1. Chapter 1 (2/2)

alfred feels like a child in his suit, as he watches a beautiful woman cross the aisle to meet him at the altar. his heart stutters as she slowly walks there, calmly taking each step, slowly, as if she has all the time in the world. was this what wedding practices led to?

alfred just wants her to step forward and meet him here, as he gets lost in her green eyes as she finally stops before him, smiling up at him. his heart feels as if it will never calm down.

"you are precious, to me." alfred gulps, "you are the calm to my every storm, the quiet to my loud, the woman that keeps me sane." are his words cliche? he knows he should have taken writing classes in preparation. a poetry class might have helped him, he's sure.

"daina, everyday getting to know you as taught me things about myself i never saw before. i am looking forward spending every day getting to fall even more in love with you."

her smile is radiant as she meets his blue eyes, "alfred, i fell in love with you what seems like yesterday, jusr as we slowly got to know each other. you are precious to me, too. i feel almost as if i found myself when i found you. i am looking forward to each day with you, growing closer, and learning together what marriage means."

alfred feels like a water droplet bouncing into a puddle; he has melted into something that feels greater than he is. how did he meet such a wonderful woman? she still strikes a fire into his heart and somehow keeps making him fall even more in love with her, just by being who she is.

alfred can barely

eathe when moments later, he finally proclaims daina as his wife as she proclaims him as her husband as well. when he leans down, his heart goes back to stuttering, and she leans up on tiptoes, heels making her much closer to his height.

when they meet in the middle, he hasn't stumbled and accidentally kissed her nose, her lips are soft against his and gentle. he's back into melting against the puddle again as his heart seems to beat with every gentle

eath between them as they press closer and savor the quiet intimacy of sharing a kiss, though there is an audience behind them that erupts in cheers before alfred can even feel halfway done with kissing his wife.

he pulls away and looks at their family and friends, and he realizes that all of these people are gathered here to support them, because they believe that alfred and daina have something special that will really last forever. his heart swells with affection, and he suddenly pulls his wife into his arms and spins her around before swooping in for another kiss.

daina laughs against his lips, perfectly relaxed with his spontaneity, and the cheering stops as their wedding guests look at them a bit strangely, but alfred doesn't mind the weird looks. he's up here with daina, and they are married today before god and before all of their family and friends.

"alfred," daina guides him over to the table, and he glances down at mostly american dishes or at the very least, food he recognizes, though a few he does not. "i want to show you something."

"yeah?" he's looking at soup and dark colored

ead, and he isn't entirely sure what he should be looking at.

"this." she motions at the dark

ead, and her husband just stares.

daina shakes her head with a smile, "it's juoda duona. my family's a bit traditional."

"traditional, how?" alfred couldn't help asking, wondering if somehow he failed at dating her. was he never supposed to kiss her before their wedding?

"it's a traditional food to serve at weddings or while honoring special guests." she smiled up at him, "and so, we have it. would you like some?"

"of course." alfred answered, unsure of what to really think as she sliced them some pieces and they moved on from that spot of the table.

when they were finally sitting down, and he took a bite, he paused. it was both sweet and sour; it did not lack flavor, and he couldn't help but glance over at his wife, as calmly and as contently, she was eating her slice.

just, it seemed perfect, and admittingly, he already wanted a second slice despite not finishing his first one yet. perhaps, it represented just how beautiful marriage will be, how there are sour moments when they will be upset with each other and yet there will also be sweet moments, where every moment is cherished beyond pretty much anything else.

maybe, it shows that through it all, they'll always go right back to each other and be just the supports that the other person needs. either way, alfred relaxed and let his heart sing a little happy tune in his chest as he looked over at his wife and knew that somehow this moment was just another beginning to even greater moments.