His Punishment (23 page)

The little girls were followed by
three couples for their secondary sponsors all wearing yellow chiffon
A-line/Princess halter with a sweeping train that flows freely as they walked
with their respective escorts in black suits and orange ties. The lovely
ladies’ single long stem Ecuadorian rose were even bigger than their fists and
matched the elegance of their make ups.

Lyn, of course is the maid of honor
and was wearing her strapless beaded mermaid cut long gown that made
Christian’s eye bulge as he sees his girlfriend wearing a lavish gown for the
first time. Since what she wore at the graduation ball was very simple, his
eyes are definitely popping out at the now captivating sight.

Her parents followed the procession
and were both beaming happily for the crowd watching them, as if they are not
giving away their only daughter in a few more minutes.

The orchestra changes the music to
the instrumental version of “As the Deer” as the big wooden church door opens
and the sight of the bride in her body hugging Chantilly lace bridal gown is
welcomed. The v of her neck was covered in precious stones and small south sea
pearls up to the top of the thin strap. Her veil covered half of her front and
was as long as the three meter train of her gown.

Tara eyes no one else in the
cathedral but the man she is about to marry. She smiles nervously as she
leisurely paces down to her chosen music. She feels like she is in a timeless
dream and lost in a cloud of heavenly bliss.

She can see him staring at her down
the long aisle she is treading. She was not sure if the glitter in his eyes
were forming teardrops or just a reflection of the well lit altar surrounded by
very beautiful yellow and orange tropical flowers.

She clutched on her bouquet of
yellow stargazer lilies as she walked anxiously excited to reach her
destination. She was calm but also excited to stand in the end of the aisle and
start the beginning of her happy ever after with her soul mate.

She finally reached him and gave
her parents and his parents kisses and she was ultimately handed by her parents
to James.

He can see her through the thin
veil and he was relieved to see beneath it was the girl of his dreams and not
some impostor.

He smiled at her gladly with loving
eyes that she now knew was really teary.

They went straight to the altar and
the ceremony was started. After a couple of “I do’s” and exchanging of their
rings, their proclamation as husband and wife was stated by the Bishop. They
turned around and receive a very warm applause from their guests.

Cameras were flashing at them as he
raised his veil to the top of her head and lounged the remains of it at her
back.

“I love you Mrs. Aguilar.” He
sweetly told her as he touched her in the bare skin of her neck and lovingly
kissed her with slightly parted mouth.

She kissed him back charmingly
before saying she loved him too.

After the pictorial with their
family and friends, they all started the recessional and James’ hands never
once left their intertwined fingers.

“I’m so excited to spend the rest
of my life with you. I can’t hide my happiness that you are now my legal wife.
” He stared at her as the other guests were walking out of the church and they
were left at the base of the altar.

“Me too, Mr. Aguilar. I knew since
I met you that in the end, I would be standing here at the beginning with you.”
She stared back at his handsome husband.

“Too confident huh?” he joked his
wife.

“Yes. And wasn’t I right?” she
teased him back.

“You were definitely right,” he
paused, “I’m sorry it took long to realize though.” He kissed her once again.

They started walking out of the
church and were greeted one more time at the exit with a shower of yellow rose
petals and dozens of butterflies released that flew freely as they are now.

They arrived at the colossal garden
reception area not far from the church and started partying with their friends
and families.

They were both happy that from this
day on, there will be no more villains and villainesses that would break them
apart. And they will be together forever.

She was about to kiss him when they
heard the fireworks starting above them. The attractive vibrant colors of
multicolored peonies transforming into clusters of silver titanium flowers and
colorful star-forming Crossett’s and dahlia cores occupied the sky and caught
their attention and their guests’.

He tugged her closer to him and
kissed her hungrily on the lips. He knew she loved fireworks and he was
definitely determined to give her her own set of fireworks even with her eyes closed.

“I promise to love you more and
more with every tomorrow you share with me than I did every yesterday.” He told
her with his eyes still closed and their lips still touching each other.

“I will hold on to that promise
sweetheart.” She murmured between their lips before she kissed him again. “And
I promise to keep giving you back the same love you give me.”

“I’m so happy to show the world
you’re now mine. “

She still didn’t release him from
their embrace.

“This moment is magical my dear
husband.” She told him as she rested her head on his chest.

He stroke her bun fixed hair
clasped with the floral diamond set.

“Every moment with you is
exotically magical.” He kissed her head and they looked up the remaining last
shots of the fireworks above them. “Say you’ll always love me.” He looked down
at her.

“Not just always, but forever.” She
lifted her head to kiss him again.

The fireworks have officially ended
leaving a big white mist of smoke in the starry sky, but their own fireworks
has just started and they are eager to welcome the fountains of happiness and
rockets of surprises in their life together.

“Mom! Mom!” Tara’s little boy,
Tommy was screaming when he entered the room.

“Yes darling?” she scooped him up
after she removed her apron. She was trying to bake cookies for her twins and
husband.

“Janice is crying mom.” Her six
year old is squealing.

“Why? What happened?” she saw her
husband enter the kitchen with Tommy’s twin in her daddy’s arms.

“She wouldn’t say, sweet.” James
kissed her on the lips and on the tummy.

Their third baby is on its way as
she is already six months pregnant. They would have had more kids if they
didn’t plan their family.

“What’s the matter honey?” she
frowned as James placed Janice to sit on the counter top in front of her mom.

The little girl was sobbing while
trying to speak. Her dad’s hand was at her waist still waiting for her to speak
and her mom’s hands were on her lap doing the same as her husband.

“It’s . . . Rob.” She was still
sobbing as she spoke the words.

“Who’s Rob?” Tara looked at James.

Her husband just shrugged as he had
no idea who his daughter was referring to. He picks them up from school every
day but he never knew anyone named Rob.

“It’s her crush.” Tommy answered
for them while he dunks his toast in the strawberry jelly in front of him.

James and Tara looked at each other
with open mouths. Their six year old little girl has a crush already. He held
his daughter in a quick embrace and smiled at her.

“What did Rob do to you?” she
lowered her head to meet her daughter’s eyes but she was still crying and
covering her face.

James took a glass of water and
made her drink to calm her down. She started sobbing less.

“He . . . told me . . .” she paused
a while, “he . . . doesn’t like . . . me.”

“Awwww,” was all Tara could say and
hugged her little one to comfort her. She knew how being told off felt and it
really hurt.

“How did he tell you?” James was
curious how a six year old breaks a little girl’s heart.

“He told her to stop following
him.” Tommy spoke again.

“Do you really follow him Janice?”
her dad asked more curiously.

“Sometimes.” The little girl has
now completely stopped from her cries.

“Like?” her mom asked for her to
keep going.

“When we go to school I wait for
him at the hallway. And when he eats every break, I sit at the bench near him
and his friends. And I play with him at the slide before we go home.” She
narrated.

James looked at Tara and smiled
widely.

“You forgot to tell mom and dad
that you call their home phone but you don’t speak.” Tommy butted in. “You just
want to listen to his voice.”

“Oh my!” Tara covered her mouth as
she blushed in front of her family.

“What exactly did he tell you
baby?” James asked his daughter again.

“He told me to stop stalking him
and get lost.”

James bit his lip and looked at
Tara. She was still covering her mouth but not her face. Her cheeks were
flushed and she looked like an overripe tomato.

“Go up first and change clothes
then come back here for your cookies.” She asked James to put Janice down from the
counter top.

“Let’s talk later honey.” She
kissed her daughter before sending her off upstairs.

“Of all the traits you could pass
to your kids, stalking?” James was teasing his pregnant wife.

“Shut it! Look who’s talking!” she
pinched a little flour in front of her and threw it at him.

“I didn’t stalk you!” he said
defensively.

“Want me to elaborate on that?”
everything was still fresh to her as if it didn’t happen seven years ago. She
threw a hand half full of flour on her husband again.

James didn’t reply but moved
towards the bowl of melted chocolate and streaked some on his wife’s face with
his three fingers.

“Stop it! Stalker!” she squealed
and tried to dodge away from him as he continued to streak her face with
chocolate.

He held her close and cupped her
face after putting the bowl down to lick on all the mess on her face. “You
taste good mommy.” He whispered to her as he continues cleaning her cheeks and
lips with his tongue.

She streaked his lips too and
whispered teasingly, “I want to check if daddy tastes good too.” She licked and
kissed him before they both laughed.

“Of course I do, stalker!” he
teased her again.

“Dad?” they heard Janice back in
the kitchen and rushed to hug her. In a few seconds they were joined by Tommy
for their tight family hug.

Tara was so happy and she can feel
that James is on the same boat as hers. She feels complete now. She bowed her
head down to stroke Janice’s hair. She looks so much like her and she can’t
believe her baby is so much like her too.

It’s her stalker daughter.