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W.D. hated being the center of attention. He’d learned to live with it as part of being a performer, with only nameless faces watching. Even then, he preferred to stay at the back and let Anne be the star.
But when his baby sister asks him a favor, W.D. is helpless to say anything but yes.
To be fair, as Anne had argued, he wouldn’t be the center of attention. All eyes would be on her and Phillip. He still had to do a good portion of the talking, and he didn’t like it, but he’d do it for her.
It was the whole group of them—the circus performers, the backend employees, and the Barnums—all gathered inside the tent. Everyone but himself, Anne, and Carlyle sat in the stands, facing their way. W.D. sighed and set his unease aside. This day was for his sister—and Phillip—and he was honored to be here.
(He couldn’t help but think they should have asked Barnum to do it, though. He loved talking.
On second thought, that’s probably why they didn’t.)
W.D. stood facing the stands, a worn Bible in his hands, with Phillip and Anne standing before him. Anne had said she wanted simple and meaningful, and Phillip had agreed with anything that made Anne happy.
If Anne had to get married, W.D. was glad it was to someone like Carlyle. Someone that would listen to Anne and let her run things, not someone that tried to tie her down.
W.D. knew better than anyone that there was no tying Anne down.
W.D. cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. He didn’t really know what all to say; he hadn’t had much time to prepare. They’d told him not to worry about saying the right things and giving a traditional speech, which was good considering the only wedding he’d been to was over ten years ago. He didn’t know how these things took place.
He had to say something though, so he did. “Everyone, we’re here today to witness Phillip and Anne vow their love and commitment to each other in the presence of, well, you all and the good Lord above.” Not a bad start, he thought. The lovesick smiles Anne and Phillip were sending each other seemed to be a good sign. “Everyone here I’m sure knows that these two have a strong bond and are fully committed to one another, so today is about Phillip and Anne making a formal declaration of their commitment and dedicating their lives to one another.
“I’m not much of a speaker,” he readily admitted, “so without further ado, let’s cut straight to the main event.”
He motioned for Phillip and Anne to join hands, and they did so. Anne beamed at Phillip, and then she gave W.D. the happiest grin he’d ever seen on her face. She was truly happy, and he was happy for her.
Carlyle looked more smitten with Anne than usual, and that was saying something. W.D. was honestly happy for both of them.
He smiled back at his sister and nodded to Carlyle.
The couple looked to each other again, and W.D. looked out into the crowd. All their friends—their family, really—were watching them with smiles on their faces. It was rare to get the whole group to quiet down at once, but even they had their manners for special occasions.
“Phillip’s gonna go first, recite his vows.” He nodded towards him. “Phillip.”
Phillip took a deep, shaky breath and smiled at Anne. His eyes were trained on her—W.D. was sure their audience could have evaporated in that moment and Phillip wouldn’t have noticed.
Phillip and Anne had memorized traditional vows. She’d wanted traditional, and Phillip had easily recollected them from the countless weddings he’d attended.
Phillip spoke with confidence. “In the name of God, I, Phillip, take you, Anne, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
Anne smiled tearfully at her soon-to-be-husband, and W.D. could have sworn Phillip looked just as teary-eyed.
He prompted Anne to recite her vows, and despite looking to be near crying tears of happiness, she spoke her vows just the same as Phillip—full of confidence and conviction, as though there was nothing in the world that she was surer of than those words.
(W.D. was pretty sure part of Anne’s vows were supposed to say something about obeying her husband, and he couldn’t help but notice she’d omitted that. He thought that it fit them better that way.)
Both Phillip and Anne broke their shared gaze to look at W.D. He looked between them and offered a genuine smile. Seeing his sister there, marrying someone who offered her all the love in the world, he couldn’t have been happier.
W.D. addressed their audience. “Phillip and Anne are exchanging rings as a symbol of their love and commitment to one another.” He turned to the two of them and prompted, “The rings?”
Phillip pulled two plain gold bands from his pocket, one slender and one wide, and handed his own to Anne. As everyone watched, they placed the rings on each other’s hand.
It wasn’t common practice to exchange rings, and even less common for the man to wear one, but Anne had always thought Barnum and Charity’s rings were a beautiful symbol of love—so much so that she requested she and Phillip do the same. And, like W.D., Phillip found it impossible to say no to Anne.
Once the rings were exchanged, W.D. took a deep breath. As much as he was happy for his sister, he also wanted to finish this so all attention could be on just the two of them, not on him as well. “Anne asked me to read a passage from the Bible, so…” He flipped open the book to a bookmarked page and read slowly. “‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’”
Anne had tears running down her face. She made no move to wipe them away, so Phillip reached his hand out to brush them away. W.D. was sure that wouldn’t be accepted in some high-society wedding, but it seemed to fit the pair just fine. They smiled softly to each other.
“With that, and with my blessing—” He smiled at Anne. She had told him how much his blessing meant to her and to Phillip. “—and in the presence of God and everyone here as witnesses, I pronounce you man and wife.”
If he’d felt like joking around, then he would have rolled his eyes at his next line. But given the circumstances, he decided to keep the sarcasm to himself. “You two can kiss.”
Phillip cupped Anne’s face softly and pressed his lips to hers. They pulled apart quickly, surely not wanting to create a spectacle at their own wedding, and then Anne launched herself into W.D.’s arms.
“Thank you,” she said. The words came out muffled against his shoulder as brother and sister hugged. “I love you.”
W.D. patted her back and kissed her head. “I love you, too, Anne.” He looked at Carlyle—he supposed he ought to stop calling him Carlyle. He was family, after all. Plus, there were two Carlyles in the group now.
(And, admittedly, he really only did it at this point to get on Phillip’s nerves. Half the time, “Phillip” rolled off his tongue more naturally anyway.)
Phillip grinned watching Anne hug her brother. She finally pulled away and settled next to Phillip, his arm falling naturally around her. The two men shook hands, and Phillip offered his thanks for officiating their makeshift wedding.
They stood there a moment, relishing in their happiness, before W.D. realized they had a crowd watching and waiting to be part of the celebration. Half of them were already standing, looking eager to walk over but unsure if they could.
W.D. took a step to the side and faced them all. Phillip and Anne turned, still wrapped around each other, and W.D. held out a welcoming hand in their direction.
“Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Carlyle, everyone.”