The Risk Game

Chapter 27

Four months later...

I walked down the stone walkway with a big smile on my face as the warm springtime sunlight wrapped everything around us in a beautiful golden glaze. The lush green grass all around me complemented the white and pink flowers perfectly and the gold detailing on the outdoor altar added a touch of royalty to the décor.

Nella, Ketura and I went to stand on our side of the altar with two of Namiko's other bridesmaids, her cousins, leading the way. The guys were on the opposite end, looking dapper from head to toe with their clean haircuts and stylish groomsmen tuxedos.

We were back in Kisho Valley, at the resort where Akim proposed, this time to bare witness as he and Namiko tied the knot. I got a strong sense of deja vu standing in my rose gold bridesmaid's dress, Chimwemwe and I shooting each other all kinds of looks from opposite sides of the altar like we did on Nella's wedding day. Chi looked extremely handsome in his suit, standing steadily on both his feet after completing months of physical therapy and staying active per doctor's orders.

The wedding guests begun to clap and cheer as Akim walked down the aisle to a piano melody of the chorus of Usher's The Matrimony and he waved to a few of the guests as he inched closer. He and the guys shared excited looks and whispered moments as the minister stood to greet Akim briefly.

The piano tune flowed seamlessly into H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar's Best Part as Namiko and Uncle Yuta begun their hand-in-hand stroll to the altar. Namiko had everybody's eyes transfixed on her simple, yet beautiful, strapped silk wedding dress with its floral lace details flowing from the hem.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement and adoration as her hand was transferred from Uncle Yuta's to Akim's and the minister got the show on the road. The beautiful outdoor wedding was like none I'd ever seen. It was almost magical the way everything had come together, and now that we were here, I stood eagerly awaiting my favourite part of any wedding--the vows.

When the time came, Akim looked into Namiko's eyes, his smile wider than before, chest visibly rising with the emotions he was feeling as he opened his mouth and spoke from his heart. "Namiko, you're the most beautiful, most entrancing bride I've ever laid eyes on, and I can't believe I get to call you mine. We've known each other for a long time, loved each other for years, so it should be impossible that I'm standing here falling deeper in love with you, but that's exactly what's happening right now. Over the years of us being together, you've been a personification of love. You've been a great source of peace, joy and light in my life and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to match up to all that you are to me. I promise to love and to honour you. I promise to protect and to respect you. I promise to be there for you, meeting your needs by whatever means possible. I make these vows to you before all these witnesses and before the Lord above."

I patted my teary eyes dry and looked up to find Chi's eyes on me, his face communicating something that made me smile. My thoughts about my own love life were now completely different from the day of Nella's wedding and I could attribute the positive change to the past six months of being with Chimwemwe. Six months with the right person was all it had taken to restore my love for romance, and to restore my belief in the existence of true love. Chi's love for me was an easygoing, reassuring love that never pressured me to be unrealistically perfect, or to fit into boxes that I was uncomfortable in. He prioritised my happiness, increased my joy, offered encouragement and motivation, accepted me for who I was. When Chi said he loved me, there was not a single doubtful bone in my body that he truly did.