Another one! This one just wasn't as easy to write as the first two. I really wanted to get it out today, though, because guess what? Today's my birthday!
3. Marry.
"This is the fifth store we've been to, and I still can't find the right one," Freddie grumbled. "But it's gotta be perfect."
"What about this one?" Carly suggested, grabbing a ring at random from the table at Tiffany's.
Freddie peered at it. "No. I just can't see Sam saying yes if I proposed with that." He glanced at it again. "Actually, I can see her punching me if I proposed with that." His gaze swooped the room. "Hey, that one's nice," he murmured, going over to look at a ring in the display in the counter.
The ring wasn't a traditional engagement ring; instead it was a small blue gem, diamond-cut. Then again, he thought, Sam would probably like that better. "Can I look at that one?" he asked the clerk. The guy did as he asked. Freddie stared at it a moment. "Uh, would you mind, um-fake proposing with that ring?" In the background, Carly giggled. The clerk rolled his eyes.
"Will you marry me?" the guy said tonelessly, holding the ring out to Freddie.
Freddie nodded. "Yeah, this is the one. I'll take it."
"So what's this about, Fredward?" Sam asked, sounding bored. "You've never taken me to a fancy place like this before." They were sitting at a table for two in a fancy Italian restaurant called Catavolo's. Freddie had donned a suit for the occasion, and Sam was clad in a knee-length red dress with a V-neck and an open back with straps across it. Her shoes, too, were strappy red heels she'd borrowed from Carly.
"I know," Freddie said. "Tonight's special."
Sam scoffed. "What's so special about it?"
"Well-" Freddie began, "we've been dating for a while, and..."
Sam rolled her eyes. "So now you're either going to break up with me or ask me to marry you. Either way, just spit it out. No beating around the bush."
Freddie blinked rapidly a few times. "Uh, all right," he said. He got down on one knee and held out the ring. "Sam, will you marry me?"
Sam took a bite out of a piece of chicken from her alfredo and chewed thoughtfully. Then she shrugged. "Sure." Freddie leaned down and gave her a kiss as everyone around them clapped and cheered.
"I don't want to write wedding vows!" Sam complained. "Geez, if I knew it was gonna be this much work, I never would've said yes."
"Sam, you need to write your vows!" Carly instructed. "And you know you would've. You love Freddie."
"Yeah, I do, the nub." She said this like it was Freddie's fault for being a nub and her falling in love with him. "But why can't I just use regular vows?"
Carly sighed and growled in frustration, throwing her hands in the air. "Because, Sam, it's not special that way," she explained slowly, as if talking to a child. "Why don't you say...say that even though he's a nub, you love him and couldn't imagine life without him."
"All right," Sam agreed quickly. "Am I done now?"
Carly giggled. "With this."
The wedding day had finally arrived-May 27, 2020. Sam wore a simple long white gown, with long, slit sleeves like you would find in the Middle Ages or maybe the Renaissance period for daily wear. Carly, the maid of honor, was clothed in an equally simple knee-length blue dress with a thin red Empire-waist belt so small you could barely see it and blue heels with an open toe. The shirt of Freddie's tuxedo was blue as well, a matching color to the bridesmaids' dresses.
Sam had chosen Melanie for a bridesmaid, as well as Mandy, her roommate from college-she had gone to a different school than Carly. Freddie's best man was Gibby, his groomsmen Spencer and Shane. The flower girl was Melanie's two-year-old daughter, Darcy, and Spencer's son Alex, six years old, as the ring bearer-Spencer had married a girl he had met in banjo lessons, Anna.
Freddie began with his vows, as was traditional for the man to go first. "Sam," he said, "looking back on it now, it's hard to believe I ever preferred Carly over you. You hurt me physically and emotionally, but it's made me so much stronger, even if I didn't see it at the time. I owe so much happiness in my life to you and I never want it to end. I love you, Sam." There were a couple of awww's from some of the women in the audience.
Sam took a deep breath. "Even though you may be a nub and a dork, I love you and it's all your fault, you jerk." She smiled as she said the words, in a way that said she didn't really think he was a jerk.
The pastor smiled. "I now pronounce you man and wife," he said. "You may kiss the bride." Freddie did as he said, capturing Sam in a long, deep kiss. There were cheers from everyone in the audience or the reception.
What'd you think? I don't particularly like it. I named the restaurant Catavolo's for a reason-it is a real Italian last name, and one in my family, but not mine. It's pronounced "cah-tahv-o-low," by the way, not "cat-a-volo" or anything else you might think. The wedding date is May 27th because it's my birthday, and coincidentally the day I published this.
