The ceremony was over and Ashley and Kirstin were now receiving their congratulations at the party. Everybody that was at the ceremony was attending the party, which was actually at the same location: the Angel’s backyard.

     The buffet looked great, with a great variety of food, from sushi and sashimis (Kirstin’s favorites) to caviar (the food that Kirstin hated the most). The cake wasn’t at the table yet, it was waiting for the right time to be put there.

     After what seemed to have been 4 hours for Ashley and Kirstin, everybody at the party had congratulated them already.

     “Oh, thank God.” Ashley pushed Kirstin aside and kissed her hard on the mouth.

     “Why thank God?”

     “If I hear another ‘Congratulations on your wedding’ or ‘your dress is exquisite’ or ‘what about those vows’, I swear, I’m gonna hit somone.”

     “Ash!” Kirstin playfully hit him in the arm and they chuckled together.

     “Oh, come on, bunch of suck ups!”

     “They are our friends!”

     “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m not that mean, you know that, it’s just that I wanted some alone time with you, that’s all.”

     “Well, now you got it. What are you gonna do about it?”

     “Hm… I have some ideas…” he answered, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.

     “Ash, not here. And not now! We’re at our wedding! People can see us!” Kirstin was trying to pull him away, but he was holding on to her extremely tight.

     “I don’t care. I married you. I have the right to kiss you whenever I want to.”

     “I know sweety, but listen…” Kirstin pulled him gently and this time, he decided to give them some space “It’s a public place, your back yard. And you know how much I hate to show these affections in public, so, if you could just wait a few more hours until this is over, I promise, I’ll be all yours for as long as you want me to be.”

     “I want you to be all mine forever.”

     “And I will. But after the party, alright?”

     “Urgh, I hate that! Let’s call it a rap then, so everybody will leave.”

     “Yeah, right? Could you seriously end my wedding party? The party I’ve been so looking forward to?”

     “Sorry, honey, didn’t know you had such strong feelings about the party.”

     “Of course I do. I have strong feelings about this whole day, and the party is part of it, so I wanna be a part of it and enjoy it.”

     “Ok. So we’ll do that. And later, you’ll do as I tell you to.”

     “Ok, ok.” Kirstin giggled “Oh, also, I have a surprise for you.” Kirstin said when she saw Grace waving at her near the stage where the band was performing.

     “What do you mean?”

     “A surprise. Well, I planned this wedding, so it was easy to plan something you wouldn’t know about, right?” Ashley frowned “Come closer.” Kirstin took Ashley by the arm and trailed into Grace’s direction.

     “Everything is set; you just have to get on.” Grace whispered into Kirstin’s ears.

     “What’s going on?” Ashley wondered.

     “Just wait here, baby.” Kirstin kissed him lightly on the lips and headed towards and got on the stage.

     “What’s going on? Can you tell me, please, G?” Ashley asked Grace, but it was Mark, her boyfriend, who answered instead.

     “Could you just wait a sec, man? You’ll see it in a sec.”

     “Even you know what this is about?” Ashley asked facing him then turned his face to the stage “That’s so not fair.” Ashley hated secrets.

 

     “Hello, everybody.” Kirstin started. The crowd answered her in unison “As you all know and can notice, I’m the bride today. Mrs. Angel.” Kirstin smiled and looked into Ashley’s eyes in the crowd “As part of being a bride, you have the privilege of planning the wedding and how everything is gonna go. First off, I have to thank Gloria Martinez, our wonderful wedding planner.” the crowd applauded “Another Mrs. Angel, Paula Angel, Ashley’s mother, for helping with this wedding when we didn’t even ask her to do it. Thank you so much, you were so important in this ceremony.” Paula was almost crying when everyone started to look at her and clap their hands “And to my beloved maid of honor and the best friend I could have ever asked for, Grace Dawson, for helping us with everything and most of all, for having this idea I’m about to perform here.” Grace wiped the tears from her eyes rapidly, so no one could notice that “Anyway… Everyone knows that the singer in this family is Ashley. I’m terrible at singing. I couldn’t be worse. But Grace here convinced me of singing this song for Ashley and I thought: ‘What the heck? I love him and he’s not gonna end this marriage just because I can’t sing, right?’ I hope so, anyway, because I’m really, really bad.” A couple of laughs were heard “It was really hard picking just one song to sing for you tonight, baby.” Kirstin was now focusing only on Ashley’s face, especially his eyes “But I think I’ve chosen a good one. I decided to do this, because you wrote and sang your feelings for me so many times, that I had to answer just the same. Well, not exactly the same, because you can sing. But I’m gonna try, and it’s the effort that counts, right?” Ashley actually nodded his head. It was like Kirstin was talking only to him. They were alone in this huge place, only Ashley and Kirstin “So, ok.” Kirstin turned around, looked at the musicians, and they started to play a slow tune.

 

     Kirstin just whispered the first verse from the song.

 

When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.

 

     She started to sing it, but the tears were already falling from her eyes.

 

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

 

     Everyone at the party was moved. No one expected Kirstin to sing at their wedding. She wasn’t great, but she wasn’t as bad as she said she was. But what really moved people was the fact that they could really see the love in Kirstin’s eyes while singing and staring directly at Ashley, who also had tears steaming down his cheek.

 

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

I'm so glad we made it
Look how far we've come my baby

 

     Ashley didn’t even wait for the band to stop playing and he already jumped on stage, he grabbed her, leaned her over his arms and kissed her, just like in the old movies. Everyone in the ‘audience’ applauded and some were wiping the tears away from their own eyes, like Grace, and Ashley and Kirstin’s mothers.

     “I love you so much.” Ashley said when he placed Kirstin in a stood up position.

     “I love you, too, sweet heart.” and they kissed again.

     When they pulled back from the kiss, Ashley took the microphone away from Kirstin’s hand.

     “Well, I think now I have a little surprise for Mrs. Angel here.”

     Kirstin looked puzzled at him and then turned to Grace and mouthed ‘What is he talking about?’ Grace just shook her head.

     “Turns out that the first thing I did when the band arrived was to make the necessary arrangement for me to sing a song to you, Mrs.” Kirstin didn’t know if she smiled or if she kept the puzzled look “That’s right. So…” Ashley turned to the band, gave his ok and they started playing the tune of Ashley’s song.

     Ashley coughed to try to get the right tone for his voice and started in a low tone.

 

Some day, when I'm awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...
And the way you look tonight.

 

     It was weird hearing Ashley sing in such a low tone, but that didn’t even come into Kirstin’s mind. All she could pay attention to was the lyrics and the passion in Ashley’s eyes looking straight at hers.

     Before continuing, he knelt down and asked for her hand, and she quickly placed hers on his. An ‘Aw’ sound was heard at that time.

 

Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.

     Kirstin was in tears, maybe more than she had ever been. Ashley stood up and kissed the tears from her face on one side and wiped the other side with his thumb.

 

With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart...
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.

Lovely ... never, ever change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it?
´Cause I love you ... just the way you look tonight.

Mm, mm, mm, mm,
Just the way you look tonight.