Twin Flames, Two Souls Journey Through Time – The Professor - Chapter 21

                  It’s hard to believe that an entire year had passed since their engagement and symbolic exchanging of vows.  They were going to have an intimate wedding and reception of about sixty people at a small location in Muir Beach, California.  Amelia, Lucy and Mel had gone wedding dress shopping months earlier, where she had picked out a dress from her favorite designer Demetrios.  It was an organza asymmetrical dress with cap sleeves, and a lace applique design woven into the bodice of the dress.  It was simple and beautiful, now standing in the dress nearly eight months after purchasing it, the moment felt bizarre.  She was wearing her grandmother’s pearls with the dress, the only thing her mother had specifically left for her, Amelia had always loved pearls, and their mother had promised them to her, much to the chagrin of their older sister Sally, who predictably felt as though they should be hers as the oldest.  Lucy and Mel were helping her on with her veil.  Lucy and Mel looked amazing, Amelia told them they could pick whatever they wanted to wear, and they both chose simple black dresses that they would be able to wear again. 

She and Daniel were going to have a first look, she had wrestled with the idea of his first look of her be as she walked down the aisle, as is tradition, but they had decided that they wanted the first time they saw each other to be a private moment just for them without any societal expectations.  Daniel stood in the room waiting for Amelia to enter with his eyes closed.  He heard the door open and the swishing of a dress, when she was in front of him he opened his eyes, and she was simply breathtaking.  She looked like an angel, her hair swept up with lose curls faming her face.  Daniel was wearing the same suit from Paris, only with a matching black watch plaid vest, and he had shaved off his beard.  “You look like a dream Amelia,” as he took her hand and twirled her around once to take in the dress.  “Do you like it?”  “Honestly I didn’t think anything could top the navy dress, but you did.  You look like an angel.”  “Don’t worry, the veil is hiding my horns,” which made them both laugh.  “You shaved your beard off,” as she brushed the soft skin where his beard once was, “I thought I would surprise you, is it ok?”  “Yes, you look very distinguished, but you love your beard.”  “It’s hair, it will grow back, and besides I love you more.  I decided the Grizzley Adams wasn’t a good look for our wedding.”  “I actually love your beard, but it means a lot that you shaved it off for the wedding.”  He gave her a side eye, he knew damn well she didn’t love his beard, “ok, I love your trimmed beard, I could do without the Unabomber look,” she said with a wicked giggle, “but I love you either way,” as she leaned in to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek.  He wanted to hold her and do various wicked things to her, and the look he was giving imparted his libidinous intentions to his bride to be.  He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss while whispering that he looks forward to seeing her out of that dress, and if it wasn’t for the photographer and videographer, he would be tempted not to wait till after the wedding.  Her unique shade of pink tinged her cheeks with his words.  She gave him a look that almost dared him to do it, but he twirled her once more, and gently swatted her behind, “I’ll see you up at the altar,” and gave her wink as they each turned to walk away back to their respective waiting area’s. 

Amelia’s former psychology professor and friend Clayton officiated the wedding.  Amelia and Daniel had written their own vows, which they had kept secret from each other.  “Amelia you are opinionated, stubborn, you sleep in the middle of the bed, you laugh at your own jokes, you infuriatingly tell me you love me in the middle of an argument just so I will stop being mad, and it annoyingly always works.  You are by far the most passionate person I know.  It is through those passions that I see what is in your heart, I see how much love you have for me, for your family, for your friends, for animals.  Everything that makes you who you are is what makes me love you.  I know that life with you will never be boring.  You are not perfect, and neither am I, but what we are is perfect for each other.  I promise that I will cherish and honor you throughout this life, for this is the marriage of equals.”  Amelia could feel tears of happiness start to well in her eyes, “Daniel, I know that I can be a hand full, that I swear like a drunken sailor, and that I can try the patience of a saint.  You are always kind, always patient, always loving.  You tell me what I need to hear, when I need to hear it.  You make me feel valued and important, and I feel loved in a way that is impossible to put into words, because those words don’t exist.  You have helped to heal all the broken pieces of my soul.  You are not perfect, and neither am I, but what we are is perfect for each other.  I promise that I will cherish and honor you throughout this life, for this is the marriage of equals.”  They had planned on ending each of their vows with that, it was important to both of them that this was a marriage of equals.  Their vows had made everyone laugh, including each other.  Clayton continued, “Do you Daniel take Amelia to be your wife, to be her constant friend, her partner in life and her true love?  To love her without reservation, honor and respect her, protect her from harm, comfort her in times of distress, And to grow with her in mind and spirit?” With his eyes squarely on Amelia he answered, “I do.”  “Do you Amelia take Daniel to be your husband, to be his constant friend, his partner in life and his true love?  To love him without reservation, honor and respect him, protect him from harm, comfort him in times of distress, and to grow with him in mind and spirit?”  Holding back the tears welling up in her eyes Amelia responded, “I do.”  Clayton continued with the exchange of rings, and they liked what Pierre had said so much that they had decided to go with those.  “Amelia, I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant.  You are the love of my life, and my very best friend.  With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”  “Daniel, I give you this ring as a sign of our covenant.  You are the love of my life, and my very best friend.  With all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”  And with that Clayton ended the ceremony, “Family and friends, Amelia and Daniel have declared before all of us that they now wish to live and love together in marriage.  With the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  You may now seal your union with a kiss.”  Daniel and Amelia kissed each other to the cheers of their friends and family. 

                  The reception was full of laughter, dancing and drinking.  Amelia’s former professor and Daniels colleague, Taro, is an absolutely gifted photographer, and they had asked him to take some candid pictures of them for their engagement photos which had been blown up and placed around the wedding venue.  They didn’t want the cheesy overly staged photos for their engagement, that wasn’t them, and the results were amazing.  Taro refused to take any money, but Amelia insisted and said to consider it a donation to his charity.  Taro and his wife Katharine would take trips to different villages in Asia helping to bring running water to them.  They are truly remarkable people, and so Amelia and Daniel made a generous donation to their charity.  Most of Amelia’s family didn’t attend, she had invited them, but she knew that her older brothers would not attend for religious reasons.  Lucy was there along with John, his wife Jalena and their son Devon who was one of the ring bearers.  Mel was there with her husband William, and Amelia’s godson Noah and his brother Aiden, who were also ring bearers for the wedding.  Daniel’s best friend Javier’s daughter’s Alina and Arielle were the flower girls.  They had also invited James and his wife Coral to the wedding, along with Taro and Katharine and Clayton’s wife Shelby.  It was important to her that Clayton, Taro, and James be invited to the wedding, they were the professors who had shown her that she had value as a person, and the things she thought and said mattered.  They had changed her life in a very profound way, and she wanted them to share in that day.  Daniel’s list was quite a bit longer than Amelia’s but everyone that she cared about was there including some coworkers like Leah, and they all helped to make the day special.  While Amelia missed her parents, and Daniel missed his mother, they were both thankful that his father, Edward, was able to be there, and he wound up giving a beautiful toast which left more than a few people reaching for tissue.  The night was beautiful and romantic and absolutely everything Amelia and Daniel could have ever hoped for.  They knew that they would face many trials and tribulations in their life together, that was a byproduct of life.  They also knew without hesitation that they would be able to face any obstacle together.  While there is no such thing as happily ever after, their life together was filled with happiness, love, and understanding, and that is the best that any of us can hope for.