I pull away, and she’s still smiling as if she really wants to do this.
“Now you can get the private, intimate wedding you wanted, and I can still have my over-the-top princess wedding.” She turns to my mom now. “And you won’t miss a second of it.”
I refuse to fucking cry, so I swallow the lump down my throat, and we get ready to go to the courthouse. Conveniently, Sage just got done with a photo shoot, so her hair and makeup are done, not that she needed it. I would’ve married her first thing in the morning with her in her pajamas and bonnet.
She has her agent pick her up a dress since she wanted to save her other dress for the bigger wedding, and her brother gets me a suit. Less than an hour later we’re all in the courthouse and I’m genuinely shocked everyone dropped everything to be here. We kept it small. My mom, Sage’s parents, and siblings, along with their partners. Moon, Capri, Jordan, and Mel also came.
It’s more people than I wanted forprivateand if I could have it my way it’d just be our parents but Sage at least wanted our friends here. Especially her siblings so I walk down the aisle with my mom on my arm with a smile.
When we reach the alter, my mom kisses my cheek softly before taking a seat, and as I wait for Sage to walk through those doors, I realize what the fuck we’re about to do, and my stomach is doing backflips, but I don’t know why.
I’m not nervous to marry her. I’ve known for a while now that I wanted to marry this woman. I think the nerves settle because this is real. We’re going to bemarried, and I cannot fuck it up.
I won’t.
I pull in a deep breath, but then the doors swing open, and as everyone stands, I forget to breathe. When Sage said her agent was picking up a quicklittlebackup dress, I should’ve known it’d still be over the fucking top.
She looks… stunning in her white gown. Her veil trails behind her for what seems like miles, and when my eyes meet hers, my vision starts to blur. I refuse to look away from her, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. With every step closer she takes, my body screams louder to have her beside me.
Her dad clings to her arm as they make their way down the aisle, and when I notice her bouquet of blue peonies, I look over at my mom with a smile, and she must realize Sage intentionally chose her favorites.
Her dad kisses her forehead before letting me take her hand, and I immediately pull her in for a hug. “I love you so fucking much, Dory.”
She laughs softly but when I hear it morphe into a soft cry I pull away and wipe her tears. “You’re going to be upset if your makeup is ruined for the pictures.”
She laughs harder, and I bring my lips to her.
Someone clears their throat from beside us, pulling Sage away. “People usually wait for me to say ‘kiss the bride’.”
Everyone breaks into a laugh before we take a step away from each other. The officiant jokingly asks if we’re ready, but before we can say yes, my mom makes her way to us.
I go still, silently fucking hoping she didn’t check out on us again, but she apologizes quietly and turns to Sage. “I’m not sure if you have something borrowed, but–” She unclips her pin before handing it to Sage.
It’s a lavender S with a white dove, and I immediately recognize it from the pins we gave out at Shanti’s funeral.
“I was actually missing something borrowed, thank you.”
My mom helps her pin it on the shoulder of her dress and I turn my head away from the crowd as the tears start coming.
“Shanti would have loved you.” My mom's voice breaks before she goes on. “You take care of him for me, okay?”
I let my eyes fall shut as Sage promises that she will. I feel a soft kiss on my hand and force myself to look down at my mom. She gives me a small smile before kissing my hand again and making her way back to her seat before either of us can cry anymore.
“Ready?” Sage whispers before wiping my cheek.
“Yeah.”
Sage and I don’t tear our eyes apart from each other as the officiant starts the wedding, and it’s as if we’re the only ones in the room. By the time it’s time to say our vows, it’s clear Sage’s excitement is traded for nerves.
“You go first.” She whispers to me, and I shake my head at her as I bite back a smile. “Please?”
“No, you go first.”
“No!” She whispers a bit louder, and I have to hold back a laugh as she nervously looks around the room.
“You forgot your vows, didn’t you, Dory?”
“Of course not!” She looks offended that I even suggested that but a soft laugh still escapes her. “The wedding wasn’t for another four months, I didn’t get to write the end of mine.” She looks like she feels horrible and I reassure her that it’s fine before giving in and going first.
