The shock hit him likecold water. “What?”
“They’vebeen together, like forever. They got married in California a fewyears ago. They would’ve loved to get married here, but you know wedon’t do same-sex marriages, right? So when they got back, theyheld a dinner party for friends and relatives—those who acceptedtheir marriage, anyway. They showed a video of their wedding, whichwas held in a courthouse. It was beautiful! It had this grandSpanish Colonial architecture with a nice garden and colorfulmurals.” She shot up from the bed. “You should see thevideo.”
In a few minutes, sheplopped back on the bed with her laptop. “Watch it andweep.”
And watch it, Caleb did.Watched as the aunts posed for their pre-nuptial photos by thefountain in the garden, faces wreathed in smiles, stars glisteningin their eyes. Kate’s hair fell past her shoulders in waves, hershoulders revealed by the lacy gown that was cinched at the waist,its skirt falling in a hoop around her calves. Mitch’s short hairwas pinned back, showing her beaming face. She wore afigure-hugging Filipiniana-inspired gown, its sheer butterflysleeves woven with intricate curling patterns of silver.
At the ceremony, theywalked down the aisles—separately, without any escort, chins heldhigh. A bearded court official led the rites, and though thereweren’t the usual rituals of a church wedding, Caleb could feel thesolemnity and sacredness of the affair.
Beside Caleb, Ginny hadstarted sniffling. Mitch spoke first, looking deep into the eyes ofher bride.
Ours is a love that noteveryone may accept. Yet I’ve learned long ago that the onlyacceptance that would ever matter to me is yours, my dear Kate. Foryears, you have loved and accepted me in ways that made me believethat in this sometimes-difficult world, there is space for us. Themisfits. The off-beats. The ones who felt and thought different.Because really, we are not much different from the rest. We wish tolove and be loved in return. Because I love you, Kate—with all myheart. And I wish to announce this wonderful thing to the wholeworld—or at least to the twenty people here in thiscourthouse.
Caleb found himselflaughing along with the guests in the courthouse. Then he quieteddown to hear the rest:
I love and I am loved.There is no greater, more beautiful truth than this.
Then it was Kate’s turn.Without her glasses on, Caleb could see how her eyes sparkled underthe tiered chandelier.
Twenty years ago, when wewere finally on the same page, in love with each other, I wanted toclimb the rooftop and shout to the world: “Michelle Santos lovesme!” But I couldn’t. I didn’t. With that one simple announcement, Iknew my life would change. For years, we’ve kept our relationship asecret, until time didn’t make us care anymore. We’ve been togetherthis long, have survived fire and ice, have fallen out of and inlove again, have proven that at the very core of our love is a deepfriendship that cannot be shaken. Little by little, we allowed thetruth about us to come out, and true enough, hurtful words wereexchanged. Ties were severed. Still, we held on to each other,knowing that in the end, our love was the most importantthing.
It saddens me that we hadto travel thousands of miles to make this love legal. To finallysee on paper that we promise to remain true to each other untildeath do us part. To announce that we are each other’s wives.People told us, “Why bother with the paperwork? Why get married?You can still be together, and it won’t make your love anyless.
It’s true. We don’t needother people to accept us as a couple. Each other’s acceptance isenough. But sometimes, this feeling I get from loving you gets muchtoo big for me. It feels so overwhelming, it drives me crazy! Iwant to shout it out and celebrate it. Because it deserves to becelebrated—not in the timid, quiet way we’ve always done—but in agrand, loud, unapologetic way. Like fireworks bursting in the sky.Or climbing to the rooftop and shouting: “Michelle Santos is mywife!”
I love you, Mitch. And Ilove saying that I love you in front of other people. I believethat what we have between us is God-given, because it is sobeautiful, only He could have created it. You honor me by marryingme.
The vows were sealed witha kiss. The kiss was chaste, but their lips stayed locked for along time as if they never wanted to part.
“The first time I sawthis, I realized that I’d never seen them kiss,” Ginny murmured.“They’d hug or snuggle to each other, but they had never reallykissed in front of anyone. You should’ve seen them after thewedding though—they couldn’t stop kissing!” When Caleb didn’treply, she turned to look at him. “Hey.”
He was brushing awaytears. “Sorry, I think I have an allergy or something.”
“Yeah,or something.” Ginny sniffed, smiling. “So . . . you have to call yourmom now.”
“Fine.” Caleb reached forhis phone and swiped it open. No messages. His mother was eitherstill in the office or in the church, scheduling a counselingappointment with Father Mon. He decided to keep the messageshort.
Spending the night atGinny’s house.
He switched off the phone.“Done.”
Ginny raised an eyebrow athis dead phone and shrugged. Then she leaned forward, eyes burningwith curiosity. “Now tell me everything before I do myhomework.”
Chapter 19: Face theMusic
After that convo marathonwith Ginny last night, Caleb finally enjoyed his first good night’ssleep in weeks. On the way to the dining table for breakfast, henoticed the aunts’ wedding portrait tacked along the hallway. Likemost modern portraits, their beaming faces had the unnatural glowproduced by Photoshop—though Caleb was willing to bet that theglint of happiness in their eyes had nothing to do with anycomputer program.
But as much as Calebadmired the aunts, there was no way he would spend an awkward daywith them at home. After a quick breakfast, he took a shower androde the jeepney with Ginny to school.
Little did he know thatsuch a small decision would rekindle his academic passion.Realizing
