“
Papa, I love you.”
“
Carlee Elizabeth, you just don’t know,” he said.
She set the clock and went to bed. As she slept, Andy stood in the doorway, and watched, just as he’d done with her mama all those years ago and in his head, heard a song from Les Miserables…
She was never mine to keep.
She is youthful, she is free.
Love is the garden of the young
Let it be... let it be...
A heart full of love
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ~ Goin’ to the Chapel
Saturday morning
, Andy had coffee delivered, and Cook sent brown-sugar scones. Carlee joined him at the table. “Just one cup for me; I don’t wanna have to pee,” she laughed.
“
I have another gift for you,” he said. “You don’t have to wear it, but I want you to have it.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a velvet pouch. Inside was the engagement ring he’d given Beth.
“
Really, Papa? Today you had to make me cry like this?” she laughed.
She slipped the ring on the finger of her right hand and went to him.
She curled up on his lap, hugged him, and cried.
After
coffee, Carlee went to shower and get her things ready. Finally, she grabbed her bag and went to the door to leave.
“
Papa,” she paused, looking back at him. “I’ll see you downstairs in an hour and a half. When I open the door you be all handsome and stuff; I’ll be waiting for you.”
Jenna and Marissa were already there when she arrived. Make-up and hair done, they were in their slips, ready to slip their dresses over their heads.
“
Are you ready for all of this?” Jenna asked.
“
Way past,” Carlee said with a happy laugh.
“
Well, come on then, let’s get this thing going!” Marissa squealed.
Carlee
stripped and slipped into a robe. She sat down and did her make up as Jenna ‘dusted’ them all, across their shoulders and chest, with the ‘Pixie Dust’ from her wedding.
Marissa took a strand of pearls and pulled
Carlee’s hair into a loose ponytail. Including the pearls in the hair tie, she loosely twisted the ponytail and the pearls into a knot on top of Carlee’s head.
“
Marissa, that’s beautiful!” Jenna said.
“
I love it! Something borrowed,” Carlee smiled, referring to the pearls.
She held her hand out in front of her, admiring the engagement ring Matthew had given her
, and then the other hand, with the ring that had been Beth’s. “Something old…”
Jenna recognized the diamond on her right hand and hugged her.
She slipped the robe off and stepped into lace panties and ‘Matthew’s surprise’, Marissa and Jenna helped her slip into the dress and she put on the silver sandals.
“
Something new!” she laughed.
She turned to the mirror as Dan Patrick knocked lightly on the door. “Wow! Is that really me?” she said as Jenna let him in.
“Carlee, it is you
, and you look beautiful,” he laughed.
He took some candid photos as the girls finished dressing. Carlee slipped the earrings Matthew had given her
, in her ears, and then Jenna helped slip the blue satin garter from The Bridal Shoppe on her leg as Dan took a few more pictures. “Something blue!” Carlee exclaimed and they all laughed.
Dan took a few formal photos of the girls together
. One last shot of Jenna and Marissa kissing Carlee’s cheeks, and they were on their way to meet Thomas and Brian. Dan took a few more posed photos of Carlee alone.
Finally,
Carlee made the call. “I’m ready, Papa! Are you?”
“
No,” he said, honestly. “But I’ll be there in five minutes.”
While they waited
for Andy, Dan gave her a peek of the pictures he’d taken. “Carlee, these are beautiful,” he told her as they looked.
When he knocked,
Dan opened the door to let Andy in. He took several pictures of the two of them together.
“
I’ll see you there,” Dan said, giving them a moment alone.
“
Papa! My, my, my! You look so handsome.”
“
Carlee…” He waited a minute before he could say another word. “You are beautiful…”
“
We’d better go, or we’re both gonna be gushers,” she said linking her arm through his to guide him to the door.
Jenna, Marissa, Brian and Thomas were waiting. Carlee peeked; everyone was already seated. Nathan was at the front of the room. He gave Thomas the thumbs-up, and Carlee saw Matthew rise from the chair beside his mom. He walked to wait for her where the ceremony was about to take place. When she saw him there waiting for her, a big smile crept across her face. He looked down, overcome with emotion when he saw her.
Nathan started playing and singing
“Marry Me” as Marissa and Thomas made their way to where Matthew stood; Brian and Jenna followed. Carlee took a deep breath and grabbed Andy’s hand and followed. With each step they took, tears slid down Andy’s cheeks. Carlee squeezed his hand as they walked. “Papa, I love you,” she leaned into him and whispered.
As they made their way past, she saw the
staff from White’s and Six, then friends and family. She saw Deb and Michael. Dean Rollins was there with his wife and Allison Mayheart… She saw Dina, Roddy, and Vince, all with tears in their eyes. Adaleigh, Chester, and Marco were there, smiling at them as they passed. Kimmy’s cousin, Mark Jones was there. Kimmy was crying; Nanny and Pops were, as well. She looked over and Percy and Megs were waving; Angela was trying to settle them. Carlee smiled and winked. Geni had tears in her eyes too. As they got closer, she looked at Matthew and had to look down to catch her breath as she saw the tears in his eyes too.
The Magistrate waited as Andy hugged Carlee. He didn’t want to let her go. “I love you,” he told her.
“To the moon and back,” she replied
, kissing his cheek.
F
inally, he placed her hand in Matthew’s. He turned to Matthew, hugged him, and whispered in his ear; “Cherish her as the gem she is,” he said.
Matthew hugged him back and kissed his cheek as he turned to go.
Andy took his seat between Kimmy and Lane, and Nanny and Pops.
With her hand in his, Matthew turned Carlee to face the Magistrate.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered. “I love you, Carlee.”
“
I love you, right back,” she said, and the Magistrate smiled.
“Friends and family, we stand before you on this beautiful morning in the day of our Lord, the 24
th
of March, in the year 2018, to join Matthew Aaron Davis and Carlee Elizabeth Oliver-Stevens in marriage. From the book of Ruth in the Holy Bible, I read from Chapter 1, verse 16…”
Carlee looked into Matthew
’s eyes and couldn’t believe they were finally there.
“
For where you go, I will go,” the Magistrate continued to read. As he spoke, Matthew looked at Carlee. She looked more beautiful to him than he could ever imagine possible. She winked at him, and her brown eyes sparkled as she did.
At last,
Matthew repeated, “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
He slipped the ring on her finger.
Carlee looked at him, noticing the gold band as the ring Andy had given her mama’s when they married. She smiled, squeezing his hand, and glanced back to Andy.
“
…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,” Carlee repeated looking into Matthew’s eyes.
The magistrate continued,
“…and the poet Gibran said:
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks to another day of loving.
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home eventide with gratitude, and then sleep with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Matthew, you may kiss your beautiful bride.”
He was holding both of Carlee
’s hands. He pulled her close; she pulled her hands from his and slid them up his back as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, lightly caressing her bare back.
When he let her go, the room applauded.
He pulled her back for one more kiss and they laughed.
“
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Davis,” the Magistrate said.
The staff quickly moved in, guiding everyone to the other rooms. As Matthew and Carlee mingled with guests and family, they made their way to the breakfast buffet. Geni and Andy were behind them. When Carlee started filling her plate, she said to Matthew; “Can you hurry up, please? I’m starving!” Matthew and Andy both laughed.
By
one that afternoon, most everyone was gone. Andy invited those who remained back to his suite before Matthew and Carlee would slip off to begin their honeymoon. Dan Patrick and his wife came and took lots of family pictures. Andy had a case of the Machus sent to him at the hotel and had glasses sent up. Lane, Thomas, and Brian pulled corks and began to pour wine.
After
they’d filled everyone’s glasses, Andy spoke, “The last two days have been a beautiful experience. Recently Carlee, Matthew and I were together; she was in the middle of one of her lists, she got that from her mama,” he added and laughed. “We shared a laugh over her planning and she said something like, ‘Laugh, when I pull off the best wedding evah…”
“
Most spectacular wedding,” she corrected him and laughed.
He looked at her and smiled.
“Well, I can’t say for certain, but I think she did it,” he said and everyone clapped.
“
I have so much love in my heart for these two beautiful people.” He raised his glass. “To our new blended family…”
They all remained in Andy’s room to visit. Carlee’s family and Roddy and Vince were heading back to the U.S. early the next morning. There were many conversations going on in the room and Andy watched from where he was sitting ‘listening’ to Kimmy talk about how beautiful the wedding was. He heard her, but he was observing Carlee sitting with Nanny and Pops. As he did, he saw tears from them both.
“Carlee,” Nanny said
, “You are a beautiful bride. I know your mama is looking down on all of this with so much love. Matthew is a good man, and I see you sharing a beautiful life together. You know Andy is going to miss you,” she said, and Carlee nodded. “Pops and I will miss you more,” she said, placing a tender, loving hand on Carlee’s cheek.
As they talked, Matthew was across the room taking pictures, getting in every moment he could capture. He knew this would be hard for Carlee when she finally came to London for good. And he knew the emotions the two women shared thinking about Beth. Finally, Nanny wrapped
Carlee in a hug. Matthew looked beyond them and saw Pops crying.
He
came to them. “We’ll see you soon,” he said trying to give Carlee a moment to gather her emotions. Matthew hugged them as Carlee made her way to the rest of her family, and Vince and Roddy.
“Beautiful girl,” Roddy said
. As he hugged her, he saw the same seventeen years pass before his eyes that he knew Andy was seeing every time he looked at her.
“Beautiful woman,” Vince corrected, waiting his turn.
Around three that afternoon,
Matthew left to go to Geni’s room to get his bag. Carlee went to her room to gather her things. When Matthew returned, he called downstairs to have their bags taken to their room. His family, along with Kimmy and her family were staying until Monday for a mini-vacation.
“
We’ll meet everyone Monday morning for breakfast downstairs,” Carlee whispered in Andy’s ear.
She and Matthew made their way around the room, hugging and thanking everyone.
Jenna and Marissa handed Carlee a gift bag as she and Matthew headed out the door. Carlee stopped and turned back. Handing the bag to Matthew, she walked back to Andy. “I love you, Papa.”
He wrapped her in his arms and held her tight as he whispered in her ear
, “I love you so much, sweet girl,” he said.
The
happy conversation about the festivities and the newlyweds continued. Finally, Andy said to those who remained, “There are cars available to take you to tour London. You only need to let them know at the front desk.”
~ ~ ~
In their room, Carlee excitedly tore into the gift bag. Inside she found a fancy
Do Not Disturb
sign for the door, a chilled bottle of champagne, cheese, chocolates, and monogrammed robes that said
Husband
and
Wife
with a card that read,
When you come up for air!
, and they both laughed.
Finally, Matthew pulled Carlee into his arms.
It was a passionate kiss. “Don’t move, I just want to look at you,” he said. “I watched you all night last night, watched you all day today, looked at you up close, peered into your eyes, and saw you from across the crowded room; and each time I saw you, I couldn’t imagine it was even possible that you could be more beautiful, but each next time I looked, you were.”