Chapter 30: Wedding Bells
Ember Corbin
"Ember!" I turned around to see Candy wearing a beautiful pastel-colored dress. She looked so happy while holding a bouquet of roses.
"You look so pretty!" she exclaimed and jumped at me in excitement. Luckily, I'd been working out these past few days, so I managed to catch her and return the hug. I had to thank Lance for forcing me to stay in shape even after the self-defense classes were over.
"I told you this gown will suit you better," she commented while checking me from head to toe.
I was glad I listened to her as well. This gown was so magical. It was an off-shoulder dress, and the sleeves were attached to my arms, not on the dress. This long mermaid gown had these cute details on the tail.
"Well, look who's here," I chirped when Alena entered the bride's room. She looked as gorgeous as ever.
"Oh, my God. Lance is so lucky to have you as a wife. Scratch that. We are so lucky to officially have you as our family." She giggled and hugged me.
"Yes, now we can officially make Lance our slave and make him cook for us," I added.
"Of course, that goes without saying," she replied.
"Hello there, little guy," I crouched until my face was on her stomach. Alena was almost nine months pregnant now. We would be meeting the baby soon.
And yes, Lance and I decided to wait more than six months after he asked me to marry him. Because we wanted to test ourselves by living together for a few months to see if we were compatible to spend our whole lives together. If there were problems, we would work on them before getting married and not spend our entire married life fighting. Turns out there weren't many problems, and I absolutely loved those times with him, and I was pretty sure I was going to love the path ahead of us as well.
"Still can't decide his name?" I asked, and she pouted.
"I hate the names that Lance wants. Maybe I shouldn't have promised that he could name my first child." She sighed while rubbing her big belly.
"Don't worry. I will coax him into giving a better name." I winked at her.
"God, you're a lifesaver." She gave my cheek a kiss and said, "Well, I better leave now. The ceremony is about to start," Alena said when we heard a bell ring.
"Oh, my God, I think I'm going to be sick," I said as I remembered the cold feet I was having before Candy came into the room.
"It's gonna be okay," Candy assured me.
"What if it doesn't?"
"It will be. You and Lance both love each other, so whatever happens, even if you screw up on the altar, it's gonna be fine. Your love won't change, and I believe that it will last forever. So come now." She forwarded her hand to me since she was the one who was going to give me away as I had no other family members.
I smiled at her words and linked my arm with hers.
"Everything will be great," she reassured and started to make our way to the church doors.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our lovely bride!" I heard a guy announce, and the door opened wide, welcoming me with a beautiful sight. The band Elian hired for us started playing the Canon in D by Pachelbel.
"Let's do this," Candy whispered-exclaimed, and I nodded bravely at her. We took our first step, and all the guests stood up to clap.
Soon, Lance came into my sight, and I started feeling like crying... again.
It really was happening, and I still couldn't believe it. But I didn't want to cry and ruin my makeup.
"God, I'm gonna ruin my makeup, and this will be all your fault," I murmured when Lance was already in front of me.
He chuckled and extended his hand. I smiled at him and took it. He smiled and kissed my knuckles before putting them into his arms.
The pastor started to recite a few verses from the bible. Before the pastor could recite the wedding vows for us, Lance cleared his throat and said, "I want to say a few words to you, Ember."
I nodded, urging him to go on.
"Ember. By consenting to share your life with me, you have made me the happiest man on the face of the planet today. I promise to always hold you in high regard and to respect you. I swear to always remain your protector, and no one can harm you as long as I'm with you," he said, which made me reminisce about the first time he saved me.
"I pledge to be a source of your comfort and encouragement. I know that I'm not perfect, but I promise you that I will be with you for all of eternity. You are the fulfillment of every dream I've ever had, and I can't wait to see what kind of reality we can create together," he stopped reading, then grabbed my hand with his.
"Give me your hand, and I will give you everything that I can for the rest of my life. Even my credit cards and all the good food in the world." I was about to start crying until he inserted the last sentence, making me laugh.
The guests started laughing at him as well.
"Lance Storm, I am really lucky to get to have you as my husband. Every day, you make me a better person with your love and trust. You saved my life so many times. Thank you for that. There has always been a common understanding between us during all of our time together, which can only be conveyed when two people sincerely love each other. You didn't give up on me when everything seemed hopeless," I said between my sniffs, trying to stop myself from flooding the church.
"I know that in your arms and by your side, I am capable of anything, even forgiving something that I never thought I could. I'm thrilled to be able to call you my husband. I always promise to defend you from danger, to stand by your side through your hardships, and to turn to you for help when I am in need of protection," I tried to stop it, but everything felt so surreal.
He was standing in front of me receiving my vows while everyone who was important to us was staring at us with envy. The guest chuckled when Lance tried to wipe my tears, forgetting that I had a veil on.
"I swear to love you, to honor you, but not to obey you all the time since that would be strange, and one thing I want to tell you. Your nonstop talk is worth listening to if it makes you stay with me forever," he expressed.
I chuckled, and both of us finished our vows laughing while tears were brimming my eyes.
He put the ring on me, and I put a ring on him, which was gifted to us by his mother. It was a family heirloom.
The pastor finally asked me to repeat after him.
"I, Ember Corbin, take you, Lance Storm, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part," I said while gazing lovingly into Lance's life.
This really was the happiest day of my life. Everything that happened before was worth it.
Lance smiled at me with teary eyes, which made me giggle. He was getting emotional just like me. Lance vowed the same words while staring directly through my soul.
"You may now kiss the bride," the pastor said.
Lance slowly lifted the veil and stared at me in awe before putting his hands on my cheeks and slowly placing his lips on mine. Unlike our other kisses, this kiss was slow yet more passionate than ever; it was filled with promises and new hopes for the future.
With that, our road to eternity was sealed.
# # #
(After a week)
"Aww, goodbye, baby Xian," I whispered to Alena and Elian's baby, who was sleeping soundly in his mom's arms.
"Em, we need to go," Lance whispered to me, and I nodded sadly at her. Lance and I postponed our honeymoon for a few days since we wanted to be there when Alena's baby was born. I named him, by the way, because everyone hated Lance's ideas.
"Come back healthy, okay?" Candy said, and I nodded, then gave her a big hug.
"Let's go. I can't wait to have my wife all by myself," Lance purposely made his voice loud so his family could hear him. They snickered and shooed him to go away.
"Me too," I winked at him, and Candy made a gagging gesture. All of us have been staying at Elian and Alena's mansion since our wedding, and Lance and I didn't do that thing in a couple of weeks leading up to our wedding, nor this week, as we wanted to keep the excitement for our honeymoon.
"Be careful, you two," Lance's dad reminded us. We waved our hands as Lance started driving. We were going on a private island owned by his familyâno scratch that, our family.
After an hour of driving, we switched on riding with a beautiful fancy black and blue Jet Ski.
"What about our bag?" I asked curiously, and he glanced behind me. I turned and saw two men putting our luggage in a plastic box with a float around, and they attached it to the jet ski. "Oh, cool."
"Come on," Lance said, then started driving. The cold, salty air was making my hair fly. I tried to capture them, but Lance was being mischievous and kept on hitting the break.
"You really want my beautiful hair to get all messed up, don't you? I swear you're going to sleep alone tonight if you're going to do that again," I threatened him, but he just chuckled. Crazy.
When we reached the island, I was taken back by its beauty. There was a big wooden house in the distance, and Lance told me to wait on the shore while he put our luggage inside.
"Hurry, I want to see the houseâLance!" I shrieked when he suddenly lifted me bridal style, giving me a fright, but soon I burst into giggles. He stopped walking and stared down at me.
"What?" I asked confusedly, but he just smiled at me.
"Thank you for coming into my life," he said before leaning forward and kissing my lips.
Thank you for accepting all of my flaws, Lance. Thank you for being there when I needed you the most. I'm looking forward to our future together. Thank you for being my Mafia Rescuer. I love you.
THE END
A/N: Thank you for reading this novel! You can read Elian's story titled as 'My Boss Is In The Mafia?'
Eltan's story is titled as 'My Artistic Mafia Man.'
Please follow me, trimagical_ , if you want to read more novels like this! Have a great day!