Temptations

Friday, May 30th Today is the day. My mom is remarrying after 16 long, long years of not trusting a man. When she first found out about being pregnant with me, both my mom and dad were ecstatic. But that joy was short lived. My dad cheated on my mom after about 5 months because by then, she no longer wanted to do anything s****l like he did, she was working, always tired, and would sleep when she could. He claimed it was her fault then left. She lived with her parents until she gave birth, then claimed she felt like a burden and moved away. But, she had saved up a lot of money, put herself through college a few hours away from home and got her doctorates in Dental Medicine. My grandparents still supported her through everything, they definitely weren’t poor and had the money, she was just very stubborn and independent. Til this day she still is and that’s why I look up to her. She’s my role model. Right now, I couldn’t help the tears falling down my face as I watched one of the most important moments of my entire life. My mom, Dakota, has been seeing this guy for about 2 years now and today is their wedding day. I, being her daughter, had the honor to be her maid of honor and I couldn’t have been more happy for her. My entire lifetime I had never seen her ask for anything from a man, bring a man home, or even mention one at that. But for the last couple of years I know he’s been treating her right. There has been some days where he would come over with flowers for the both of us, cook for us, clean for us, and so many things that he wasn’t obligated to do but it shows how much he loves her. The wedding is supposed to start in 20 minutes and I am the only one who can’t seem to calm down. All the girls are trying to soothe my nerves but I’m just so happy for my mom. I’d do anything to see her happy. Us bridesmaids are supposed to be walking down the aisle in a little bit with our partners but I was really nervous because I had only met my stepbrother once in person and I had the vibe that he didn’t like me. He was my stepdads best man and he was the same age as me so he couldn’t be that bad. Only downside is that he will be going to my school now since they are moving in with us. And another downside is that his best friend is also moving in because he’s been with them for the past 10 years. I’m not sure what is going on in his home life but I’ve heard it was never good and he doesn’t talk about it much. “Paisley babe, calm down” is what brought me back to reality. My mom had her hands on my shoulders trying to get me to focus on her. “I’m trying mom, I just don’t think I can do this. I feel bad because this is your special day and I’m ruining it.” All she did was embrace me in a hug and that’s when I noticed all the girls had left already. “Honey you’re not ruining anything. This is a special day for all of us as a family now. I promise you we are all happy and excited and I know that when it comes time for the reception, you will have a blast! Please, for the next hour, relax your mind and get rid of any negativity in your mind.” I nodded my head and wiped away my final tears. The good thing about this is the fact that I don’t wear a lot of makeup because I feel confident in my natural skin. I don’t break out ever, I never get pimples, and my skin is as soft as a baby’s bottom. I do wear false lashes but they are not going anywhere anytime soon because this glue is strong. There was a knock at the door and I opened it to see my grandpa there. “Hey kiddo, it’s almost time, you don’t want to leave your partner waiting.” I giggled and hugged him. “Thank you Grandpapa” I kissed his cheek before walking out and closing the door. I don’t think I mentioned this but my mom’s side of the family is Italian and we all have dark hair and tan skin. Our ancestry goes way back and my grandparents are the ones who moved us to America. We visit Italy every year at least once, sometimes maybe up to 3 times. I have a ton of cousins that also live here in California, some on my dad’s side as well. We kept in contact with his family even after everything happened, just not him though. As I was walking towards the door, all heads turned towards me. The entire wedding party consisted of my stepbrother, my mom’s sisters, her best friend since kindergarten, my stepdads cousins, and myself. “Wow, you look great” was the first thing i heard from my brother. “Thank you! I feel like this might be my favorite hairstyle ever.” We were really just tried to lighten up the mood and not make things so awkward. He wasn’t a terrible looking guy but obviously he’s my step brother now so I can’t say anything more than that. The music started playing so that’s how we knew it was starting to get real. The doors opened and off we went. Sebastian and I were the first to go in, leading the way for the rest of the group. Once I saw Dominick standing at the altar my smile grew even bigger. He was really a great guy and I loved him like he was my father this entire time. I did a small wave and he waved back. I could already see the tears in his eyes and my mom wasn’t even out here yet. The wedding proceeded like normal until my mom came out. That’s when everyone really went feral. The front row consisted of a lot of cousins and I looked over and saw tears flowing from just about everyone. I had the biggest smile on my face the entire ceremony and when the words “I do” came out from both of them, the crowd went crazy. They were kissing like their lives depended on it, which it probably did, and the wedding party was all clapping. ——————————————————————— The wedding reception just started to amp up after people were getting served alcohol and food. My parents scheduled only 2 speeches to keep it short and I told my mom that I didn’t need to have the spotlight and she could choose anyone that mattered to her. She still decided I was the chosen one so when it came time, I grabbed the microphone and started the heartfelt speech. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you all for being able to come out today and celebrate two very special people in my life. But first, none of this would have been possible without Dominick. He is such a great guy and I’m glad my mom found him. Now, as far as my mom, I am truly grateful for having such a kind and loving mother like her. She is the only reason I push to be an amazing person today and I am very thankful I have you. But I didn’t come up here to only show words of gratitude, I wanted to acknowledge everyone. Yes, this is Dakota and Dominick’s special day, sorry mom I know that’s rude, but I remember when she first came home, smiling from ear to ear with a huge ass rock on her finger. I knew that she found true happiness. Without the support of my dearest grandmama and grandpapa, none of this would have come true. Mr. and Mrs. King, thank you for raising such a respectful and caring son. Dom, I’ve always wanted a brother and now that you are here I have everything that i could possibly ever want in life. Everyone in this room plays a part in a much bigger picture and you all may not realize that yet, but just know you are all appreciated. Thank you all for listening, and have a lovely and fun filled night everyone!” I put the mic back on the stand and the room erupted with applauds and cheers. My mom was in literal tears and she was just holding her heart as she smiled at me.