled softly at Mary who grinned back up at him. “As a little boy I didn’t exactly imagine what kind of flowers or what flavor of cake I wanted at my wedding, I didn’t even really think about anything, but I always knew what true love would be like. I never had to wonder about finding love because I saw my parents and it all made sense to me
My dad spent years pining over my mom even though she kind of wasn’t available at the time. That didn’t deter him however, because he knew he loved her and that was all he knew for certain. There wasn’t any fairytale or romantic comedy ending where it all works out since my dad got really sick. His illness brought them closer together and they realized they couldn’t live without each other. My mom was the reason my dad made it through that and they love each other more than anyone I have ever seen
As a couple of you know, I also had heart problems when I was younger, resulting in an open-heart surgery after only a couple of hours after I was born. I ended up having a really bad scar, which I’ll admit I was rather embarrassed by.
Then I met Mary. She wasn’t scared away by my health or the scar and when I asked why she replied that yes, the scar meant that I wasn’t born perfect and it was clear that I had problems but it was a symbol of a second chance. I didn’t really understand what she meant but now I do.
Mary, I was given this second chance in life because I needed to love you. You are the reason I breathe and the reason I wake up every day. The pain and worry is worth it if I can see you everyday for the rest of my life.”
Mary had tears streaming down her pretty face as she stood to embrace her new husband and kiss him firmly on the mouth.
Jim leaned over and kissed his wife, not surprised to find her cheeks wet with tears.
“I love you,” He whispered, grinning and staring into her eyes. “I love you so much.”
“Me too,” Pam mouthed, hugging him back, smiling at her son over Jim’s shoulder. Luke smiled back and lifted his hand in a small wave before he turned back to his new wife.
Siochan is the author of 3 other stories.
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