Unforgivable

other and join hands.”

I handed my bridal bouquet to Mom and then turned to Micah and slipped my trembling hands into his warm, steady hands. I suddenly found myself smiling, laughing on the inside. Damn hit man, I thought, always steady under pressure and I’m about to fall apart. He looked at me and returned the smile. I wondered if he could possibly know what I was thinking.

“Micah, please repeat this vow to Annalisa, saying after me: I Micah…”

For me, Pastor Anderson’s voiced faded away and all I could hear was Micah.

“I Micah take you, Annalisa, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, I promise to love and cherish you forever.” Forever wasn’t something that Pastor Anderson stated, but I’m glad Micah added it to the vow because he knew all along I wanted forever so badly with him.

And then I repeated my vow to him, my voice remarkably steadier than I felt on the inside. “…I promise to love and cherish you forever,” I finished.

Pastor Anderson continued, “The Word of God defines for us what true love really is and what it does: Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous; love doesn’t boast and is not arrogant, it does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, and it does not take into account a wrong suffered, nor does it rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; for love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, but above all, love never fails. Is this the love you share?” he asked.

“It is,” we answered together.

“Then, having committed this kind of love to one another, you have chosen to exchange rings as the sign and seal of the promises you are making today. Micah, do you have the ring for Annalisa? May I have the ring?”

David handed the ring to Micah and Micah placed it in the pastor’s open hand.

“Annalisa, do you have the ring for Micah? May I have the ring?”

Mom handed me the ring and I placed it into the waiting hand.

“The rings,” he continued, “are a significant token and symbol of this love that you share. They are made of precious metal and stone, reminding us that love is not cheap nor common; but is in fact a very costly and dear thing. They are made in a continuous circle signifying that we must keep love continuous throughout our whole lives. As you wear these rings, whether you are together or apart, may these rings be a constant reminder of the promises you are making to one another this day.

“Micah will you please take this ring and place it upon the third finger of Annalisa’s left hand, and holding her hand in yours, please repeat this promise to her, saying after me:…”

Micah held my hand warmly as he slid the ring onto my finger and stated, “With this ring, I seal my promise to be your faithful and loving husband, as God is my witness.”

“Annalisa,” Pastor Anderson said, handing me Micah’s ring, “Will you please take this ring and place it on the third finger of Micah’s left hand, holding his hand in yours, please repeat this promise to him, saying after me: …”

I took Micah’s large hand into mine and slipped the ring onto his finger as I stated, “With this ring, I seal my promise to be your faithful and loving wife, as God is my witness.”

“Ladies and gentleman, please bow your heads as we offer a blessing for this couple: Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will shelter the other. Now you will feel no cold, for you will be warmth for the other. Now there will be no more loneliness because you are together. The twain has become one and you face one life set before you. Enter into your house together that all the days of your union may be good and beautiful and long upon this earth.

“Micah and Annalisa, you have come before us and God to express your desire to be husband and wife. You have demonstrated your love and affection by joining hands and have made promises of faith and devotion, each to the other, and have sealed these promises by the giving and the exchanging of the rings. Therefore, it is my privilege as a minister and by the state of Florida, I pronounce you are husband and wife. Micah, you may kiss your wife.”

As Micah lifted my veil, I saw the first tear slip down his cheek. I hadn’t realized until that moment my tears had been softly sliding down my face. We looked at each other and, in unison, said, “I love you.” I felt his lips envelope mine as he brought me against his chest. My world vanished as he took away my ability to breathe with the most heartfelt, tender, and warm kiss of my life.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Pastor Anderson said as he turned us to face the roomful of people, “it is my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Micah Gavarreen.”

It was so incredible to realize we did it. The door to forever opened before us as we walked out of the chapel as husband and wife.

We exited the chapel as our guest went ahead of us to the reception. The photographer kept us occupied for about another half hour and then we finally joined the celebration. We cut the cake and shared the first slice without smearing it in each other’s face, but I could see the smile tearing at the corners of Micah’s mouth as he positioned the cake for me to bite into it and the thought popped into his head.

When it came time to share the first drink, I was surprised to find that it was grape juice instead of wine. Micah said wine was traditional, but evidently he changed his mind and decided we would keep our promise to each other to avoid alcohol.

The lights dimmed as the time came for our first dance. The music began and the song we chose, When God Made You, by Newsong and Natalie Grant began. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from singing, but I never expected, as he held me tight and slowly spun me across the floor that he would begin to sing quietly to me.

“…but now that I have found you I believe, that a miracle has come when God sends the perfect one. Now gone are all my questions about why, and I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life… I wonder if He knew everything I would need, because He made all my dreams come true. When God made you, He must have been thinking about me.”

He held me so securely that I couldn’t pull away to look into his face, but I could tell as he finished those last words he was becoming emotional. Softly, I sang my part back to him.

“I promise that wherever you may go, wherever life may lead you, with all my heart I’ll be there too. And from this moment on I want you to know, I’ll let nothing come between us… I wonder what God was thinking when He created you, I wonder if He knew everything I would need because He made all my dreams come true. When God made you He must’ve been thinking about me.”

As the song ended and everyone clapped, we held each other for a moment longer and dried each other’s tears. From that point on, the dancing was a blur to me. I danced with Giorgio next as Micah took his mother onto the floor. Friends and family began taking their turns dancing with the bride and it didn’t take long before someone spun me and I ended up in David’s arms.

“Best man’s turn,” he said with an easy smile.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to him simply because, even though I accepted the fact that he was infatuated with my mother, I hadn’t spoken to him about what had happened that night. I gave a light smile as he took me across the floor. He was a good dancer, which didn’t really surprise me since the ability to move well was one of Micah’s traits also. Dancing wasn’t how they learned it, but it came from years of fights, struggles and bullet ballets.

“I don’t normally like to attend these things,” he continued, “and I’ve never agreed to take part in one, but since you’re stealing away my baby brother, I figured, what the hell. Why not?”

“I’m not removing him from the planet, David,” I responded.

“Oh, yes you are. You took him out of his world the minute you stole his heart when he was supposed to kill you.” His face still wore the smile and no one would be the wiser as to what we were discussing. “We did the majority of our jobs together, but I had a strange feeling when he agreed to your hit that something was getting ready to change, I just never would have expected this. I haven’t had a job with him since.” He continued to dance me toward the door that led out to the gardens, and I willingly followed his lead as we stepped away from the crowd.

Micah and I didn’t discuss his previous victims because when he said I wouldn’t want to know how ruthless he was before he met me, I believed him. I assumed he worked alone, and I never imagined he and David partnered on much of what they did. No wonder David disliked me so much at the beginning. With Micah out of the mafia,