“I, Nicholas, take you, Olive, to be my friend, my lover, and my wife. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph.”

Tears start to stream down my face as my body trembles. His voice cracks a little as he continues, “I promise to cherish and respect you, to care for and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and to stay with you for all eternity.”

I take a deep breath. Now, it’s my turn.

“I, Olive, take you, Nicholas, to be my husband, my partner, and my one true love. I will cherish and love you for the rest of my days. I will trust and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you and love you through good times and bad.”

“Nicholas, do you take this woman to be your wife?” the judge asks.

“I do,” he whispers, squeezing my hand.

“Olive, do you take this man to be your husband?”

“Of course,” I mumble through the tears. I hear their laughter behind me.

“You’re supposed to say, ‘I do,’ honey,” Josephine says. She flew in on the red-eye last night just to be here for this moment.

“Let’s try this again,” the judge suggests and asks me again.

I look into his eyes and smile.

“I do,” I say and we put on our wedding rings.

“By the power vested in me by the State of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss.”

Nicholas takes me into his arms and presses his lips onto mine.

A YEAR AND A HALF LATER…

Lying on my back in the cool refreshing water, I watch him from a distance. The waves aren’t very big today but Nicholas is still out there on his surfboard giving it his all. He looks just as muscular and sexy as ever and with that sun-kissed tan, he looks even more gorgeous.

I watch the turquoise water run over my fingers as I dip them below the horizon and taste its saltiness with my tongue.

Going swimming has become something of a mid-morning ritual for us over the past year and we even schedule our plans to make sure that we don’t miss it. This morning, however, I have to cut the swimming short.

“You’re going in already?” Nicholas yells, getting up after riding another wave.

“Yeah, I have some work to do,” I say, waddling out onto the shore. The weightlessness that I felt disappears and I’m suddenly reminded of exactly how heavy I really am. One more month to go, I say to myself, rubbing my giant belly.