Prologue
Frieda looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes roamed the white sleeved dress made of lace. David picked it out. He picked everything out. She looked over at her 5 bridesmaids. They were all part of David’s family, she wanted to have her best friend Acacia her maid of honour, but David told her that it would be improper to have a bridesmaid that wasn’t family. Frieda tried to say that Acacia was family, to her at least, but he wouldn’t hear it. So David’s sister Olivia was her Maid of Honour and his cousins were her bridesmaids. It’s easier to let him have his way than to argue, and Frieda hated arguing. Taking a deep breath, Frieda walked to the doors of the church. When she was a little girl, she dreamed of having her wedding on her grandparents farm. They had a small pond and a wooden dock shaded by a massive oak tree. She used to go down to the pond with her grandfather in her camo rubber boots that he bought for her on the sly, her mother bought her pink sparkly ones, and the two of them would spend hours playing with her dinosaurs that he also smuggled her. It was on that farm that she learned to fish, canoe, shoot, ride, herd cows, garden and gained quite a love of anything prehistoric. That seemed like a million years ago, her grandfather passed away from leukemia when she was 12, her grandmother died in her sleep a week later, and she never set foot on the property again.
The bridal march swelling from the other side of the ornate doors jolted her back to the present. One by one her bridesmaids walked down the aisle, she looked over at her stepfather who was approaching her to walk her to her future. He held his arm out to her and she hesitated before accepting it. Everything was happening so fast, she was only 19, fresh out of high school for goodness sakes. Her stepfather gave a small tug and she forced her feet to move. She looked forward and tilted her chin up a fraction of an inch, just like grandpa taught her, and she glided down the aisle with her hips swaying ever so slightly, just like grandma taught her. Her eyes locked on her destination. David Warton was a nice enough guy, nearly 7 years her senior and could make her feel the size of an ant in one look. To be honest, she wasn’t quite sure why she was marrying him, she did love him, but walking down in between a sea of well dressed people she couldn’t help having a flicker of doubt. Maybe they should have waited a year, maybe she should call this whole thing off, turn around and walk out. She didn’t though, her grandfather’s words swirled through her head transporting her momentarily to her 11 year old self by the pond.
“Freddy, there is nothing you can’t do. Never back down, never quit. Stand your ground kitten,”
So that’s what she did. She continued forward. She didn’t back down. Her stepfather handed her over to her future husband, and David walked her to the altar. The ornately dressed priest opened his mouth and began the ceremony.
“Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of god.”
Frieda half listened more focused on what ever was digging into the side of her chest. Maybe her underwire popped free. Darn it, she shifted uncomfortably, only to be scolded by David squeezing her hand, his nails digging into the back of her hand.
“Frieda Kay, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?”
Frieda responded that she will, her voice loud, articulating every syllable. The priest asked David the same question and his response was the same. A hymn followed, Frieda didn’t really know the words so she sang when she knew the words and moved her mouth around when she didn’t. David turned to her when the hymn ended and took her right hand in his.
“In the name of God, I, David Warren, take you, Frieda Kay, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
David dropped her hand and Frieda took his right hand.
“In the name of God, I, Frieda Kay, take you, David Warren, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
The priest blessed the rings and both Frieda and David placed them on each others left hands saying they will take the other in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. To be honest, Frieda was never really religious, she couldn’t really understand how the bible fit in with the timeline that scientists drew up with the discovery of the early humans. But David insisted on a religious ceremony and she was never one to bash someone else’s world views, so here she was, making a promise to a god she doesn’t believe in. Throughout the whole ceremony Frieda felt like a fraud, like any second someone will stand up and yell that she wasn’t religious and they will kick her out. While she knew it was silly, she was relieved when the priest told David he could kiss her. David turned and took her face in both his hands and lightly brushed his lips against hers. He walked her back down the aisle man and wife and Frieda tried to squash down the disappointment rising inside her. What was that? Wasn’t the first kiss between man and wife supposed to be passionate and deep, not some quick peck? Nevertheless, they were married and she hoped that she did everything just right.
