Chapter 15 - Vows

Adeline fidgeted and mindlessly twirled her wedding bands on her finger. She had been sitting outside the back of the church for twenty minutes, wearing only a dark purple, beaded lace shawl her grandmother had knitted many years ago. Her arms, left bare in the strapless fuchsia bridesmaid dress she wore, were covered in goosebumps, and she had started to shiver about five minutes ago.

She was nervous, but that was no shock. She had managed to avoid running into Lance for the past hour thanks to help from Jamie-Lynn and Joanna, but she knew she couldn't avoid him for much longer. It was freezing outside in the middle of December, but she assumed out here, she was safe.

“Adeline, what are you--”

The large wooden door of the church opened and when he stepped out, she stood up and turned to him.

“Hey,” she said, barely able to keep her teeth from chattering.

She wasn't surprised that he stood there looking at her, shocked.

“Wow,” he said.

“Sorry I didn't come find you sooner,” she said.

“Jamie told me I would find you out here,” he said. “You're blonde.”

“I let them get their hands on me yesterday, and this is what they did. They're a bad influence,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“I love it,” he said.

He took a few steps towards her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to him.

“And I love you.”

He leaned down and when his lips touched hers, he gave her a kiss so intense that when he pulled away, she had to take a deep breath.

“Lance, we're in a place of worship,” she said quietly. “Go easy, we might get struck by lightning.”

He chuckled. “I missed you. It was strange not having you around telling me what to do yesterday, being bossy, being...well, you.”

She smiled, and felt another shiver radiate down her body.

“You're freezing,” he said. He pulled his tuxedo jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Let's go inside.”

She burrowed her frozen arms and torso into the jacket, closing it tightly around her with one hand. She could feel his body heat from it on her skin, warming her up. He reached over and grabbed her hand, and led her to the wooden door.

When he held the door open for her, she chuckled.

“What's so funny?” he asked.

“You've evolved,” she said as she walked inside. “The night we met, you not only didn't hold the door open for me, you nearly slammed it on me.” She smiled. “You've changed so much – it's like you're not even the same person anymore.”

“I'm not,” he said. “The guy you met was angry and bitter at Mackenzie for leaving him, and he took it out on every woman that tried to get close to him. He didn't want a woman like you to like him, so he didn't hold open doors or pull out chairs. He wasn't even nice. He was a jackass.”

“And I didn't let him forget it,” she said.

“I believe you called me a pompous jerkface under your breath that night,” he said with a smile.

They had been walking slowly down the hall, but she stopped to look at him. Still holding his hand, she squeezed it tightly.

“I called him a pompous jerkface that night,” she corrected. “The man that is standing in front of me is not pompous or a jerk. He's one of the most caring people in my life. I fell in love with him...and I don't deserve him.”

He was about to question her when they heard high heels click down the wooden floors of the hall.

“Five minutes,” Jamie said, smiling when she saw she had interrupted them. “You need to be in your places in three or the manhunt will begin.”

She stared at them a few moments, looking between the two. She finally shook her head.

“It's so gross how perfect you two are for each other,” she said before turning and walking down the hall again, clicking her heels with the same fuchsia dress Adeline was wearing, swaying along with her movement.

“They figured it out,” Adeline said after she had turned a corner, catching the smile Jamie had given her before walking away.

“About us?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I'm not surprised,” he said. “Those two – they're good. They got it out of me weeks ago.”

“What?” she exclaimed.

“I was kidding, Adeline,” he said, trying to keep from laughing. “Only kidding.”

“I hate you so much,” she said, feeling herself relax.

“But you just said you loved me.”

“I've changed my mind,” she said, smiling a little as they started walking off down the hall to get into their places.

They were in their spots right on time. She returned Lance's suit jacket to him and as he put it back on, she slipped her shawl off her shoulders, putting it in a safe spot for her to pick up later, and grabbed her bouquet off a table where Jamie had put it.

As she came to stand in her spot next to him and he hooked his arm through hers, she suddenly wondered why she had been so nervous about this moment. He glanced over at her and they smiled at each other, and she felt relaxed and comfortable. Her heart was still beating wildly, but that could have been due to bad dreams of walking down a long aisle in three inch heels.

Jamie, standing in front of them with one of Nick's groomsmen at her side, turned around as Joanna's music started and looked at them.

“Showtime,” she said.

“Are you nervous?” Lance asked, looking at Adeline out of the corner of his eyes.

“Why would I be nervous?” she asked him.

“For one, you're you. Puppies make you nervous,” he said, staring straight ahead preparing to start walking any moment. “For another thing...” He paused. “Has it occurred to you at all that this might be slightly awkward for us?”

She chuckled, but quickly stifled it as Jamie-Lynn started walking, and it would be their time any moment.

“No,” she lied. “That hasn't occurred to me at all.”

He laughed. “You're a really bad liar, Addy. That was epically awful.”

“Oh, you mean, the part where we're walking down the aisle of a church, and I'm in a dress, and you're in a tux, and we're standing up there while a pastor gives a big speech that ends with 'until death do you part' – and it's all a little too freakishly much like a wedding?”

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I pretty much meant that part.”

It was their turn, and both started walking down the aisle smoothly and steadily.

“That isn't awkward for you?” he whispered.

“Is it awkward for you?” she whispered back.

He paused for a moment before answering, pondering the question in his head.

“No,” he finally whispered. “It isn't. It almost feels normal.”

For a moment, she tried to register what he said in her head, while focusing on the wedding attendees to her left, sitting in the pews among Joanna's sprays of dark pink and white roses that decorated each end.

“Is that bad?” Lance whispered to her.

She smiled at a few of the guests, but not out of kindness or for their benefit – it was a good cover-up for her unexpected happiness.

“No, it's not,” she whispered back, not sure he could even hear her. “It's just what I wanted to hear.”

They were silent as they walked the rest of the way and separated when they reached the altar, Lance standing in his place on Nick's side and her in her place on what would be Joanna's. It wasn't long before the music changed and Joanna came walking down the aisle, looking every bit as beautiful as Adeline had remembered her while she had been in the room, helping her get ready.

The first part of the ceremony was mostly a blur to Adeline as the pastor started speaking, because she was too busy looking to Lance, as he was to her. She had thought if her mind wandered today, it would wander to memories of her wedding day; but to her surprise, her mind wandered to other things.

Before Adeline knew it, Joanna was reciting the vows she had written for her soon-to-be husband standing in front of her.

“I promise to be your lover, your companion, and your friend...”

Lance smiled at Adeline, and she smiled back, remembering the first couple of weeks she had worked with him. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself back then, but she did like him. When she was able to shove aside the fact that she hated his attitude, she was immensely attracted to him from the moment she met him. She never imagined he might feel the same way for her, probably because of the way he acted towards her for so long.

When it really mattered though, he showed her how much he cared for her. And it might have taken them a while, and they might have become more now, but he was one of the best friends she had.

“...your partner in life, your ally in conflict, your comrade in adventure...”

She took a deep breath, remembering the day at the auto shop. The way he immediately became concerned seeing her not feeling well, and the way he took care of her. He had helped her to the car, stayed with her to make sure she calmed down, and driven her back to her apartment. The way he stayed with her, to make sure she was still okay – it had exceeded every expectation she had of him.

She had realized that was the point she had fallen in love with him.

“...through the pointless bickering, the long evening walks, the late night phone calls and the good morning texts...”

She smiled again, remembering the constant calls and texts they had exchanged the first few weeks after the party. Any time they were separated for the day, he made sure to send her a text message – sometimes silly little observations from his day, and sometimes it was a simple reminder of the way he felt about her or the way she made him feel. She hadn't spent many nights at her own apartment lately, but whenever she did, he couldn't go more than an hour without calling her to talk. They always spent a couple hours on the phone, and it always ended with a good night.

They hadn't been together long, but they'd already had a couple fights – stupid ones. Pointless bickering was a good phrase to describe it. Not talking to each other had lasted about an hour, and had ended with both of them going to each other after they realized how silly the fight had been, and immediately making up.

“...through the fighting, the joking, the wrestling, and the making up...”

Then there was the day at Coney Island, the night they had spent at the beach. They had stayed out much later than they both planned, because neither wanted to leave and face getting on two different planes the next day. There had been more laughing and wrestling in the sand until both of them were soaked with salty water and sand stuck to every surface of their body. They had finally gotten into his car after dark, and with no towels to dry off they were stuck with wet, sandy clothes and car seats for the long drive back home – but neither cared, because the day was so perfect.

“...through disappointment, mischief, battle, and distress...”

She couldn't deny that she had been thinking a lot more lately about her own distress and battles and it had caused her grief. It was a particularly tough time for her, especially when she realized how much she missed her parents and her grandmother. She wished she could spend the holidays with them, like Lance did. She wished her family were around to meet him like he wanted her to meet his. Even if the circumstances were the same, and she had to introduce him as the man she was keeping a secret, she knew her parents would support her as long as she was happy. She liked to think that they would adore him.

And with the holidays coming up, she had been thinking a lot more lately about other things she had kept hidden from him.

“You are my equal in all things,” Joanna said.

Adeline looked up to see that Lance was looking at her as well, looking contemplative and deep in thought. For a moment, she wondered what he might have been thinking.

“I, Joanna, take you, Nick, to be my husband, my partner and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you, honor you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward – forever.”

Adeline didn't hear at what point Nick recited his vows to Joanna. She was too focused on thinking about Joanna's vows and what they really meant. When she had married Marc, she hadn't given much thought to that; she had only been twenty-two years old and they had forgone writing their own in favor of the more typical vows.

She questioned if either of them meant them – they had stood in front of the priest repeating them to each other, smiling and happy like Joanna and Nick looked now, but neither grasped the gravity of the words they were speaking. They were both five years older now; they had some good times but in the last few years, there had been more bad times. Feelings had changed on both sides, and obviously neither one loved each other enough to work through what they had been through.

She loved Lance more. In her head, it wasn't so easy, but in her heart, her decision was clear – if they switched places with Joanna and Nick today, she would mean everything she said to him.

She only snapped out of her thoughts to hear the pastor pronounce them man and wife, and hear their guests start to clap once they kissed for the first time as a married couple. Lance's eyes were still fixated on her and only left her when Joanna and Nick turned around and started walking back down the aisle.

By the time they joined each other to walk back down the aisle and get in his car to head to the reception, she noticed that he was unusually quiet.

“See?” she finally said with a smile. “That wasn't awkward at all.”

“Not awkward at all,” he repeated. She searched for a vague smile on his face, but she could only pick up a trace.

Guests cleared out as Joanna and Nick hung around for a few moments, greeting a handful of them. Adeline and Lance spoke to both of them briefly, congratulating them and promising they would arrive at the reception shortly as well. Lance put on a smile in front of them, but Adeline also picked up a hint of something different in his face as he spoke to him.

Joanna and Nick finally left, and the two of them noticed that aside from a couple of stragglers, they were left behind.

“Ready to go to the reception?” Lance asked her.

“Let me grab my shawl and we can go,” she said, hoping that whatever was on his mind wouldn't prevent him from having fun.

He followed her to the room where they had all gathered before the ceremony, and he stood in the doorway leaning up against the door frame as she went to the place that she had hidden it, behind a large vase of flowers.

She moved the vase out of the way, but oddly, there was no shawl in sight. She stood back in confusion and looked to him.

“It's not here,” she said. “Did you move it?”

“I didn't touch it,” he said, giving a nonchalant shrug. “Are you sure that's where you put it?”

“Yeah. I was the only one wearing a shawl and I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb so I put it behind this vase so it would be here later. Are you sure you didn't grab it for me?”

He only shook his head.

“Hmm,” she mumbled, and moved the vase back into place before walking to every other place she could see in the room that she might have hidden it.

As she moved chairs and opened drawers in random dressers looking for the shawl, he watched her, thinking about the sudden urge that had come over him during the reception.

“Addy,” he said quietly, but he got no reaction from her as her search continued frantically.

“Where in the world could it be?” she asked, to no one in particular. “I know I left it in this room...”

“Adeline,” he said a little more loudly, and her head popped up from the search.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Did you find it?” she said.

“No, but I want to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead,” she said, opening another drawer in a table.

He exhaled a deep breath before speaking.

“Will you marry me?”