Page 51 of Make Me Forget

Besides Kendrall’s two brothers, he had Christian, Jacob, Rylan, Evan, and Ryder J. He didn’t plan to ask Ryder J, but since I had so many, he had to match. It wasn’t like the pickings were slim. He said Ryder J wasn’t as rowdy as SS, Royal, Ace, and Crew. I was surprised he didn’t ask one of his older cousins, like Jakari. Apparently, he was closer to the younger ones.

When we all finally calmed down and had gotten all the hugs and kisses out of the way, I was about to head to the makeup artist’s chair. However, Mama Keisha stopped me and hugged me again. She slid her hand over my cheek as she stared into my eyes, threatening to make me start crying all over again.

“You’re so beautiful, and I’m so happy my son found a woman that can truly be his partner in crime.” She chuckled. “You are so perfect for him. I’m thankful to finally have another daughter. Karima and I were outnumbered. I look forward to establishing a mother daughter relationship with you, Cassie. I love you, and congratulations, baby.”

I smiled big and squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Mama Keisha. I’m glad to be getting a mother-in-law that I get along with. We’re gonna take that in-law right off of there though.”

She smiled big then squeezed my hand back. When I released her, she left the room with Aunt Jen, Aunt Chrissy, and all the other aunts, I assumed to help get the food together for after the wedding. My bridesmaids were all doing each other’s makeup since they had refused to allow me to hire anyone. They said that was an unnecessary expenditure. I didn’t argue with them. Well… technically, it was Ebony, Karima, and Maui that were concerned with my pockets, because the twins didn’t give a damn.

I finally sat in the makeup chair and smiled up at the lady preparing to transform me from homebody to runway model. She smiled big and asked, “You ready?”

“Yes, ma’am. Let’s do it.”

Daddy and I stood in the foyer, staring at the barnyard style doors. The flower girl had just walked in. Uncle Marcus and Aunt Syn’s daughter, Seneda, was happy to do it. She was the most beautiful little girl. She walked like a model… straight up and down and flung her hair from side to side. It was too cute, being that she was only like five or six years old. She was light complexioned, like Uncle Marcus, with a lot of hair but had a lot of Aunt Syn’s facial features.

I looped my arm around Daddy’s as Aunt Aspen and Aunt Chas stared at me, awaiting my cue to slide the doors open. I took a deep breath then nodded my head. They slid the doors open, and when I saw Kendrall standing there with a microphone in his hand, I nearly stopped breathing. He was about to sing to me. Jesus Christ. I remained still as everyone took in my mermaid styled dress. It hung off my shoulders and had lace and rhinestone embellishments all over it. The way it hugged me, showing off my deadly big girl curves, made me feel sexy as hell.

When I took my first step, Kendrall started singing. “You’re my baby, my lover, my lady…”

I knew it was “So Beautiful” by Musiq Soulchild. He was singing it a lot slower, making sure every syllable of it was heartfelt. The tears were freefalling down my face. It was taking me forever to get down that damn aisle, and it wasn’t that long… maybe twenty feet. I wanted to hear him sing as much of that damn song as possible. His eyes were on me, and they never wavered.

I’d dropped my arm from my dad’s and was in a trance, walking to my man. When he hit the high note, I could’ve melted right on those damn flower petals. Everyone seemed just as shocked as I initially was with his singing, except his immediate family and groomsmen. They’d probably gotten to hear him practicing it.

When he finished the chorus for a second time at the end of the song, I finally got to him. Everyone was laughing, and I finally broke out of my trance to see why. I looked around and saw my dad behind me with his hands up as if he was asking me a question. He’d stopped at a specific point where Kendrall was supposed to come meet me. Shit. My face got hot, but the preacher said, “That’s quite alright, Miss Daniels.”

Kendrall grabbed my hands as he licked his pink lips. I wanted to pull that ponytail loose and run my hands through his hair. Blinking rapidly, I looked around, trying to take in the decorations. The colors I’d picked were so beautiful, paired together. I’d picked mauve, ecru, rose, and a green shade called matcha. It was pretty close to an olive green. The tool on the floor lining the center aisle included all four colors along with another beige looking color.

My mama and the Henderson women had done an amazing job. The flowers were gorgeous, and so were our bouquets. Honestly, though, I didn’t care about any of that at this moment. All the stuff I was stressing over, wanting to be perfect, meant nothing to me. The only thing… rather person, who I cared about was the man standing in front of me.

The family barn was crowded. I knew most of the people in attendance were Hendersons, but that was okay. The people that mattered most to me were here. As the preacher went through the traditional spiel and prayed, our eyes stayed locked on each other’s. It was the most erotic shit I’d ever done. We’d stared at one another this way before but never for this long. After a couple of minutes, we attacked each other.

We couldn’t do that now. Kendrall’s face was red. It had been that way since he’d laid eyes on me, but when I saw the tears drop from his eyes, I couldn’t help but swipe them away. When Kendrall started speaking, I realized he was reciting his vows. We agreed that we would just speak from our heart.

“Cassie, you’ve been in my heart for a long time, baby. When you finally came back to me, I was on the fast track to get us down this aisle. The moment I laid eyes on you as an adult, I knew you were my forever. I thought I would have to work hard to convince you of that, but I found out that you knew all along.”

When I heard someone huff, I knew that had to be Uncle Storm. Kendrall glanced at him and said, “Let me hurry up before I have to cuss somebody out.”

I chuckled as he smiled. “I love that I can be myself with you. I promise to cherish, appreciate, and love you for the rest of our lives, baby.”

The ball was in my court. I gently caressed his cheek. “Kendrall, you’re perfect. With all the drama you encountered when you first reconnected with me, you could have chosen to run in the opposite direction.”

“I told him to do just that until I realized you were my Martha,” Uncle Storm said.

I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip, trying to hold in my smile, while everyone else laughed. I lifted my head and stared at Kendrall. “Thank you for being my protector, provider, and lover. Thank you for showing me what real love in a relationship was supposed to look like. I promise to always hold you down in every aspect of life. I’m your rider for life. Whatever you need from me, you got it… no question. I have no problem submitting to a man like you, because you’re a leader that I know will never steer me wrong.”

He swiped the tear from my face. “You’re my love, my all, my everything. I’m already a woman, but with the way you cherish me, I feel the epitome of that. I’m yours forever, baby.”

I lowered my head to indicate I was done. “Well, that ain’t the first person you said that to. Don’t fall for it, Kendrall.”

My eyes widened as I turned to the entrance and saw Shayla standing there. I was trying to release Kendrall’s hands to get to her, but he held them tightly, refusing to release me. My lips were twitching big time, and my entire body was trembling in anger.

“You know, you could have invited your mother to the wedding. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here. I was the one in labor for twenty hours with your ungrateful ass! I was the one waking up in the middle of the night to feed you! When you were sick, I nursed you back to health! I did that shit!”

She was huffing hard. Uncle Storm walked to the entrance as he said, “Only one person around here interrupt weddings. That’s my damn job. You gotta go.”

“I ain’t going no-fucking-where until she apologizes to me!”

My mama was holding on to my daddy, trying to keep him from going to Shayla, but it was of no use. However, before he could get to her, Aunt Tiff had come up behind her and put her in a headlock, dragging her ass out, just like last time. Uncle Storm, Daddy, Uncle Jasper, Aunt Chas, and Aunt Aspen followed them out.

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