This Is Life

Marriage

May 2nd 1950
I finished unraveling my hair from the curlers and pinning it up a little as I usually did before I stood up and looked in the mirror. "What do you think Ma."

"I think you look stunning, and I know you and Donny are going to be very happy together."

"Me too. I miss Michael. I miss him so much. But having Donny, he makes everything better. Whenever I'm feeling down he's there for me. And he's just as much the love of my life as Michael was. But from the moment I leave this room, I don't want to think about Michael at all today, and Donny knows that. Today is about us, Donny and I, not about my past marriage. I don't want to compare my weddings. I just want them to be separate and special in their own ways. Donny and Michael while similar are two completely different people, and I can never compare them to one another or pick a favourite, which is why I made sure every aspect of this wedding was different. From my dress, the venue, the colours. Everything. The only thing that will be the same is that you will walk me down the aisle and I will marry the man I love with my whole heart."

"I'm proud of you Julia. You've been though a lot, and you've come out stronger."

"Thanks Ma. And you helped with that, and Donny has helped me so much. He's helped me grow and become who I am today. And I genuinely can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. He's my world and my everything. And it always helps that he truly gives the best cuddles."

"Well let's stop wasting time, and let's get you down to that chapel." I nodded and Ma and I headed down the road to the chapel. We waited in a side room and before I knew it I was walking down the aisle with Ma beside me, Donny waiting at the far end. He looked so unbelievably handsome, and had thankfully shaved this morning. I smiled so widely and all I wanted to do was kiss him. The service began and I stood beside Donny glancing at him every so often. We'd requested to have a short ceremony so we were very quickly exchanging vows.

"Julia. Meeting you for the first time, I was blown away. Despite being covered in flour, you looked truly beautiful. And I feel like every day I saw you during those first few months I commented on how amazing you looked. And I'll continue to do that forever, especially today, Julia my love, you look so stunning and I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be marrying you right now." I chuckled and smiled at him. "I promise to always love you and treasure you. I promise to be there for you through everything, no matter how tough it is, no matter how much time it takes I'll be there. I promise that when we grow our family, I will support you and our kids in every way possible and I will be there for them as we watch them grow. I promise to always put you and our family first. I want to thank you for loving me despite the past and I know that together, we can get through anything. I love you Julia. And you'll always be my angel."

"Donny." I said softly. "Firstly you look so incredibly handsome today, and thank you for shaving." There was a laughter, especially from the band as they all knew I preferred Donny when he was clean shaven. "Thank you for being my rock and my hero. You gave me hope when I had none and you showed me that I can achieve things I didn't think I'd ever be able to achieve. As your wife, I promise to always put you first, no matter what. I promise to always love you and respect you and support everything you do. I promise to stand beside you as we continue to go though daily struggles and like how you are there for me on my bad days, I promise to always be there for you on your bad days and help you though anything you are struggling with. I promise to love our family for the rest of my days and I know together we will be happy. I love you so much Donny. And you'll always be my hero."

"Donald Novitski, do you take Julia Trojan to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." He said sliding my wedding ring onto my finger.

"And do you Julia Trojan, take Donald Novitski to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." I smiled as I placed his ring on his finger, holding it there for a moment.

"Congratulations Donny and Julia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Donny, you may kiss your bride."

"My beautiful bride." He said before he pulled me into a soft and loving kiss. I put both my hands on either side of his head as I kissed him back, running my fingers though his hair. After a pretty long kiss we pulled apart to cheering from the guests we invited. It was a small group but it made it more special than having a crowd of people we didn't really know that well. I gazed into my husbands eyes, deeply in love with him. I pressed another quick kiss to his lips before he took my hand and we walked down the aisle together.

~~~~~
After the party ended, we sat with Ma, Oliver and Donny's father, Oscar. "Congratulations to you both." Oliver said smiling. "Watching your relationship grow every time you performed was really something. And watching the pair of you get married today was wonderful."

"Thanks Oliver. And seeing your relationship with Ma has been amazing. Since my dad left she's never found someone else. But I'm glad she's found you. You make her very happy."

"Thank you Julia." I smiled and rested my head on Donny's shoulder as he kissed the top of my head.

"Are you two thinking of having children?" Oscar asked.

"Definitely. My biggest life goal is to be a mother. And I know Donny would love to be a dad, although nervous. But I think he will be the best dad in the world. We discussed it the night we got engaged actually. Both of us saying that once we got married we wanted to start trying for children."

"So we will be expecting some grandkids down the line."

"Definitely." Donny said putting his arms around me. I giggled and kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too Donny. Today has been a magical day. Marrying you, the love of my life." We talked some more and eventually they left. Donny and I got up and started dancing around our apartment living room. "I still can't believe it." I said as I stood in Donny's arms. "You're my husband, and I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Me neither. I love you so much Julia. Today was so incredible and I will never forget it. The day that you became my wife." I gave him another kiss and then we just started dancing slowly around the living room again. "You look so amazing in your dress and the purple was the perfect choice I think. I loved how everything looked today."

"Me too. It was definitely the right decision. And I could have gone on for hours about how handsome you look today." I rested my hands on his chest and then looked at the side at his medals. "And you made me extra proud, wearing your medals. I'm proud to me married to a world war 2 veteran."

"Thanks Julia, that means a lot to me." I kissed Donny softly, pulling away before he pulled me in closer wrapping his arms around me. We just stood in our living room in a deep and passionate kiss for a while before eventually pulling back. "I'm excited for our honeymoon."

"Yeah, we've traveled the country with the band by our side, but it will be nice to travel alone, just us."

"Exactly. A whole week away from Cleveland, just the two of us. It's going to be magical."

"It really will be." I yawned and rested my head on Donny's shoulder.

"You tired my love?" Donny said holding me close.

"Very. It's been a long, exhausting but incredible day."

"Okay then, let's take you up to bed." He kept one arm around my back and picked me up with his other arm under my legs. He then carried me up to our bedroom as I giggled, my arms around his neck. "You're the cutest Julia."

"And you're the most handsome." I said pulling him into a soft kiss.