♥Chapter 58: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴛᴀɴᴅꜱ ʜɪᴍ♥

✿Kennedy✿

Jake and I got married the following week.

To say the wedding was quite messy...is an understatement.

It turns out you need a frustrated Toothy, an annoyed Jake, a hyperactive Corey, a yelling Cole, eight powerful dominating aunts who can beat the crap out of you, a billion of Jake's cousins in different sizes and ages to launch themselves at the catering table and the wedding cake, loud music that shook your whole body and a group of people dressed as the grinch to create the messiest wedding ever.

Yes. Someone hired people to dress as the grinch to mock Jake.

It was funny until the twenty grinches were surrounding us before tackling Jake to the ground and carrying him around while he yelled. And then he punched one of the grinches, and ooh did that turn out bad or what?

I mean imagine being punched in the face with arms the size of canons and hands like bricks.

You know what? Don't imagine it. I already feel like I'm missing two teeth while imagining it.

Jake wanted Corey to be the Best Man, but he didn't want to say that to Corey's face. Being the 'I'm a man too tough to show emotions and cry on my mother's skirts'.

"Which role would you want to play during the wedding?" Jake asks, as he wipes the plates dry with a cloth.

Toothy, Corey and I sit at the kitchen counter, planning the wedding décor.

Corey gives Jake a scowl.

He isn't allowed to open his mouth.

Or else Toothy would claw his eyes out as she said.

Corey assumes Jake was trying to get him into more trouble by making him open his mouth, when instead Jake was trying to tell him to be the best man.

Toothy lets out a huge groan, hitting her forehead on the counter repeatedly. "Planning a wedding is so freaking difficult. Especially—WHEN THE BRIDE CAN'T DECIDE WHAT SHE FUCKING WANTS!" She glares at me.

"Not my fault if everything looks so gorgeous!" I defend.

Toothy looks back at the pictures of wedding decors and sighs. "Yeah."

"Why don't we go with a little of everything?" I suggest then.

Toothy considers it. "Not bad." She points at a picture at the bottom. "Ergh, we're definitely not going with that though."

"You didn't answer me, Corey." Jake prods, a hard look on his face. His grip on the plate tightens.

He glances at me, and I give him an encouraging smile.

Corey narrows his eyes at Jake.

Jake gives him a confused look before looking at me, asking me for help with his eyes.

I nod and look at Toothy who's chewing on a cookie with a concentrated frown as she examines all the displays of flowers in the pictures.

I nudge her leg with my foot.

But she doesn't even blink.

I nudge her leg again, but she shows no sign of response.

I nudge again and this time the leg kicks back mine, hard. I realize that I've been nudging Corey's leg the whole time.

Oops.

He gives me a sad look that says, 'you too?'.

At first, I didn't get it, but then I realize that he thinks that I'm trying to get him in trouble too.

Oh mama.

I give him a sheepish smile before looking at Jake and giving him a look that says, 'hang on'.

I pull out my phone and sent a text to Toothy.

Kennedy: let corey talk

Toothy's phone pings and when she sees the text is from me, she frowns at me. She frowns even more when she reads what I've texted.

Toothy- you're asking too much from me

Kennedy- just do it.

Toothy- why?

Kennedy- jake's tryna get corey to be his best man

Toothy- wasn't corey already gonna be that tho...?

Kennedy- wait what?

Toothy- he already started on the speech and decided his "best man" suit.

Kennedy- so jake's sweating for nothing?

Toothy- lmao that's why jake's even more uptight today?

Kennedy- you have no idea

Toothy- corey's already jake's best man. I've already written that down in the list.

Toothy- but I wanna see how jake does this 😈

A smile curls up on Toothy's face before she hides it and brings back her 'I'm too tired and annoyed for this crap' face.

She casually lifts up another cookie, placing her chin on the palm of her hand. "You're allowed to speak now, Corey."

Corey gives her a surprised look. "Already?"

"Got a problem?" Toothy raises an eyebrow.

"No...it's just that it's usually for a whole hour. You released me five minutes early." Corey notes the time on his watch.

"Eh be free." Toothy waves him off.

Corey shoots up the counter stool yelling out a 'yay' before going over to Jake and punching him in the side.

"You fucker." Corey says.

Jake barely winces, continuing to dry the plates. "What?"

"I knew what you were doing." Corey narrows his eyes.

Jake furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"Oh don't play innocent," Corey says. "That's my thing."

"I don't have a fucking clue what you're yapping about." Jake moves away from him.

"Uh-huh, and I have a Kardashian butt." Corey rolls his eyes.

"Toothy, get this fly out of the way," Jake says.

Toothy raises an eyebrow at him. "What?"

Jake freezes before looking at her and speaking in a much nicer tone. "Toothy, can you please get this annoying fly out of the way?"

"That's not my job." She looks away from him.

Corey goes to open the refrigerator and look through it.

"So what would you fucking be in a wedding?" Jake asks.

"The cake."

Jake glares at his back.

"I don't know." Corey pulls his head out of the fridge while uncapping a juice bottle. "The flower girl maybe."

Jake frowns. "Why?"

"I'm gonna throw Gummy Bears instead of flowers." Corey grins. "Like you just run down at the aisle yelling 'Gummy bears for you hungry motherfuckersss!!'."

Toothy gives a horrified look. "You are not becoming the flower girl."

"How about becoming the best man?" Jake suggests, visibly struggling to get the words out and act casual.

I give him an encouraging smile.

Corey waves his hand. "Nah."

Jake's face drops and I wince.

"Why...?" Jake asks.

"It's too boring."

Jake blinks. "Boring? So you don't want to become the best man?"

He shrugs. "Probably not."

Jake turns and gives me a look that resembles a sad one.

I quickly turn towards Corey. "So you don't want to become the best man for our wedding?"

Corey widens his eyes. "Who the fuck said that?"

"You just said you didn't wanna become the best man." Jake frowns.

"Yeah, but that's for other weddings. I'll have to behave good with them." Corey shudders at the thought of being good. "But in your wedding..." He grins evilly. "Oh baby, am I gonna cause a lot of trouble or what?"

"What?" Toothy gives Corey a warning look.

Corey freezes. "Oh baby, am I gonna be the good boy and sit quietly in the corner or what?"

"So you do want to become the best man?" Jake asks hopefully.

"Bro what the fuck question is that?" Corey throws his hands up. "I am the best man. Who else would you have?" He asks. "Wait. Is there somebody else? Is that why you're asking this?"

"No." Jake answers.

"Good. I'll fight till my skin tears off if you bring anybody else." Corey warns.

Jake gives me a little look of relief, letting out a sigh. "There's no one else I'd rather have."

Guess what happened when I was walking down the aisle with Alex by my side.

Someone accidentally shuffled all the songs and 'Taki Taki' played the whole time I walked down the aisle.

Imagine if I had started dancing and danced the whole way down the aisle because the music felt so good.

I danced.

Poor Alex.

Jake and I were supposed to prepare our vows but we kinda had been distracted the whole time we were supposed to do that. So...yeah.

"Join your right hands and declare your consent before God and his Church." The priest said.

Jake and I gaze at each other. Never breaking eye contact. He looks so gorgeous in the suit he's wearing. My knees are weakening.

I wait for him to start speaking but he never does.

He's looking at me and I'm looking at him.

Why isn't he speaking?

With a horror, I realize he's waiting for me to speak.

Oh mama.

I give him a discreet shake of my head, indicating to him that I forgot to prepare my vows too. 

His face falls.

I can tell he was hoping to listen to my speech and come up with something himself. Like me.

"Let's just wing it," I whisper to him.

He nods. "You go first."

"No, you."

"You."

"Jake, your aunts will kill me if I say something wrong."

"Oh and they'll let me live?"

"You have higher chances of surviving with that big bod of yours." I hiss.

"Fine." He grumbles and clears his throat.

"I, Jake..." He starts but then remains silent for a full minute, mouth left open. "Fuck. What was my middle name again?"

"Archer," Corey whispers from behind.

"Oh fuck, right," Jake says. The priest shoots him a disapproving look at the choice of his words. "I, Jake Archer Knight, um...will love you forever."

I wince at his efforts.

To be honest, I would have done something worse than that.

"I, Kennedy Emerson Kinsey...will love you forever too."

Toothy facepalms.

We're supposed to say something else but can't think of proper words.

Jake looks at Corey for help.

"Oh um, say that you'll...you'll...bring her donuts every day." Corey whispers.

"I promise to bring you donuts every day," Jake repeats.

The priest notices our pathetic attempts and shakes his head, cutting us off, "Jake Archer Knight, do you take, Kennedy Emerson Kinsey, to be your wife? Do you promise to be faithful to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and to honour her all the days of your life?"

"I do," Corey says.

Everyone stops and stares at him.

Corey blinks at everyone in confusion. Then his mouth opens in realization. "Oh, I thought I was still helping Jake—never mind, my bad. Continue, please."

Everyone finally looks away from Corey.

Jake looks back at my face, his grip tightening on my hands.

"I do," He says.

I don't know why but those words immediately bring tears to my eyes.

I never thought I'd be getting married.

Like ever!

"Kennedy Emerson Kinsey, do you take, Jake Archer Knight, to be your husband?" The priest asks.

I'm still nineteen.

I mean I turn twenty in three months, so I guess it's not a problem.

What if I was marrying Jake when I was sixteen?

Can sixteen-year-old people get married?

I don't think so, right?

Not that he would have been sixteen with me. He would have been nineteen.

Oh wait, that's my current age!

"Kennedy Kinsey?" The priest says. "Do you?"

I realize I've been silent for one whole minute.

"Oh me! That's me! Yeah, I do! Sorry." 

Jake winces at me.

I wince back.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife." The priest looks glad to get over with this wedding as quickly as possible. "You may now kiss the bride."

Jake and I gladly place our mouths on each other with his billion little cousins yelling out 'EWWW!'.

Someone even threw a plate of food at us.

We both break our kiss and frown at Brandon.

I'm pretty sure Jake's family originated somewhere from the jungle. Trust me, if you saw the way they attacked the food table, you'd probably feel like that too.

"ONWARD!" Corey yells, pointing at the food table.

An army of kids and people run towards the food table with a battle cry.

"DON'T LET ANYTHING SURVIVE!" Cole hollers, biting into a chicken leg.

The table broke down in between and half of the food went spilling to the ground. I think some of the waiters sobbed. Alex had to order Mcdonald's at the end.

I catch Jake clenching his fists sometimes whenever he's looking at Alex. I know he wants to talk to him, but he's really hesitant to do so.

I slip my hand in Jake's, unclenching his fist. Leaning over, I place my head on his arm.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" I ask against his tense body.

He grips my hand, gazing at Alex who's helping the waiters clean up the mess Jake's billion cousins made. There's something in Jake's expressions that tells me that he does wanna go do something.

"I don't know." He replies.

"A simple handshake would be good," I suggest.

He breaths in. "It's just...hard."

"But you do wanna go talk to him, right?"

He bites his bottom lip, silent for a few minutes. I let him think.

He nods.

"I think I understand him." He says finally.

I look up at him, giving him time to continue.

"When mom died, he wasn't there." Jake plays with the wedding ring on my finger. His eyes cast down. "And it wasn't his fault. He was at work and helping this mother find her daughter. Hours had passed before they found her, and Alex checked his phone to see the missed calls he got. But it was too late."

Jake takes in a breath. "At that moment, it felt like I was all alone. I thought I was the one who had it the worst because I had to sit there and let the doctor tell me that she's fucking dead." He leans his head back. "But now that I think of it...imagine having a normal day while doing normal things. Then you check your phone and see a hundred missed calls and find out that your wife's been dead hours ago." Jake grips my hand tighter. "Imagine that, Kennedy."

My heart grows sad for both of them. I lean further toward him and wrap my arms around him.

"I think of the shock and anger he had to go through when he found out that his wife's been dead for three hours and he wasn't there." Jake continues. "God knows how he felt. To suddenly know that the one you love had been ripped from you and you didn't even know about it."

"It's horrible." Tears well in my eyes.

"I thought of only myself, Ken." Jake clenches his jaw. "I pushed him away when he needed me. I knew he needed me. But I pushed him away because it made me feel better."

"You have a chance to make it right," I tell him.

"I know." He says. "But I know I'll fuck it up."

"Jake." I hug him tighter. "Not everyone's good with their feelings or emotions. But the fact that they still try always counts. Alex knows you. Just letting him know that you're there for him is enough. He won't care what you have to say or what you did. He's your dad. He hears you even when you don't speak."

He lets out a huge sigh, resting his head on top of mine. "You'll help?"

I smile softly. "Always."

I think it's understandable for Toothy to be running behind a couple of people with a knife in her hand.

Poor Corey and Cole.

Did I offer to join her?

Yes.

Did I run behind them and die after losing my breath?

Yes.

"I'm dying." I gasp out while lying face-up on the floor.

Oh mama. Running definitely isn't for me.

"RIP," Jake mutters.

"Today's my expiration date."

Jake lifts me off the floor before sitting on a chair and seating me on his lap.

"Don't talk like that, idiot." He grumbles.

"Can't you see me fighting for my breath?" I try catching my breath.

"Goddamn. Here's your inhaler." He hands it to me.

I quickly use it.

"Let Toothy do the killing for now, okay?" He wraps his hands around me.

"But I wanna hold a knife." I pout.

"I'll get you one."

"Liar."

"No, really. I'll get you your own knife." He promises.

I give him a skeptical look. "You don't even allow me in the kitchen all by myself."

He rests his head on my shoulder, his face on my neck. "I just don't want you to burn anything down."

"I'll burn you down," I grumble.

I can feel his grin. "Go ahead."

"Oh, just you wait and see," I warn. "I'll bet my left leg; you won't see it coming."

Something wet slides across my neck.

I scream.

"Eeee! Jake!" I push him away, grabbing his tie and wiping my neck of whatever Jake's tongue left there.

He chuckles.

"Now I'm definitely going to burn you down!" I declare.

He flicks my forehead playfully. "You're going to burn down your husband?"

"What husband?" I ask, getting off his lap and sitting on the chair beside him.

He gives me a flat look. "Me."

"Who are you?" I ask, keeping my face neutral.

He rolls his eyes. "I know what you're doing. So cut it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I look away from him.

"I'm your husband." He says.

"I don't even know who you are."

He gives me another flat look.

We say nothing for a while.

"Kennedy, stop it." Jake tries to hold my hand.

"Stop what?" I ask.

"Whatever you're doing."

"Why?"

He narrows his eyes. "You know why."

"Now do I?" I think.

"You know I get sad whenever you pretend that you don't know me." He glares like a child.

I can't help the smile that cracks my face. I turn towards him and bring down his face to kiss him. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

When I pull back from the kiss, his hand comes behind my neck, pulling me deeper into the kiss instead. I groan as he bites my bottom lip.

"I love you." He whispers between our lips.

I smile into the kiss. "I love you too."

The wedding ended with the declaration of World War III.

It's the best wedding I've ever had.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

Well, they're married!

What are you people currently reading?

My current read: Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller! OMGGG RIDEN IS SUCH A SWEETHEART, HIS HEART PURELY GOLDDD!!! Alosa is just - QUEEEN!!

Words: 2,900

Date of publishing: 18th June 2022