Wanna Get Married?

A little over an hour later, Cara’s dad shook Jamie’s hand and handed his daughter off to her groom. Jamie squeezed as he took her hand, feeling himself relax a bit with the contact, letting his smile widen.

She beamed up at him, and the rest of the world faded away to background noise, the butterflies in her stomach settled. As the officiant started to speak, she half listened, but her mind drifted back to when they’d stood in this spot almost a year ago. They had gone for a sunset walk on the beach, the day after his and Jordie’s “Around 30” birthday party, the weekend between Jamie turning 29 and Jordie 31. He had stopped walking and turned to face her just as the sun fell behind the horizon, kissing her breathless and holding both her hands in his.

“I love you so much.”

She smiled up at him. “I love you too.”

“You’ve been there for me through everything the last three years, keeping my head out of my ass and never letting me get too high on myself — or too low.” Jamie dropped to one knee, still holding her hands, and pulled the box out of his pocket. Her eyes went wide. “I want you with me forever, Cara. Will you please marry me?”

She didn’t even look at the ring. She couldn’t take her eyes off his sweet, hopeful face. Happy tears spilled down her cheeks as she nodded furiously, smiling ear to ear. He grinned back at her, dimples cutting into his cheeks. Kissing her hands, he carefully slid the ring out of the box and onto her finger. She looked at it then and gasped. “Oh Jamie, it’s beautiful .”

“It’s a green sapphire,” he said, standing up. “I took my favorite picture of you into the jewelry store and asked if they could match the color of your eyes. It’s close, but nothing is as beautiful as those eyes.” He brushed her temple with his thumb. “You like it, though?”

“It’s perfect and I love it. I love you. So, so much.” She threw her arms around him and squeezed, cheek pressed tightly to his chest. He squeezed back and kissed the top of her head.

She’d told him right then and there she wanted to marry him on that beach, at sunset, the next summer. They’d looked into the hotel’s availability and booked the date before they even checked out. July 5, 2019, so her family and friends would be able to use the holiday weekend to travel to Vancouver Island instead of burning vacation time.

Now she stood facing him again, her hands in his, wonder and adoration on both their faces, friends and family surrounding them, and it was time for their vows.

“Cara, my beautiful, kind, sarcastic, funny, crazy, hot … tempered little Irish love.” Everyone chuckled, and Cara rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Squeezing her hands and grinning, he continued. “You make me smile when I don’t think I can. You make me laugh and scream and cry. You make me a better person. You have faith in me even when I don’t, and then you make me believe in myself. You drag me out of my comfort zone. You make my life an adventure. You’re my biggest fan but also my anchor in reality. You’re the home I want to return to, forever and always. I promise to love you with all my heart for the rest of my life.”

His voice broke just a little on the last part, and he bit his bottom lip to stop its quivering. She took a moment to wipe the tears off her cheeks and clear her throat. When she trusted her voice, she grinned a slightly mischievous grin at him, one eyebrow raised just enough to make him sweat a bit. He shook his head and chuckled softly, then nodded. He was ready.

“Jamie, Love, my thoughtful, passionate, sweet, stubborn, goofy, insanely talented, gorgeous, huggable Canadian stud muffin.” Snickers from the crowd, especially his teammates, made Jamie roll his eyes. The chirping would never end. But Cara smiled up at him with her nose all crinkled and he quickly forgot about them. “I had no idea my life was missing such a huge piece before I met you. Your smile makes me weak in the knees. Your dimples will be the death of me. And those puppy eyes will forever get you out of trouble. You’re my favorite. But what I love about you most is how safe and cherished I feel wrapped up in those big, strong arms. You treat me like a queen but not like I’m made of glass. You lend me your strength without diminishing my own. You give me comfort and laughter and excitement and joy and most of all, love. I promise to give you all those things in return until my last breath.”

Cara reached up to wipe away a tear at the corner of Jamie’s eye and lovingly brushed her hand down his cheek, stopping to poke at a dimple. They both giggled. A collective “awww” went up from the guests. The officiant then explained the next part of the ceremony, the handfasting, which Cara had wanted to incorporate to honor her Irish heritage.

Lightly grasping one another’s right forearms, Cara and Jamie smiled as first Olivia, then Jordie placed long lengths of different colored ribbon across their wrists. Jamie softly stroked her skin with his thumb, barely tearing his eyes away from hers to smile at their siblings and parents as they followed with more ribbons. When everyone was seated again, the officiant took all nine ribbons and twined them together before tying them around their wrists in a figure-eight as he recited an Irish wedding blessing:

“May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.
May the saddest day of your future
Be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship
And your hearts joined forever in love.”

As the officiant talked about the symbolism, Cara’s 9-year-old twin nephews proudly brought up the rings and handed them to him. Jamie and Cara exchanged their rings, saying, “Today I place this ring on your finger. It symbolizes the bond that is never-ending. But when you need to know the depth of my love for you, look not to the ring, but into my heart.”

When they were finally pronounced man and wife and given the go-ahead to kiss, Cara pulled Jamie against her with their still-bound hands, then stood on her toes to press her lips to his. Jamie cradled her face in his free hand and deepened the kiss just a little but broke it off when one of his wise-ass friends whistled.

After carefully pulling their hands free of the corded ribbons, Cara took her bouquet back from Olivia, and the newlyweds paraded through the crowd to the cheers of their family and friends. While they waited out of sight for their guests to proceed to the reception tents down the beach, Cara pulled Jamie into a heated kiss that he returned wholeheartedly.

“I love you so fucking much,” Jamie whispered into the kiss.

“I love you more,” Cara giggled.

Notes