Consequences
Chapter 1
Paul felt a wave of nausea wash over him. He knew his nerves were completely shot standing here waiting for her. As he quickly glanced at his watch, he bit down his lip realising that Stephanie was almost twenty minutes late. His stomach churned and he spun round to anxiously look towards the entrance to the church. He felt Shawn pat him reassuringly on the shoulder.
"Relax, Paul. It's fashionable for the bride to be late you know."
Paul could only respond with a nod and a smile as he turned back round to face the front of the altar. He was nervous as hell and it was no wonder. His whole life as he knew it was about to change. Well, if Stephanie actually decided to show up that was. He immediately felt himself start to panic. What if she had changed her mind at the last minute? Maybe she had decided that this wasn't what she wanted after all. He tried to think back to their last conversation. It had been only this morning he had spoken to her and they hadn't actually discussed the wedding at all. In fact it had been the furthest thing from their minds as they had whispered their love for one another as the sun rose sharing their memories of the night they had just spent together. It had been nothing short of incredible and was a night he knew he would never forget.
Paul's thoughts were interrupted by Shawn nudging him. As he looked round to face him, he saw him grinning at him.
"It's time buddy. She's here."
Paul felt his heart start to pound as he heard the organ strike up and begin to play. He nervously played with the cuffs of his tuxedo jacket and took a deep breath letting it out slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves. As he turned round, he saw Kevin wink at him from his seat on the right hand side and he offered him up a small smile in return but little did his friend know he wanted to cry on the inside. He let his eyes drift to the top of the aisle where he saw Stephanie standing smiling at her father. She looked absolutely incredible and her beauty quite literally took his breath away. He didn't even notice the bridesmaids as they made their way towards him, his gaze transfixed on the woman he was head over heels in love with. It seemed like an eternity before her gaze met his as she walked down the aisle, arm in arm with her father. He struggled to breathe as he looked into her ocean blue eyes blown away by the love he knew he saw there; the same love he knew that was reflected in his.
As Stephanie got closer to him, he saw the unshed tears in her sad eyes. He pushed back the lump that had now appeared in his throat and as she approached the altar, he knew that this was it. The moment he had thought about for the last few months was finally going to happen and he was powerless to do anything to stop it. He watched with a heavy heart as she took her eyes away from his and smiled instead at her future husband as Vince released his baby girl and placed her right hand in Shawn's.