Today is the day, and I'm so excited and nervous and happy that I can't hardly stay still. France is fussin' over me on one side and Arthur on the other and I don't wanna have'ta sit there to take it, I really don't, but I do anyway.
"Now, Jason, we musn't mess with our tie." Arthur scolds me.
"But it's tight!" I complain as he puts it back into place.
"Jason!" He snaps, givin' it an extra pull.
"Ack! Yessir. Got it. Don't mess with the tie." I say. Arthur, sat-sfied with how I look at the moment, sits down next to me, smilin'.
"You know, when Alfred showed me those pictures of that little freckle-faced twelve-year-old playing in the river, I never thought I'd be seeing that same boy all grown up and getting married."
"Yeah well... When I was that little I never in a million years figured I'd turn out to be like I am and marryin' a Russian girl." I say, also smilin'.
Soon, we gotta start the thing. I always got told it was bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony, so I ain't seen Nat yet, and when I do, I 'member that day a long time ago, almost a year now, when I saw her at the UN conference and told Alfred I'd change her mind about marryin' her brother...
She's so pretty, with the white dress fitted just right so it hangs nicely, her just-washed-and-dried silver-blond hair all straight and perfect in exactly the style it's meant to be, and she insisted on wearin' her dark blue bow, which I learned she's had since she was a kid and was one of the only things to survive the twister and...
I feel plain in my suit with my too-tight tie and narrow shoes. I don't look graceful or exotic like Nat does. I'm just one very lucky farmboy who survived war and demon possession to make it here. As I get up to Nat, she smiles and murmurs to me,
"Never have I seen a more handsome Am-err-i-ken."
"Aww..." I say, lookin' down, blushin' and scuffin' my foot a bit. After the preacher talks for a bit, which I ain't payin' much attention to in favor of lookin' at Nat and how pretty she is, it gets to the part of,
"Do you, Jason G. Jones, take Natasha Arlovskaya-Braginski to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, as long as the both of you live on God's green earth?"
I look deep into Nat's beautiful blue-green eyes as I say, "I do."
"And do you, Natasha Arlovskaya-Braginski take Jason G. Jones to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, as long as the both of you live on God's green earth?"
"I do." She says, lookin' into my kinda plain pale blue eyes.
"Then by the power vested in me and in the name of Jesus Christ, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
And I do, I really, really do.
Is Nat cryin' as we pull apart? I think she is. I ain't never been so happy, and even if I ain't gonna cry, I know there's somethin' makin' a lump in my throat that makes my eyes tear up as I lookit Nat, thinkin, Looky here, Sarah, Joey, Missy... I got me a fine girl... Yer lil' J.G.'s got a wife!
After the reception, in which I get congrad-u-lated a million times by my neighbors and the nations alike, Nat and I are headin' back to the house fer a bit of sleep before our flight the next mornin'. Sure, we did take a moment to remember those that left us before this could happen, like neighbor-girl Jenny, who got hurt real bad in the twister and still ain't woke up, and I 'membered Sarah and Missy and Joey and... well maybe a lil' bit of him, 'cuz we was friends after all, but mostly, it's a happy, happy day.
We ain't thinkin' of sleep when we get into the bedroom and Nat grabs me and kisses me deep. I push her on the bed and start helpin' her outta her dress, 'cuz it's right and proper now, and she stops me for a moment and does her lil' half-smile,
"J.G., do you believe in a condom or are we just goink to have million kids?"
"Don't be silly, Nat, you cain't get pregnant on the first time!"
"It is not my first." She says, smirkin' at me still.
"Well it is mine, so yer okay." I tell her, smilin' and kissin' her again.
I ain't gonna describe what we did, 'cuz it really, really ain't proper to talk about, but it felt real good, like nothin' I ever felt durin' the Time of Possession at school. That's how I know that was just a demon, is I felt better with a woman than with another boy. I'm tired out and Nat is too, so we don't even get back dressed all the way before she kinda snuggles on my chest and pulls the bedsheet over both of us.
So, we sleep to get up and get on the plane to Minsk, which is the capital of Nat's homeland.