Peyton Sawyer never thought she would find herself here, alone with two nurses helping her change from her paper-thin nightgown to a white satin chemise in the privacy of her hospital room on her wedding day. She never thought that she would be pregnant at seventeen about to marry the very boy who had cheated on her just a year ago. She never thought that she would say her vows without a single friend or member of her family at her side. She never thought that this would be exactly what she wanted more than anything in the world.
However, amidst all her uncertainty, Peyton had always been sure of a few things. She had always been sure that she was stronger than she thought she was. She had always been sure that no matter where life was going to take her, she would find to survive it and come out better on the other end. She had always been sure that Nathan was the man that she was going to end up with because no one would ever understand her like he did. She had always been sure that she would build a family of her own. She had always been sure that somehow everything was going to be alright.
Now, as she slipped her pale arms through the thin straps of her mother's gown, she wished that it was Anna who could be there with her. Her mother would have loved the romance of getting married by candlelight in a hospital chapel by the same pastor who had married her parents. She would have wished that Peyton would have let her father and Brooke be there, but she would have understood why Peyton wanted things this way. She would have gotten that this was about Peyton and Nathan, not anyone else. She would have made it okay for being seventeen and pregnant because she would have reminded Peyton that she was in love.
"Are you sure you don't want me to call someone for you?"
Shaking her head, Peyton mustered a smile for the kind nurse who had come in with the doctor the day that she woke up from the coma. "No but thank you," she replied politely. "Nathan and I just want it to be us. We'll tell everyone after it's over. I get to go home tonight."
The older woman had spent many nights praying for the young blonde woman and the handsome young man that loved her. She had seen so many young couples go through horrible things in her many years as a nurse. She knew that the two teenagers had no clue what lay ahead for them, how hard it would be to balance a social life and high school with diapers and marriage. Her heart went out to both of them, but they seemed to have a good head on their shoulders. They were certainly devoted to each other, and they had a supportive group around them. She had rarely seen more flowers, balloons and visitors parade in and out of a patient's room as they had Peyton's.
"Yes, that is what the doctor told me this morning. I hope that we won't have to see you here again until you go into labor," the nurse retorted. "I know that you have had a hard road, but it looks like things are finally looking up for you, Peyton."
Nathan had just finished changing into his clothes in the room just down the hall. Peyton's doctors had helped make accommodations for them after learning of their plans to get married in the chapel. The minister was already waiting downstairs, using the last few minutes to go over the sermon Nathan had chosen. As he adjusted his collar in the mirror, Nathan wondered if he should call Tim or Lucas. They were his best friends and deserved to know what he was about to do. He thought about how Haley would react and how upset Brooke would be and the disappointment he'd see in his mother's eyes. As hard as that was going to be, he knew that it was going to be worth it.
A knock on the door caused him to gather his things and shove them back into the red gym bag he'd carried for the last four years in basketball. There was still a faded outline of where Peyton had drawn on the inside with a permanent marker. There was a note hidden in the ripped lining that she had given him the second week they had been going out. There was a stained towel that he had used during the game where she had kissed him for the first time in public. All of those little things had always been with him, and after tonight, she would always be with him.
"Mr. Scott, are you ready?"
"Absolutely," Nathan replied as he followed the doctor down the hallway toward the elevator. Peyton had made him promise not to see her before the wedding. He loved how old-fashioned and traditional she could be sometimes, especially when no one would have ever expected it from her. "Wow." The chapel had been set up exactly as he had requested and his father's credit card had made possible. Ivory white and deep crimson roses filled the entire room, leaving a sweet aroma in the air. White taper candles were lit on either side of the altar, casting a perfectly romantic light in the chapel. "This is exactly what I wanted. Peyton is going to love it."
"Good because here comes your girl," the pastor told him a single cellist began to play "The Wedding March."
Nathan had stood the foot of an altar twice now as he watched the love of his life come toward him. He had thought that Haley was that woman the last time around, but now, as Peyton glided toward him slowly in her angelic gown, he knew that he had never been so wrong. He wasn't sure how he could have doubted who he belonged with when it seemed so clear to him. Her green eyes locked with his blue ones as she neared him. He outstretched his hand to help her up the few stairs to stand before the preacher. This was it.
"Peyton and Nathan, we are gathered here tonight to solidify your loving bond in the eyes of God," the minister said. "Marriage is the greatest journey most of us will ever take in our lives. It is not something that can be created but is something that is built over time through love, patience and grace. Your dedication to one another will remind you to talk and listen, help and support, believe and forgive."
The minister continued with his speech as Nathan threaded their fingers together. He knew that they were supposed to hold hands loosely but he had always been a rebel. He had to do things his way. "Today, the two of you will stand together as life mates and partners. Your love is a source of strength which must be nourished. Let your belief in one another be enough to sustain you all the days of your life."
Turning toward Nathan, the preacher reached for the small velvet box that housed their rings. "I believe that you two have chosen to write your own vows. Nathan, you will now make your promises to Peyton."
"Over the years, you have been many things to be, Peyt," Nathan said as he stared deeply into her eyes. "You have been my playmate in the sand, my classmate in second grade. You were my shoulder to cry on when I played the worst basketball game of my life and my sounding board when I thought my life was falling apart last year. You have been my biggest fan, my best friend, my essential person, my love, my soulmate, my saving grace. Today, I make my commitment to you with love and faith."
Peyton's eyes were wet with tears as she began to recite vows of her own. "Nate, we have never made things easy on each other. When it would have been easier to walk away, we chose to stay and fight. When other people would have ran in the opposite direction, we ran toward each other. We should have been a disaster together but we've always found a way to make sense. I am so glad that you came back into my life and changed it in the best way possible. You are undoubtedly the love of my life, and I cannot wait to start this journey with you. Today, I make my commitment to you with love and faith."
"Now, you will exchange your rings."
Nathan slipped Peyton's small band from the velvet box first. "There is nothing else but I love you."
She looked down at the ring engraved with the familiar measure of music from one of her favorite rock songs. Nathan had really thought of everything. "Nate," she whispered, reaching up with her right hand to wipe away the tears. He smiled as he reached up to wipe away the smudged mascara streaked across her cheek.
"I think it's your turn, babe."
She giggled through her tears and reached for the matching band in the minister's outstretched hand. She took Nathan's much larger hand in hers and slid the ring down his left index finger. "There is nothing else but I love you."
"In the end, all that we have is love. Your vows to one another are an illustration of that eternal bond," the older man announced. "Now, by the power vested in me by the state of North Carolina, I now pronounce Peyton Elizabeth and Nathan Royal Scott as husband and wife. Nathan, you may kiss your bride."
Everything else in the world ceased to exist as Nathan's eyes met Peyton's. The candlelight danced behind her as he pulled her toward him, her barely rounded womb only slightly getting in the way. The two met in a deep kiss, one that he deepened as he leaned her backward. She giggled against his lips as he pulled them both back up. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Peyton's giggles soon turned into full-blow laughter as he spun them around in a circle.
"We're married," she whispered as he pressed his forehead to hers. The words were barely out of her mouth as he captured her in another kiss. Peyton slid back to the floor, never breaking their connection. "I'm Peyton Scott!"
"You are, Mrs. Scott," he chuckled as a punk rock version of "What a Wonderful World" came blaring from the small speakers thanks to Joey Ramone. Grabbing her hand, Nathan pulled her into an impromptu dance, moving much too slowly for the vivacious beat filling the chapel.
"Nate, the Ramones!" she cheered as they made it to the back of the chapel. "That was the perfect way to end it. You thought of everything."
"You gave me everything," he replied. "You are everything."
"What do you think, baby?" she whispered as she rested her hands on her abdomen. "Are you happy for your daddy and me?" Her stomach fluttered in response, a first for her. Her face lit up as she grabbed Nathan's hands and pressed them to the spot where the baby had just kicked. "Do you feel that?"
"Someone's happy."
"Yeah," Peyton agreed as she looked up into his eyes, their hands still clasped on her stomach, "someone is happy."