The Wedding

"And then, dude, that night a bear came to the shelter. It was right outside my tent. I yelled 'Whoa, bear!' and it ran. But then it came back again just before dawn, and I had to scare it off again. Dude, I got up early for the first time and blew outta there."

"But I caught up to you even though I left an hour later."

"Yeah, dude! Don, this dude blew right past me. I didn't even hear him coming. Suddenly there was this gust of wind--almost knocked me off my feet, it did--and then I was staring at his backside getting smaller and smaller."

"So you named me Raging Wind."

"Sure did!"

The jealousy I had felt vanished, and I felt ashamed of myself. But that too vanished as we exchanged stories from the trail and laughed.

We gathered in Rob's backyard on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The dress code was suitable for a summer backyard and poolside party. There was no schedule to mess up, with uncomfortable periods of just waiting for something to happen. People arrived just before noon. They ate and drank, played in the yard, chatted, or cooled off in the pool. At half past one, we announced that we would have a short ceremony on the back porch at two o'clock. The guests remained in the yard or in the pool, while Stephen and I, our parents, and a justice-of-the-peace stood on the porch. We made no vows or gave elaborate speeches. We simply stated our love for each other and desire to be together. Both sets of parents gave toasts in our honor, and the JP pronounced us married. We kissed to a raucous cheer. There was no obnoxious photographer getting in the way and making us pose. There were plenty of people with cameras who were willing to share the wedding photos with us. And best of all, Stephen tuned up his acoustic guitar and serenaded me with a love song he had written. It was hauntingly beautiful, a simple melody and a single clear tenor voice singing spare yet evocative lyrics. I was not the only person in tears.

The party continued through the afternoon. People were having a grand time. Family and friends mingled with ease, and the sound of laughter reverberated. And then we danced late into the night. I was awful, but I didn't care. Stephen danced energetically and gracefully, his face all aglow with joy, whirling around me as though I were the sun he revolved around. A friend of his from DC was our DJ. The upbeat dance music was unfamiliar to me and many of the people I knew, but the music drove us to our feet and we danced.

We had our house to ourselves on our wedding night. Stan and Terri had booked a room at the hotel for the night. We lay embraced on the bed just kissing. We couldn't stop kissing. I pulled my knees up and guided his penis into me, but we were both too exhausted from dancing and partying to fuck. We held each other and kissed until we fell asleep, his penis still cozily buried inside me.

On Sunday morning, we bid farewell to our families and friends. For our honeymoon, we packed up our backpacks and drove to Joe Dodge Lodge at Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire. The next day we started our traverse of the Presidential Range, starting from Crawford Notch. We had previously hiked the Presidentials southbound; we wanted to do it northbound this time. We had some clouds, wind, and rain, but there were also long clear moments when we could see mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes for miles upon miles. Mount Washington was bustling with hikers and tourists who had driven up or ridden the cog railway. We ended the traverse back at Pinkham Notch. We drove back home in the morning, refreshed and happy, ready to commence our lives as husbands.