Getting to Me

“Oh, come now, dear. Don’t cry; you’ll ruin your makeup. We don’t want that now, do we?” Suzy Haner said soothingly to her oldest daughter before she pulled her in for a tight hug, smiling when Mandy returned the hug, holding on to her tightly. Upon hearing her mother’s words, Mandy let out a strangled chuckle before pulling away, dabbing at the corners of her brown eyes with a borrowed handkerchief before she let out a deep breath.

“What if he decides this isn’t what he really wants?” Mandy asked, nervously looking at the floor before she started to wring her hands together. “What if he comes to his senses?”

“Nonsense,” Suzy shook her head, a beaming smile on her face. “That boy is utterly in love with you, Mandy. He won’t walk out on this wedding.”

Mandy nodded once again, although she still felt nervous. She kept thinking that Zack was going to realize that they were too young to be getting married; that he didn’t want a wife yet, that he wasn’t ready to settle down exclusively with one girl. She kept expecting him to pack his things and go back home to Fargo, where his entire family lived. But he didn’t. He stayed with her, and it was making her nervous that today might be the day he decided to end everything good between them.

“Would it help you to see him?” Suzy asked softly, knowing that her daughter was on the brink of having a panic attack. She could understand the girl’s nerves. She herself had been going crazy with anxiety before her wedding with Mandy’s father, and she’d been a little older than her. A wedding was always a nervous occurrence, and Suzy completely understood it.

Mandy looked up, wondering what her mother had just said before she nodded, sitting down in a chair that had been placed in the corner of the small room they were putting the final touches on her wedding gown and makeup in. Suzy just gave her daughter a reassuring look before leaving the room, promising to be back in a few minutes.

Mandy herself had no idea how to feel about today. She was ecstatic, for sure. She loved Zacky with her entire heart, soul, and mind. He was without a doubt the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. But was she the woman he wanted to spend his life with? Or was he going to change his mind?

A few moments later, the door opened again and she looked up to see Zacky standing there. He looked amazing in his black and white tux, although she almost wished she could see the colorful tattoos adorning his arms today. He gave her a huge smile when he saw her, and even though she knew it went against tradition to allow the groom to see the bride on the day of the wedding before she walked down the aisle, she was glad that he was here for her now, when she needed to hear him reaffirm that this wedding and their marriage was exactly what he wanted out of life.

“Your mom said you were feeling panicked,” he murmured as he walked over to her, pulling her to her feet before he pressed his lips against her forehead, not wanting to smudge her makeup at all. “What’s wrong, baby? Why are you crying?”

“Is this what you want?” She breathed out nervously, looking up at his eyes. She knew that she was ready for this, but she needed him to be as well. He chuckled at her words and then nodded, pushing her bangs out of her eyes before he grabbed her hands tightly in his, squeezing them carefully.

“You know this is what I want,” he told her softly. “I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I wasn’t a hundred percent certain that it’s what I want out of life.”

Mandy nodded and then leaned forward to brush her lips across his softly before she watched as the door opened yet again, this time her father and brother standing there. Brian had a proud look on his face, as did her father.

“It’s almost time. Zack needs to get his ass to the altar,” Brian spoke before he walked into the room, giving his sister a hug. “You look amazing in that wedding dress.”

“Thanks,” she told Brian before watching as Zacky left the room. He mouthed a quick I love you to her before closing the door behind himself, leaving Mandy alone with her father and brother.

“You’re sure you’re ready for this, right?” Her father asked her as he walked over, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just want you to be happy, and if this marriage won’t do that, then—”

“Daddy, this is exactly what will make me happy,” she cut her father off before kissing his cheek and hugging him. “I love Zacky.”

He gave a small nod of his head before pointing towards the door. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get out there and knock this thing out of the park, baby girl,” he told her softly before he offered her his arm. Mandy gave him a huge smile and then nodded before linking her arm through his. Brian had already gone out to make his way so that he was standing beside Zacky, since he was the best man. McKenna was going to be the flower girl, and Michelle was her maid of honor. Olivia was going to be the ring bearer, although since she was too little to carry it on her own, Zacky’s nephew was going to be helping her.

Once they left the room and the large mahogany doors of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church opened to expose her to the room full of guests, the piano started to play the traditional wedding march. Zack and Mandy had chosen to go with a traditional wedding rather than an exquisite one, and they were both pleased with the outcome of everything.

She slowly started making her way down the aisle, watching as her youngest sibling carelessly and happily threw the red and white rose petals down onto the floor. It was something that made her heart feel even warmer than it already did, and Mandy couldn’t believe that the day she’d spent her life dreaming about was finally here.

Once she finally reached the front of the church where Zacky was standing, she watched as her father shook her fiancé’s hand before he kissed her cheek and pulled her in for a tight hug, properly giving her away. She knew that it was hard for him, especially since she was his firstborn daughter, although she could tell that he was ready to finally let her go. He knew she loved Zacky and that she was ready for this, and he was happy that her dream of finding a man to love her forever had finally come true.

The wedding ceremony itself was rather simple, although Mandy couldn’t concentrate on a word that the pastor was saying. All she could think about was the way the light filtering in through the blue and purple stained glass windows made Zacky’s dark hair look as though it was a raven blue rather than charcoal; the way the sunlight caught his green eyes and made them shimmer even more than they already were. He looked absolutely amazing, and she could see the love in his eyes that he held for her while he connected their hands together.

When the time came to say the ‘I Do’s,’ Mandy murmured them quickly, feeling her heartbeat start accelerating as the pastor finally told Zacky that he could kiss her. Her new husband wasted no time in connecting their lips together in a passionate kiss, and the pastor smiled before holding his hands up.

“By the power invested in me by the state of North Dakota, I give to you Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Baker,” he told the congregation, who started clapping. Zack and Mandy were too concentrated on each other to care about their clapping family and friends.

“I love you, Mandy,” Zack breathed against her lips as he finally pulled away, still holding her body tightly against his. He couldn’t believe that they were finally married; that they would have the rest of their lives to spend with each other.

Mandy smirked and looked back up at him, kissing the corner of his mouth softly before he started leading her down the aisle so they could make their way to the white limo that was waiting outside of the church to take them to their reception at the town hall. She didn’t need to respond vocally to let him know how much she loved him.

She couldn’t believe that just a short year and a half ago, she had met him. Back then, she hadn’t even been looking for a relationship. She couldn’t understand how fate had put the two of them together, but she was glad that it had. She remembered the first time Zacky had confessed to his feelings, and she remembered their first kiss. It made her happy to know that those were only the first of a lifetime of memories to be made, and nothing made her happier than knowing she had the rest of her life with Zacky.