I used to daydream about weddings.
I just wanted to sit in the pews and witness my siblings exchange vows, being a part of their happiness.
But I never had that chance.
My oldest brother, Oak, married when I was ten.
Then, at twelve, another wedding, but I was still not permitted. At fifteen, I begged my sister, Ivy, to make an exception, but she responded with her false, sympathetic grin.
When I was seventeen, my brother, Silas, married. By that point, I had ceased caring. His twin brother Ezra’s wedding was soon after, and I didn’t even ask if I might go.
I texted a half-hearted congratulations and spent the evening in my room with my boyfriend Rowan, who is now my fiancé.
That was the last time I allowed myself to be hurt by them.
So when I began organizing my wedding, I made a simple decision.
Neither of them would be invited.
So the invites were sent out, and my relatives quickly took notice.
They stormed through my apartment like a SWAT team, demanding answers from me.
“Why didn’t we get an invite to your wedding, Lena?” Oak asked, his arms crossed.
“You didn’t want me at your weddings. Literally, none of you wanted me there. So, guess what? I don’t want you at mine. It’s simple logic.”
I finally sighed, needing answers. Or a resolution of some sort.
We couldn’t continue like this.
“You know what? Fine. I’ll invite you. But only on one condition.”
“Tell me everything. No lies. No bullshit. Just the truth. Tell me, why was I really never included?”
A strange tension pervaded the place. My siblings exchanged stares as if challenging each other to be the one to speak.
Ivy sat down with her hands clasped in her lap.
“Lena… you’re not actually our sister.”
“You’re our cousin,” Ivy continued. “Our dad’s brother was raising you alone when he got sick and passed on. Mom and Dad took you in. But… we don’t know who or where your mother is.”
The final knife to the heart came from Ezra.
“We were just kids. And you, Lena. My God. You needed attention. You weren’t our sibling, so we kind of distanced ourselves. I’m sure you felt it. But I guess you thought it was the age thing, huh?”
“You distanced yourselves?” my voice was eerily calm. “You mean you decided that I wasn’t family.”
He did not refute it.
I was not their sister. I was not… I was just the child who they tolerated.
I can scarcely remember leaving. I’m not sure how long I roamed, but I ultimately wound up on the curb outside Rowan’s apartment.
At one point, the door creaked open.
Then warmth. Rowan’s sweatshirt draped over my shoulders as he crouched next to me.
“I don’t want to stand at the altar thinking about them. I don’t want them sitting there, pretending that they love me when all they ever did was tolerate me.”
“Let them keep their fake apologies and guilty stares. Let them live with it. But you?” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “You don’t owe them a performance, my love. You don’t need an audience to be happy.”
“Let’s not do the wedding,” I said.
“I don’t care where it happens, or when, or who’s watching. I just want you, Lena. That’s it.”
The one sitting by me in the cold, offering me a lifetime of unconditional love… he was the only one I’d ever genuinely needed.
And just like that, for the first time in my life, I made a choice only for myself.
Rowan and I stood before a city clerk in a peaceful, bright office.
“We’ll keep it simple. Do you take this beautiful woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Rowan’s lip twitched.
“Absolutely.”
“And do you, Lena, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“With everything I have.”
We signed the documents, took our rings from Rowan’s pocket, and placed them on each other’s fingers. It was finished just like that.
And it was true.
