At this point, every cousin paraded his and her strong opinion. The girls hailed Jake as a hero. They jumped up and down with animated faces, knowing that their future fiancés would be subject to the same tradition. They danced around like they’d just found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and made the aunts’ standing ovation look tame. The men, on the other hand, jumped up to the imaginary podium where Jake stood and put him in a head lock, pretending to assault him. The rest of us broke into every kind of laughter in the dictionary—a chortle, a cackle, a guffaw. My belly never hurt so badly from laughing as it did tonight.
When everyone settled down, Jake came over to me and walked me up to his stage. His eyes only on me, he uttered, “Emily, I don’t think I ever told you this, but when I first saw you at the supermarket, I followed you around the store like a lost puppy.”
“Stalker!” I heard one of the cousins yell out. The audience, myself included, found the comment hilarious.
“I was more than happy to help you after you fell. I told all the doctors and staff in ER to slow down your treatment so I could spend more time with you.”
“Malpractice!” was the next shout we got from a different cousin. While we all laughed, Jake sent out a lighthearted threat to the hecklers.
“Just remember that you all are getting married after me. That means that you will all be up here at some point, and I don’t forgive or forget easily.” Jake attempted an evil eye. Nobody was scared.
Some yelled back,” Oooh!” The others sarcastically called out, “Scary!”
Jake continued with his story.
“After our first date, I knew that you would be the girl I would marry. What I didn’t know was how deeply I would fall in love with you, and still I grow to love you more each day. I cherish your warmth, your honesty, and the way you trust me to take care of you. In turn, I strive to be your shield and protector and make you the happiest woman in the world. In short, my life is only complete because you are here with me. I love you.”
There was not a dry eye in the tent. All the women cried. I too became overwhelmed with emotion and cried in Jake’s arms. For a change, they were tears of joy. While I pulled myself back together, Jake excused himself and went over to his mother and embraced her. Though I couldn’t hear their exchange, I was sure he was thanking his mother—his first true love.
Jake came back to me and held out a small jewelry box—yes, like the kind a girl received when a man got down on one knee about to propose to the woman he loves. Since that was already done, twice, I wondered what this could be. I thought I’d add some humor to this situation and put up both my ring-bearing hands and told Jake, “I don’t have any fingers left to wear another diamond ring.”
Jake found this statement funny as he opened up the box. I found a big diamond stud earring. I looked at the stud, looked at his face and looked back at the stud. Everyone in the room, including me, wondered why there was only one stud.
“Jake, this is gorgeous, but how does it become something old and something new and why is there only one?”
“Well, for those of you who don’t know the story, I first proposed to Emily back in December, and she turned me down.”
Everyone in the tent booed, even Gram. I hung my head low to the ground till Jake brought my chin up with a tender kiss.
“So this diamond,” he continued the story, “is the first diamond I bought for her seven months ago, that I decided to turn into an earring since I got a new diamond from my favorite grandma.” He waved my ring finger to the crowd for one more razzing.
“The other diamond,” Jake pulled out another jewelry box, “is a new one that I picked up at Boucheron in Paris. So here you go my love, something old and something new.” He handed me both boxes, and I thought it only appropriate to put them both on immediately. This time, I wrapped my arms around my love and embraced him passionately. It was only when Gram started clearing her throat we released one another.
“Thank you, Sweetheart. They’re beautiful,” I crooned.
Jake and I thanked Uncle Henry and Aunt Barbara for our special evening.
“Aunt Barbara, you throw the most exciting theme party I’ve ever attended. I can’t wait to see what Thanksgiving looks like at your house. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” I gushed, giving both my aunt and uncle a hug.
“Now Jake, don’t forget we have one more rule that starts tonight,” warned Aunt Barbara.
I looked to Jake for an explanation and he hesitated.
“Aw, Aunt Babs, can’t we forgo that tradition?”
“Nope.”
“How about starting tomorrow night like customary?”
“See you at the wedding, Nephew.” She walked away and I turned for an explanation.
“Well, you see…there’s another tradition where they keep the bride and groom away from each other after the rehearsal dinner. Since we had our dinner a day early, you and I will be separated from tonight till Sunday evening. The guys usually spend the night together at one of the homes, which I think it’s the chief’s this time, and the ladies will all be at our house. I think Aunt Babs is enforcing this policy even more harshly to get back at me for taking the diamond.” Jake found this thought comical.