My Everything - Seth & Amber (33 page)

The music changed as the pianist started
playing the bridal march and everyone stood. God, he
couldn’t
tear his eyes away from Amber! He saw tears begin
to fill Amber’s eyes as a chorus of ‘awwwwww’ swept through the
crowd like a wave.

He finally turned and saw Joey and Jamie
walking down the aisle, beaming, hand in hand. Seth had to admit
that it was pretty sweet.

As they reached the end of the aisle, the
pastor asked, “Who gives this woman to marry this man?”

Joey stood up straight and said, “I give my
mom to marry him.” Joey pointed at Alex, lest there be any
confusion as to who he was entrusting his mom to.

There were a few quiet chuckles around the
sanctuary and Seth noticed several women in the church place their
hands over their chests and mouthed “awww” in reaction to little
man giving his mom away.

Alex stepped forward and ruffled Joey’s hair
as he took Jamie’s hand. Seth motioned for Joey to come and stand
by him just has they had practiced in rehearsal.

He heard his brother whisper to Jamie that
she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Seth’s eyes tracked
back to Amber like a moth to a flame. Anytime Amber was near him,
he had a hard time not staring at her, not just losing himself in
gazing at her loveliness. Jamie
was
beautiful, but his
brother was wrong. Amber was by far the
most
beautiful woman
on earth.

Sensing Seth’s eyes on her, Amber lifted her
gaze to his. As soon as their eyes locked, the rest of the world
disappeared to Seth. She was all that existed.

A small, almost shy smile formed on her
beautiful mouth before she quickly returned her attention to the
ceremony. Seth forced himself to do the same.

The pastor was welcoming everyone there to
celebrate the union of Alex and Jamie, and then proceeded to
elaborate on the meaning of marriage, “Marriage can be a great
adventure when it is the outward expression of a great love; such a
love is characterized by compassion, passion, and courage.

“It allows you to see through to your
partner's essence, willing to be in total support of your partner's
well-being, goals, purpose and spirit; and unwilling for your
partner to be less than all he or she can be - spiritually,
mentally, and physically.

“Sooner or later, we begin to understand that
love is more than verses on valentines and romance in movies.

“We begin to know that love is here and now,
real and true, the most important thing in our lives. For love is
the creator of our favorite memories and the foundation of our
fondest dreams.

“Without love, we merely exist. With love, we
truly begin to live!

“Such a love requires that you be totally
honest with yourself and your mate, that you ask for what you want,
take action even though you are afraid, share your feelings and
listen - but leave your partner free to be who they really are. In
other words, always love your partner for who they are, not for who
you think they should be.”

Seth listened and he slowly came to the
realization that that was exactly what he shared with Amber. He
knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would never have that
again, never share that with anyone else. What he and Amber had was
once-in-a-lifetime.

Alex turned to Seth, holding out his hands
for the rings. Seth pulled them from his jacket pocket and was
filled with pride for his brother as he listened to him say his
vows.

“I, Alex, take you, Jamie, to be my wife, my
partner in life, and my one true love. I will cherish our union and
love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you
and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you
faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles
we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love,
from this day forward, for as long as we both shall live.”

Seth heard a commotion in the back of the
church and saw several girls being escorted out by Katie’s Aunt
Wendy. They looked like they were crying.

That was weird.

As Alex slipped the ring on Jamie’s finger,
he said, "I, Alex, give you, Jamie, this ring as an eternal symbol
of my love and commitment to you."

Seth noticed that tears had begun falling
down Jamie’s face. Seth felt a pull on his hand and he looked down
to see Joey’s very serious face looking up at him. He leaned down
and Joey whispered, “Is my mom okay?”

“Yes,” Seth smiled as he whispered, “she’s
crying because she’s happy.”

Joey scrunched up his face at him and looked
at Seth like he thought he must be crazy.

Seth shrugged and quietly said, “Girls.”

Joey immediately understood, and with a
knowing nod, agreed in a whisper, “Girls.”

As Seth stood, Jamie was just beginning her
vows.

“I, Jamie, take you, Alex to be my husband,
my partner in life and my one true love,” her voice cracked as she
sniffed, “I will cherish our union and love you more each day than
I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with
you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and
bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together.” The pastor
handed her a tissue as tears fell down her face. She wiped her eyes
and then continued, “I give you my hand, my heart, and my love,
from this day forward, for as long as we both shall live.”

She then took the ring and slipped it on his
brother’s hand as she said, "I, Jamie, give you, Alex, this ring as
an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

Music began playing again and Seth nudged
Joey, who was taking part in a candle lighting ceremony. Alex,
Jamie and Joey all took separate candles and used them to light one
large candle, then blew out their individual flames, signifying
their union as a family.

When Joey returned to his spot next to Seth
he held up his hand proudly and Seth gave his new nephew a high
five.

Wow. Seth hadn’t actually thought about it
until just that moment, but yes, that was true. Not only did he
have a brand new niece, he now also had a nephew. He knew his other
brothers would probably also be having kids in the next few years,
and that all of the kids would grow up with each other.

Looking back, he realized how much he had
enjoyed having, not just his brothers, but also his cousins Haley,
Krista, Becca, and Jessie, around all the time. His childhood was
filled with memories of them all. Never before had he felt a deep
desire to have kids of his own, but now he did. He looked up at
Amber as she held her bouquet in front of her and realized that if
she was pregnant right now he would be…excited.

Hell, forget excited. He'd be thrilled.

The pastor’s voice interrupted his thoughts
as he loudly proclaimed, “By the power vested in me by the State of
Illinois, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss
the bride."

A huge smile spread across Jamie’s face as
Alex leaned down and kissed her. He continued kissing her as he
lifted her off the ground. Cheers erupted as Joey once again pulled
on Seth’s hand.

“They do that all the time, Uncle Seth,”
Joey’s huge brown eyes looked up at him as he shook his head.

“Sorry, little man,” Seth said in
commiseration as he ruffled Joey’s hair.

Hearing those words ‘Uncle Seth’ come out of
Joey’s mouth sealed it. He definitely wanted a little boy or girl
looking up at him calling him Dad.

After the cheering had begun to die down, the
pastor opened his arms and said, "I present to you Mr. and Mrs.
Alex Sloan.”

The cheering started up once again at an even
higher volume as Alex and Jamie made their way down the aisle. Seth
heard the guys that worked at the fire house with his brother
whistling and whooping.

Joey followed Alex and Jamie, and Seth
stepped to the middle and held out his arm to escort Amber down the
aisle. She was smiling from ear to ear as she took his arm and he
leaned down and quickly kissed her. He hadn’t thought her smile
could get any bigger but it did. God, he loved her.

“Okay,” Haley said as she took a seat at
the large round table where Chelle, Katie, and Amber had gravitated
after having completed the bulk of their bridesmaid's duties, “I
realize that you are probably sick of repeating it, but I
have
to know what happened last night. I know you said you
were fine when I texted you, but I want
details
.”

“Yes, details please. I have been dying to
know,” Katie said as baby Mya slept in her arms.

“Well, um, it all happened really fast. I was
in such a rush to see my mom when I parked that I forgot my purse
in the car. When I went back to get it, he grabbed me from behind
and put a knife to my throat.”

“Oh my gosh!” Haley exclaimed, her hands
flying to cover her mouth.

“Then he dragged me to a dark corner, and
thank God I had taken that seminar with Seth, because I could
literally hear Seth’s voice in my head telling what to do - to stay
calm, not to panic. To remember that my elbows, hands, and heels
were weapons, and where to aim, because no matter how big your
attacker is, they have weak spots.

“So anyway, when a car’s headlights flashed,
distracting him, I did one of the moves Seth had taught us, and
then I and started running. I tripped on a cement wheel block, and
that slowed me down, but I still got up and kept going. When I
reached the door to the catwalk, I felt him grab me and I
screamed.”

“No,” Chelle said, scooting forward in her
chair.

“But it actually
wasn't
him, as it
turns out, it was Seth. Oh, man, when I saw it was Seth it felt
like all the adrenaline that had kicked in when the attack started
just instantly evaporated. My muscles got all jelly-like and I
collapsed. He picked me up. My face was covered in blood because I
had gotten a bloody nose when I fell, so he called for security and
medical attention. Then he held me till they came and put me on a
stretcher and wheeled me away.”

“Wow,” Katie shook her head.

“
And
,” Amber continued, “Seth was the
one who caught Bubba.”

“The guy’s name is really Bubba?” Katie
asked.

“No, his name is Buford, but I guess his
nickname is Bubba.” Amber explained.

“Oh, well, dang. I’m not even sure which one
I would use if those were my options,” Katie said as she moved Mya
to her other arm. “So Buford/Bubba was responsible for the
break-ins as well, right?”

“Yep,” Amber sighed, “I guess when my mom was
in Horizons, she was bragging about me and how well the shop was
doing. Well, not bragging, really - it was more like exaggerating
to the point of flat-out lying.

“Bubba was also a patient there and he saw my
mom as an easy mark. He convinced her they were going to get
married and drive across the country. Officer Williams said that he
confessed to both the break-in at Bella and at my house. We have
him on tape busting out my car windows, but for what it's worth, he
confessed to that, too.

“He said my mom didn’t know anything about
any of that. She was just trying to get money from me so they could
go on their road trip and elope.”

“I’m just so glad you’re okay, Amber,” Chelle
said.

“So Seth found Buford/Bubba in the garage?”
Katie asked.

“Yep. Officer Williams said that Seth had him
pinned against the wall with the same knife he had used on me
pressed against his throat.”

“That whole thing totally sounds like a
movie, and my cousin makes a badass hero!” Haley declared.

“He is definitely
my
hero,” Amber
smiled as she took a sip of champagne.

The girls continued to chatter on about the
incident as Amber leaned back in her chair, reflecting. She hadn’t
really given the whole thing much thought since Seth had taken her
home last night. She had been too busy being ridiculously happy
about the fact that Seth wanted them to
really
do this. To
actually be together.

She looked across the room at Seth and a
tremor ran through her entire body. His mere presence commanded a
room. His air of authority was so amazingly hot that Amber felt her
cheeks getting warm as she stared at him.

He was standing with his brothers and
Cameron. He looked more relaxed and happier than she had ever seen
him look. She hoped that she had (at least a little) something to
do with that.

“Okay, I need all the single ladies on the
dance floor,” the DJ announced in his booming voice. “Jamie is
going to throw the bouquet.”

Amber remained seated. She hated this part of
the wedding. Women took it way,
way
too seriously. They
would throw elbows, step on toes - she even had one woman
spit
on her in order to grab the bouquet! She didn’t need
the drama. Certainly not after the month she had just had. She had
been on the receiving end of enough violence perpetrated by someone
trying to grab something they felt belonged to them,
thankyouverymuch.

Haley stood and grabbed her arm as Single
Ladies by Beyonce started playing. “Let’s go, single lady.”

“I’m good, Hales. You go ahead,” Amber said
as she reached to pick up her glass of champagne.

“I don’t think so, Chickadee, let’s go.”
Haley grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the wooden dance
floor.

Amber stayed at the rear of the pack as
several women pushed their way to the front. She hung back with the
four Sloan girls as Jamie stepped in the center of the floor,
flowers in hand.

The music continued playing as the DJ counted
down 3, 2, 1! Jamie threw her arm up in the air but then lowered it
again, bouquet still in hand. It was a fake-out. Several girls dove
for the floral arrangement that Jamie still held.

Jamie looked over her shoulder coyly. “That
was just to make sure you were paying attention.”