THE EMEREALD CITY FREE FAMILY CLINIC
CHAPTER 9
The spa at my father's hotel is filled with every Robbins Torres family member and the rest of the wedding party as everyone is getting the royal treatment. From mani's, pedi's, massages, facials and hair styling's of many different kinds, there is no limit to what the talented employees of the new Torres Hotel and Spa can do for you. All of the ladies dresses have been taken to the church earlier this morning as all of the women meet in the lobby for their limo ride to the church after being coiffed, primped, waxed and plucked for this special day. Once everyone arrives at the church, everyone is in awe of the way the inside of the church looks. After some more pictures of the beginning of the big day are being taken by the different photographers, the wedding party makes their way to the individual rooms so everyone can get ready before the guests begin to arrive. My wife and I walk into the room that holds our daughter along with her maid of honor Zola and her bridesmaids Marisol and Aria's daughter Lucia, my wife and I are taken aback by the way our daughter is glowing in her wedding dress. My wife begins to cry as the first thing that comes out of our daughter's mouth when she sees her mama crying is "Mama, please don't cry. You will make the rest of us cry and then our make up will be ruined. Please mami make her stop crying…please". I stand to face my wife as I stand in her line of sight of our daughter and make her look into my eyes as I say "Please baby, hold back your tears for just right now. Then as we watch our beautiful daughter as she walks down the aisle in a few minutes you may cry all you want but just not right now". Arizona stares right back at me as I dab the tears from her cheeks with a tissue so not to mess up her makeup and says to only me "For you my love I will hold back my tears but I cannot and will not promise you that for the rest of this day I will not become one of those mothers". I kiss my wife's very pouty lips as I smile back at her and say "Deal". Then within minutes Daniel and Carlos arrive and family pictures of the five of us are taken and not one tear is shed by all.
At 6 p.m. on the dot the music begins to play as everyone shuffles to find their place as Sofia asks everyone to leave the room except her brothers and her mami and me. With her hands intertwined into her brothers as the three of them face my wife and I as our daughter says to us "Mamas, Daniel, Carlos and I want to tell you both something. We all agree that the two of you should be up on the altar with me so we have changed the game plan up a bit. Instead of the two of you sitting next to your parents, Daniel and Carlos will be escorting you both onto the altar. Will this be alright with the two of you"? Before my wife can say a word I walk up to our daughter and our sons as I place both of my hands over theirs and say "Today is your day our beautiful daughter and however you want this day to happen your mami and I are more than willing to see you receive the day you deserve. So you just tell your mami and me where you want us to stand and we will do as you ask". I kiss all three of our children and then Daniel says to us "Well the way the three of us have pictured this day, Carlos and I will walk the two of you down the aisle and then we will place you both at the altar facing each other and the two of you holding your hands together" and then Carlos finishes the instructions as he says "Then Daniel and I will walk back down the aisle and retrieve the rest of the wedding party. Sound like a plan, mamas"? My wife is the next to say "Sounds like a wonderful plan children. So where do you want your mama and I right now"? Both of our sons open up their right arms as my wife walks out of the room on the arm of our son Carlos and I walk along side of her on the arm of our son Daniel. The four of us make it to the end of the aisle just in time to watch my father and Calliope's father escort our mothers down the aisle and to their seats. Then the music stops and when it begins again the song playing over the speaker system inside this old Catholic church is the sweet voice of Adele singing "One and Only" as both my wife and I say to our sons together "You didn't" as our sons smile back at the two of us and say together "We Did". Just before we begin our descent down the aisle our son Daniel says "For what it's worth mamas, your three children have thought long and hard about everything that is about to happen today. We love you both beyond measure so please enjoy this day". Then Carlos says "That goes ditto for me and Sofia too. Just know that this is the only way we all could think of to express our love for you both" and with that last statement our sons kiss our lips as we walk towards the altar. As the four of us make our way down the altar, my wife and I notice that everyone is standing as we look at each other strangely and in wonder.
Calliope and I are standing at the altar holding each others hands as my wife whispers to me "You look beautiful today, Arizona" as my smile radiates back to my wife as I say "You are breathtakingly stunning my Calliope". We both are standing facing each other as our children have instructed us to do. With the song "One and Only" by Adele echoing from the rafters in this very old churchy church, my wife and I notice from our peripheral vision that our three children are walking towards the two of us but something is different. While Daniel is wearing his Marine Corp uniform with a splash of cranberry color and Carlos is wearing his dark blue tuxedo with a combination of blue and cranberry to match the colors of the wedding, our daughter is no longer in her wedding dress. Our Sofia is wearing a full length cranberry dress with a hint of blue just like her mami's with a dark blue bolero tuxedo jacket as all three of our children have boutonnières cranberry roses tipped in dark blue on their upper left chest area. With Sofia in the middle of her two brothers arms as they walk down the aisle to join my wife and I at the alter, she is the first to speak as the three of them see the shocked looks on their mamas faces as they each places their hands on ours. "Mamas, please indulge the three of us as we greet our guests first then we will explain everything".
Our three children turned to face the guests as Sofia began "My brothers and I want to tell you a story but first we need to apologize for asking you all here under false pretenses. Today is a very special day in the hearts of Daniel, Carlos and me. Some of you were here in Seattle on this day twenty five years ago and were witnesses to our mamas getting married at Kelly Park. Well as it turns out, if you are a resident of this great city, you know that inclement weather is the norm here in Seattle. So when we could not recreate that sight again so my brothers and I chose the next best place to show our mamas and all of you our love for each and every one of you". Then Daniel speaks "On a makeshift stage at Kelly Park our mamas stood before some of you and pledged their love and commitment for one another. Two girls playing dress up as the story goes because marriage equality had not been established here in the great state of Washington on May 5th, 2011. But twenty five years and three children later marriage equality has been established and now today in front of all of you our mamas can make it legal". Then Carlos speaks "So with all of you here today as witnesses, my brother and my sister and I would like you to be a part, a very special part, of our lives as we all participate in the marriage ceremony of one Arizona Michelle Robbins and one Calliope Iphigenia Torres. But two things need to happen first to make this day a complete success. First my siblings and I would like to introduce all of you to the woman who officiated over the first wedding twenty five years ago, Dr. Miranda Bailey-Warren" as Miranda comes into view as she walks behind the altar and stands between my wife and I, I began to cry but then I feel my wife squeeze my hands in a comforting gesture as we all listen to our children speak again. Sofia clutches her brother's hands and arms tighter as my wife and I hear our sons whisper to their sister "You can do this Sof…just take a deep breath and begin". Our daughter does exactly what her brothers tell her to do as she presses onward and says "The other two people, our father Marcus Christopher Sloan and the love of his life Alexandria Caroline Grey, that were at our mamas first wedding are no longer with us today due to a tragic airplane accident that not only took both of their lives but also took our mama Arizona's leg twenty three years ago". Sofia begins to cry at the realization of her words as Daniel continues "Carlos and I were not born yet to meet our father but from what Sofia and our mamas and most of you here today have told us he was a great father and a great dad. Two of the prayers that he and Sofia along with our mamas recited almost every night were the 23rd Psalm and The Lord's Prayer". Then Carlos finishes his sibling's thought as he say to the family and friends in attendance today "If you will all rise from your seats as we would like for everyone to stand for a moment of silence and then my sister Sofia will begin to recite these prayers as all of us will follow her lead so we may honor of our father and our Aunt Lexie as a collection of pictures of these two beautiful people will be displayed on the screen behind us in this video. Thank you".
After a moment of silence has concluded and the video has begun…Sofia
begins to speak…as every one in attendance follows her lead…as everyone
recites The 23rd Psalm and then The Lord's Prayer…Then when these prayers
have been completed…everyone says "Amen" together.
Then as every tear is wiped either with a tissue or the back of a hand, Sofia speaks again "Today is a wedding day…so now if everyone will take their seats…I for one along with Daniel and Carlos and all of you want to witness Arizona and Calliope…our mamas…as they get married today after twenty five years of living in sin". Everyone laughs as our three children turn to face my wife and I as Miranda begins with her ordination of our wedding day.