I spend the last full week in a frenzied state of what if's and a barrage of questions that I fire at random at Prince. "Sugar," he takes me by the shoulders, laying out the next series of events for me, "everything is fine. All you have to do is enjoy your spa day tomorrow, Kim will trim and color your hair Friday and then you'll try on your dress. We'll fly to Tennessee on Wednesday, Thursday is rehearsal, Friday the rehearsal dinner. Saturday," he pauses with a grin, "you'll be my wife." This final statement is punctuated with a lingering kiss.
"Your ring!" I panic, thinking I finally remembered something important.
"Done. You need to stop this," he kisses my forehead. "It's going to be perfect, trust me."
I do my best to go with the flow, I know the man has arranged much bigger events than our small, vineyard wedding, but this is a huge deal to me. I never thought I would ever get married, let alone be marrying a rockstar. Plus, it's difficult to not play a larger part in the planning, but I know without a doubt, I won't be disappointed.
With the upcoming wedding and my constant state of worry, we take the time to refocus on our Bible studies together. Having this reintroduced into our daily lives brings a feeling of peace and structure. We have been so focused on our individual goals, that somewhere along the way we have forgotten to focus on our shared aspirations.
As we prepare to leave on Wednesday morning, Prince is as cool as a cucumber, which helps keep me in check. I've been keeping up with the temperatures in Tennessee this week and for the weekend. The average looks like highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's, which is perfect as far as I'm concerned, but this causes Prince to stare at me blankly and blink in disbelief, "In October?"
"Yep, that's why I moved there."
We are traveling alone via his personal jet, whereas others from area that are flying in for the wedding are traveling first class, all expenses paid, of course. The final tally on the attendees total up to 62, which I feel is a comfortable amount, and a majority of them will arrive on Thursday. Us arriving Wednesday gives us an opportunity to settle in at the hotel, visit with Angel and Derik, and also to swing by the vineyard to gauge the progress of the set up.
I'm not surprised when we are greeted again by another Cadillac XTS rental when we arrive on the tarmac in Tennessee. I'm also not surprised when I'm driven to the same hotel that he had utilized during the charity event. This time, though, I stand in amazement to see it completely decked out by his people, it's ready for us and it's even more fabulous than when I had seen it before. Sure enough, a grand piano sits on display by the floor to ceiling windows that overlook the city skyline. I run my hand along the top of the piano, Prince circles his arms around my waist, "This is where I'll make love to you tonight." I bite my lip and stay quiet, I had planned to suggest that we abstain from sex until after the wedding, but this I can't resist.
Our first stop after the hotel is the vineyard, and it is, as I had hoped, stunning with all the fall colors on full display. I frown when I see the large white tent that has been erected, but, as Prince explains, the tent is for the wedding reception, not the wedding. When we enter, the tables and chairs have been arranged, but the final setup will not be until Saturday morning. He leads me to some wooden crates which hold bottles of wine that will be given out to the guests. The custom label is metallic silver, and scattered in hues of purple, in varying sizes, are his symbol and floral images. In a fancy script of deep purple, it reads:
Cheers to Love
THANK YOU FOR
CELEBRATING WITH US
----------+----------
Dana & Prince
October 24, 2014
"Perfect," I say, but he already knows this.
He walks me out into the grove where the event tables had been located and describes how it will look with the chairs, floral arrangements and a huge arch covered with vines and a variety of purple flowers. Under the arch is where we will recite our vows. I can almost picture it in my head, but I'm more excited to see it brought to life. He makes sure to show me one more thing, our chaise. It's been reupholstered in a plush, crushed velvet in the most romantic shade of plum. Just seeing it sitting there, tucked out of the way, gives me shivers. When I look back at Prince, I swear he's salivating at the prospect of having his way with me on that soft fabric. He clears his throat, which confirms my thought, when he says, "We'd better get out of her." He takes my hand and leads me back to the waiting car.
When he leaves the vineyard, he automatically steers the car in the direction of my old house, "Prince, we didn't call Angel and tell her for sure we were coming."
"So call her," he taunts.
I do, and let her know we are five minutes away. "Are you kidding me?!" she asks loudly, I point my phone at Prince and shoot him an angry look. He looks at me with an expression that says: you handle this.
I give him a frown and return the phone to my ear, "No," I reply to Angel, "but, you know what I'm dealing with here." I stick my tongue out at Prince when he glares at me.
He shakes his head and laughs quietly, "I don't have to marry you," he teases, focusing back on the road.
"I'll see you soon, Angel, I'm sorry," I apologize to her as I disconnect. I let my hand slip into Prince's lap and lightly stroke across his length just once.
He takes a quick breath and sits straighter in his seat, "You don't play fair," he breathes.
I suppress a smug chuckle and pretend to take interest in the scenery as we are quickly approaching the house, Prince shakes his head.
*******
When we arrive at Angel's, Derik is taking a nap and Angel is wearing what I refer to as 'comfy' clothes, some well worn jeans and an oversized sweatshirt.
Prince eyes her attire before giving her a sour look, "Thanks for dressing up, Angel." We both shoot daggers at him with our eyes, and then I turn my attention to the garden.
Angel looks apologetic, "It looks rough right now."
"Nope, it looks like it should at the end of October, but it's going to look worse after the first frost," I explain. Of course we've already had a frost in Minnesota, and our garden is well into it's seasonal decline.
Out of habit, I ask for some pruners and some gloves, and start hacking the butterfly bushes almost to the ground, Angel watches on in horror, where Prince watches on amused. This is no different than when we go somewhere with a live band and he takes over the stage, I think to myself. I cut a little on every plant that needs to be taken back, so she knows which ones and how far, then I hand her back the pruners and the gloves. "Thank you," she says as she takes them from me, "I had no idea I needed to do that."
Prince asks Angel to see her dress, which she gladly does, and shows us Derik's little suit as well, I smile, pleased again with Prince's choices. I'm seeing that there are going to be many different hues of purple represented at this wedding, all of which are present on my dress.
We visit for a little while, waiting for Derik to make an appearance before running off. Derik is definitely more subdued when he wakes from his nap, and I smile when he rounds the corner from his room. At first glance, he reminds me of Prince when he first wakes, quiet and watchful, with his little lopsided 'fro.
Of course he beelines straight to Prince's lap, sitting silent until he wakes up a bit and starts chattering. Yep, just like Prince. My eyes get misty as I observe this, Prince smiles subtly as he takes notice, and politely begins to indicate that we need to be leaving soon.
