Free 34 Seconds by Stella Samuel Page A

with Goon Goon and said, “She was sleepy, so I tucked her in the towels, so she could get a little rest.” She said it like she knew where the bunny was the whole time, and Chris and I were playing a little game of hide and seek with this stuffed bunny. It was those things which made life with a three year old so frustrating and yet so damned cute and sweet at the same time.
    Bella managed to get dirt on her pretty dress as we were getting in the car, but she didn’t mind. Wiping out on what was once the driveway upset her more than the bit of dirt on the front of her dress. I wondered why I couldn’t get my family out of the house in one clean piece without some trauma. The whole forty five minute drive to the wedding, Emily had to watch Cinderella on the iPad in the car. I’m not sure what life was like when I was a kid without all these great tech toys to play with. I remember sitting on the floor board of my parents’ car, pushing on their seats and talking with them while playing BINGO on the floor. Today, kids are strapped into some kind of car seat until they are almost in junior high it seems, so they have activities they can do sitting still and confined. Mine watch TV if they were in the car for any length of time. And because we were going to a wedding, Emily had to watch ‘Cinderelly’. She was so excited to go to the ball after the wedding. Yep, she was three and believed after every wedding there must be lots of people dancing at a ball to welcome the new prince and princess, the wedding couple, to their castle. I wasn’t sure if she would be disappointed when she saw two pretty normal people standing on a beach for a few minutes and then a big beach bon fire party afterwards. I did promise she could dance, and hopefully the beach would excite her enough to forget the castle we should be in.
    “Daddy, will you be my prince?” Emily asked from the back seat when we were driving over the York River Bridge. “I can see beaches, Mommy! Beaches there and over there and lots of beaches. Bella, that’s a beach.” Emily, having given up the movie, was excited about the beaches she could see from the top of the bridge.
    “Maybe Daddy will let you dance on his feet,” I said, looking at my husband, silently saying, you must dance with her, and her standing on your feet would be the best way.
    “Yeah, we can dance together, Emily. Will you be my princess?” Chris took my bait and let his little princess know they could dance off into the sunset if it’s what would make her happy.
    I pointed to the road Chris needed to take to actually get to the beach. We could see the beaches from the bridge, but they all seemed impossible to get to. I noticed new condos near the beach and directed Chris to the one hotel on the beach.
    “Will said to park at the hotel, and they will direct us to the area of the beach where the wedding will be. But my guess is it will be right there, under the big tent,” I said to Chris as I pointed to the hotel.
    People were gathering around the large white and blue tent. “Not exactly what I think of when I think of wedding, but at least it’s not green like at funerals,” I said quietly.
    The service started within minutes of our arrival. We took our seats on the groom’s side, we assumed since it wasn’t as full as the other side of the aisle. Will looked stunning at the edge of the water in cream colored linen pants, no shoes, and a light cream colored button down shirt. His bride met him wearing a long cream colored linen dress flowing behind her with the help of the light breeze. She, too, was shoeless. And she fit Will perfectly. She was pretty, yet simple, earthy yet pure, and clean. I wanted to watch Will say his vows, to see how he looked at his bride, to see the love in his eyes, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Will’s bride. The woman Will was marrying and pledging his love to for the rest of his life. There was something so innocent and pure about her. I was