Page 84 of Shameless With Him
Epilogue
Caleb
“I,Caleb, take you Zoey-girl, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold. For richer or poorer. Until the day our souls meet again. I love you with every ounce of my being. I have loved you since long before I knew what love was. I’ll cherish you until the end of our days, and long past that. I’ll be yours forever, I promise.”
The officiant cleared his throat, and I winked at him.
“Sorry, needed to add a few extras.”
“That’s just fine,” the officiant said, smiling.
“And now, Zoey?”
My bride looked at me, her eyes wide, tears spilling down her cheeks as she squeezed my hands.
“I, Zoey, take you, Caleb, love of my life, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, until the end of our days and beyond. Because I love you. I’ve loved you since we were children and didn’t understand exactly what could be. I have loved you since before I could have you, and ever since. I’ve loved you even when both of us were hard to love. Since you told me you loved me.”
I swallowed hard, my eyes stinging.
“The rings,” the officiant continued.
Dimitri handed me my ring, and I winked at my brother.
“Thanks.”
“You’ve got this,” Dimitri whispered.
“Now, take Zoey’s hand and put the ring on her finger. And, I’m sure like we said before, you have your own vows for this.”
“Zoey-girl,” I said, swallowing hard again as I slid the ring on her finger. “With this ring, I thee wed. With this ring, I’m forever yours. With this ring, I promise you my devotion, my truth, and my secrets. I promise you…me.”
There was open weeping from the front of the room, but I only had eyes for my soon-to-be wife.
She slipped the ring on my hand, saying the same words back to me, and when the officiant pronounced us husband and wife, I leaned down and gently trailed my fingers along her cheek.
“Are you ready, Zoey-girl?” I asked.
“I’ve been waiting for you forever, Caleb Carr.”
“And now you have me, Zoey Carr.”
She beamed, and then I lowered my mouth to hers, dipped her down, and then kissed her. My wife. I couldn’t fucking wait to see what happened next.
“Well,there wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Dimitri said, holding his son Kane as the child slept.
The baby was almost a year old now, but it was still our first baby of the family.
“We try,” I said dryly, taking a sip of my champagne.
I looked towards the dance floor as one of the Montgomerys spun my wife around, her laugh reaching my ears and making me grin.
“Jesus Christ, that’s my wife,” I said.
“Hey, I think I shared that exact same sentiment when I looked at Thea for the first time. And watch your language around my son.”
I looked down at the sleeping Kane and grinned.
“With both of the kid’s extended families, you’re out of luck there when it comes to language.”