belooft u getrouw alle plichten te vervullen die de wet aan de huwelijkse staat verbindt? Wat is daarop

uw antwoord? "

No a wavering in his voice. Clear as anything. “Ja.”

“Steve Aidan Gavan, verklaart u aan te nemen tot uw wettige echtgenoot, Daniël Borghart, en

belooft u getrouw alle plichten te vervullen die de wet aan de huwelijkse staat verbindt? Wat is daarop

uw antwoord? I repeat in English, Steve Aidan Gavan, do you declare to accept as your lawful wedded

spouse, Daniël Borghart, and do you promise to faithfully fulfill all duties that the marriage law asks

of you? What is your answer?”

The whole universe lives in the eyes of his beloved. He didn’t leave it behind when he returned

from death to life. It had been there all along.

“I do. I mean, ja.”

“Dan verklaar ik als ambtenaar van de Burgerlijke Stand van de gemeente Schiedam dat u door

het huwelijk aan elkaar bent verbonden. As registrar of the municipality of Schiedam I declare you

joined by marriage.”

On the registrar’s cue, both Daniël’s father and Matthew hand them each a ring. On the inside,

each other’s name and the date of the wedding have been engraved. On the outside of the otherwise

unadorned golden ring, reads the inscription: my lover, my friend.

“May I invite the young couple and Daniël’s father and Mr Kirkby to sign the register to bring

the official part of this morning to a conclusion?” The registrar gestures at the table with a leather

bound book and two pens.

No, the hours of hard work are not forgotten when Steve signs the single most important

document of his life. There’s too much joy for that.

The face of the registrar reflects their happiness. “It is both my pleasure and honour to

congratulate you on your marriage. It’s a good custom for a couple to share their first kiss as a

married couple at this very moment.”

He feels Daniël’s arms around him, his lips pressing against his own, tongue teasing for a short

moment. Then there is laughter and catcalls and a teary mum and just about every female between

sixteen and eighty going on about how romantic it is and how cute the grooms look.

“Welcome into the family,” Daniël’s father says and he embraces Steve. There’s genuine

acceptance in his and his wife’s eyes.“One look at my son’s face was all I needed to know you two

made the best possible decision. Take good care of each other.”

“I will do anything to make him happy because he makes me so happy,” Steve promises.

“That’s easy,” Daniël cuts in, “He’s here, with me, that’s enough for me. Everything else is a

nice extra.”

*

The trip back to Kinbridge gives Steve an opportunity to rest for a while. It’s still several hours

before dinner and the wedding party. Ample time to give their guests the chance to get there by

specially chartered plane and have an opportunity to freshen up and change into evening dress in the

hotel rooms reserved for them. The idea to provide photos and a video of the day and distribute them

freely seems to have worked quite well. Of course, there had been around a dozen of photographers

when they left the town hall, and he did see several mobile phones with a camera function being held

up by curious ‘wedding watchers’ but he guesses that’s an unavoidable sign of the times.

“Nice, isn’t it, having a moment alone, with just the two of us? What a luxury, this private jet.

I could actually get used to it,” Daniël says with a chuckle. “Just kidding.”

Steve rests his head against his husband’s shoulder. He actually likes that word: husband. It has

a solid, old-fashioned sound to it. It’s mature and stable. Perhaps he might not be suitable boyfriend

material, but being a husband works pretty well for him. “Don’t laugh, but I have this feeling I did

something very right today.”

But Daniël does laugh. “Because that’s what you did. The best thing you could ever do, in fact.

You have any idea how proud I am to be married to you? If nothing good is going to happen to me

ever again, I’ll still maintain I’m the luckiest man in this world.”

“But many good things will happen to you.” Steve kisses him.

“I know, love, I know.” Daniël grins like a naughty little boy.

Steve chuckles in understanding. “You’re thinking about the wedding night ...”

“And you’re not?” Dan teases, turning his head to steal another kiss.

*

The rest of the day flows by like the proverbial dream. The food is near enough to perfection,

the staff of the family-owned hotel they reserved for their reception and party couldn’t be more

helpful or friendly. The speeches are suitably embarrassing and actually almost funny. The cake is

even decorated with two little grooms. “That’s Dan and Steve,” sixteen year old Naomi giggles.

“Look, they even have different hair and the Dan doll is a little bit taller than the Steve doll. That’s so

cute.” And Daniël winks at his little sister.

With Daniël’s arms firmly around him for support Steve shuffles happily to the slowest love

song the DJ could find in her collection for the first dance of the night. Then the sign is given that the

floor is free for everyone to have fun. The music invites the guests to dance and so they all dance,

even the ones who think they really shouldn’t. But what do aesthetics and knowing the right moves

matter when love and pleasure are sometimes really all you need? So when Francesco and Dag give a

grinding demonstration of epic proportion, it’s their girlfriends who shout the loudest

encouragements. And who would hold it against Daniël’s aunts when they are more than happy to give

a crash course in ballroom dancing for the lovely young colleagues of their nephew? Spotty teenagers

get dragged right to the middle of the dance floor. Neither do individuals above a certain age get

spared. Today, all dance. Today, no one’s too young, too old, too fat or too ugly.

And of course, Steve can’t let the evening pass without a dance with his brand-new sister in

law. That is to say, he’s practically standing still and Naomi twirls around him on what she calls “the

best song ever.” He doesn’t recognise it.

“My brother has a good taste in men,” Naomi grins mischievously.

“Can’t be as good as mine. But, and don’t tell anyone I told you, see that handsome guy

standing next to our first goalie? He’s seventeen, he plays for our youth team and I heard from a

reliable source he thinks you’re cute.”

“Really? You’re not making fun of me?”

“You can ask around, and they will all tell you I’m the boring one. I never play pranks on

anyone. I wouldn’t know how. By the way, he’s a good dancer too ...”

And off she goes, making a beeline for the cute boy.

“She adores you, you know that?” Daniël tactfully supports him towards his chair.

It makes Steve blush. “I’ve been that age, too.”

A large part of the evening is spent talking with their guests. Thanking them for being there,

for their gifts, hearing advice from the married and might- just-as-well- be-married guys, only to be

told exactly the opposite from their wives and girlfriends.

“I’ve never seen my son this happy. I wish you had been with him when he fetched us from the

airport, last year. It was all so needless. But what can I say? Life so often plays funny tricks on us all.”

For a moment, Daniël’s mother lays her hand on Steve’s arm. “You do realise you are family now? I

know of course I’m not your mother, and you don’t need one at your age, but...you understand what I

mean?”

“It takes a bit of time, but I’m getting there.”

“Good. You have to excuse me, sweetheart, I promised a chat with Nat, Bronia and the others,