None tell you what occurs when blood becomes poisonous, even if it’s thicker than water. Just before my sister said “I do,” my kid sobbing said we should go. Before he showed me anything that stopped the church, I didn’t comprehend.
Kylie, 35, small-town mom.
Lily, my younger sister, always stole the show. She may not have meant to, but our parents saw perfection in her. They saw what was left when they glanced at me.
But I was thrilled for her. She was married Adam, our town’s mayor’s golden son and a good person. Helped plan everything. Every detail—dress, flowers, guest list—was handled by me.
On wedding day, I smoothed down the front of my satin dress, which I had overspent on since Lily wanted all family members match her wedding colors. My son Matt fidgeted next me in his small suit, tugging at the bow tie I spent 20 minutes perfecting.
“Mom, how long? Will Dad arrive? He mumbled, legs swinging under the pew.
“Soon, sweetheart.” I checked my phone again. No updates from my spouse Josh concerning his arrival. It was convenient that “client emergency” this morning. However, I had long stopped questioning his last-minute work justifications.
Lily entered as the string quartet played Pachelbel’s Canon, and everyone arose. Despite groaning at the price, she looked stunning in her custom gown with the cathedral train I helped her choose.
She smiled broadly as she looked at Adam at the altar.
My parents smiled from the front row, my mother wiping her eyes. Golden youngster had her golden day. I was thrilled for her. In spite of childhood competitions, covert favoritism, and her seemingly infallible abilities… Loved my sister.
Sunlight through stained glass windows produced rainbow patterns on the floor during the ceremony. Matt settled, clearly enraptured by the show.
I turned when his small fingers urgently clutched mine. His face was pallid and his eyes watery.
“Mom, we must leave. Now!”
Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Do you need the restroom?
“No.”
My honey, what is it? You hungry? Do you want a snack?
“No, Mommy. Look…” He took a phone from his suit pocket. Not my phone. It was Josh’s second phone. the one he said was for work.
“Dad lets me play on this sometimes,” Matt added. “He left it at home, so I took it. I was playful, but suddenly… A video was sent and… He swallowed hard, eyes wide. “Look, Mom…”
My hands became cold as I took the phone. Pressing play on the video message muted the priest’s voice.
It felt like falling, but I was standing.
Josh was forcing my sister against a hotel lobby wall and kissing her with a familiarity that suggested more than one indiscretion. The timestamp read yesterday. The hotel where we rented rooms for out-of-town guests was obvious.
An alarming note appeared below the video:
Today, meet me at the hotel at 5. Urgent. To avoid trouble. Josh, I’ll wait at reception. Do not act smart or you will pay.”
“Mom?” It seemed Matt’s voice was miles away. “Why is Dad kissing Aunt Lily? Does that explain his absence?
I heard the priest’s voice through my fog. “If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be married, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
Before I could think, my legs moved. My heels hitting the hardwood floor rang like gunshots in the unexpected hush as I walked down the aisle.
What are you doing, Kylie? In the quiet church, my mother’s terrified whisper carried.
I looked at the confused guests from the altar and held up the phone.
“Sorry, but I think we all need the truth before this continues. Adam, see this.”
As I showed the groom the film, his confusion turned to incredulity and eventually devastation. Lily’s face drained color.
Kylie, are you serious? hissed. On my wedding day?
I said, “Apparently, you weren’t too concerned about it being your wedding day when you were with my husband yesterday,” loud enough for the front rows.
The grumbling spread like wildfire across the congregation.
Adam retreated from Lily, shaking his head. Is this true?
“Not what it looks like,” Lily muttered, reaching for him. Someone is sabotaging us! This has changed.”
Adam had seen enough. He looked so hurt at her that I nearly felt sorry for him.
“The wedding’s off,” he said. He stormed down the steps and out the side door, with his best man following him into the street.
Lily knelt, her lovely dress spilling about her like cream. My mother ran to her side, staring at me with hate.
“How could? You’ve always envied your sister.”
My father froze, staring at us like strangers.
Mom, I didn’t do this. She did. And Josh.”
I faced my aunt in the second row. “Can you watch Matt for two hours?”
She nodded, speechless, and I knelt by my son.
“I need to talk, sweetheart. Please stay with Aunt Claire. Coming back soon.”
The hotel lobby was quiet on Saturday night. I was holding Josh’s phone, having just texted, “Hey, I’m here, where are you?”
The response was quick: “Near reception. Red dress. Hurry.”
I saw her immediately—a woman my age in a fitting red dress nervously checking her phone. Her eyes widened in recognition when she saw me approach, despite never meeting.
“You’re not Josh.”
I’m his wife. Kylie.”
Slumped into an adjacent chair.
“Who are you?” Sitting opposite her, I inquired.
“Emily.” She stared me in the eye. “I dated your husband three years ago. When your son was four.”
Catching my breath. “He was my husband then.”
“Now I know. I didn’t then. Not until I found a family photo in his wallet, with you, him, and your son. I ended our relationship immediately.”
And now?
I’m on vacation. True coincidence. Yesterday, I spotted him in this foyer with a white-dressed woman. They covered each other.” She took out her phone. “I filmed and photographed. Very angry. I wanted his payment.”
“The blackmail text?”
With grace, she looked humiliated. “Not my best. I planned to terrify him for money. “I didn’t think… She ceased. What happened? Why are you here instead of him?
“Your video stopped my sister’s wedding. She with Josh? That was her. The bride.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Oh, God!”
“Any more? More proof?”
She nodded slowly. “Everything. Videos and messages from our relationship. His remarks concerning your marriage.”
“I need everything. All of it.”
***
The divorce ended four months later. Josh was doomed by Emily’s testimony and the hotel’s security footage I subpoenaed. I got the house, primary custody of Matt, and enough child support to be comfortable.
My sister left two weeks after the wedding fiasco. Last I heard, she was waitressing three states away. Adam finally met someone worthy of him.
My parents hardly talk to me. They blame me for ruining their daughter’s happiness.
“You should have handled it privately,” my mother said in our last discussion. “Did you have to shame her in public?”
Like she shamed me? Like she deceived Matt? Mom, some things can’t be ignored.”
Not spoken since.
Matt and I relocated to a smaller house near school. Every night, we share dinner and I’ve started photography classes. Josh thought it was impractical to achieve what I always wanted.
Matt and I have overcome much. We started a backyard garden yesterday. His small hands tenderly squeezed the soil around a tiny tomato seedling, like he knew it mattered.
“Will it grow big?” He inquired, staring up at me with innocent eyes that had seen too much too young.
With sufficient care and patience? Absolutely!” Wiping dirt from his cheek, I responded.
“Mom? Do you miss Dad and Aunt Lily?
Considered this… thought about it. “Not sad, honey. I appreciate it.”
“For what?”
For you.” I embraced him. For your daytime boldness. For the possibility to create something honest and new.”
His gap-toothed smile warms my heart. “Like our garden?”
“Just like our garden!”
As we worked together in the beautiful afternoon sun, I thought about how truth, however difficult, allows for growth. While my sister’s wedding did not result in marriage, it freed me from lies, which is more valuable than any white dress or extravagant celebration.
Some could call my actions that day harmful. But standing in my garden with my lovely son, I know better. Sometimes you must burn weeds to grow flowers.
