The Gift (13 page)

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Chapter 15

The Saturday before the wedding was unusually
hot and humid. Everyone got up early because there were a lot of last minute
preparations. Some of the guests were arriving in the afternoon and would need
rides from the airport. Maggie’s brothers had volunteered to take care of that.
Spencer offered to pick up the wedding cake from Rosie’s Bakery since he lived
in the neighborhood. Maggie was told to sit back and relax. Zak insisted that everything
was under control and she needed to rest.

Zak helped Maggie’s parents clean up the house and go to
the supermarket for groceries. Maggie’s dad went to the liquor store and bought
some beer and wine. They were planning to have a dinner at Maggie’s house that
night for the out of town guests. Zak’s mother and his brother Caleb and his
family would be flying in from New Orleans at three o’clock. Maggie’s friend
Vanessa was going to be on the same flight. Spencer, Justin and Tom were coming
to dinner as well as Maggie’s three brothers. So things were a little hectic
around Maggie’s parents’ house the day before the wedding.

Maggie’s mother prepared a large pot of her clam
chowder, while Zak made another pot of chicken filé gumbo. His mother had
offered to make crab cakes while Maggie’s dad was going to barbeque some
chicken. Spencer was bringing his special potato salad with mustard in it.
Other people were bringing salad and lasagna. It was going to be a delicious
potluck dinner featuring favorite recipes from both Maggie and Zak’s families.

Maggie kept getting up to help, bored with her enforced
rest, but Zak insisted that she lie down. When he was done preparing his gumbo,
he joined Maggie in her bedroom so that he could give her a massage. His solicitude
brought tears to her eyes. She felt so lucky to be marrying this incredibly
sweet man.

Maggie was asleep when Vanessa and Zak’s family arrived
but woke up as Vanessa entered her bedroom. They both hugged each other.
Vanessa touched Maggie’s slightly swollen belly and said that she couldn’t
believe that Maggie was going to have a baby. She also said that she would
never have guessed that night at Antoine’s that Maggie was going to end up
marrying the guitarist in the band. But then she corrected herself and said
that maybe she did know that Maggie and Zak had both fallen in love at first
sight that night. That incredibly romantic idea made Maggie tear up a little.

Zak then called up to Maggie to let her know that his
family had arrived. Zak watched Maggie and Vanessa descend the stairs to join
the party and he thought that Maggie looked fragile next to Vanessa. He
remembered in New Orleans noticing that Vanessa was more petite, so it was then
he realized how much Maggie’s appearance had changed over the last couple
months. He decided that it was a good thing they were going home to Louisiana to wait for the baby’s birth. Maggie needed to get plenty of rest and recover a
little from her rocky pregnancy.

The party was fun. Everyone enjoyed meeting each other,
and the dinner was delicious. Maggie sat on the couch with Zak, their family
and friends noticed that they could barely take their eyes off of each other.
The general consensus was that they had never seen a couple so much in love and
everyone was happy for them that they were expecting their first child.
Although Maggie was barely showing, somehow everyone knew that she was
pregnant.

Zak noticed that Maggie was starting to look tired, so
he suggested that she go upstairs to rest. The guests stayed on for another
hour and then left for a good night’s sleep before the next day’s festivities.
Zak was a little relieved when everyone was gone and he could slide into the
bed next to Maggie and hold her while she slept. He lay awake for several hours
wondering what the future would hold, hoping that they would have a happy life
together.

Maggie woke up early, happy to be encircled in Zak’s
arms, and listened to his soft breathing. She was thinking about the events of
the past eight months. She didn’t even know Zak last Christmas and now they
were getting married and having a baby. The last year had been a whirlwind, she
didn’t wonder that her parents had thought that they were rushing into a
relationship too quickly.

She relaxed and let her thoughts drift, when suddenly
some lyrics came unbidden into her head:

“Dawn in the desert

Open your heart 

Like a cactus blooming

Make a new start

We’ve been given a gift

Don’t have much time

Can’t hide away

This love of mine.”

She could almost hear how the tune would go. She thought
about it some more and came up with the chorus:

“Be my light in the darkness

Be my love when everyone’s gone

I want to stay here beside you

My only one.” 

Maggie got up quickly, and went over to the desk to get
a pen. She scribbled the words down on a piece of paper so that she wouldn’t
forget them. Later, she would ask Zak to help compose some music for her song.
But now, they had to get up and get married.

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Chapter 16

Maggie touched Zak gently on the shoulder and
whispered, “Time to get up, my love.”  Zak opened his eyes slowly and gazed at
Maggie with incredible love in his eyes. He pulled her down to him and kissed
her and said, “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. I can’t wait to
marry you Maggie.”

They kissed for a while and then Zak told her that he
had a special wedding present for her. He got up and went over to their
suitcase and fished out a small black velvet box. Maggie had learned by now
that there was usually something very special in these boxes. He gave it to
her, smiled and kissed her. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she opened
the box.  Inside there was a pair of sparkling diamond ear studs. Zak said that
he bought the earrings for her to wear on their wedding day. He thought they
would look perfect with her wedding dress. Maggie knew that Zak didn’t have
much money, so she was touched by his generous gift. She put the diamond studs
in her ears, and then kissed Zak to thank him.

Then she decided that this was a good time to give him
the guitar that she had bought for him. She had hidden it in the closet in her
room, so she went over and pulled it out. He knew it was some kind of guitar
from the case, but was totally surprised that it was a Dobro. He had always
wanted one, but couldn’t afford it. He pulled it out of the case and played a
few quick licks on it. There were tears in his eyes as he kissed Maggie. He
told her that he would always treasure her gift to him.

Maggie and Zak held and kissed each other for a while,
until Maggie’s mother knocked on their door and asked them if they wanted some
breakfast before they got ready to go to the church. Reluctantly, they let go
of each other and put on their blue jeans and t-shirts so that they could go
down for breakfast. Maggie was wearing her new earrings, and checked them out
in the mirror over the bureau as she left her bedroom. She was thrilled with
how they looked and was happy that she was marrying such a thoughtful and
generous man.

After they finished their breakfast of waffles and eggs,
they had a couple hours before they had to get ready to go to the church.
Maggie asked Zak if he would come upstairs to her room and look at a song she
was working on. Maggie’s parents exchanged glances briefly, thinking perhaps
this was code for having sex. But no, after a couple of minutes they heard
Maggie and Zak sporadically playing guitar and mandolin. They would play a
couple bars, stop and then play another couple bars. After about half an hour,
they could hear what was starting to sound like a song.

Zak had instantly liked the lyrics that Maggie had shown
him. She hummed the song to him, the way she had imagined it. He started to
play along on the guitar, suggesting a few changes here and there. Then they
finally completed what seemed to be a coherent song. Zak played it through
several times and Maggie joined him on the mandolin. They had been thinking
about playing briefly at the wedding reception, and decided to play this new
song. They would play a couple other songs too, it was their way of communicating
their joy at being joined together in marriage. They would be playing for their
guests, but most of all they would be playing for each other. It was the way
that they expressed their love.

Zak called Spencer to make sure that he was bringing some
of their equipment to the reception, they would need an amplifier and
microphones. Spencer told him not to worry about it, that he would arrange
everything.

Then Zak and Maggie got dressed and went downstairs to
join their families for the ride over to the church. Maggie’s mother briefly
took her aside to give her a gold bracelet that had belonged to her mother. It
was very beautiful, wide and engraved with flowers. Maggie kissed her mother
and thanked her, she was enormously touched by this gift.

At this point, Justin arrived in the Lincoln which he
had decorated with crepe paper and shaving cream. Maggie and Zak laughed, the
car had certainly been through a lot over the last eight months. After a few
photographs of the bride and groom and the families, Maggie and Zak got in the
back seat of the Lincoln and Justin drove them over to the church.

Maggie was so excited that she could barely breathe. The
day was warm and humid which didn’t help matters. Zak was feeling exuberant. 
He was so sure about marrying Maggie and he was glad that they had been able to
overcome their previous problems. It made their marriage seem even more
precious.

It was a beautiful day to get married. The plain white New England church with its tall steeple stood out against the bright blue sky. The roses
in the garden next to the church were still in full bloom. Caleb and Spencer
took their places at the entrance to the church, and escorted everyone to their
seats in the pews. The chapel only held about 60 people, so that didn’t take
too long. Then Zak and Justin took their positions to the side of the altar at
the front of the church. Maggie was extremely glad that they had decided to get
married in the chapel because the aisle was much shorter than in the main part
of the church. She was very nervous and didn’t like the idea of walking down a
long aisle with everyone’s eyes on her. She and Zak had asked the organist to
play Maggie’s favorite hymn while she walked down the aisle, “Jesu, Joy of
Man’s Desiring.” She had always enjoyed that hymn when she used to sing in the
church choir. As she walked down the aisle, Maggie looked into the faces of all
her friends and family and felt so much joy that they were here to witness her
marriage. She walked by the old stone baptismal font and thought of how she and
her father had been christened there, and hoped that someday her child would be
christened there too.

Then she arrived at the altar and Zak took her hand. He
thought that Maggie had never looked more beautiful. She had put her hair up in
a bun and arranged fresh flowers in it. She was wearing the diamond earrings
that Zak had given her and also her grandmother’s gold bracelet.

Vanessa followed after Maggie. Zak and Justin noticed
that she was wearing the same green gown that she had worn the night that they
all met in New Orleans. She looked beautiful too and when she saw Justin she
smiled and winked at him. Vanessa felt that in some way, she and Justin were
partly responsible for this marriage taking place.

The minister waited a moment for everyone to get settled
and then he began the short ceremony. Maggie had told the minister earlier that
she was a little worried about fainting, so she wanted to keep things as short
as possible. Indeed, she started to tremble and her knees were shaking so hard
that she could barely stand. Zak could see her bouquet quivering so he held her
hand even tighter. They then took their vows and declared their love for one
another. Zak took the gold band that he had given to Maggie at their engagement
party and slipped it on her finger. Maggie did not give Zak a wedding ring
because he didn’t like to wear rings, he found them uncomfortable when he
played guitar. Maggie didn’t like to wear rings much either, which was why Zak
had given her earrings for her wedding present.

Maggie and Zak looked deeply into each other’s eyes and
then Zak pulled her close to him and kissed her for a long time. He could feel
her slightly swollen belly against him and was thankful that they would have a
child soon. They finally pulled apart, and looked happily at their guests. They
walked out of the church to enthusiastic applause to start their married life
together.

Maggie and Zak stopped in the small garden that was to
one side of the church so that they could receive the good wishes of their
families and friends. One of Maggie’s brothers had arranged for the church
bells to be rung, announcing the happy occasion to the whole town. Justin shook
Zak’s hand and hugged and kissed Maggie. Vanessa kissed Maggie on the cheek and
wished her good luck. Then Maggie followed the customary tradition of throwing
her bouquet to the women guests, making sure of course that Vanessa caught it.
Vanessa had told her the night before that she was dating a doctor in New Orleans, and was hoping that she would be married also before too long.

Then Maggie and Zak got into the back seat of the Lincoln so that Justin could drive them to the reception at the Hyatt. He had of course
tied the requisite tin cans to the bumper which made Maggie laugh. She told Zak
that it sounded like the Lincoln needed a new muffler. He laughed too and said “I
hope not”, and then kissed her very tenderly. He half-expected Maggie to cry,
but she was too happy. They continued to kiss all the way to the hotel.