"American Hangover"

Chapter nine

Chrissy’s image glowed as she stared at herself in the mirror. She wore a completely white dress that consisted of a beading decoration. Its design was simple yet elegant. Lydia loved the V shape chest design on her dress. The bottom of the dress was huge and long. Chrissy spoke beauty in this outfit. Along with the dress came the veil. It was attached to the bun of curls Chrissy had on her hair. Her face was still revealed but the moment she walked down that aisle it would be covering her face for Zhi to uncover. Chrissy hadn’t seen Zhi all day.

“Christine Duggan…. You look amazing.” Lydia said to her standing beside her in front of the mirror. Lydia’s hand rest on her shoulder in a supporting manner. Lydia and Jolene were in matching bride’s maids’ gowns that were a light shade of green. The dresses were long and looked almost as elegant as Chrissy’s.

“Thanks Lyd,” Chrissy said to Lydia. On her other side stood Jolene. Jolene smiled at the mirror and the two girls joined in on the smiling. They were like sisters. Three inseparable sisters who only wanted to see each other happy. Each of them willing to do what ever it took to make a good life out of their situation, each of them with a passion that only sisters could comprehend. “I’ve been waiting for this all my life.” Chrissy told them.

“I remember my wedding day… I know how you feel.” Jolene said.

The girls stepped away from the mirror and sat on the couch with Chrissy, yet again, in the middle. They each checked to make sure they weren’t wrinkling their gowns. Every one was settled and Chrissy spoke. “In a couple hours I’ll be Mrs. Zhi Wing.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah, two out of three of us will be married.” Jolene said focusing her eyes on Lydia along with Chrissy.

“Why are you guys looking at me?” Lydia questioned.

“When are you going to get married?” Chrissy said with curiosity in her voice.

“Never… besides guys, this is C’s day no talking about my commitment issues.” Lydia said. “And speaking of that mister, I think I’ll go check on him and the groom.” Lydia jumped up with excitement. “We’re having a wedding people!”

Jolene nodded her head and muttered her excuse to leave the room also. They both exited leaving Chrissy alone in the room. She sat there and looked down at her hand. Soon it would have a wedding ring and after that she would finally be with the man that she loved. Finally she would wake up to his face and finally they would be as close as two people could be.

Chrissy found herself looking forward to waking up to him and spending the whole night with him. Although he offered for her to stay with him over night previously no matter how much she knew she could trust him she felt it wasn’t right. Now she would wake up the first morning as a married woman with her husband for the first time.

She closed her eyes and imagined her wedding yet again. She was so eager.

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The music began to play as everyone looked to the back of the church. Kiral stood standing with Danny to the side. Zhi stood at the altar watching with everyone else. Adyli came forth first throwing flower peddles all over the place. Kiral wondered how they managed to train the young child to do it so well. Following the flower girl came some ravishing bride’s maids who walked ever so gracefully. Kiral focused on Lydia and she smiled at him. She gave him a wink and turned her attention to everything ahead of her. Kiral sighed and kept a smile on his face.

After the Bride’s maids the bride herself finally appeared. The bride looked amazing and for a second Kiral thought that he saw Zhi’s leg wobble. Kiral considered maybe Lydia having the ability to make his knees go weak. So far he hadn’t witnessed it but he wouldn’t be surprised if she did. The bride had a smile on and when she finally reached the altar and stood side by side with the groom you could tell she was where she belonged.

The pastor began the holy matrimony stuff and Kiral tuned it out. He stared at Lydia and noted how the light bounced off her skin. Her make up enhanced her facial features. He wondered how long till this day would come for he and Lydia. Before he knew it Zhi and Chrissy were exchanging vows.

Both vows explained their strong love and passion for each other. The vows were honest and true and each person spoke with modesty. At one point there was a sob out in the crowd and Kiral thought no doubt it was probably a parent. The sobs were of course a cry for happiness because anyone at any distance could tell that these two people were so happy to finally be here.

Kiral was happy to be here also. He couldn’t imagine giving up this opportunity for one minute. He couldn’t imagine the idea of Lydia being at this wedding with any other man. She was his and he was hers. This was told and this was true. Maybe Lydia meant it when she said happily ever after didn’t exist but he knew for sure that happy would happen with them together.

Kiral wasn’t a religious man but he was a man who had A God. Maybe he didn’t know which God to worship or which story to believe. What he did know was that there was A God in his life and this God did him good when he brought Lydia to him.

Finally, the ceremony came to an end and the bride and groom went straight for the door after their kiss. They jumped into a limo and they were gone. Kiral searched the crowd and found his date. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Off to the reception it would be.

“You look gorgeous.” He whispered into her ear.

“You’ve told me.” She replied.

“I needed to tell you again.” He said.

“Thank you” she told him with a kiss.

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The crowd laughed and Jolene smiled. She sat down finished with her speech. Jolene looked at her and tilted her head toward the watching eyes. Lydia sighed at the fact that she was being forced to take a spot light. Nodding her head she gathered her final thoughts. Kiral laid a hand on her knee and squeezed it. She nodded her head again and stood up. She did the fancy butter knife to the wine glass sound and cleared her throat.

“and so now it is my turn to give a speech. It’s going to be hard to follow Jo…. But I think I can wing it.” Lydia said looking out at the eyes. She focused more on Chrissy and Zhi ignoring the people who watched. “I think you guys are a great couple. I also think that I savor the day that Zhi broke my window.” Chrissy laughed and Zhi’s face turned a shade of red. The crowd giggled and Lydia continued. “The first time I did a speech was at Jolene’s wedding. Many of you are seeing me standing here for the second time. Since that marriage Jolene has never been happier. I can only hope to God that you’re marriage will end up just like Jolene’s. Because I’ve watched the joy in Jolene’s eyes as she created a family for herself and her husband and I just think that you guys deserve that just as much as they do.” Lydia bit down on her lip as tears clouded her vision.

“I love you guys!” Lydia said wiping at her eyes. “Which of course means… Zhi, break my girls heart I’ll break your face.” The crowd laughed a bit more and Lydia sat down.

The next two hours of the reception went by quickly. The bride and groom danced for the first time and every one ate. Every one did their own speeches and dedications and everything was settled. Lydia sighed in her seat as she watched every one else talk and laugh and talk some more.

“Let’s dance.” Kiral said to her as a slow dance song came on.

Lydia looked up at him and nodded. She stood up and followed him onto the dance floor. Couples formed on the dance floor and every one held onto their partner dancing slowly. Lydia laid her head on Kiral’s shoulder and enjoyed the feeling. She closed her eyes and pretended that they were the only people in the room and they were just dancing the night away. It felt good.

“I’m so happy to be here with you.” Kiral said to her.

“You have done quite a lot of repeating today, you know that?” she said to him her eyes still closed.

“You make me crazy.” He said.

“You make me crazy too.” Lydia said not even sure of what their conversation was leading too.

“Maybe we need to attend just one more wedding sometime.” He said Lydia opened her eyes and raised her head. She looked at him and gave him a questioning gaze. Just then the music stopped and Chrissy called for everyone’s attention. She announced she would be throwing the bouquet. A crowd formed behind Chrissy and Chrissy began practicing her throwing.

Pushing through the crowd was the twins. Chrissy’s younger sisters, who were twins, arrived at the wedding late and dressed all in a tacky colored pink puffy dress. Through out the wedding reception they went about everything in a rough manner. Now, they pushed people to the side and ran through the crowd to get front row seats to the bouquet. Likely they wanted it more then anyone in the country.

Finally, Chrissy threw the bouquet and it went flying through the air. Women in the crowd jumped to catch it and Chrissy turned to watch where it would land. Unexpectedly Lydia instinctively caught the flowers. Chrissy screamed and jumped happy with the results. Lydia looked at Kiral and shook her head.

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Chrissy rolled over in bed and for the first time her body’s movement was interrupted by a man’s body. Chrissy opened her eyes and looked at Zhi’s muscular body and observed its peaceful essence. When Chrissy’s glare moved up north of his body she found a smile on his face and his eyes watching her. Chrissy laughed and he used his arms to claim her. Chrissy laid her hand on his chest and her wedding ring sparkled. The design was perfect and the diamonds were beautiful.

“I’m so happy right now.” Chrissy said to Zhi.

“Yeah, you better be that ring cost me an arm and a leg and a heart too.” He said to her sarcastically. Chrissy gasped and looked at him wondering how he had the heart to say something like that. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding Chrissy. I loved buying that ring and I don’t mind giving you my heart. I know you’ll love it.”

Chrissy shook her head and closed her eyes. Suddenly Chrissy found that lips were touching hers and she smiled. He continued to kiss her with determination and she was wrapped into a world of seduction. He was amazing.