if I could save him. But what I could do, was love him and love him hard, for however long we had together. “Then ... then, let's get married.”
“Wait,” he said, pulling back. His brows drew together, as he narrowed his eyes. “Are you serious right now?”
“I've never been more serious about anything in my life,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving into his lap. “Please, baby, marry me.”
His arms circled my waist as the bright, rosy hue of happiness pinched at his cheeks. “I don't think your family would approve,” he said, his voice gruff as laughter filled his tone.
“I don't care. I don’t care about them. All that matters is we approve. You and me. We don't need anyone else.”
Vinnie pulled in a deep inhale, then very slowly exhaled and I relished in knowing that he was still here with me—alive. When he nodded his reply, I tightened my hold on his neck and buried my face against his shoulder.
“You and me, baby,” I said, my voice muffled by his skin.
“Yeah,” he said, kissing my neck, ear, and hair. “Let's do this.”
***
“You're, what?” Mom exclaimed into the phone.
I had called my parents the next day to invite them to our wedding--a casual, impromptu thing at an arboretum on Long Island. I didn't expect them to attend but Vinnie had convinced me to extend the invitation. I knew it was the right thing to do but that didn't help how difficult it was to have the conversation.
“Um,” I chewed my bottom lip, staring at the cracked sidewalk. “We're getting married this weekend.”
Her moment of hesitation spoke volumes. “Andrea ... don't you think you're rushing things right now?”
“You were with Daddy for only two months before he asked you to marry him,” I pointed out quickly.
“But we waited a year to get married after he proposed,” she replied, her voice shrill. “Why not wait a while to be sure?”
“I'm thirty years old, and he's thirty-four. How long would you really like us to wait?
“Well, let me ask you this, then: what's the rush? Are you—wait, are you pregnant?”
I groaned, massaging my temple with my fingertips. “No, Mom,” I sighed. “Not pregnant. We're just sure this is what we want, that's all. So, can we expect you there?”
She sighed, her exasperation evident. “Well, I don't know. I mean, I guess so. But I just really wish you'd think about this—”
“Okay. I'll text you the details. Love you, bye.”
And just like that, I hung up, before she could keep trying to talk me out of it. Then, I smiled, because I was getting married to the man I loved, and my parents would be there.
***
Vinnie said he wouldn’t wear the same shirt and slacks he’d worn to his father’s funeral to our wedding, so he rented a tux that fit him well. I didn’t think it was possible for him to look any better than he already did, but as we drove to the arboretum, I could only stare at him from across the car and think, how lucky am I.
We met my parents, his siblings, and their respective partners at the entrance of the arboretum to take a few quick pictures. The moment I stepped out of the car in my new dress, my father approached with a teary-eyed grin.
“You look beautiful, honey pie,” he said, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace. His mouth dipped closer to my ear and he whispered, “I always knew you’d do things your way, Andrea. You were never meant to be ordinary.”
The sweet sentiment was enough to make me flutter my eyes shut as tears gathered in my inky lashes. I thanked God for waterproof mascara and swiped at the moisture before it could trickle down my cheeks.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I whispered in reply, and then, stepped back to allow Vinnie to come forward.
“Thank you for coming, sir,” he said, extending a hand.
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” Dad replied, accepting. Then, stilling the movement of their arms, he said, “I gotta be honest with you; I wasn’t thrilled about this. And it’s not that I don’t like you; it’s that I don’t know you.”
“I understand.”
“But I have to trust that my daughter does, so I’m also trusting that this is a good decision,” Dad continued, leveling my recent fiancé with a warning glare. “I’m telling you now, though; you will not hurt my daughter, or there will be hell to pay. You understand what I’m saying? You better take