Rosaceae

The letters in this sentence forming these words are my song. This book is my story, and this is a record of her glory engraved within the four cornerstones that my soul pillars upon. Luscious lips underlined with a wine-colored lipstick, all imaginary utopian splendors smiling within a crystal ball, are glittering lights beneath the apples of her eyes. Wonderfully written soprano sonnets, dripping with romantic intonations, and composed by pleasant-sounding musical notes that echo every good-morrow across a celestial city, denote a melodious silhouette of her loveliness.

Rosaceae is her precious name—a beautifier given name that beautifies a chromatic earthling and embellishes the picturesque crayon creature she is.

Eroded roses smile at her sighting—pasty-faced romance roads ashen from aged love glow and rusty rods sparkle gold.

Sweet maroon sounds of glorious monsoon, tuneful carols of a blessed typhoon, and moonshine sonorous ripples of blissful seas are peachy-perfect tones of her pretty voice. Roh-ZAY-see, is the proper name pronunciation of this pleasing cherub, and the saccharine seraph of mine. Roh-ZAY-see is my solely and solemnly beloved sweetheart, who’s alike a silent portrait of a smoldering star portrayed with rays of smiling sunshine, shining within a bluish suburban sunrise.

Rosaceae is her Christian name. Rosa, Rosita-Rose, are her surnames, sweetly as sanctifying sounds of many Roman Catholic bells, ringing like souls of silent seas and soaring angels singing stylishly in oneness—sing-songs of soothing symbols and striking insignias that perfect the heavenly splendors, songs of heavenly beauty that emanate daily from Rosa’s features and Rosita-Rose’s affectionate nature.

All the winged creatures in divine glory know about her fineries. They say she is dovely, like a lovely blue crystal found in a garden of purifying purple pearls. She is like a room shrouded in moonlight, a flavorful seed that has blossomed into a full-fledged moonlit rosette flower. She is the light of my life, my soon-to-be wife, my favorite ray of sunshine, and the pedestal of my love.

“Hmm, finally . . .” a gentleman, an inch taller than myself, said entering the chapel. I followed behind him. “The hour has come.” “Levi, Leviticus Lee” are the names written on top of the gentleman’s birth certificate. His face bears facial features resembling mine, for he is a line attached to my lineage, and a soul cut from the same cloth as myself.

“My heart is killing me. It is beating very fast right now,” I said, walking down the aisle, not minding the people hunting for available seats inside the chapel. “My palms are sweating bullets.”

“What, are you nervous?”

“Of course. I am feeling every emotion right now—fear, nervous, excitement, thrill, dread—everything. It is like all the emotions in the world are weighing on my soul.”

“Well, Ace,” Levi tapped my shoulder, “just hang in there.”

“Just hang in there? L, I’m about to pass out, and that’s your motivational speech? Is that the best you can do to uplift my spirit?”

“I don’t know what to say, or what you would want to hear. I have never been married before.” We arrived at the altar. “Besides, I’m just as nervous as you are.”

“You are? Why is that so?”

“It’s for me who Mom and Dad would get out of their graves to scorn if this day goes south. If things don’t go as planned, I have a feeling it will just be like always—the older brother’s fault.”

“Don’t speak like that!” I rebuked.

“Like what?”

“Negativity. You may jinx my wedding day,” I said, standing in front of the altar and facing the cross. “This day will be phenomenal. It must be, for Rosaceae and Kai, for Mom and Dad, for you too, Levi, and for everyone who is gathered here today.”

“Phenomenal?”

“Yes. I want this day to be not just my wedding day, but escapism for everyone here. It should be a bridge to a different world minus any sorrow and suffering, and all other negative aspects of life.”

“But happiness? You want everyone to be overwhelmed by joy like it’s everyone’s wedding day?”

“Yes. That is what I want.”

“I know. You have said it over a thousand times, just this week alone.”

“Well, because,” I declared, “it will happen.”

“Pa.” I heard a soft voice whispering from behind my back, with the voice escorted by a gentle pull on my suit jacket. “We are three minutes away from starting,” Kai informed me. Ever since the day of the proposal, he has been my human countdown clock, ready to alert me when this day arrives. Kai is like a squab and a pigeon, a songbird that is standing on the edge of two diverged roads of growth, confused about which path to take.

“Where are your crutches?”

“I left them outside when I entered the chapel. They don’t go well with this suit.”

“Gentlemen don’t walk on crutches when they are wearing suits,” Levi said. “Even if they are bedridden.”

“Well, will you not collapse onto the ground without your crutches?” I asked.

“I will be sitting down for almost every second of the wedding ceremony, except for the part where I have to bring the rings toward the priest, Pa,” Kai said. “I can survive without crutches.”

“Alright . . . do you have the wedding rings on you?”

“Yes, inside my suit jacket.”

“What about the wedding gift? Did you put it where I told you?”

“Yes, I did. It is inside the glove compartment of the car, right?” Kai verified.

“Yes, and great work, partner.” We fist-bumped. “Now, go to your seat before your legs give up and you fall down.”

“Righto.”

“Let’s go over this one more time,” Levi said. “Rosaceae is going to walk through the doors, down the aisle, and stop underneath these steps. Then, I’m going to grab her hand and walk her up the altar toward you?”

“Yes, that’s the plan.”

“Here, where I’m standing now, is where she will be standing. She will take my place, and then I will go and sit there, between Kai and Auntie Scarlet.”

“Yes, that’s what you’re supposed to do. If you hadn’t missed a lot of rehearsal hours, you would be clear on what you are supposed to do.”

“I had a trial to win. Oh, there he is,” Levi said, eyeing toward the east side of the chapel. “The man who is ordained by God to ordain this day.”

A priest emerged from a secret path in front of the chapel, walking toward the altar. At the sighting of his clerical collar, the cloudbursts of voices in the chapel dimmed into shushing whispers, and then quickly faded into a curious sea of silence. “Son,” the priest said, directing his words toward me, “how are you?”

“I’m good, sir.”

“Is everyone and everything ready? Should I begin?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay.” The priest gazed over the gathering inside the chapel, demanding everyone’s attention without saying a word. “I welcome you all here today, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, on behalf of Ace, Aieen Lee, and Rosaceae, Rosa, Rosita-Rose. I thank you all for coming. May the blessings of this anointed day fall upon you all, your children, and your grandchildren.” The priest rose his hand into the air, and the doors of the chapel opened.

Suddenly, a sweet fragrance of a seraphic perfume cleansed the mood within the chapel. An aura of a fluorescent sunflower besieged every inch of the oratory, with glistening rays of lights thrusting through the doorways of the chapel. A pleasing presence of a moonlit rosette flower stalked the atmosphere within the chapel, and every head turned. Like a comet surfacing from within a commotion of a starry filled night sky, as a sunrise surfacing within a suburban cloud, Rosaceae appeared at the peak of the aisle, glowing as if she had consumed sunshine, swallowed starlight, and devoured moonlight.

At her sighting, a massive smile incarcerated my cheekbones. I held my breath in astonishment of her panoramic view dancing within my eyesight, like a headlight of sweet sensations. Goosebumps and chills embraced my soul, and my fingers shivered. I shook my head, experiencing a comfy heat grazing beneath my feet.

“Wow,” I whispered underneath my breath. “She looks beautiful.”

She stood for a split of a second at the genesis of the aisle, statured in ethereal beauty, with her face covered in a clean white veil, and her eyes blazing like scarlet marbles swarming beneath a sea of exotic crystals. A shining crown broadcasting a bride’s royalty sat onto her head, with a silhouette of her gorgeous smile delineated onto the facade of her veil, defying the laws of logic and physics.

She began walking down the aisle, with her wedding gown sweeping the floor of the chapel. Music broke loose within the atmosphere, and singing notes danced to the rhythm of her walking strides. Her eyes glided down the aisle and fell upon my own.

Our eyes met, and my blood cells exploded inside my bones, as if fireworks had gone berserk within my veins. I felt the temperature of my body increasing a stride beyond the reach of a thermometer, with feverish chills enslaving every inch of hair found onto the sleeves of my arms. She stopped walking underneath the steps toward the altar, holding a bouquet within her hands, and the aroma of her sweet aura propelled me inside a trance of neon candlelight clouds.

“Ace . . . Ace!”

“Yes,” I snapped back to reality. “What?”

“Now?”

“Hmm, yes, now.”

“Alright.”

Levi walked down the steps of the altar, and then guided Rosaceae onto it. Suddenly, the smile on my face silently widened from ear to ear. I reached for her veil, and all the muscles on my fingers shivered. Butterflies fluttered within my stomach, and my heart raced around my soul. I unveiled her face, and my eyes gasped in awe of her heavenliness, with my head bobbing in adoration of her loveliness, as a thrilled rocking chair.

“Honey,” I looked at her with hungry eyes, craving to taste the flavor of her lipstick, “you look beautiful.”

“Well, thank you,” she said. “You look stunning yourself, handsome, and beautiful too.”

“Wow, I’m really in loss of words . . . It’s like, I’m seeing an angel in person. I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Me too, honey,” the smile onto her face brightened. “I can’t believe that you’re mine, either,” she said with gentleness, and then faced the priest.

The priest cruised through the opening prayers of the wedding ceremony, and then Levi read a Biblical passage that kai had preselected. Thus, a short sermon stressing marriage began. But throughout the priest’s whole preaching, the magnetic presence of a pleasant princess standing beside me refused to let me be in peace. Rosaceae’s presence took hold of my essence, pulling my conscious piece by piece every second, back into a trance of neon candlelight clouds.

Swift and sudden, time flew over my head as I wandered across a foreign land, covered with ever imaginary utopian splendor—deeply lost inside the apples of her eyes. Through the madness of my senses, I heard the priest order the congregation to stand, for the taking of the vows.

“Dearly beloved,” the priest said, “as we gather here today in God’s sight, to join this man and this woman together, let it all be done in honesty. Thus, if anyone here has a reason why this man and this woman shouldn’t lawfully be joined together in holy matrimony, speak now, or else hereafter, forever hold your peace.”

“Honey,” Rosaceae whispered to me, “when I occasionally look at you, you seem as if you’re daydreaming; are you alright?”

“No, I’m not alright. Your presence is biting me; my heart is about to explode,” I whispered back to her, and a smile formed onto her face. “You look lovely, intimidating gorgeously. I bet the stars will be ashamed to come out tonight—”

“Eh-huh,” she bumped a shoulder into me. “Stop it; I can’t handle praises right now.”

“It’s all facts. I’m burning up; right now, I’m partially inside a warm trance of your presence’s doing.”

“Honey,” she blushed, “stop lying inside a church.”

“I’m serious. I’m—”

“Stop complimenting me; I’m already flattered being married, filled with butterflies to the brim, but you’re making them giggle within my insides. Stop it with your praises, or I will overdose onto too much joy and pass out.”

“I am just—”

“Ahem,” the priest cleared his throat, demanding our attention. “I ask that both of you, to answer this question truthfully, as you would at the end of time, the day of judgment. If either of you knows any encumbrance to why you two shouldn’t be lawfully wedded here today, do now confess it, or forever hold your peace.”

“No, sir.”

“No, sir.”

“Marvelous,” the priest said. “Ace, Aieen Lee, will you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in peace with her throughout all the courses of time, according to God’s divine law in the purity of marriage, to love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her to yourself in sickness and in health, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?”

“I will.”

“Rosaceae, Rosa, Rosita-Rose, will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in peace with him throughout all the courses of time, according to God’s divine law in the purity of marriage, to love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him to yourself in sickness and in health, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?”

“I will.”

“Marvelous,” the priest said, and then asked, “Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?”

“We,” all the ladies in the congregation said. “Do!”

“Who giveth this man to be married to this woman?”

“We,” all the gentlemen in the congregation said. “Do!”

“Marvelous.” The priest gently carried Rosaceae’s hand, and placed it inside my hand. “Please, proceed.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “I, Ace Aieen Lee, take you Rosaceae, Rosa, Rosita-Rose,” I said, looking deep inside Rosaceae’s eyes, with electricity coursing through my veins, seeing paradise stained in the corners of her sight, and foreseeing our future inside her pupils, covered with flashing flowers, “to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worst,” my lips trembled with my every word. Joy overflowed within my heart and physically displayed onto my face in the shape of a smile, “for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish through every season of life, till death do us apart, and thereto I pledge myself to you.”

We shifted our hands, and she flashed a delightful smile toward me. “I, Rosaceae, Rosa, Rosita-Rose,” she said in a cheerful voice sprinkled with rays of sunshine, “take you Ace, Aieen Lee, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold . . .” Suddenly, the excitement within her voice grew dim. “From this day forward, for better for worst, for richer, for poorer . . .” Her eyes wandered over my shoulders, looking at Kai as he began walking sluggishly toward the priest. “In sickness and in health, to love . . . and to cherish . . . through every season of life.” Then her eyes rolled off Kai, and looked at my face. “Till death do us apart; thereto I pledge myself to you.”

“Hey, focus—”

“Honey,” she squeezed my hand, and whispered back to me, “why is he walking without his crutches?” She took a glimpse where Kai had been sitting, and her face immediately changed into a sea of worries. “And where are his crutches?”

“He left them outside.”

“Outside . . . why?”

“Apparently, it’s very uncool for a gentleman to walk with crutches, while wearing a suit.”

“Eh-huh, uncool my foot; why did you let him get away with it? Safety is not supposed to be sexy—”

“Don’t worry; he will be fine walking without crutches, for a second or so. He is a warrior—”

“Hey . . . Kai,” she whispered at Kai, as he finished handing the wedding rings to the priest. “Where are your crutches?”

“Ma, don’t worry; I’m fine,” Kai said, walking back toward his seat. “I don’t need them for now.”

“‘Ma, don’t worry, I’m fine’,” she looked at me, mimicking Kai’s voice. “What’s wrong with that kid?”

“Honey, just relax,” I said smiling at her mimicking skills. “Don’t worry; he is a warrior—”

“A warrior?”

“Yes, he can survive without crutches for—”

“Ahem, ahem,” the priest cleared his throat, demanding us to stop talking and drift our focus back toward the flow of the ceremony. “Heavenly Father, bless these rings and grant grace and strength, to the one who gives it, and the one who receives it,” the priest prayed over the rings. “So that they may all remain faithful to one another, abiding together in your perfect peace and your favor, as they both live together in love until their time expires onto this earth. Our heavenly Father, glory be to your holy name, through Christ, our Lord, and Savior, I pray, amen.”

I reached my hand into the folder that the priest was officiating the wedding ceremony with, and withdrew from it a ring. I held Rosaceae’s hand, and my heart performed a series of jumping jacks inside my chest, with all the hairs onto my skin standing upright.

“My love, today,” I said, “I give you this ring as a gift of my whole self to you, wear it with joy; wear it knowing that I love you, cherish you, and honor you as a place of worship, a shrine of my love.” I felt a warm breeze encircling my heart, and I trembled with sweet sensation. “May this ring symbolize my everlasting love for you, and forever remind you that you’re the stars within my soul, a rapturous song of my heartbeat. Rosa, may this ring always remind you that you’re my favorite sunshine, my life, my precious friend, my sidekick, and my lawfully wedded wife.”

“Sure,” she said. “It will do.”

“Marvelous,” I said, mimicking the priest’s speech and mannerism, and winning a smile of approval from Rosaceae, but a head shake and a frown from the priest. “Proceed.”

She held onto my hand smiling. “Ace, I give you this ring today, as a visible symbol of my invisible love that I have for you, eternal love. Upon this ring, I promise to always be by your side, and never part from within your grasp.” She slid the ring onto my finger. “I promise to always comfort you in your days of discomfort, and be a seasoned cozy reason that will keep you warm in your seasons of sorrow. Tomorrow, I promise to love you better than I did today, and love you even more, every morrow. Honey, wear this ring with pride, love, and joy, knowing that I will forever love you for an eternity, past the end of time.”

“For an eternity, past the end of time?”

“Yes, even in eternity, my love for you will forever be everlasting.”

“Honey, seasoned cozy reason, seasons of sorrow, morrow; wow, who do you think you are, Shaka Zulu’s spear?” I asked. “You just wanted your ring vow to out stage my ring vow, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I will admit that,” she smiled softly. “But I was also speaking from the bottom of my heart; I meant everything that I said.”

“It’s not fair that I had to go first; I bet if I were before you, I would have done better than you—”

“Dear, it’s not a competition; I dearly loved your ring vow.”

“I don’t care; I want a redo—”

“Ahem, ahem, ahem,” the priest interrupted us, pulling us out of our world and back to the reality of the wedding ceremony. “Throughout this whole wedding ceremony, this man and this woman have vowed, in our presence and in the presence of God, to be faithful, bearing, and loving toward each other,” the priest continued. “To be loving in health and in sickness, to bear one another’s burdens, to be faithful in good and bad times alike; furthermore, they both have furthered their spoken vows with the exchanging of rings. So, let no one put asunder, those whom God has joined together. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I pronounce you husband and wife . . . Groom, you may now kiss your bride.”

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