My brother said little to me that day until right before Mia arrived.
“Will?”
“Yeah.” I turned to my brother, Ray, who was sixteen years older than me and had been married for twenty-five years. At five years old, I’d been the ring bearer in his wedding.
“I’m only going to tell you this once—it’s my only advice to you.” He glanced toward his wife, Michelle, who at forty-five was a striking and exotic beauty. Frankly, I didn’t know what she saw in my brother after all those years. He was kind of a dick. “Always listen.”
“Huh?” I said.
“That’s all they want is someone to listen to them.”
It was the simplest advice, but I realized something: it was the reason Michelle and Ray had been together and happy after all those years. He was attentive to her. He talked highly of her. I never once heard him complain. She was his queen and he kept her on that pedestal the same way I would with Mia.
“Thanks, Ray.”
He gave me a half hug and then I felt his head jerk up to look past me. “She’s beautiful, Will. Even more beautiful than I remember. Don’t f**k it up, little brother.”
I turned and immediately saw her. It was like all the light in the sky was funneled onto her. Everyone else looked like they were standing in a shadow. I saw her mother and Jenny and Sheil and her step-dad with Mia on his arm walking toward me. My feisty, funny girl, had found the dress. She was wearing almost an exact replica of the dress Stephanie Seymour had worn in the “November Rain” video, minus the big puffy shoulders. The front of the dress was so short it didn’t hide the soft pink garter hugging her thigh. The sides and back swooped down into a short train. Seriously, people, Google the dress from “November Rain”—it’s hot.
I heard Tyler whisper, “She’s crazy.”
“Yep,” I said, grinning from ear to ear. “I f**kin’ love it.”
I watched her intently. All the sounds around me went away. It was quiet, but I could hear something. I strained to listen to the sound I’ve heard so many times before when I’m in Mia’s presence. It’s quiet, but if I tune everything else out, I can hear it. It’s the divine sound of my soul. It’s the sound I hear when I know everything is right in my world. Her dress came down low and sexy from the top and then off the shoulders. Her hair was simply pulled back into a low bun. She had no jewelry on and very natural makeup, just the delicious pink tinge to her lips that she always had. Once her eyes locked on mine, she never looked away; she came to me, right into my arms, smiling and without reluctance.
Leaning in, she whispered, “Bet you’re wishing you had a red bandana right about now.”
“You have no idea,” I said to her. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m a spectacle out here. Look around.” She laughed. “This was all for you, baby.”
The group of family members began to stir while we had our quiet exchange.
When Mia jutted her chin out to give me a peck, Tyler finally interrupted. “No! You can’t do that yet.”
Everyone in the group chuckled.
Tyler cleared his throat. “Family and friends, we’re here today to celebrate Mia and Will and the love that they share. They’ve asked us to be here to witness the joy of their union.”
At that point, it’s fair to say that I stopped listening to Tyler. All I could think about was Mia. I saw, like in a film reel flashing in front of me, the last year of my life. I watched the heartache and the happiness and the moments of unrelenting bliss when we were in each other’s arms. I thought about every mundane moment that makes up that gray area of a person’s life. It’s the hour or two a day that you clean your kitchen or watch TV or do the laundry. All my gray moments with Mia were colored in: chasing her around the Laundromat, spraying water on her from the kitchen sink, or messing around with her on the couch while we spent whole days watching reruns of The Office. I looked forward to the rest of my life, even if the rest of my life only consisted of the humdrum day-in, day-out bullshit, it didn’t matter because Mia turned the most unremarkable moments into moments I cherished.
“Will?” She breathed out, her face paralyzed with terror.
“Yeah?”
“Your vows, baby. Aren’t you gonna say your vows?”
Oh my God, poor Mia thought I was getting cold feet.
“Yes, my vows, okay.” I cleared my throat. “Mia, you’re my best friend and that’s not some clichéd crap a guy says to a girl. You really are my best friend. You’re funnier, smarter, and prettier than Tyler, and you smell way better.” I paused as everyone laughed. “But seriously, something came alive in me the day I met you. It was so strong a force that I knew completely and with all my heart that you would be in my life forever.”
Mia’s eyes filled with tears. Her cheeks turned pink, her eyes grew wide, and she smiled so serenely I began to get choked up myself.
I took her hands. “Mia, I promise that I will never stop loving you, laughing with you, playing music with you, crying with you. I promise I will never stop dancing with you and cuddling you and bringing you chocolate and wine.” I wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes. “I’m yours forever and I choose you to be mine.”
“Will,” she began in a cracked voice. “Your love is so pure and real that I can feel it in your fingertips when I touch you. I can see it in your eyes and the way you smile at me. I’m so in love with you because you are the most genuine, kind, and loving human being I have ever met.” She leaned in and whispered, “And you have nice abs.” We both chuckled and then she continued. “You’re the smartest, coolest, and most talented guy I know. I promise that I will worship you better than any groupie ever could. I will love you, Will Ryan, until the day I die. And I will be your best friend too.”