9.12: When Life Begins for Someone...

   "Do you Phoebe Janes take Xavier Tenant to be your lawful wedded husband?"
   "I do!"
   "Will you love, respect and honor him throughout your years together?"
   "Of course I will." I beamed, looking at him.
   "Do you promise to love and cherish him, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, for so long as you both shall live?"

   "I do."

   "Please place the ring on his finger." I slide the golden wedding band onto his left hand ring finger, as my heart beat faster. 

   "And do you, Xavier Tenant," the judge asked the redheaded man who was seconds away from being my husband, "take Phoebe Janes to be your lawful wedded wife?"

   "Indeed." He smiled, not using the conventional 'I do'.

   "Will you love, respect, and honor her throughout your years together?"

   "I defiantly will."

   "Do you promise to love and cherish her, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?"

   "I do."

   "Please place the ring onto her finger." He slide the golden wedding ring onto my finger, as I looked from, from my left hand, then up, into his eyes. I couldn't believe how lucky I was; I loved him an insanely large amount and he loved me. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

   He gently placed his hands around my waist, leaning forward, kissing me. They say the world stops when you kiss the person you love and for me it did; our four guests (we'd wanted an intimate wedding): Delilah, who had dyed her hair- I still didn't know her natural hair color- platinum, almost white, blonde in honor of the wedding was wiping away the tears, Anderson was sitting straight up, looking rather dapper in his suit, Isadora and Christopher, who were holding hands, all disappeared. It was just Xavier and me, and I cherished the moment.

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   "We have an announcement!" Isadora exclaimed. Xavier, Delilah, Anderson, and I had all flown out- we'd decided that with the four of us, a rode trip wasn't the best plan- to Denver for Christmas, or Yule, in Delilah's case.

   "That's funny." Xavier said, taking my hand, looking at me for confirmation. "Phoebe and I so, as well."

   "What's your's?" I curiously asked my in-laws.

   "We  bought a house in the LA suburbs, so we could be closer to our grandbabies!" There was an awkward pause as everyone looked from her, to Xavier and I, then back again. We didn't have any children, nor did we announce that I was three months pregnant.

  "How- How did you know?" I asked.

   "Wait! You're pregnant?!" Delilah exclaimed, her eyes looking like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. "Xavier Janes did you knock up my little-"

   "Calm down, Delilah." He smiled, placing a hand of my bloated abdomen. "The little guy or girl won't be here for another six months, in the summer."

   "How did you know?" I asked again, looking accusingly at Xavier. "Did you tell them?"

   "Of course not, honey." He kissed my cheek. "Please, tell us. How?"

  "You've been married three years, your thirty-eight, Phoebe's twenty-eight, it makes sense that eventually I'd be a grandmother."
   "Wait, I'm gonna be an uncle?" Anderson, who finally looked up from his iPod Xavier and I'd given him for the holidays, asked, smiling. I nodded, happy we could finally share the joyous news.
   Anderson was doing well; Delilah had official adopted him, she was the only mother he'd ever known. It wasn't too odd to people, she was a thirty-nine year old art teacher, Anderson was an adorable thirteen year old who had an obsession with marine biology. When Xavier and I tied the knot, I'd been hesitant to move out, into his apartment, but Delilah assured me everything would be fine. Despite having no interest in having biological children, she was an excellent parent. 

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   "Guess wha, dada!" 
   "What, Felix?" He asked, holding our gurgling two year old.
   "Me and mama gots you a birfday pwesent!"
   "You did?" He gasped, tickling him. "Whatdya get?" He looked towards me, his eyes wide.
   "Go on." I encouraged him, while sitting on the checkered cloth. "Tell daddy." It was Xavier's fortieth birthday today, he'd had a larger party with all our friends over the weekend, today we were celebrating by having a picnic in the park, with just him, Felix, and myself.
   "I gonna be a big brother!" He giggled, clapping his hands together.
   "You're- Phoebe!" He gasped, his eyes lighting up, as he gently placed the toddler onto the grass. He sat down, leaned over, and whispered to the growing fetus: "I can't wait to meet you."

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   "Move in with us. Please." Christopher said, as I held Felix. 
   "You're seven months along. You live in a two bedroom apartment, you already have a toddler; you need more space. We have four bedrooms, your apartments tiny compared to that."
   "We couldn't." I said into my cell phone, placing the toddler on top of the changing table. My first pregnancy had been relatively smooth, if you excluded the twenty-five hour labor, however this one had been a lot more challenging and the doctor's had ordered me to stay off my feet as much as possible. Xavier went to our  interior design firm's office and managed everything, while I stayed home playing make believe, reading picture books, and backseat managing the business. "You've already been so kind, helping take care of Felix, refurnishing the apartment-"
   "I can convince her!" I heard Isadora take the phone from her husband. "Honey, don't let pride get in the way. I'm seventy-five, I'm not gonna live forever, I wanna see my grandchildren as much as possible."
   "I'll talk with Xavier..." I knew that she wouldn't take no for an answer, but she'd accept maybe. I could hardly believe how lucky I was, to have such caring in-laws who, despite occasionally being overly persistent, were engaged in our lives.