Everything was perfect.
Our guests watched me walk down the aisle alone with big smiles. As I held Richard’s hand and heard his vows, I looked toward the noticeably empty seats and didn’t feel an ounce of guilt.
During the reception, our phones buzzed constantly, so we put them in airplane mode.
Richard’s uncle, Harry, came over and whispered something about Margaret going crazy.
But my now husband told him to ignore her.
Hours later, everyone was partied out, and Richard and I went into the suite inside the cabin and spent our first night as husband and wife.
We spent a full week wrapped up in each other, shutting out the world as if nothing else existed. But our peace was shattered by someone pounding on our door after we returned home.
Margaret and Sophie demanded to be let in.
I wanted to ignore them, just like they did with me. But no. It was time to confront them.
Richard opened the door, and they burst in with red faces, demanding answers. Only Richard’s father remained withdrawn and almost chagrined to be there.
“How dare you embarrass us like that?” Margaret yelled.
“We stood there like idiots at the country club while you two and EVERYONE else in the family were off in the woods or whatever!” Sophie snapped.
“What were you thinking?” Margaret asked.
“I was thinking that my wife and I deserved to have control of our wedding, just like we told you before,” Richard started.
“No, no, no! My brother wouldn’t have allowed this!” Sophie shook her finger and faced me. “This was you!”
“It was both of us,” I replied, crossing my arms. “I would’ve never excluded you. We wanted you there at OUR wedding, not at yours.”
“But you don’t understand!” Margaret wailed. “Weddings aren’t just parties. They’re —”
“Mom! Enough!” Richard said with finality.
“Richard, don’t yell at me!”
“Everyone listen,” I stepped in before my husband could get angrier. “I know how you two feel about me. I know you don’t think I belong to your family or your circle because of the way I grew up. But I had the right to plan my wedding. I had the right to feel included. I would’ve felt out of place at the country club.”
“That wouldn’t have happened,” Sophie shook her head.
“Yes, it would’ve,” I insisted. “I could’ve told you that if you had talked to me about everything instead of taking over secretly and ignoring me for days. So, we had our cabin wedding. We weren’t exactly happy to exclude you, but you made it necessary.”
Margaret was about to protest again, but Richard spoke again slowly, now that I’d given him time to calm down. “You brought this on yourself. In fact, everyone in the family thinks we did the right thing. So now, leave and think about your actions.”
“You can’t kick us out,” Sophie said quietly, looking between us.
“We can do more than kick you out,” my husband nodded. “We can exclude you from the rest of our lives until you learn to respect our choices and understand that Olive is now my wife, my family. What’s it going to be?”
“We don’t want that, son,” Richard’s father finally spoke.
“I don’t want that either, Dad, but it might get to that.”
“No, it won’t. We’re sorry,” Sophie admitted.
Margaret’s face contorted weirdly before she finally uttered, “Yes, we’re sorry.”
“Okay, I’ll call you all tomorrow,” Richard sighed. “Today, I want to spend some more time with my wife.”
I would like to say that everything was great after they left. But that’s not how life works.
At least Sophie tried to include me in conversations and take an interest in what I said at the next family gatherings. Richard’s father always smiled at me warmly.
Margaret was a bit more difficult.
But I didn’t care much because Richard had proven through and through that I was part of his family, even if that family was just him and me.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
