My Sunshine (35 page)

“Wait,”
Chloe interrupted. “Can I say something?”

John
raised his eyebrows in a worrisome sort of way. She shook her head slightly; trying to calm whatever fears he was feeling. Chloe looked up at the preacher. “Can I?”

Reverend Jim
nodded. “Of course.”

Chloe
smiled at John. “I didn’t get any time to prepare something to say; this was sprung on me kinda sudden-like, but I know I am making the right decision, John. I know that by    marrying you today, I will never have to worry again. I know you are always going to be by my side, supporting me, taking care of me, and loving me. I promise I am going to love you every day of my life. I never thought I could be good enough for someone like you; I never thought that someone like you would ever fall in love with someone like me, but you make me believe that I am worthy. You make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. You make me feel like I am the most loved person in the world. I know I am the luckiest woman in the world. You are never going to regret asking me to marry you, cos you are my sunshine.” She looked up at the pastor. “I’m done,” she whispered.

Reverend Jim
nodded and began to speak again. “John, will you have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep only unto her, so long as you both shall live?”

John
nodded. “I will.”

Reverend Jim
turned to Chloe. “Chloe, will you have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep only unto him, so long as you both shall live?”

“I will,”
Chloe answered.

Again, Reverend Jim
turned to John. “Please repeat after me: I, Martin, take you, Chloe, as my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; this is my solemn vow.”

John
repeated the words, never taking his eyes from

Chloe
.

“
Chloe, repeat after me,” Reverend Jim continued. “I, Chloe, take you, Martin, to my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; this is my solemn vow.”

“The rings, please.”

Chloe turned around and handed Christine her bouquet in exchange for the ring. John got the other ring from Tyler.

“
John,” Reverend Jim said, “please place the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand and repeat after me.”

Chloe
held out her hand and John took it gently into his.

He slid the ring onto her finger. “With this ring I thee wed: In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Amen.”

“Chloe, please place the ring on the fourth finger of John’s left hand and repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed: In the

Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Amen.”

Chloe
slid the ring onto his finger. He immediately closed his hand around hers. She grasped his hand with her free one, and he covered them all with his other hand.

“Bless, O
Lord, these rings,” Revered Jim prayed, “that they who wear them may abide in thy peace, and continue in thy favor, unto their life's end; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.”

He looked out at the small congregation and motioned for them all to stand. “Let us pray. O, eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind, Giver of all spiritual grace, the Author of everlasting life; send your blessing upon these your servants,

John
and Chloe, whom we bless in thy Name; that they, living faithfully together, may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant made between them, and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together. Look mercifully upon them Lord, that they may love, honor, and cherish each other, and so live together in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and of peace and live according to thy laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Reverend Jim
looked up. “Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder. For as much as John and Chloe have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and pledged their solemn vows, to each other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving a ring; I pronounce that they are man and wife, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

He looked down at
John and Chloe in a fatherly way.

“Mankind did not create love; love is created by God. True love is
both freely given and freely accepted, just as God's love of us is unconditional and free. Today truly is a glorious day the Lord has made - as today both of you are blessed with God's greatest of all gifts - the gift of abiding love and devotion between a man and a woman. All present here today - and those here in heart - wish both

of you all the joy, happiness and success and the world has to offer.

John, you may kiss your bride.”