Joy and Tiers (36 page)

He turns to the gathered audience and says, “Ladies and gentlemen—excluding those of you who are paparazzi— we are gathered here to celebrate the love story of Aidan O’Brien and Tara Grace Windsong Isamu. They have one of the most extraordinary love stories I’ve ever seen. I’ve only been witness to the second half of their love story but based on what I’ve seen, the first half must have been phenomenal as well. Not very many people get the chance to fall in love twice, but it’s exactly what happened with these two best friends. To hear Aidan tell the story, he fell in love with a shy heartbroken little girl who just lost her hero before he even knew how to tie his shoes.” 

The audience laughs as Justice Gardner pauses briefly and looks down at Aidan’s untied shoe. Tara rolls her eyes and hands her bouquet to Kiera. She gracefully swoops in to tie his shoe almost before we can blink. I hear Mrs. O’Brien comment from the front row, “Isn’t that so sweet? She used to do that as a kid too. It’s a wonder my baby ever learned to tie.” Aidan and Tara both flush a dusky shade of red as Justice Gardner clears his throat softly and continues,

“But, this isn’t just a story of unrequited love. That timid little girl blossomed and became his confidant and his best friend until tragic life circumstances tore them apart. When they found each other again, Tara became his life-line and helped him overcome his limitations and fears allowing him to become more successful than he’d ever dreamed. Throughout this process, they discovered that throughout the years they had not only been the best of friends but truly in love with each other.”

Aidan and Tara raise their linked fingers and smile at each other. They are clearly at peace with their choice of each other. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen Tara.

“Separately and together Aidan and Tara have been through some incredible challenges, but they have learned to pull together as a team, so it is my pleasure as a member of the judiciary in the State of Oregon to marry them.”

Justice Gardner turns to Tyler and holds out his hand for the rings. At first, Tyler pretends not to be able to find them. Aidan raises an eyebrow at him and asks, “Are you sure you want to do that? Your wedding is right around the corner and paybacks suck.”

Tyler gives an exaggerated wink to the audience as he comments, “Geez, put the epic practical joker in the monkey suit and suddenly he gets all serious. What’s up with that?”

Aidan shrugs. “Just wait. You’ll see. The pressure for it to go perfectly is more than you might think.”

 Justice Gardner chuckles as he says, “Anyway, as I was saying; You, Aidan and you, Tara, have come to me signifying your desire to be formally united in marriage. If there are no legal, moral, or religious barriers that hinder this proper union, please join your hands and carefully consider these questions.”

Aidan and Tara position themselves so that they are linked by their right index fingers. The smile that Aidan gives Tara is heartbreakingly tender. She reaches up and tucks a lock of his long wild rock-star hair behind his ear.

I’m startled when Tyler leans forward and whispers into my ear “I can’t wait until this is us.”

I have to fight to keep my expression neutral. This is not the place for me to spill my beans. “I know, me either.” I try really hard to focus on the rest of the ceremony, but, I am acutely aware of Tyler’s presence behind me.

Aidan and Tara are holding hands they are standing so close to each other, it’s almost as if their foreheads are touching. “Aidan, I love you so much.” Tara signs discreetly. Aidan makes the sign for the same.

Justice Gardner clears his throat softly because it’s obvious that he’s interrupting a private conversation even though it’s perfectly silent. Tara and Aidan look embarrassed to be caught in such an intimate moment. But, all of us that have spent any time around them at all are quite used to this experience and a light laugh travels throughout the audience.

The judge gives Aidan a good-natured pat on the shoulder and remarks, “That’s all right son, I understand. My wife still affects me the same way. Shall we continue?”

Aidan nods. “Yes, sir—I mean William.”

“Very well,” Justice Gardner continues, “Aidan, in taking the woman whom you hold by the right hand to be your lawful and wedded wife, do you promise to love and cherish her, to honor and sustain her, in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, and to be true to her in all things until death parts you?"

Justice Gardner looks solemnly at Aidan.

“Is this your promise?"

Aidan answers by both speaking and signing, “Yes, I promise.”

Tara wipes a tear from her eye before turning back toward Justice Gardner. He smiles gently at her before continuing.

“Tara, in taking the man whom you hold by the right hand to be your lawful and wedded husband, do you promise to love and cherish him, to honor and sustain him, in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, and to be true to him in all things until death parts you?"

I can see that Tara has a death grip on Aidan’s hands as Justice Gardner presents the vow, “Is this your promise?"

“Yes, I gladly promise,” she answers and a steady voice as she simultaneously signs.

Tara and Aidan have elected to exchange rings today and have written their own sentiments that they will share with you.

Justice Gardner holds out the ring to Aidan. For the first time, I noticed that his hands are shaking as he starts to speak in a clear, deep voice.

“Tara, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love and cloaked in my strength.”

As Tara looks down at the ring that he’s placing on her finger, her eyes widen with shock. “You added to it!”, she exclaims as she studies the white gold band engraved with music notes that match the stylized notes in Aidan’s tattoo.

The corner of Aidan’s mouth hitches up in amusement as he replies, “Yeah, I get to do fun stuff like that now because someone I love helps make me a hugely successful pop star. It’s funny how that works.” Despite his unsteady hands, Aidan slides the ring on Tara’s finger with ease.

Justice Gardner just shakes his head as he remarks, “You kids have some of the most unusual ceremonies I’ve ever been involved in.”

Tara looks chastised as she snaps back to attention and recites her portion of the rings ceremony.

“I will wear it gladly. Whenever I look at it, I will remember this blessed day and the vows we've made.”

Tara takes Aidan’s ring from Justice Gardner and places it on Aidan’s finger as she repeats the vow. “Aidan, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love and cloaked in my strength.”

Aidan examines it closely. “Looks like I’m not the only person who had a few surprises up my sleeve,” he signs.

At this point, Justice Gardener starts impatiently tapping his toe for comedic effect.

Aidan looks around as if shocked “Oh, that’s right. I’m not quite done yet.”

Mindy just rolls her eyes. “Grown-ups are weird.”

Tara just laughs. “I won’t argue with that. But, we’ll be serious now. Aidan, hurry up and finish so that we can get to the good part.”

Aidan looks at Tara with feigned innocence. “You mean the kiss? I’ve been looking forward to that part all day too.”

Tara grins as she shakes her head. “No, I was actually referring to the cake Heather made. I’m absolutely starving.” 

The entire audience erupts with laughter as Justice Gardner rolls his eyes and quips, “Perhaps I should’ve been clearer about my role as officiant.” He turns to Aidan and asks, “Are you planning to finish those vows sometime today before your wife passes out from hunger?” 

Aidan looks down at Tara and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear as he replies, “Tara, I will wear this ring gladly. Whenever I look at it, I will remember this blessed day and the vows we've made.” 

Justice Gardner gently turns them around so that they are facing the crowd and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, by the power vested in me by the state of Oregon, I happily pronounce that Aidan O’Brien and Tara Isamu are now husband and wife. I am pleased to present to you— finally— Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien. Aidan, you may now kiss your lovely bride.”

Aidan very gently lifts the veil from Tara’s face and kisses her tenderly as if he’s been waiting a lifetime for that moment. I suppose in a way, he probably has been. Knowing all that both of them have overcome to get to this moment, it is a profound moment to watch. I am completely caught up in the emotion of it all. I barely even notice when Ty gently wipes away the tears that are freely falling down my face. “It’s okay Gidget,” he soothes. “It won’t be long until we have our own fairytale ending.” He tucks my hand around his forearm as he carefully escorts me out of the ceremony.

“They’re not planning to ditch us already, are they?” I ask as I watch Aidan and Tara get into a limousine right after they walked down the aisle.

“No, they’re just going to go do a private tea ceremony to honor Tara’s parents before we start taking pictures and the reception starts to rock. They figured that if they took off right after the ceremony, it would fool the paparazzi. No one would expect them to cut out of their own reception. Besides, one of Tara’s dance students is playing her double right now. I thought that was pretty clever. Hopefully, the press will stay in the dark. Tara tried to tell me how crazy their life has gotten, but I had absolutely no idea until we tried to do something as simple as go bra shopping the other day. It was insane.”

“I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of them right now though. During the whole ceremony, I couldn’t help but wish it was us standing there. I know that sounds bizarre, especially considering my mindset when we first met. But, I feel like I’m running out of time with you,” I confess as I thread my arm around her waist.

Heather walks me back to the pantry area in the kitchen. I smile at her choice of locations. Somehow, this doesn’t surprise me. Although Heather can be very social when she wants to be. This is where she feels most at home. She spots a couple of metal stools stacked in the corner and pulls them down. I think she’s forgotten that she’s wearing stilettos and an elegant bridesmaid’s dress. I help her up onto the stool and try not to be distracted as she crosses her shapely legs.

When she looks at me, her composed expression is completely absent and her eyes are filled with fear. “I’m sorry Tyler, I know you probably don’t want to talk about this here, but I can’t wait any longer. What did your commander say?”

I scrub my hand over my face and untie my bowtie. I’ve broken this news to people I’ve loved before, but it’s never been this hard. I swallow hard and take a deep breath. I’m ninety-nine-point-nine-percent sure history is not going to repeat itself. This time, Heather already has a ring on her finger and she seems like she loves me for the person I am rather than the status I can bring her, but being a military spouse is not an easy road to take. She may decide I’m not worth it once all the cards are on the table.

As I pause to gather my thoughts, I notice she’s become even paler. She trembles slightly as she says, “Oh my God, it’s so bad you can’t even tell me, right?”

“Crap, I didn’t mean to totally freak you out. It’s just that I love you so much that this is harder than I expected.” I lean over and kiss her forehead.

“Are you breaking up with me?” she asks, panic edging her voice.

“No! Oh hell no! I’m just trying to tell you that they are sending me back to Iraq.” I try to reassure her.

“When?” she whispers harshly.

“I have to report to base in two days.”

“For how long?”

“Gidget, I can’t tell you that. It’s classified,” I reply sadly.

 “Are you going to be fighting on the front lines? Could you be kidnapped by ISIS?” she demands, worry creasing her brow.

“Heather, I can’t tell you any of that. I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have even told you which sandbox we were going to go play in. It’s for your safety as well as mine. I have such a high level of security clearance because I’m responsible for mission planning. If you knew what was happening, people could use you to get to me. So, family members in my unit need to be totally kept in the dark. That’s part of what makes what I do so hard. It’s very isolating.”

Heather is very quiet for about two minutes. I feel like my heart is about ready to beat out of my chest by the time she speaks again. “Tyler, pay attention for a moment. On a scale of 1 to 10, when you said that you wished that it was you and I that were getting married today, how serious were you about that?”

The sense of relief I feel wash over me is palpable. It’s an odd question, but one that I can easily answer. “I’ll answer you like I used to answer my mom when I was a kid. Eleven-dy-fifty-five-thousand-billion. Is that high enough for you?”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” she answers with a big smile. “So, what if I told you we can get married today?”

I’m sure that my eyes spring wide like a mechanical toy at her surprise announcement. “How? Oregon has a waiting period and I know we haven’t gone down to go get our marriage license yet.”