Our Wedding (part iii)

This story starts here, and continues here.

The wedding ceremony itself was pretty simple.  Pretty short.  

We felt that we'd given everyone ample time to contemplate love, our marriage and what it meant to our extended family and friends.  We didn't feel we needed to cover it again by reading out poems or speeches.  We asked my parents to accept Hayden into their family as a new son and a new brother, and we asked Hayden's parents to accept me into their family as a new daughter and sister.  Hayden and I made a simple promise to each other to love and respect, be honest and faithful to each other, come what may.

Then we sealed it with a kiss.

Before I met Hayden, I didn't think I would ever get married.  It just hadn't seemed likely to me - I had always assumed I'd grow old by myself in a dingy flat crammed with books.  So I came at it my own way, hopefully in a grown-up way.  When I made my vow to Hayden, it was important to me to make a promise that I could keep forever.  I didn't want to promise to stay in love, and if it didn't work out just cancel the vows and regret the whole thing.   Though I didn't spell it out at the ceremony, my promise to Hayden was that, come what may,  even if our marriage didn't last, then my promise would still hold.  Even if our relationship changed and I had to find a new way to do it, I would always love and respect him, be honest with him and be faithful to the wonderful time we've had together.  Does that sound pessimistic?  It doesn't matter if it does.  It was important to me.  I knew what I meant, and so did he.

Then we signed the forms and the marriage certificate, thanked our celebrant and stood still for more photos.  

And it was all done.  While we waited for the champagne to come out, someone asked me "So what's your name now?" and I answered in a whisper: "The same thing it always was."