Life starts in college... Part 3 of 3!

         “Jacob’s crazy,” Josh said, shaking his head and pulling his hoodie close around his face. “It’s freezing out here, and I bet the water’s even colder.” Everybody agreed, except me. I ran inside to put on my swim suit and then put some clothes back on and grabbed three towels- one for me, one for Andrew, and one for Jacob. If anybody else got in they could go get their own towels. When I got back outside, Jake was actually riding a wave next to Andrew, and he was hooting and hollering with a huge smile on his face. I laughed and ran back to where everybody was standing and watching.

         “That was awesome,” he said as he carried the board back to shore. Andrew was still pretty far out in the water and he looked like he was about ready to catch a wave. The rental place had given us a few wetsuits, and I grabbed one, quickly pulling it on as Jacob pulled his down around his waist, exposing his toned and tan chest. I gave him a quick once over as I pulled mine on, and then he handed me the board, which I strapped securely to my ankle. I waded out into the water, gasping at the coldness of it, and once I was out past the breaking point, I climbed onto the board, trying to carefully balance on it as I paddled out toward where Andrew was. I fell off a few times, and it took Andrew actually holding the board for me to get on it, but I caught a few waves and was pretty successful. Andrew and I rode in together on the same wave, and I ended up falling off and getting pulled back a little ways since my board had gotten caught in the wave. I finally dragged it up onto shore, and of course everybody was laughing at me, but I felt pretty accomplished. I gave the board back to Jacob, who went back out with Andrew and caught a few waves, but I was exhausted. I peeled off my wetsuit and brought it back over to the rental place, and then I tried to dry off as best I could. I said goodbye to everybody and then headed back inside to change into something dry.

Somehow I ended up collapsing onto my bed and falling asleep, because when I came to, it was dark in my room. I looked around, trying in vain to blink the sleep out of my eyes again, and when I focused on the clock, I realized it said midnight! How had that happened? No one had come in and woke me up?  I was lying at an odd angle, and when I turned to look at the clock, my back cracked and I realized I was going to be sore from that long nap. I sat up, stretching and trying to get all the kinks out of my muscles, and I knew I wasn’t going to be going back to sleep any time soon. My stomach growled, so I decided to go see what was in the fridge or at least in the area that I could eat.

         I quietly opened my door and tiptoed toward the kitchen, only stepping on a few creaky floorboards as I went. I pulled open the fridge and saw that there was a lot in it; Cal’s parents must’ve been here recently, because it was mostly healthy food. There were a lot of vegetables and fruits in there, so I grabbed an apple and two oranges and a bottle of water and headed out to the porch that faced the ocean. I sat in one of the chairs, getting comfortable as I started in on my apple and listened to the waves crashing on the shore… crash… crash… crash. It was such a comforting sound, that repetitive and constant noise, and I wished there was an ocean around our school… but our school was completely land-locked, so I would have to make do with this, right now. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and another bite of my apple, and then I heard the door open and close behind me.

         “Hey,” Jake said as he sat in the chair right next to me. “Couldn’t sleep?” I shook my head.

         “No, I got too much sleep this afternoon- I just woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep,” I said with a shrug, and he nodded knowingly.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the waves crashing and the occasional seagull calling, and then he stood up, turning and holding out a hand to me.

         “Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe it’ll tire us out enough that we can go back to sleep when we get back,” he said, and I conceded, taking his hand and following him down the stairs onto the sand. He held my hand tightly, not letting go as we started walking, and I smiled to myself, enjoying the feeling of his hand covering mine.

         We walked down towards the water and then turned and walked parallel to it, the waves just barely lapping at my toes as we walked.

         “So, you really seemed to take to surfing today- did you enjoy it?” He broke the silence, asking me a simple question.

         “Yes, I did. I’ve never been surfing before, and Andrew was such a good teacher- it wasn’t really that hard,” I said with a shrug. “You were really good at it, too. Have you ever been before?” I glanced at him and realized he was watching me, his eyes never leaving my face. I brought my eyes back down to the sand, blushing just a little and trying not to be self-conscious. After a few seconds, he answered, saying that he also enjoying and that he’d never been- that had been his first time, too.

         We lapsed back into silence, but it was a different kind of silence than it had been just a minute ago. It was heavy, almost pregnant, like something was about to break, but I didn’t know what. Then, Jake stopped and dropped my hand. I looked up at him, hurt written in all my features, and he looked right back, an unknown emotion running like fire throughout his face, making his whole face glow.

         “Emma, I can’t play games anymore. I need you to know that… that I really care for you,” he said, running a hand through his short hair. “I can’t just be friends with you anymore- you’ve made that almost impossible.” He was looking at the ground now, and I didn’t know what to say.

         “Jake,” I said, almost painfully, and he looked up, right into my eyes, taking my breath away. The moon was behind me, lighting up all his features and giving him almost god-like glow. I swallowed hard, not sure how to put my feelings into words. I tried again.

         “Jake, I don’t know how to explain this… I do care about you, I just… I-don’t-want-to-ruin-our-friendship-by-getting-involved-with-you,” I said, putting emphasis on the word ‘involved’ so he would understand how I felt. He watched me for a second, and then he took a step closer.

         “So, you like me. You enjoy being with me,” he asked, still looking me right in the eyes, and I nodded, so he went on. “And… you’d rather be with me than with any of the other guys.” I nodded again, speaking this time.

         “Or any of the girls.” He started to smile now, and he reiterated his questions again, as if confirming my opinion of him.

         “You like me and enjoy being with me more than anybody else. Am I right?” I nodded, and he continued. “That’s good enough for me,” he said, shrugging and smiling more broadly now, and suddenly, something broke inside of me.

         “Jake, it’s more than that. When you smile, my stomach does flips and sometimes I even get dizzy. When we touch, even in passing, I get tingles all over and sometimes I even shiver a little. When-” He stopped my speech with his lips, taking my head in both his hands gently and holding me still as he kissed me softly. My mind reeled and I couldn’t tell you which way was up any more than down- I was completely disoriented. When our lips parted I took a deep shaky breath, trying to gain my bearings as he brought his forehead to mine, leaning it there for a minute. We were both breathing heavy, and my knees were even feeling a bit shaky, like I had just gotten off a horrible rollercoaster and couldn’t walk. I grabbed his arms to steady myself, and the contact was just what I needed. Everything righted itself and I could suddenly see everything clearly.

         “Jake,” I whispered softly, reaching my lips toward his again to show that I was just as committed to this relationship as he was. I moved a little bit slower than he had, barely touching his lips with mine. I let my fingers travel over his chest and then I snaked them up underneath his arms and around his neck. He dropped his hands from my face to my waist, pulling me closer as he leaned forward a little so I could reach his lips. I pulled myself as close as I could to him, feeling the pressure from his hands on the small of my back, and we kissed effortlessly, fitting together like two puzzle pieces.

         Eventually I moved my head to the side and kissed his neck softly, burying my face into the crook of his neck and taking a deep breath. He smelled so good, like nothing else I’d ever smelled before. He did the same thing, pressing his face into my shoulder, and he even lifted me a little so that he was standing straight, his arms tightly wrapped around my waist, holding me to him.

         We stayed like that for a minute, and then he put me back down, interlacing our fingers as we continued walking. We didn’t say anything, just held hands and walked down the beach. There weren’t many lights in the area, other than from houses, and the stars were really, really bright, almost lighting up the sky; it was beautiful to look at. As I walked and looked up at them, I could feel Jake’s eyes on me, but I tried not to think about it too much, focusing on the stars and picking out constellations. I couldn’t find any, and finally I sighed, coming back down to Earth and turning to Jacob.

         “We should probably turn around- we’ve walked pretty far, and I want to make it back before it gets light,” I said with a laugh as we turned around. We walked back toward the house, taking our time. I looked for shells but didn’t find anything interesting to pick up- I wanted to find a full spiral conk shell. When we got back to the house, I started up the stairs ahead of Jake, but one step up, he pulled on my hand, stopping me. I turned around and realized that the one step was almost our exact height difference, so I was looking him in the eyes instead of looking up at him. He smiled, stepping very close and leaning in, pressing his lips gently to mine as he said goodnight. I turned my head slightly, trying to get as close as possible in every way, and after a minute or two, he pulled away with a smile.

         “Okay, somebody’s probably going to come out looking for you or I if we don’t go in there soon, so let’s go. We can pick up where we left off in the morning,” he said with a wink, making me giggle- wait, I giggled? That seemed like such a middle school thing to do, and yet I was doing it, a freshman in college! I shook my head, laughing a little as I realized that it was Jacob who did that to me- he made me feel like a little girl again with a crush on him.

         I woke up to sunlight filtering in through the blinds at just the right angle that it hit my face where I was laying on the pullout couch. I groaned, rolling over and burying my face into my pillow, and then I smiled as I thought about last night. It had been almost magical- the stars, the waves crashing in the distance, the purity of the kiss… it was definitely not a moment I would ever forget as long as I lived. I sighed, rolling out of bed… I wasn’t going to get back to sleep with those kinds of thoughts in my head. I glanced out the window and smiled- it was beautiful out, with a clear blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Perfect day for the beach, I thought with a smile as I changed into my bathing suit and put on some shorts, then heading out into the living room. As I walked out, I saw everybody but Jacob sitting around the table, eating fruit and bagels, so I went over, grabbing a bagel and an orange.

         “So, where’d you go last night?” Katie looked at me expectantly, and I tried to feign ignorance.

         “What are you talking about?” Jaime rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a laugh.

         “We know you weren’t in bed at some point last night…”

         “Oh, that? I grabbed a midnight snack and headed out to the porch to eat it,” I said with a wave of my hand, and Cal chuckled, raising an eyebrow at me.

         “Mmhm, and what time was that?” I looked at him for a second, and then I sighed slightly.

         “Around midnight, like I said,” I said sarcastically, and Cal nodded knowingly.

         “That’s interesting, because at midnight, Jacob got out of bed, too. He tried to be quiet, but I woke up as he moved and I saw him leave the room. He didn’t just go to the bathroom, either, because he woke me up an hour later when he came back in. Was he with you?” He looked at me, and everybody knew the answer before I actually said it.

         “Yes.” Josh catcalled and Katie whistled loudly, making everybody laugh.

         “What did you guys do for an hour? Anything interesting?” Was Jacob going to be mad if I told everybody? I wasn’t sure… we hadn’t talked about it the night before. But he had said we could pick up where we left off this morning, so he would have to be alright with it.

         “Not super interesting… we went for a walk, and he… umm… we kissed,” I said, blushing madly as they all started talking at once.

         “Oh yeah! I knew it.”

         “Ow- OW!”

         “Get sooommmmme!”

         Jake came walking out of his room, shirtless, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the lights.

         “Jeeze, are you guys being loud enough? You do know it’s only nine in the morning, right, and that I was trying to get some sleep,” he grouched, and everybody laughed, making him frown.

         “Yeah, you definitely need your sleep since you probably didn’t get much last night, huh?” Josh asked with a wink in my direction, and I started blushing, again, not meeting Jacob’s questioning glance.

         “So, she told you? Yeah, I guess I was trying to catch up on a little bit of sleep,” he said, and he didn’t sound mad, so I looked up. He was watching me, and he smiled when I caught his eye, making me relax and let out a sigh of relief.

         “We were badgering her about where she was last night- blame us for bringing up the subject,” Katie said, shrugging her shoulders, and Jacob laughed a little.

         “They were! They were making assumptions that I didn’t want them to make, so I just told them what happened,” I said, and everybody laughed lightly. Jacob walked toward the table to get food and leaned over me on the couch were I was sitting, kissing me upside-down as he passed by. He grabbed food and then came back to where I was sitting, plopping down right next to me and putting an arm on the back of the couch behind me as he started eating his bagel.

         After breakfast we headed out to the beach for the day, and after dinner, we headed back to the campus. I stumbled up to my room with my bag, throwing it all into my laundry basket and then heading over to Jake and Josh’s room. I knocked lightly on the door as a warning.

         “Hey, can I come in?” Josh grunted, and I swung the door open a little, walking in to the dark room where MTV was on and Josh was on his computer.

         “Jacob’s downstairs doing laundry- he should be back soon,” Josh said with a shrug, going back to his Facebook page as I plopped down on Jacob’s bed, sighing heavily- I was exhausted from sitting in the sun all day, as were the rest of the group- everybody seemed to be bumming around tonight. I leaned back against the wall behind his bed, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

         Jacob came in very quietly, and suddenly, I felt the weight on the bed shift. I opened my eyes and he was right in front of me, crawling on top of me. As I opened them he was leaning in for kiss, and our lips connected right after I’d opened my eyes. He pressed against me with his lips, pushing my head against the wall behind me as he covered both my hands on the bed with his.

         “Hey, you two, go somewhere else if you’re gonna make out and shit- I don’t wanna listen to that,” Josh grumbled, and I had to turn my head away from Jacob’s lips so I could laugh. Jake turned and glared at Josh, a frown on his face.

         “Thanks, dude, for killing the mood,” he said teasingly, and I continued laughing as he rolled over onto the bed next to me, lying on his back with his legs hanging over the edge of the bed almost touching the ground.

         “You are very welcome, Jacob. I’m always here for you- wouldn’t want you two to get too lovey-dovey, things could happen,” Josh said, waggling a finger in our direction. I shook my head, still laughing, as I slid off my bed and turned to Josh.

         “Amanda’s out for the night, so there’s no one in my room. We’ll go over there so we don’t disturb you, your Highness,” I said with a fake bow and a smirk, and Josh’s eyebrows shot up as he watched us leave, hand-in-hand.

         “Are we really going to your room?” Jacob seemed a little incredulous- I nodded my head and his eyes lit up as he started to walk a little faster, making me laugh quietly as I opened my door and flipped on the light. He followed right behind me and flipped the light off almost as soon as I turned it on. He wrapped his arms around me and put his lips right next to my ear so I could feel them brushing my skin, sending goosebumps all the way up and down my spine.

         “Just leave them off,” he half-whispered, kissing my ear and letting his lips travel down my jawline, turning me as he kissed me until he finally had me facing him. He reached back, making sure the door was all the way closed, and then he picked me up, still kissing me deeply, and walked until he hit my bed. He set me on the edge of my bed, leaning over me so that I actually had to put a hand back to brace myself. He let his hands roam all over my body, giving me goosebumps and shivers and making me blush madly all at the same time.

Suddenly his fingers were underneath the edge of my t-shirt and moving upwards, pulling my shirt off slowly and making me hold my breath for just a few seconds. I breathed easier once it was off, but still, breathing when he was this close to me was an issue in and of itself. I proceeded to pull his shirt off, too, marveling for just a second at his chiseled body in the low light and then enjoying the feeling of my skin touching his- it was a marvelous feeling.

         It was the second unforgettable night that I had with Jacob, and definitely not the last. We were made for each other- everyone said it, and thankfully we both knew it. We got into many, many fights, and a few times I wasn’t even sure if we would last through it, but we always did, getting back together and making up every time. It was an amazing relationship, and it only got better as we got better.

We graduated in the same class, and Jacob got a job right out of school, working as an assistant manager for a big company. He got paid pretty well for a newly graduated student, so I decided to continue my schooling, and I went on to get a Ph.D. in biological sciences, specifically marine biology. I got a job at a national park right on the ocean, right near where Jacob had his new job, so we bought an apartment together, enjoying every moment of life as it happened. Two years after moving in together, Jacob proposed to me on the beach, right by the house we’d stayed at that first night when he kissed me. We had our wedding there a year later, and it was a small production, just family and a few close friends, including many of the friends we’d hung out with throughout college. Our parents all cried together as I walked down the aisle in my dress… it was a day that I’ll never forget, just like so many others.

         “Hurry up! We need to do your hair still,” Katie said- she was my maid of honor, and Jaime was one of the bride’s maids, along with my older and younger sister, and Kelly, another one of my dear friends. They all looked beautiful in their dark blue dresses, with white flowers in their hair; I, however, was just getting into my amazing wedding gown. It was rather intricate, and therefore hard to get on. It had a corset-style bodice with beading and small amounts of sparkles on it, and the bottom was a flowing, silky material that was layered to look almost like ocean waves- it was a gorgeous dress that my parents and grandparents had agreed to pay for, which I was eternally grateful for.

         “Okay, okay, okay, just relax. Nothing can happen without me, so they’ve gotta wait, however long I take,” I said, holding up my hands in defense as Katie, Jaime and Kelly all fussed over me. Thankfully my sisters were standing back a little ways; my older sister was a hairdresser, and of course she’d agreed to do my hair for me. I was pinning it all up to create ringlets that fell down right onto my neck, and I hoped that my brown, straight hair was going to cooperate- it usually didn’t.

         My sister started my hair once my dress was on, and Katie sat down in front of me, putting a small bib looking piece of cloth around my neck. She pulled out all her make-up and started doing my makeup like we’d agreed, with minimal to none- all I wanted was a little bit of mascara and some color in my cheeks. I had a very nice, even tan, thanks to good old Mother Nature, who had cooperated for the last two weeks and given me sunshine everyday to go out and tan in, and my teeth were freshly whitened, making everything seem brighter.

         When everybody was finally done fussing, my sister spun my chair around so I could see myself in the mirror, and I almost dropped out of my chair. I looked… well, I looked beautiful. There was a hint of color in my cheeks and my image in the mirror reminded me of the clique term ‘a blushing bride.’ Everything was perfect.

         “It’s… wow, I look gooooooodd,” I said with a laugh, trying to joke about it so I didn’t start to feel self-conscious, and everybody laughed. I stood up, spinning around once and watching as my hair bounced and swayed with my movements. I turned to show the girls, and my sister had tears in her eyes.

         “No, no, no, Angela! You aren’t supposed to cry- that’s Mom’s job!” I tried to make her stop crying, but the tears had already started. She wiped them away, but they were falling as quickly as she could catch them. I walked over to her, putting my arms around her shoulders, and she pushed me gently away.

         “No, I don’t want to get tears on your dress or mess up your hair! Jacob has to see you when you’re perfect, but that’s just it… Lil’ sis, you look perfect,” she said, and I stopped, dropping my arms and blushing so fiercely I was sure my face would burst into flames at any second.

         “Aww, look at that, a burnt bride!” Jaime joked, and I laughed, my blush dying down a little bit. “Really, though Emma, she’s right- Jacob might just drop up at the altar when he sees you walking up that aisle- or dancing, I guess,” she said, laughing a little at how I was doing my wedding. I had decided that instead of walking up the middle to the altar to the traditional wedding song, I was going to have my bride’s maids and grooms dance up to Forever by Chris Brown. I had seen it in a video once and from that day on I had sworn I was going to do my wedding like that. Here I was, actually going through with it, and I was so excited. They would go up in pairs just like in the traditional wedding style, but they were allowed to do whatever they wanted as they went up; it was going to be so much fun! I had told all the guests the night before that they would need to dance, and all our friends had been so excited to learn what we were doing. We were going to start it when Jacob went up, then the first pair of bride’s maid and groom would go up, dancing all the way to where they were standing; Katie and Jose, Jacob’s best man, would be the last ones to go up before my dad and I. I told them to just go crazy- it wasn’t super-formal, and I had said in the invitation that shorts were acceptable. All the guys were wearing white tuxes and dark blue ties to match the ladies, and the ladies all had white flowers that matched the guys’ tuxes and my dress. Jacob had actually chosen to go with a dark blue tux, so I had picked out dark blue and white flowers- everything went together very well in the end, and I was excited to see how it turned out. My dress had a removable bottom layer and a strap that could be connected to the top so that it turned into more of a cocktail dress, so I was going to change it for the reception. None of the wedding party was allowed to wear shoes- I wanted to show everyone just how casual I wanted them to be, and it was so much easier to dance in the sand when you weren’t wearing shoes.

         Finally, it was time to get started. I heard the music start, and my dad poked his head in, his eyes drawn to where I was standing with Katie- the other girls ran out to go get in line. My mom had been told she wasn’t allowed to be in the room with me because she was crying, making me cry, and making my makeup run all over the place. So when she poked her head in right behind my dad, I had to smile.          She looked like she was trying very, very hard not to cry, and I appreciated it.

         “Okay, sweetie, are you ready? You look absolutely beautiful,” he said, a smile on his face as he watched me spin in a circle for him and my mom, who covered her mouth and had to run down the hallway before she started crying.

         “Yes, I’m ready. Has anybody gone out there yet?” He nodded.

         “Jacob’s standing out there already, so he won’t see you, and the second set of bride’s maids are about ready to go out,” he said, motioning for Katie to leave as he opened the door all the way. She snaked out, giving me one last smile and kiss on the cheek, and then I followed my dad to the end of the line. Jose was standing next to Katie in front of me, and when he saw me come out of the room, he did a very dramatic double take, making me laugh a blush just a tiny bit.

         “Wow, Emma, you look really, really beautiful. Jacob’s going to faint when he sees you,” he said with a wink, and my dad squeezed my hand in agreement as the two of them moved out into the aisle. I watched them dancing and feeding off each other, and I had to laugh- I was going to look ridiculous in this wedding dress dancing like a mad-woman, but I didn’t care. I took a deep breath and looked at my dad. He was watching me, and he gave me a thumbs up when I caught his eye.

         “We’re going to have fun with this, right? Just like we rehearsed?” My dad smiled and nodded- I had told everyone else to just make it up as they went along, but my dad and I had rehearsed a dance together so that we were both ready- this was pretty important, no matter how informal, and I didn’t want to mess it up.

         We both jumped out onto the dance floor- I mean the aisle- and everyone was up on their toes, laughing as Katie and Jose took their places on either side of the small, makeshift altar. We danced just like we had planned, and, while I figured I looked ridiculous, I didn’t care. I had my dad next to me and Jacob, along with all my best friends, waiting up on the altar for me, and I couldn’t be happier.

         Everyone clapped and bounced around as my dad and I finished our dance, and then Jacob came over to us, and he shook my dad’s hand, taking mine into his and giving me a radiant smile that made everyone smile. I kissed him on the cheek as we walked to the small arch that was our altar together, and everyone sighed, loud enough that I actually heard them and had to stifle a laugh. Jacob tried not to laugh, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. I had to look at the priest- if I made eye contact with Jacob, I would probably burst out laughing, and that would ruin the moment.

         We both listened attentively as the priest voiced our vows, and when it came time to answer ‘I do,’ we turned to each other, holding our wedding bands as we waited.

         Jacob said ‘I do’ first and then he took my hand, gently sliding the small silver ring onto my finger as he rubbed a small circle on the back of my hand with his thumb, giving me goosebumps from my toes all the way up through the top of my head. We made eye contact and it was hot and heavy, full of emotion that neither of us could say at just that moment.

         It was my turn next- the priest said my vows and I answered him with a very hearty ‘I do,’ which got a few laughs from the crowd around us, and then I held Jacob’s hand in mine, pushing the ring onto his finger and leaning down to plant a small, quick kiss right on top of it. I could feel his fingers tighten around mine ever so slightly, and I looked up, making eye contact with him; my heart almost jumped out of my chest when I saw his eyes. They were burning so brightly that I felt the heat radiating out of them. We both turned back to the priest and he finished what he had to say, finally getting to the line I knew both of us, and everyone else in their seats, had been waiting for.

         “I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Puttlock- you may kiss your wife, Jacob,” the priest, a dear family friend, said, reaching over and lifting my veil ever so slowly and smiling (almost laughing) as he watched me squirm. When he finally let me go I spun right on the spot, throwing my arms around Jacob and laying a big fat kiss right on his lips that last for maybe just a few seconds too long- I could hear mumbles and grumbles in the crowd from the older folks as I leaned back and dropped my arms, taking both his hands in mine. He looked slightly dazed, even a little bit dizzy, which was a lot how I felt- like it was all a dream.

         We walked back down the aisle as Forever came on again, dancing and smiling hugely as everyone traded hugs and kisses. The reception was a little ways farther down the beach, but I had to go back to the limo and get changed.

“I’ll go with you and help you- don’t want that dress to get ruined,” Jacob said, but Katie stopped him short with an arm.

         “No way- if you go with her then you two won’t be back for hours. I saw those looks you two were sharing during the ceremony,” she said with a hint of amusement in her voice, and Jacob laughed, holding up his hands defensively.

         “You’re right, we probably would just lock the car and stay in there,” he said, throwing a wink my way and making me laugh out loud. “You go with her, Katie. I just hope my raging hormones can wait until later!” Katie led me away, shaking her head in mock horror. Once we were over the ridge to where the limo was parked, she turned back to me help me get my dress off and put on my garter, which had slid down my leg a little because of all the dancing.

         “So, speaking of looks, you two were sharing some pretty ‘hot and heavy’ looks during that wedding- planning on having kids anytime soon?” Katie tried to ask nonchalantly as she helped me get the bottom half of my dress off without it touching the ground, and I laughed.

         “I’ve been on birth control for a few years, and I’ve taken a few extra precautions- no we aren’t planning on kids in the near future,” I said, rolling my eyes at the way she worded the question. She nodded her head knowingly and then fell silent, finishing up with her fussing with my hair and my dress. She put the strap on my dress so that I could dance around and not have to worry about holding it up, and then we headed over to the reception. The DJ we had hired wasn’t playing music yet, but when I got over, he motioned for me to come over.

“So, when should I start the music? You want me to play all through dinner and stuff?” I nodded enthusiastically.

         “You can start it now and just keep playing it… I’ve got enough music on that list to last until tomorrow morning, so just pick out whatever you would like to play- all of it is music that I would listen to,” I said with a shrug, and after a few more questions he let me go. My mom came over, holding out her arms and looking me up.

         “Sweetheart, you look gorgeous! I loved that ceremony- it was exactly what I would have thought that you would have done, except better! You and your father looked like naturals as you came up the aisle,” she said with a wink. “Now he won’t stop asking me to dance- I blame you.” As we spoke, Dad came over and started pulling on Mom’s arm, asking her to dance as another song came on. I laughed and waved at them to go.

         I stood alone for a second, just looking around at all my friends and family, mingling and swaying to the music, and then long, warm arms encircled my waist and Jacob’s lips brushed against my ear as he spoke.

         “Hello, beautiful, how are you?” I smiled- he always had a way of making me better about myself than I already did. I turned my head, kissing him lightly on the lips, and then I answered.

         “I’m feeling pretty good right about now… and you?” I could see him smiling one of his radiant smiles from out of the corner of my eye as I glanced out over the dance floor.

         “I’m feeling amazing right now,” he whispered quietly and nuzzling his nose into the crook of my neck, he brushed his lips across my neck and shoulder, giving me goosebumps once again. “And I cannot wait until tonight, when we get to our honeymoon spot.” Everyone knew where we were going on a honeymoon but me- Jacob wouldn’t let anyone tell me. Katie and Angela had helped me pack, so I knew it was somewhere warm, presumably with a beach, but other than that I didn’t know.

         “You still aren’t going to tell me where we’re going? What if… okay, what if I get lost in an airport somewhere, but I don’t know what flight to get on next- how am I ever going to get anywhere,” I said, trying to be serious but laughing right at the end and giving myself away. Jacob continued to kiss my shoulder and neck, and I felt him shrug behind me.

         “Well, if you’re planning on being in a random airport somewhere, then I don’t really think we’ll be together to begin with, so that’s a moot point,” he mumbled, tightening his hold on my waist and letting his lips wander a bit closer to my throat, leaving a hot trail of kisses around the side of my neck. I tried to keep my cool and think logically, but it was just about impossible when I could barely breathe.

         “So we aren’t flying anywhere?” I tried to be loud, but my question came out as barely an audible whisper, and Jake just ignored it, continuing to kiss my neck, but never staying in one place for too long.

         “Ah-h-HEM.” Someone cleared their throat right behind us, making me jump about two feet in the air and Jacob cuss quietly under his breath. We both spun around to find Jose standing behind us, an amused look on his face. I felt my hair and my dress, making sure everything was still in order, and Jacob fixed his collar.

         “You both look fine- I just wanted to separate you two before the moms and dads came over. You were getting a bit too intimate,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me.

         “Why are you looking at me?” I asked, feigning anger as I tried not to smile. “HE was the one who attacked my neck from behind.” Jacob laughed, looping an arm easily around my waist as we started to walk with Jose.

         “Because you’re usually the reason I have to separate you two… it doesn’t appear that way this time though, so I apologize,” he said, laughing at my teasing frown. We took a seat at the head table, with Katie on my right and Jose on Jacob’s left. Everyone seemed to realize that we were sitting down at the same time, and they all proceeded to their seats at the different round tables around the area.

We had a wonderful dinner and everyone made their different toasts to us, to me, to Jacob, to our parents, to everyone that anyone could think of, and of course Jacob and I made our toasts, too. Jacob went first and made me cry as he took a few minutes to talk about our first kiss, which had been somewhere right along this very beach, and how he had felt the first time I’d said I loved him. Then I tried to get up and talk about him, but I kept dissolving into tears. Finally I got myself together long enough to say what I wanted to say about my parents and about Jacob, and I sat back down. Jacob leaned over and kissed both of my cheeks, one at a time, and then he wiped away my tears before I could get them, ending with a soft, sweet kiss on the lips. I blushed a little, and of course some of my friends made noises and whistled, getting a laugh out of everyone.

         After all the toasting was finished, it was time to cut the cake. It was an awesome, three-tiered cake that was decorated with dark blue flowers, and it even had figures that were personally made to look like Jacob and I. We cut the first piece together, feeding each other a little bit, and of course he got cake all over my face, so I proceeded to shove the entire piece into his mouth as I laughed and pictures flashed, capturing every moment.

         We both went and washed up, and then came back out and both had a piece of cake… it was very good cake, and once everyone had had a piece the DJ started really being a DJ. He played the song I had chosen for our first song, which a bunch of the girls had made a slideshow for. So, they played the song and the slideshow as we danced together.

         “Jake,” I whispered in his ear as we twirled round and round on the dance floor all by ourselves. “I love you.” He smiled, and put his lips close to my ear.

         “I love you, too, Emma; Forever and always.”