A warm smile appeared on Elizabeth's face. She could not believe that the snow white gown in front of her was going to wrap her body the following day, like a fine gift to her love—Wasswa Seth. She closed her eyes as she sat in the sofa. The bright chandelier lights made her teeth and eyes snowflakes. She appeared like an angel, full of life and holiness—she was indeed full of life and fair in all her ways. God had now given her the gift she'd been yearning for—the gift every woman yearns for in her life: a wedding.
I'm proud of you Elizabeth, she thought, with eyes fixed on the wedding gown. Her mind was already in the next day—her wedding day. She could see herself march down the aisle with Seth. This was unbelievable. Despite the hardships they'd gone through, the man did not let her down, and now their relationship was going to be sealed with an unbreakable seal.
The gown stared back at her. It was as fair as she. It was very long, just what she wanted. She could kick its bottom the following day and break the hearts of all haters. She glanced at the walk clock and it read 1:14am. It was already her wedding day! She ambled towards the sitting room door and locked it, lest she got any disturbances from her sister-in-law and friends. She walked back to the gown and made a silent prayer as she held it up—this was the hundredth time she'd been doing that but ne'er seemed to resist doing it again.
A tear of joy ran down her right cheek. She chuckled. She then removed the large shirt she'd been wearing and passed it in her armpits to dry the sweat that was involuntarily bleeding. She remained in pants alone as the lights hailed the fullness of her body. Even the scars at various parts of her body became invisible. She was the ultimate bride. Her breasts danced as she picked up the gown from the sofa. She held the bottom of the gown and wore it carefully from her head to toes.
'Fair' is an offensive word to describe her—she was heavenly. It fitted her in the best way, as though the tailor sewed it on her body. She marched with short steps imitating what she'd do at church. Her phone rang. She almost fell down. She rushed to see who had called at that time and found out that it was Seth. The smiling could not get any better. Her heart started throbbing in her chest as she received the video call.
"Wow, you look so..." Seth began but his vocabulary bank limited him because he could not find the best word to describe his wife to be. Her beauty was out of this world, and the gown exaggerated it. "You look like the first rays of a new sun. Such fairness is beyond what words can describe," he sang. His voice tone agreed with the richness of the words. They carried every meaning they were meant for. Elizabeth was dumb at that time. The only way to express her happiness was through the streams of tears that were now racing down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry that I'm helplessly crying but I just can't help it," she replied amid tears and smiles. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Seth."
"Take it easy darling," his voice was warm and full of love. "Nothing can come between us. After I put that ring on your finger, we'll be together always. No devil, or god, or human will be able to separate us." The words made her weak the more. She was now crying out loud. Seth started laughing. "Stop crying baby. In a few hours I'll be with you," he teased but the woman couldn't hear any more. "Where is Sandra, Faith and Stephanie? You're going to wet the gown," he joked as both now started to laugh hysterically.
"They don't know that I'm wearing the gown," she collected herself and spoke. "They would literally kill me if they found out." Laughter. They looked at each other for a few minutes of silence after the brief noise.
"We should have some rest now Beth. We have a very long day ahead of us," Seth suggested.
"Okay, I love you," she whispered as she kissed the phone screen that bore her husband's lips.
"I love you too," he whispered back before turning off the call. Elizabeth put the phone to her chest. She could feel the palpitations of her heart. Perhaps it also knew that Seth had called. She closed her eyes to digest the sweet moment and dozed off.
*
The loud knocking on the wooden door brought the sleeping beauty back to reality. She had spent the night in the sofa, with her phone held tightly between her breasts. Faith had been knocking since the beginning of time, but she had not got any answer from the to-be bride. It was already 7am and they had done nothing in preparations for the day.
Elizabeth held her head up at once after seconds of debate on whether to answer the knocks or not. She jumped from the sofa and drew the curtains that had been lying to her that it was still dark. The baby sun rays were at the windowpane knocking. The early birds were still singing hymns and a chorus as though they knew the day was unique for her. The sky was clear, the sun still peeking to make sure the stars had disappeared, lest they should compete for the territory. All the features of a good morning dawned before her eyes as though the heavens were sending their blessings. She smiled.
On having a look at her phone, she was astonished by the number of missed calls there. There were seventeen missed calls courtesy of Seth, Faith, Stephanie, Father Saul, and others. All of them wanted to know how she was and so on. The knocking at the door went on. She tripped over the gown and almost fell asleep she dashed to open the door. Faith, Stephanie, and Sandra were behind the door, burning with fury.
"What is wrong with you Liz?" Stephanie opened up the quarrel. "It is a few minutes to 8 o'clock and we hadn't done anything for the wedding."
"I'm sorry I...."
"Seth has been calling us and asking about you," Faith added as she studied the woman from head to toe. "Look, you're even in the gown already and yet you look like a mad woman."
"The gown is all full of wrinkles," remarked Sandra.
"Okay, remove the gown and I iron it as you guys do other preparations," concluded Faith. The running up and down began. Phone calls, bathing, salon, etc. The morning was busy but everything was on point. At exactly midday, in the burning rays, they had reached St Geraldine's Chapel.
The people were already seated, expectant about the day. They were throwing glances at the church entrance, unable to wait any longer for the bride. Seth and his best man were standing at the rostrum with other church brothers. The choir was in the background waiting for the perfect time to release their heavenly voices. The piano man was signaled-to to begin the famous legato marriage piece. The bald man began his magic on the piano and the whole church environment was filled with the rich music. His head moved with every note he made. One would think he was the one taking the bride. Everyone went silent as they turned their attention to the church entrance for the final time.
Amid the entrance of the glittering rays, came an angel of likeness. Her gown shone with dazzling whiteness. The crown upon her head completed the story of her whole attire. She had a banquet of roses, red and white. Her angelic appearance overshadowed the little flowering girl sprinkling red rose petals to the clean floor for her majesty to pass on.
Father Saul, who acted as the father to the bride, and yet the one to join her with her groom played his part as he escorted her down the aisle. He was full of smiles, waving to all people. He must have been the perfect person for the job because he resembled the bride somehow, even though he was a celibate priest who didn't even share her blood. The bride's matron, Stephanie, held the long white tail of the gown to ease the bride's movement, and the bridesmaids escorted behind them in pink and white. All of them, apart from the little flower girl, matched to the beat of the instrumental played by the piano man.