Her Father tapped lightly on the door. “Marie? Are you ready, sweetheart?”
Marie took a deep breath. She was dressed in her beautiful wedding dress and she looked in the mirror for the last time. She thought to herself, saying out loud ‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’ Looking at the door, she got up and swung it open to find her father on the other side looking pleased.
“Wow, Marie,” he said, and this has never changed and he could only feel emotion in his throat. “You look… You look like a princess. Your mother should have been proud of you.”
She just nodded agreeing, and tried to smile but the smile did not touch her eyes at all. “Thanks, Dad.”
He stretched out for her hand and it was warm, tender, and strong. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go. It’s time.”
So gripping hand in hand and taking a long hallway, the heart of Marie began to beat faster. The noise was heard from downstairs, people speaking, the murmur like bees buzzing, the expectation of the event of the day. The house was so qui
