Fighter (Outsider Series) (14 page)

I hadn’t told anyone else this but I was sort of dreading the
binding
ceremony. It sounded painful.

“What about the-” I stopped because it seemed wrong to continue.

“Humans?”

I nodded.

“My mom will be leading them to the reception and they’ve been informed that we have a special, family only, tradition to perform before joining them,” Caeden said.

“Oh.”

“Soph,” he bent down so we were level. “You have nothing to worry about or be afraid of.”

“No knives are involved right?”

“No knives,” he shook his head. “Just love and ribbons.”

“Ribbons?” I quirked a brow. I’d heard them mention ribbons before
, which just seemed weird to me.

“You’ll see,” he gripped my hand in his and pulled me further into the woods. “Just know
, that you have nothing to be afraid of.”

“I trust you,” I whispered. And I did trust him. I trusted Caeden more than I trusted anybody else.

We stopped in a perfectly circular clearing. Poppy petals covered the circle and white fabric was strung through the trees.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“They’re coming. Patience, wife,” he kissed my cheek.

We moved to the center of the circle and waited. It didn’t take long for them to arrive. Instead of coming up to us like I expected
they stood around the circle closing it in. A hush descended over the forest, all the creatures inside were silent. The only noise filling the air was that sound of our collective breaths.

And then my dad and Amy parted and Gram came through, a handful of ribbons held tightly in her hands.

She stopped in front of us. “Would you like to say a few words to each other before we proceed?”

“Yes,” we said in unison.

We turned towards each other and clasped hands just like we had in the previous ceremony.

I noticed Caeden’s hands shaking slightly in mine and it made me feel better to know
that I wasn’t the only one affected by today.

“Sophie,” he took a deep breath, “I vow to love you always. Even when we’re arguing
, I’ll always look at you with love in my eyes. I vow to listen to what you have to say,” he reached up and fingered my cheek before continuing. “I vow to tell you every day how beautiful you are. I vow to never forget how much you mean to me. I vow to protect you with the last breath in my body.” Tears shimmered in both of our eyes. “I vow to trust and respect you. I vow to talk to you instead of keeping it bottled inside. I also vow to never drop cupcakes on your feet ever again. I vow to never ever leave the toilet seat up. I actually found a handy dandy solution to that, I’ll have to show you,” he winked and everyone laughed. “I vow to eat a salad at least once a month even if I am a man and not a caterpillar.” I giggled. “I vow to always mow the grass without a shirt, so that you can check out my delicious abs. Just no tripping.” I snorted. “On a serious note,” he continued. “I vow to make you laugh instead of cry, happy, instead of sad. I vow to be whatever you need me to be, husband, best friend, or lover. Most importantly, I vow to be the best husband I can be. Just bear with me while I learn.” He squeezed my hands.

“Sophie,” Gram prompted.

“Caeden, I’ve never been as eloquent with words as you, so please be patient with me,” I smiled. “I vow to help you with whatever you may struggle with because I know that together we can get through anything. I vow to lessen your burdens instead of add to them. I vow to cherish every moment we have together, the good and the bad, because even the bad is part of our story. I vow to never stay mad at you, even when I really want to be,” I gave him a significant look. “I vow to be your partner in everything because together, we are unstoppable. Lastly, I vow to love you every day of the rest of our lives, because you are my mate, my life, my love, my future, my husband.”

We kissed and then it was time for the binding.

Gram instructed Caeden and I took hold of his hands.

“Red,” she said pulling it out of the stack of ribbons in her hand. She began wrapping it around our joined arms before tying it into
a bow where our hands met. “To bind you with passion, love, strength, courage, and determination.”

“Orange,” she performed the same procedure. “To bind you with happiness and creativity.

“Yellow, to bind you with comfort, liveliness, and happiness.”

Next she pulled out green. “Green, to bind you with durability, reliability, safety, and honesty.” She tied into a bow.

“Blue, to bind you with peace, loyalty, honor, stability, and trust.

“Purple, to bind you with power,” she tied that one off.

“White,” she breathed and I knew this one was the most powerful. “To bind your souls together, even in death.”

A breeze swirled around us, lifting the ribbons tying our arms together. All of the things she had mentioned, passion, happiness, peace, power, they all seemed to fill my body. I felt more in tune to everything around me and especially
with the man next to me. I could
feel
his happiness, like it was my own.

The binding ceremony hadn’t been scary
, but it was a very powerful kind of magic and that
was
something to be a little afraid of.

“Your souls are now tied together,” Gram said, clasping our joined hands in hers. “Forever and always.”

twelve.

We all headed to the reception in a group but no one spoke. Everyone was still soaking in the binding ceremony.

I realized
, that even though Caeden and I had been the one the ceremony was binding together, the others had
felt
what we felt. It was something that didn’t need words.

Caeden and I lagged behind, hands still clasped together
, but the ribbons were long gone. Gram had removed them and scurried away with them.

We reached the edge of the woods and headed towards the backyard.

I sucked in a deep breath.

“Mom, Amy, you both really out did yourselves.”

The pool was covered with two inch thick clear Lucite and little lights floated on the surface. Round tables had mason jars with poppies in them, just like I had requested, and the chairs had pale green bows tide around them. A DJ was set up in a corner, out of the way, playing romantic songs.

I saw the cake and was rendered speechless. Gram had done an amazing job.

It was four tiers, and they were all covered in white icing. Bright red poppies covered one side, with more at the bottom and less on the smallest, top tier.

Little glass balls
hung from the tree branches with tea candles lit inside them. Also, hanging from the tree branches were beautiful paper butterflies of all different colors. Everything was simple, but beautiful, exactly what I wanted.

I noticed a table in front that everyone would have to pass by. On top of it was a simple jar half filled with different colored pieces of paper. The
paper was also scattered on top of the table with pins. I saw a label on the jar: Jar of Wishes.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Amy answered. “A jar of wishes. I thought it would be neat to have everyone write down their wishes for you both. Over the years, you can pull them out and read them,” she shrugged.

“Incredible,” I said. “I don’t know how you ever thought of that.”

She smiled. “I’m just glad you like it.”

“I
love
everything,” I hugged her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, daughter,” her eyes shimmered. “Now
, stop standing there Caeden, and ask your wife to dance with you.”

“Wife,” he bowed and extended his hand, “may I have this dance?”

“Yes, you may husband.”

He grinned and twirled me out onto the clear dance floor over the pool. I felt kind of weird at first,
like I was floating on water, but I quickly got used to it.

Caeden’s hand rested on the small of my back and he smiled down at me. “This doesn’t seem real.”

“I know,” I shook my head. “A year ago at this time, I didn’t even know you.”

“I don’t want to think about a time before you,” he murmured, pressing me even closer to his body. It was kind of hard to get close with
my big fluffy dress in the way.

We moved around the dance floor and others joined us but I didn’t see them, I didn’t hear the music, Caeden consumed me. He pressed his forehead to mine and looked into my eyes and it felt like he was caressing my soul.

“You are my everything,” he whispered as his lips pressed against my forehead.

My heart stuttered
, as I soaked in his words.

The song ended and went into another. Caeden sang the lyrics softly under his breath to me.

“’From the first time I saw you,

I knew that you’d be mine

And from the first glance you gave,

My world it slowed, you stopped the time

And in that moment
, I could see all of the things that we would be

You were the girl I was waiting for, that’d I’d ask to marry me

Like the beauty of the sun
, you light my life so I can see

You make me laugh and show me how, just how good this life can be

And in our moments filled with joy, is where I live, where I am free

Lay in my arms, I’ll hold you tight, just like you like, continually

And I am, over-whelmed, by you

Am, overcome with joy

You’ve, taken me higher, and shown me what love can do

Where would I go, or be, without you

There’s something in your smile that gives me strength to carry on

And there something in your words that lin
gers even when you’re gone

Oh I’ve dreamt, that a time like this would come, fulfill my life

Who could have known the one who’d bring it here would be my lovely wife

I could sing a thousand songs about you still that would not do

There’s a million tiny things that make the things that you do, you
,

I wouldn’t trade our time together, wouldn’t trade for anything

Cause nothing else here in the world can bring the happiness you bring

And I am, overwhelmed, by you

Am, over
come with joy

You’ve, taken me higher, and shown me what love can do

Where would I go, or be, without you’”

“That’s a beautiful song,” I said as he finished the last note. “What is it?”

“Overwhelmed by Tim McNorris and it describes perfectly how I feel in this moment.”

I blushed.

“It’s true,” he lifted my chin with a finger. “I am overwhelmed by you every
day. I don’t think you are even aware of the affect you have on me and that’s just another reason why I love you.”

I leaned my head against his chest. “There are a million little reasons why I love you.”

He chuckled.

“I love that you care so deeply for your family and friends. I love how you always put others first
, even when you should be thinking of yourself. I love your laugh. I love your smile. I love your scruffy face,” and I rubbed his cheeks to demonstrate. “I love when you talk to the dogs when you think I’m not looking.” He blushed. “I love how passionate you are about everything you do. I love that you’re brave and so courageous, but you still make mistakes.” He flinched. “No one’s perfect, Caeden,” I murmured. “Sometimes, I want to think you are, but you’re not. Neither am I. Everyone makes mistakes and that’s okay. It’s what makes us,
human
. But most of all, I love you
for being
you
.”

With a smile
, he kissed me. “For someone who claims not to be very good with words, you’re very good at this.”

“I was just telling you the truth.”

“God, I love you,” he cupped my cheeks. “How did I get so lucky?”

I smiled. “I think we’re both pretty lucky.”

We danced to a few more songs and then it was time to eat. Caeden and I sat at a table together in the center with everyone else spread out around us. The food was delicious. Melt in your mouth steak, homemade mashed potatoes, rolls with honey butter, and much to Caeden’s dismay, a salad was served first.

Bentley stood and cleared his throat. Everyone quieted down and waited for him to speak.

“Since you all know who I am, I’m not going to go into that,” he grinned. “I just have a few things I’d like to say.” He took a deep breath. “Caeden has been my best friend since we were babies. We grew up together and were inseparable. We grew older and remained best friends, instead of growing apart like so many do. We’ve been through a lot together. Caeden has helped me cope with-” he cleared his throat and looked down. Christian reached up and rubbed his back, reassuringly. Taking a moment to compose himself he continued, “Caeden helped me cope with my little brother’s death. I still have some bad days, but Caeden is always there for me. When his dad died… it was a dark time for him. He lost his dad and a great responsibility was placed on his shoulders. He had some pretty bad days… He changed… He didn’t smile or laugh as much and we all worried that we’d lost Caeden… That he’d never be the same.”