With the convertible, we didn’t even have to get out of the car. So, the four of us sat in the car. I was cuddled up with Amy, and Maria and Mark were cuddled together in the back seat. As we waited for the show to start, I whispered to Amy, “It looks like it’s gotten a little more serious between Maria and Mark.”

“It has.”, Amy whispered back. “Maria thinks he just might be the one.”

As the fireworks started, I pulled Amy closer. After the show, we took Maria and Mark home. Then we headed to Amy’s house. As we usually did, during good weather, we sat in the driveway for a little while before going inside.

As we sat in the car, in an almost a whisper, Amy asked, “Honey. When can we do it?”

“Do it? We already do it.”, I asked.

“No, silly. Not that. Get married.”

“Really?”

“I’m ready. I want to be with you all the time. To go to sleep with you, and wake up with you. I’m more than ready to be Mrs. Young.”

I looked at Amy. And there were tears in her eyes.

“Honey. Why the tears?”, I asked.

“I don't know. For some reason, I just feel so alone .”

“Alone? You’re not alone. You have me.”

“Not all the time. There are times I wake up and want to cuddle with you, and you're not there.”

“I know. Cuddling with you at night while we were at Polly’s wedding, and during that blizzard was wonderful. I think the more I laid there and held you, the more I fell in love with you if that’s even possible.

“Would I love to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning. Oh God yes.

“We’re both only nineteen. Both still in college. Are we ready for this?”

“I just know how safe I feel in your arms. I want to feel that every night, to feel that everything is perfect. When I lived with you and your parents for those few months, just knowing you were across the hall made me feel good.

“I know how happy Polly and Brad are. Not to mention Mary and her husband.”

“This has been on your mind for a while. Hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Since Polly’s wedding?”

“No. Before that. But that made me realize that I was ready.”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“You want to do this. Don’t you?”

She looked at me, smiled, and just said, “Yes.”

“Do you think that we need to talk with someone.”

“Who?”

“Maybe my mother. She understands how we feel about each other, and has always been someone that I could easily talk with.”

“Or, maybe both of our mothers.”

“Yeah. We could do that. And that might be better.”

“There’s something else we’d have to figure out.”, Amy said.

“What’s that?”

“Where we would live.”

“Right. I’ll bet married student housing is already full for fall quarter. And I know that they give preference to masters and doctoral students.”

“We're both working part-time. We might be able to find an off-campus apartment cheap. I could drop out of school for … ”

I cut her off with, “No way! You are not dropping out of school. It’s too important to you. You’ve always wanted this. So, no way are you doing it.”

She cuddled up closer, and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too. Why don’t we talk about this later, after we discuss other things with our mothers?”

The next day, in the early afternoon, my mother, Amy's mother, Amy, and I, were sitting on the patio of a nice restaurant that Amy's mother suggested. Since it was just after lunchtime, there were only a few other people on the patio, so we were almost alone.

We were sitting there, and our mothers were drinking coffee and Amy, and I were sipping on soft drinks. No one was saying anything.

Finally, my mother said, “All right you two. What's this all about?”

Amy and I looked at each other, and I said, “Go on honey.”

Amy took my hand, squeezed it, then looking at our mothers, said, “Mom and, ... ah … mom. We feel that it’s time.”

“Honey. Time for what?”, Amy’s mother asked. But I think she knew.

“Time that ... that Tommy and I were married.”

My mother looked at Amy’s mother, and said, “Told you so.”

“You were right Jean.”, Amy’s mother said. “So, you two think that you’re ready for this step?”

“Yes.”, Amy said. “Tommy and I have talked about it. We want to be together. I know we already spend a lot of time together, but saying goodnight and being separated is very hard. We know that we’re only eighteen, but we’ll both be nineteen real soon.”

Both of our mothers were smiling, and my mother said, “Kids. We were wondering when this was going to happen. You are still young, but we both feel that you are mature enough to marry.”

Amy and I looked at each other. Then looking back at our mothers, and I said, “You’re ... You’re all right with us going ahead with this?”

“Honey.”, Amy’s mother said. “We’ve been expecting this ever since Tom gave you a ring. We figured that it wouldn’t take you two very long to reach this point. We love both of you very much. When do you want to do this?”

Amy and I looked at each other in disbelief, and then Amy, with a cute little smile, said, “Yesterday.”

“I know honey. We just can't turn the clock back. In fact, I don't think we can even get it done this summer. I know we'd be taking a chance on the weather, but Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year. So, maybe the Saturday between Christmas and New Years would be the earliest we could do it. Or, looking at this realistically, next summer.”

“If I have to wait until next summer, I honestly think I'd talk Tommy into eloping.”, Amy said. “With a winter ceremony, I think I'd worry too much about the weather. Besides, I'd love to have an outdoor ceremony.”

“When does fall quarter start?”, my mother asked.

“The last Monday of September.”, I replied.

“Jean.”, Amy’s mother said. “If we all work quickly. We might just get this done before then.”

“We might.”, my mother replied. “Amy. Honey. How big of a wedding were you thinking about?”

“I don’t want a big wedding.”, Amy replied. “Maybe a maid of honor, and two bride’s maids. And family and close friends.”

“How about the reception?”

“I’d love it to be in the park at the big pavilion.”

“So, you don’t want a meal or anything like that.”

“Just a wedding cake. Maybe some music for dancing. I don’t care about how many people are there, as long as both of our families are.”

“How about this.”, my mother said. “We hold the wedding ceremony at the big pavilion, and then have the reception there, maybe using both the lodge and pavilion. With the pavilion and lodge being together, it should work even if it rains.”

“It better not rain.”, Amy said.

I listened to these three women planning this wedding. It was like they were on a mission, and I guess they were. I think I’m glad that I’m not a girl. It was, reserve the pavilion and lodge, see if a local printer can get the invitations printed quickly, find someone to make the cake, get the license, get the minister, hire a photographer, order the flowers, and on, and on, and on. I think I’m going to hide until this is all over.

Then Amy, in an almost panic, said, “What about my dress!?”

Her mother looked at her, and said, “Honey. You’ve seen the pictures of my wedding gown.”

“Sure mom.”, Amy replied. “And I loved it.”

“It’s in storage. Would you like to wear it?”

“Really!”

“Yes.”

“Oh, mom. Yes! I'd love to wear it.”

“It might take a little alteration. But that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“What about the bride's maid's dresses?”

“Who were you thinking of asking?”

“I’ve already mentioned something to Maria about being my maid of honor. I was thinking of asking Tommy’s Cousin Mary, and maybe Polly. If she isn’t too far along.”

“Too far along!”, my mother asked. “Is she pregnant?”

“Yes. She found out just before the wedding.”

“How far along is she?”

“Maybe a month or a little more.”

“She’ll be showing by the end of September, but it won’t be much.

“How about we let them pick out their dresses with a little guidance. They’ll do a much better job than Polly’s mom did.”

I sat there for the next hour and listened to them plan a wedding that had to come together by the end of September. I’m glad all I had to do, was rent a tuxedo and show up.

Then, they asked me who I’d thought about for my groomsmen? “Well.”, I said. “Maybe ask Larry to my best man. Amy’s brother Billy, and maybe Mark Roberts, since he and Maria are dating.”

“Okay.”, Amy's mother said. “We have the basics down. I'll take care of the minister, getting the cake, and Amy's dress. Jean, you take care of the lodge and pavilion and see about getting invitations printed. Amy, you need to call Maria, Mary, and Polly. Tom, you need to get a hold of Larry, Billy, and Mark.

“We all need to work on who we need to send invitations to.

“And Amy and Tom you also have to get the license.”

After saying she knew a printer that owed her a favor, my mother went home. Amy, her mother, and I went back to their house. As we walked in, Amy's father was sitting in the living room reading. Amy's mother just said, “Fred. We're having a wedding at the end of September.”

“Huh.”, Amy’s dad said.

“The kids are getting married at the end of September.”

“Ah okay. Do I have to be there?”

“Daddy!”, Amy said. “You’d better be there.”

“Oh. Okay. If I must, what brought all of this on?”

“The kids just decided that it was time. And Tom’s mother and I agreed.”, Amy’s mother said.

“I guess that’s as good of a reason as any other.”

“Daddy!”, Amy said.

“Sorry honey. I was wondering when this was going to happen.”

All I can say is over the next few weeks were crazy. Though somehow it was all coming together.

How my mother ever found someone to print the invitations that quickly, I’ll never know. Once we had the location and date set, and the minister was on board, it was only a couple of days before we had an assembly line going. My mother, Amy’s mother, and Amy were addressing the envelopes. My dad, Amy’s dad, Billy, and me, were putting everything into the envelope, the invitation, the RSVP card, the pre-addressed stamped RSVP envelope, and instructions to the park. Licking two stamps, and the envelope.

The licking of the envelopes and stamps became old very quickly. Someone finally found damp sponges for each of us, and that helped.

At final count, we had addressed eighty-two invitations. Plus there was going to be some personally handed out.

“Mom.”, I asked. “How many people are coming?”

“I don’t know, but some won’t be able to come, especially those from out-of-town. So, maybe a hundred or so. We won’t know until the RSVP cards are returned.”, my mom replied.

“That many?”

“Yes, honey.”

“Oh.”

I’m not going to bore you with any more of the craziness that went on. And it was crazy. One thing that Amy and I decided was that we weren’t going to have a bachelor's or bachelorette’s party. And at some point in all of this craziness, Amy and I turned nineteen.

Amy got a big kick out of me pouting every time she went to the seamstress to have her dress worked on. She wouldn’t let me go with her. Something about it being bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony.

The night before the wedding, we had a group of people meet at the lodge, and decorate it for the reception. Someone else was doing the shelter, on Saturday morning, for the wedding.

As we were finishing at the lodge, Amy kissed me, and said, “See you tomorrow, lover.”

“Huh.”, I said. “Where are you going?”

“Maria is taking me to my bachelorette party.”

“What!”

“And I’m taking you to your bachelor’s party.”, Larry said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

I don’t know what happened at Amy’s bachelorette party. She never told me. And I'm not putting on paper what went on at my bachelor's party. I don’t want Amy to know.

Well. The big day had finally arrived. Against my better judgment, I let Larry drive the ‘57 Chevy. He was going to use it, as he put it, ‘to carry me to my demise.’ Plus Amy and I would use it after the reception. Also, all the groomsmen were meeting at my house and riding with us to the park.

They’d reserved a couple of parking places, one for me, and four for Amy. Four? Oh well. It is her big day. Larry, Bill, Mark, and I arrived about a half an hour before the ceremony, and I was glad that they had reserved parking places for us. The parking lot, and it’s a big parking lot, had more cars in it then I think I’d ever seen before.

We were holding the ceremony in the pavilion, and Amy, the minister, and I would be standing by the fireplace. I looked at the pavilion, and I couldn't believe all the flowers and decorations. They had moved all of the picnic tables out of the pavilion and replaced them with chairs, and had left a center aisle.

Last night we had set up tables and chairs in the lodge. And we’d left a small place to dance. When I looked in the lodge, there was a small band of maybe five guys setting up. There was a table with eight chairs for the bridal party. And other tables for guests. All of these tables had decorations on them. The bakers had placed our wedding cake on a table. On another table was a fountain for drinks. There was another table by the main door, and it already had some presents on it.

A small wedding? To me, this wasn't a small wedding.

Just before the ceremony was to start, I saw a white limousine pull up and use the other reserved parking spaces. My dad grabbed me, and said, “Okay son. Your mother says it’s time.”

As we had rehearsed last night, I walked to the front, by the fireplace, and stood there with the minister. My groomsmen and a few other of my friends, acting as ushers, had been seating people. I then watched as Larry walked my mother and father down the aisle, then he came and stood next to me. Mark walked Amy's mother down the aisle, then came and stood next to Larry. Then Billy joined us.

Two of the ushers then pulled a white runner down the aisle. The music changed a little. The music? I hadn't even noticed that before. I looked over at my parents, they smiled at me, and I smiled back. Then I saw her. Sitting beside my mother was my Grandmother Devereux. My mother's mother. I hadn't seen her for ... forever. And I don't think she has changed. I didn't know anyone from that side of the family was going to be here. Maybe they planned it as a surprise? Also sitting there next to my grandmother was my mother's two sisters, my Aunt Ginny Haskie and Aunt Ruth Biakeddy.

My Grandmother Devereux and my two aunts live in New Mexico. My parents met in college, were married in New Mexico, and settled back here. Sadly, I rarely saw my grandmother. But when I did, I felt something special between us and I liked being with her. It was special.

Then I looked up the aisle and watched as Polly walked down it. The dresses that the girls had picked for the bride's maids were pretty, they were pink, and each girl carried a bouquet. And you couldn't tell that Polly was pregnant. My Cousin Mary followed Polly down the aisle. They both stood across from their groomsman.

Then Maria walked down the aisle. She looked pretty. Her dress looked like the other two, but it was yellow. Of course, she was carrying a bouquet. And she stood across from Larry.

The music stopped. Seconds later the wedding march started. Everyone stood and looked back up the aisle. I watched as Amy, escorted by her father, slowly, walked down the aisle. God, she is gorgeous. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Her dress was almost as gorgeous as she was. It looked to be silk or satin, and it seemed to be a creamy white. It had long sleeves, a scoop neck, and a short train. And, there was some beading on it. She also was wearing what looked like a necklace of pearls.

She was carrying a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers.

She had a crown of flowers around her head, with the veil that just covered her eyes and nose, attached to it. Her hair was gorgeous. And, her makeup, wow!

As they reached the minister and me, she turned, handed her bouquet to Maria, then turned back to us. As she turned back, the minister asked, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”

As her dad placed her hand into my hand, he said, “Her mother and I do.” I looked at him, he was smiling, but there were tears in his eyes.

The minister went through his service, and Amy and I repeated our vows. Larry handed me the wedding ring and I slipped it onto the ring finger of Amy left hand. Maria then gave Amy my wedding band, and Amy slipped it on my left ring finger.

The minister then said, “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Amy and I were looking at each other. I reached up, lifted the veil from her face, looked into those sparkling blue eyes of hers. She was smiling at me. I took her in my arms, and we kissed. And, it wasn't a short kiss.

When we broke the kiss, the minister had us turn towards everyone, and then he said, “Ladies and gentlemen. I have the pleasure and honor of presenting to you, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bly Young.”

There was a nice round of applause. We, followed by the rest of the bridal party and our parents, walked up the aisle and into the lodge. We set up a receiving line, of Amy's parents, Amy, me, my parents, and the rest of the bridal party.

As we waited for the first people, Amy pulled on a delicate chain necklace that was around her neck, and I saw her engagement ring on it. She removed the ring from the necklace, handed it to me, and said, “I didn’t take this off until just before I walked down the aisle. Please put my ring back on my finger.” I slipped the ring back on next to her wedding band.

The first through the receiving line were Amy’s grandparents. And, then my Grandmother Devereux, and two aunts. I watched as my grandmother hugged Amy, and whispered something to her. When she walked up to me, I gave her a big hug, and she said so that Amy could hear it, “Thomas. You are one lucky man to have such a beautiful wife.”

“Thank you, Grandma,”, I replied. “I know how lucky I am. And, I'm really happy that you, Aunt Ginny, and Aunt Ruth could make it.”

“We wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”

“I wish we lived closer to you.”

“I know. So, do I.”

“You and that lovely bride of yours, come and talk to me when you have time.”

“We will, grandma. Go and enjoy yourself.”

My aunts and I greeted each other very warmly.

We continued with the receiving line. I’ve had no idea how many people were here, but it was a lot. When we were finished with the receiving line, the photographer, who I hadn’t paid much attention to, grabbed the bridal party, our parents, and grandparents, and took us back to the patio. He spent some time taking posed pictures.

When we were back at the lodge, we did the brides dance, and of course, after I'd danced with Amy for only a short time, her father broke in. Then my dad. And, then Larry, then Mark, and even Billy danced with Amy.

We cut the cake and made a mess of each other's faces. Then we did things that a bride and groom do. Kiss, wander around talking to people, kiss, pose for pictures, kiss, dance, kiss, eat cake, kiss, and kiss some more. And eat more cake.

We were finally able to sit for a little while. Then Amy said, “Honey. I’d love to get some pictures at the lake.”

“Well.”, I said. “There is a shortcut from here to the lake.”

“Really. How far is it?”

“Only about a hundred yards or so. Part of the trail goes through a stand of pine trees. But in the shoes you’re wearing, I wouldn’t attempt it.”

She whispered, “You’d love to wear these shoes. Wouldn’t you?”

“You know it, lover.”, I whispered back.

“I do have a pair of flats with me. Would that work?”

I found the photographer and told him what we would like to do. And, he said it wouldn't be a problem. Then, I grabbed the microphone, told everyone where we'd be going, and that we'd be right back.

The whole bridal party and our parents headed down the short trail to the lake. I carried Amy's heels, as she held up her dress. This path wasn't well used but was an easy walk. Then the photographer took a number of pictures of us at our favorite spot. And, yes the Eagles were there.

We stayed at the reception for an hour after we were back from the lake. Then we went through the usual goodbyes. Amy tossed her bouquet, and Maria caught it.

We ran out to the ‘57 Chevy through a line of people, and they all were tossing rice at us. I helped Amy into the car, I jumped into the drivers seat, and we started out of the parking lot to cheers and the clatter of tin cans. I looked over at Amy, and said, “I’m going to kill Larry for tying tin cans to the car.”

“Lover.”, Amy said. “It's all part of the fun. Besides, I saw my dad and yours helping him.”

We stopped down the road from the park, and I removed a dozen tin cans that were tied to the back of the car. Of course, the top had been down, and I also noticed that we'd ended up with a lot of rice in the car.

As I sat back in the car, I said, “We never had a chance to talk to my Grandma Devereux or my aunts.”

“There was just too much going on.”, Amy replied.

“I know. Maybe grandma will stay with my mom and dad for a while, and we can see them tomorrow or Monday.”

“Hopefully. Your grandmother seems like a very nice person, and so do your aunts.”

“They are. I just wished that we lived closer to my grandmother.”

“Maybe we could go visit them sometime.”

“Maybe.”

“You know. I now know where you and your mother get your good looks from.”

“Huh?”

“Your grandmother is very pretty, and so are your aunts.”

“I know. All the women on that side of the family are beautiful.”

“And, I think one of the men is very pretty too.”

“Who?”, I asked as if I didn’t know who she was talking about.

“You.”

Changing the subject, I asked, “I thought this was going to be a small wedding. What happened?”

“I’m not sure. My mom said, that once the word was out that we were getting married, that some people said that they would like to come.”

“Why? I don’t know that many people. And, all of our friends were there. Even Jim Lewis made it.”

“I don’t know either. Our parents have a lot of friends, and then there are the people from where they work. Mom said that they also had to change the order for the cake to make it bigger.”

“How many people were there?”

“I’m not sure. We might be able to figure it out from the guest registry.”

Since school started on Monday, and we wouldn’t be able to get away, our parents had given us a room at one of the upscale hotels in town. And, that’s where we headed. And, being a little smart, instead of placing our suitcases in the trunk of the car, where the rest of the bridal party could get to them, I’d taken them over to the hotel earlier this morning, and picked up the room key.

As we drove up to the hotel, we saw the billboard out front, and it said, ‘Congratulations Amy and Tom.' Then, as we pulled up in front of the hotel entrance, we were met by the doorman, with a “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Young. We were expecting you.” Then he helped Amy out of the car. The valet was standing on my side of the car, and as I handed him the keys and a nice tip, I said, “Please put the top up.”

He handed the tip back to me, and said, “No tip necessary sir. It’s been taken care of. And, I’ll put the top up even though the car will be parked inside.”

The doorman held the door open for us. And, when I went to tip him, he told me the same thing that the valet had, the tip had been taken care of.

We went into the hotel and were met by the manager, and he said, “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Young. I hope that you will find the bridal suite to your satisfaction. Everything has been taken care of, including tipping. And, if you need anything, please let us know.”

Since I had dropped our bags off earlier, the bellhop didn't have anything to do, except to escorted us to the bridal suite. He asked me for the key. I handed it to him, and he opened the door. I picked Amy up, carried her into the room, and set her down. The bellhop smiled and said that he sees that all the time. Then he showed us all the ins and outs of the room.

Amy and I looked around. It was a great room, and nicely decorated. There was a table with two chairs, on the table were a vase of flowers, a basket of fruit, and a bottle of champagne with two glasses. There was also two overstuffed chairs, and a couch arranged around a fireplace. A vanity table with lighted mirror. And, a large bed with a canopy.

After we had finished looking around, Amy said, “Help me out of this dress.”

“No.”, I said. “You look so pretty that I think you should wear it until we go to bed.”

She frowned at me, and said, “If I do. I’ll be sleeping in the bed, and you’ll be sleeping in a chair.”

She removed her veil. I walked over and started undoing, I think, thirty small buttons down the back of the dress. Then I unzipped it. Amy was unbuttoning what seemed like the same number of buttons on each sleeve. When we had it undone, she carefully stepped out of it and hung it in the closet.

She was standing there in only a slip and heels. She then carefully pulled the slip off over her head so as not to mess her hair up. Then she was standing there in what looked like a white satin bra, white satin panties, a white satin garter belt, a pair of white nylons, and white heels. She smiled at me, and in a sexy way said, “Like what you see?”

Shaking my head no, I replied, “No. I love what I see.”

“I bet you wished that you were the bride today.”

“No. Not today. I was happy that I was the groom. And, since you were the bride I loved it even more.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“It's late. Let's get something to eat, and then we can get down to business.”

I knew what she meant. But I said, “What kind of business is that?”

“The business of consummating this marriage,”

“Oh. That. Do we have to eat first.”

“Yes. I haven’t eaten anything, except cake and punch, since breakfast.”

“You want to do room service?”

“No. Tomorrow maybe. Tonight let's eat in the restaurant.”

She then slipped on a cute little black dress, checked her makeup and hair. I removed the tuxedo and put on a pair of slacks and a shirt. Then just before we went down for dinner, she took a fancy package out of her garment bag and placed it on the table.

“What’s that?”, I asked.

“Something for you.”, she replied.

“What?”

“You’ll find out after dinner.”

“Oh come on.”

“No. After we’ve eaten.”

“Okay. If you insist.”

She smiled.

We went down to a nice dinner. I guess there's something about a bride. Everyone in the restaurant looked at us and smiled.

We had a nice meal, and as with everything else. The bill and tip had been taken care of, all we had to do was sign the bill. We walked out onto the patio and stood there looking at the river. I put my arm around her and pulled her close. I looked at her, and said, “I love you, Mrs. Young.”

She looked at me and said, “I love you too Mr. Young.”

Then she said, “Did you see Larry and Kelly at the wedding?”

“No.”, I replied.

“The way they looked at each other and danced together was just so cute.”

“So?”

“Honey. I think that they may be in love.”

“I’d better warn Larry.”

“Thomas!”

With a grin, I said, “Sorry.”

She took my hand in hers, and said, “I think it’s time to go back up to our room.”

As we walked up to our room door, I opened it, and again carried her into the room. As I set her down, she said, “Open your present.”

“I didn’t get you anything.”, I replied.

“That’s okay. Open it.”

I walked over to the table, untied the bow that was holding the box closed, and removed the top. The first thing I saw was my wig, and I removed it. I looked at her, and Amy was smiling. I looked back in the box and took out a bra, panties, garter belt, and nylons. And, they were just like what she was wearing. She was still smiling.

Then she said, “Your shoes and forms are in my garment bag. And, our makeup case is in the bathroom.”

I put everything back in the box and carried it to the bathroom. Then I retrieved the shoes and forms from her garment bag. As I walked into the bathroom, I turned, and said, “So, you want Tammy on your wedding night.”

“For a little while.”. she replied. “I thought it would be fun to cuddle in front of the fire. Before enjoying the bed.”

“You are just so bad.”

“Only for you.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Hurry up.”

I put on the satin panties and bra, and they felt wonderful. And, there’s just something about the nylons and garter belt. They felt wonderful. I then slipped into the heels that matched hers. I added the forms to my bra. Then I opened up the makeup case, and there was a small box inside that had a card attached to it that said, ‘To my lover.’

I opened the box, and it contained the engagement ring that we had purchased for Tammy. I looked at it and smiled.

I slipped on my wig cap, then added my wig. A little brushing and it looked perfect. Then, I put on some makeup. There was no way that I was going to look as good as Amy did. I slipped on my glasses and walked out of the bathroom.

Amy had removed her dress and was sitting on the couch wearing the same things I was wearing. And, there was a fire in the fireplace. No, Amy didn't lay a fire, it was gas fired. I turned off the lights, and the fire was providing the only light in the room.

As I walked up to the couch and sat down, I handed Amy the ring box. And, said, “Slip this on my finger.”

She took the ring box, slipped the engagement ring onto my finger next to my wedding band. Then she cuddled up to me, and we just enjoyed each others company. We didn't talk. We just watched the fire.

About ten o’clock, she said, “I’m ready for your present.”

“But I don’t have ... ”, I started to say.

She put a finger to my lips, and said, “Yes you do. But first you have to wrap it.”

“Huh?”

Amy, with a big grin, held up a condom.

“Oh! That present.”

She smiled, and said, “Go find my Tommy.”

I went into the bathroom and found Tommy. When I came back out, she was laying on the bed completely naked. I looked at her and just smiled.

That night was amazing. I could never imagine, in my wildest dreams, that our first night together as man and wife could be this fantastic.