I heard Ashley’s alarm clock blaring music so loud it was waking me from my deep sleep. I usually woke up before the alarm, but Ashley and I were up all night talking about us getting married today. It almost seemed like yesterday that Ashley proposed to me at LAX airport when in reality it was a couple of months ago when my parents tried to send me back to Ohio to “cure” me and bring the family back together. Ashley and Kyla came before the plane was about to take off. The reality was the fact that I wound up falling in love with a girl was what really irked them. I put the pillow over my ears to drown out the noise. I sighed in exasperation when I made the alarm clock fall to the ground. I went to pick up the alarm clock to hit the snooze button. It was only 5:30 in the morning. The birds weren’t even up yet. The alarm and the clock falling could wake up the dead, but not my Ashley. I really loved the sound of that, my Ashley. I gently shook Ashley to wake her up and she groaned. “Five more minutes, baby,” Ashley groaned as her eyes were closed.

“We have a ton of things to do today,” I pointed out. I got up from the bed and took the blankets off the bed. Ashley curled up in a fetal position and I kissed Ashley softly on her lips. Ashley opened her eyes. She finally sat up and put her hands on my face and gently sucked on my bottom lip. I pulled back from the kiss and Ashley pressed her forehead against mine.

“Are you okay?” asked Ashley with concern. I nodded. I still couldn’t believe I was going to get married let alone find someone due to what Glen and Paula have said to me about me not being good enough. There was a knock on Ashley’s bedroom door.

“Are you girls awake?” asked Kyla with curiosity. Kyla opened the door. “You need to get ready since today is the big day.”

Ashley kissed me sweetly on the lips. “I’ll see you at church later,” Ashley said.

“Yes, you will,” I said with a smile. “Bye.” I went to get changed.