I Do

“Today's the day! TODAY'S THE DAY!”

Kadie shouted through the phone. I cringed and rubbed my eyes. They were still closed. I was avoiding opening them because of the sunlight that poured in through the enormous windows in our bedroom.

Jonah must have woken up from the sound of Kadie's voice. He groaned as he stretched and rolled over to his left to face me. I peeked through my lashes to see if he was awake and sure enough he was.

“What time is it?” He whispered.

“7:30...Go back to sleep.”

Jonah wiggled his head around to readjust his pillow and closed his eyes.

“Yay!” I tried my hardest to sound enthusiastic while still trying to whisper. “How exciting! I'll pick the girls up and be at your place by 9.”

Jonah's right eye fluttered open as he heard my voice.

“Sorry!” I lowly whispered so Kadie couldn't hear. He blinked slowly, but then shut his eye again.

We were both exhausted from the night before at Kadie and Adam's rehearsal dinner. That morning everyone from out of state came in. Jonah was at work so he missed most of it. But, there were people coming in and out of our place all day. I was running around like a mad women trying to entertain my family and friends, showing them around my new place, and getting last minute things done for Kadie's wedding. Needless to say I was already worn out by the time the actual dinner rolled around.

-_-_-_-______-_-_-_-_____-_-_-_-

It was a tradition within our group of friends to go out after major events. It was a tradition that started when we were much younger and still lived in the same state. After every school dance, birthday, holiday, (and now that we were getting older) rehearsal dinners, we'd always go to Woody's place for a bonfire.

Unfortunately since we were in New York, it wasn't possible. And because the weather was freezing there wasn't much we could do outdoors. So, instead we went to a Hookah lounge.

“Are there naked dancing babes here?” Woody asked with wide eyes.

“Ew, Woody!” Rebecca hit his shoulder.

“You mean belly dancers?” Sarah rolled her eyes. Something told me she wasn't too fond of Woody.

“Bro” Jaime wrapped his arm around Woody's shoulder and walked away with him. “This place has some of the hottest belly dancers!”

“No way!” We heard Woody's voice from a distance. “You think they'll hook up with us?”

Kadie, Lacey, and I looked at each other and giggled.

The club had a Middle Eastern set up with cushioned seating on the floor. We had our own private area, so the girls laid around in our dresses while the guys leaned back with loosened ties and unbuttoned collars.

“So, Kadie and Adam” Lacey shouted across the table. “What's with the quick wedding?”

“Lacey” Mark hissed at her. “You can't just ask someone why they're getting married so quickly.”

Kadie smiled at Adam. “After we got engaged we didn't have any dates planned. We were just going with the flow...”

Adam continued Kadie's sentence, “...but then we were reminded along the way why we were even getting married in the first place.”

Kadie and Adam were looking at each other now as they went back and forth. “Because we're madly in love and we couldn't wait to express it.” Kadie's smile grew as she spoke. The two of them kissed while everyone awed and cheered.

“What about you big man?” Woody asked. I looked over to see who he was talking to. His eyes were set on Jonah. “When are you gonna make an honest woman out of my girl here?”

My jaw dropped. I lipped the words, oh my God, and secretly hoped Jonah didn't hear him. After Kadie told me about Jonah's reaction to Adam asking him the same question I couldn't help but feel weird about the whole situation. I mean, what was the whole purpose of being together if something serious wasn't going to come of it? Or, was he just being guarded because he knew how closed off I was to the idea in the past? Either way, this was something I didn't want to hear again. I turned away from Jonah and gave Woody the death stare.

“What?” Woody shrugged as he responded to my glare.

Jonah laughed. “That's between me and my lady” His arm was already around my shoulder, but he squeezed me tighter as he spoke.

“Well you listen up here.” Woody leaned forward as if he were telling Jonah important information. “When you ask for her hand in marriage you better get my blessing.”

Sarah threw her hands on her hip as she pecked her head out “Who do you think you are?”

“Excuse me?” Woody leaned back “Who do I think I am? Who do you think YOU are?” He looked around the room “Who does she think she is with her weird accent.”

“My weird accent? You should hear yours!” Sarah snapped back.

The two of them continued to bicker through out the night. It was funny, but even more relieving since it took away the attention from Woody's awkward question of night.

-_-_-_-______-_-_-_-_____-_-_-_-

“I should probably get up” Jonah yawned “Adam wants us at the hotel early and I have to swing by work before hand.”

I sighed. “Okay” My eyes were still closed. I felt Jonah kiss me on the cheek as he rolled out of bed.

“I'll see you at the wedding. You're gonna look hot for me, right?”

“Ugh” I pushed Jonah away teasingly. “When do I not?”

He laughed. “Touche”

Once Jonah left I jumped in the shower, threw on some clothes, grabbed my dress, and headed to the hotel to pick up the girls.

Kadie's apartment wasn't too far from the venue so we were all getting ready at her place. The furniture in the living room had been shifted around to make room for makeup chairs. There were about ten more people in the room other than us. Photographers, videographers, makeup artists, etc. It was complete chaos.

Kadie poured out a glass of champagne for all the bridesmaids.

“Can I get everyone's attention for a second.” She shouted. The room slowly fell silent. “I just want to tell you all how much you mean to me” She was choking back her emotions “Y'all have been there for me since day one and I couldn't imagine getting married without y'all. Especially you Lynn. You've been like a sister to me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.” Her eyes began filling up with tears.

“Kadie” I frowned as I looked at her blinking back tears. “Don't cry! Save that for after the wedding when you've realized what you've done!” I joked.

Kadie laughed and dabbed a tissue under her eyes to stop the mascara from bleeding.

“Let's go get married!” I held up my glass. Everyone clinked their glasses and cheered.

It was just about noon when we finally arrived to the venue. We were all dolled up with low updo's showing off the sweet heart neck line on our lavender colored bridesmaids gowns.

We lined up in the lobby waiting to go up the elevator as Kadie waited in the limo.

Once we'd gotten confirmation we made our way upstairs. The groomsmen were already line up waiting for us. The music began playing and one by one each couple began walking in.

I hurried to make my way to Jonah. He held out his arm for me to grab. “Hey handsome”

“Handsome? I don't think I look nearly as good as you do” He smiled as he stared me up and down.

The wedding coordinator signaled for Jonah and I to approached the door leading into the wedding. We stood there for a few moments as a photographer took pictures.

I took a deep breath. “Jonah” I whispered “There's something I want to tell you.”

“Now?” He whispered back as the hall full of people looked back at us, waiting for us to walk in.

“Yes, now. I want you to know that what I have with you, I haven't even come close to having with any one else. It's something I will always treasure no matter what happens. I may have expressed some negative feelings about certain ideas in the past, but you're making me reconsider them. Do you understand?”

Jonah smiled “I do” he placed his hand over mine and led me down the aisle.