Page 4 of Finding Us
“Trust me. Watching my dad and Katherine together only taught me whatnotto do in a marriage. It definitely didn’t teach me anything about being a good husband.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“My dad didn’t teach me how to be a father, either, but I’m sure I could figure it out.”
Garret and I haven’t talked about the kid thing since he mentioned it when we were in the woods back in Connecticut. He asked me if I was afraid to have kids because I thought I might treat them the way my mom treated me. I realized then that he was right. I always told myself I’d never have kids because I didn’t like them, but the truth is that I’m scared to death I’ll be a bad mom. The type of mom I had.
I’m quiet and Garret notices. “I’m not saying we’ll have kids, Jade. I was just saying that if we did, I could learn to be a father and I’d do a much better job than my dad did with me.”
“I know you would.” I smile at my soon-to-be-husband and his words have me imagining him as a dad. I know he’d make a great dad. And I know he wants that someday and part of me wants that, too, but I’m still afraid. “You know, I haven’t ruled it out.”
“Ruled what out?”
“Kids. I mean, I’m open to the idea of it. I just need to work through some stuff first.”
He lightly rubs my hand. “I know. And I’ll never pressure you. If we don’t have them, that’s okay. I’m sure Lilly will have kids someday, so at least I’ll be an uncle.” He gives me a quick kiss. “Go dry your hair. That guy will be here any minute. I’ll clean up breakfast.”
I notice that it’s now 9:55, so I hurry back upstairs to our room to finish getting ready to meet with the guy who’s marrying Garret and me. When I think about that it seems crazy. Me? Getting married? If you told me that a year ago, I would’ve laughed so hard my stomach would hurt. And then I would’ve said that marriage is stupid and something I would never even consider. But now here I am, getting married in a few weeks. It just goes to show what love can do to a person.
CHAPTERTWO
Right at 10I hear Garret talking to someone downstairs. I go down and see him sitting across from a nice-looking man, probably in his mid-fifties, with gray hair wearing light-colored pants and a black button-up shirt. He’s friends with Harper’s dad which is why we decided to hire him. Harper said the guy did some acting when he was younger and that’s when he met her dad. Years ago, the guy got ordained so he could do the ceremony for a friend’s wedding and then other people started asking him to officiate their weddings and he’s been doing it ever since.
“Is this your bride?” the man asks as I walk down the stairs.
“That’s her,” Garret says, smiling.
“Nice to meet you.” The man stands up and extends his hand. “Andrew Wield.”
“Hi, I’m Jade.” I shake his hand. “Thanks for making the drive up here.”
“It’s no problem. I was coming this way anyway. I’m doing a wedding in Santa Barbara the week before yours.” He sits down again and Garret and I sit across from him on the couch. “So Garret tells me you’ll be writing your own vows.”
“Um, yeah, I guess we will,” I say, looking at Garret.
“You aren’t sure yet?” Andrew asks, eyeing us both.
“We’re sure,” Garret says, smiling at me. “So tell us how the ceremony will go.”
“That’s up to you. I like to get input from the bride and groom and go from there. It’s your day. I’m just there to make it official. How do you picture your wedding, Jade?”
“I’m not really sure. I’ve never been to a wedding.”
“A wedding can be anything you want. Harper told me you wanted a short ceremony. If you need ideas, I can tell you about some of the weddings I’ve done in the past.”
“That would be helpful.”
Talking with him, I realize how clueless I am about weddings. Growing up, I wasn’t someone who dreamed about her wedding day, probably because I never thought I’d get married. Even now, I don’t really care about the flowers or the decorations or any of that stuff. In fact, Harper volunteered to do all of that for me and I can’t thank her enough. She’s been working really hard the past few weeks getting plans made. It’s a very small wedding but there’s still a lot to do and she insists on doing all of it. She checks in with me to make sure I like what she’s planning and I always offer to help, but she won’t let me. She loves planning parties and I think she secretly wants me to just let her do her thing and I’m more than happy to do so. I totally trust her judgment on stuff like this, way more than I trust myself.
Andrew describes several options for the ceremony and after a half hour, Garret and I decide what we want, which is basically just Andrew saying a few words about love and marriage followed by the vows and the ring exchange. Harper is my maid of honor and Sean is best man. Frank is walking me down the aisle and Lilly is going to be our flower girl.
“Well, that was easy,” Andrew says when we’re done. “Usually the bride has so many requests that it takes much longer than this. But Jade, I have to say I’ve never met a bride as easygoing as you. Usually brides are completely stressed, worrying about the ceremony, the flowers, the cake—trying to make sure everything’s perfect.”
“It’s just a wedding. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Besides, it’s the marriage part that’s important, not the wedding, right?”
Andrew stares at me, not answering. I turn to Garret, who’s also staring at me, but with a huge grin on his face. He kisses my cheek and looks over at Andrew. “You see why I love her?”
He nods. “It’s good to hear. Most couples put all their effort into the wedding and no effort into the marriage.” He smiles at us. “But I can tell you two are on a good path.”
