PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Fifty-Three
Rose stood at the base of the hill, clutching
her bouquet. The scents of the flowers wafted up in the warm breeze, soothing
her somewhat. Still, she wasn’t sure that she would get through the ceremony.
Everything is wrong, Rose suddenly thought in a panic. Whoever heard of
holding a wedding out in the hills? Everyone had found their way to the
site without trouble, but she still felt anxious. It was too warm and windy for
a wedding, though the temperature was only eighty degrees and the breeze was
gentle. Everything was a disaster waiting to happen. Someone would get
heatstroke, or get bitten by a rattlesnake. Her wedding gown was all wrong. It
should have been pure white, as Helga had suggested, and she should have had a
veil instead of a flower and pearl headdress. She should have made a new
bridesmaid gown for Sophie, rather than having her wear the same dress she had
worn for Helga’s wedding. She should never have talked Helga into being her
matron of honor. A bride wasn’t supposed to have a pregnant attendant. And what
bride was given away by her grandmother? She should have left well enough alone
and walked up the trail by herself, since she didn’t have a father to escort
her.
She looked up the hill to where Jack and
Tommy were standing near the minister. Everything is wrong, she thought,
except for my choice of husband. In that, she knew that she had made the
right decision. Jack looked handsome in his tuxedo, though she could tell from
way he occasionally tugged at his collar that he was a bit nervous himself.
“Jeez, Rose.”
Rose turned at the sound of Sophie’s hushed
voice. “What?”
“You really are nervous, aren’t you?”
“I’m fine,” Rose lied, looking up the trail
at Jack again. Watching him made her feel better.
“Your flowers are moving.”
“My flowers?” Rose looked at her bouquet. It
seemed steady enough to her.
“On your head,” Sophie whispered.
Rose reached up and touched her head,
realizing that the flowers in her headdress were indeed swaying with each beat
of her heart.
“I guess I am a little nervous,” she
confessed.
“A little?” Helga remarked. “If I didn’t know
better, I’d swear you were suffering from heart trouble.”
Rose laughed, relaxing a little. “Beating
flowers! What next?”
“Your walk up the trail,” Kathleen told her,
as David pushed the button on the CD player and the music began. Rose’s eyes
widened.
“You’ll be fine,” Helga assured her as she
started up the trail.
The others watched for a moment before Sophie
gave Rose a quick hug and followed Helga. When she reached the hilltop,
Kathleen took Rose’s arm.
“Ready?” she asked her granddaughter.
Rose nodded, trying to slow her pulse. It
wouldn’t do to faint on the trail and have to be carried to the hilltop.
As they stepped onto the trail, Kathleen gave
Rose’s hand a reassuring squeeze. Rose smiled in spite of herself. She was
nervous, but she was happy. It was her wedding day, the day she had dreamed of
since she had been a little girl. Her engagement to Cal had turned the dream
into a nightmare, but now she had awakened to a much happier reality. No longer
believing in fairytale stories of happily ever after, she still knew that this
time she had made the right choice. Life would never be perfect, but she didn’t
want the perfect life that so many people strove towards. She had a good life,
and she was marrying the man that she loved. Whatever happened in their lives,
whatever triumphs and tragedies they experienced, they would always have each
other.
Rose looked up at Jack as she walked up the
trail towards him. He smiled back at her, and she suddenly forgot her worries
and her trepidation over the ceremony. Everything is all right, his eyes
seemed to say, and suddenly Rose agreed with him. It was a beautiful afternoon,
and the guests watched her in admiration as she walked up the trail in her
flowing chiffon gown.
As she reached the hilltop, Jack held his
hand out to her. Stepping away from Kathleen, Rose took his hand, her face
lighting in a bright smile as she handed her bouquet to Sophie and came to
stand beside him.
As David turned off the CD player and the
guests turned their attention toward the hilltop, Reverend Kilpatrick asked, “Who
gives this woman to be married to this man?”
Kathleen stepped forward, looking at her
granddaughter with pride. “I do.” She stepped back, coming to stand beside one
of Rose’s aunts.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here this
day...”
Jack and Rose turned to face the minister. He
gave a short sermon about the love and trust between husband and wife, and then
began the words that would join Jack and Rose.
“Do you, Jack Dawson, take this woman to be
your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love, honor, and cherish, for
better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until
death do you part?”
Jack responded without hesitation. “I do.” He
looked into Rose’s eyes as he said the words, remembering how much they had
gone through to get to this point.
Reverend Kilpatrick turned to Rose. “Do you,
Rose DeWitt-Bukater, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have
and to hold, to love, honor, and cherish, for better or for worse, for richer
or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
Rose looked at Jack as she, too, remembered
what they had gone through together. But they had resolved their troubles, no
matter how hard it had been, and she knew that they would do the same in the
future. Everything would be all right, and she smiled as she, too, said the
words without hesitation. “I do.”
Tommy handed them the rings, and Jack slipped
Rose’s ring on her finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
Rose repeated his words, slipping his ring
onto his finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
“If there are any here who see cause why
these two should not be joined together, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Rose held her breath, half-worried that
someone would speak out. But no one did. Jack smiled at her as the minister
began the final words.
“What God hath joined together, let no man
put asunder. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss the bride.”
They turned toward each other, their lips
meeting in a kiss of love and promise. At last, they broke apart and turned to
face their guests.
The guests applauded as David turned the CD
player on and the music once again rang out. Hand in hand, Jack and Rose walked
back down the trail, followed by Sophie, Helga, and Tommy. The newlyweds
clasped hands tightly, reveling in the joy of the occasion, as they made their
way back to the street and headed for home.