I was 24 when I met Nancy. I was home on leave, a full 23 days before I had to report to Fort Benning, Georgia. I had been accepted to Ranger school, well, I had been invited to Ranger school and had jumped at the chance, and I was home in my small town in south Alabama. A friend from high school, he had been the quarterback while I was catching his passes on our way to a runner-up finish at the state tournament in high school and we had been tight as only kids on a winning team can be, was getting married and I wasn't about to miss that.
I surprised him by showing up at all. Hell, I hadn't been sure I'd be able to get away, the Army being what it is. But the orders had come through and I had managed to get into town the day before the wedding. There had been no time for a date, hell, even supposing one of the girls I had known back then was still in town and still had the same phone number.
So here I was, sitting in a pew in my class A uniform all squared away as a good soldier should be. It was about the only thing I had appropriate for such an occasion and, honestly, I was proud of it. I was proud of the stripes on my sleeves and the ribbons on my chest. I was most proud of the blue Combat Infantry Badge over the top of the ribbons signifying that I was one of the guys that had actually done it, gone there, hunted bad guys, and pulled triggers.
I had exchanged quick "hellos" and hugs with several people, it was, after all a small town, and then found a seat next to a distant cousin who, I thought, would be interesting in bed later. When the formalities started I watched and enjoyed and chatted her up a bit. I was pretty sure she was interested.
Benjamin, the groom, came in looking good, I thought, if a bit thicker than he had been back in the day. He stood up on the dais of the church, I suppose there's a formal name for that raised area but never bothered to look it up, in his blue suit and brilliant red tie, something I guess is the modern equivalent of last generation's tuxedo.
It was a big affair. I watched as the first five bride's maids entered, groomsmen on their arms, doing that odd little step-close-step procession. I recognized three of the five and had bedded two of them back when the football star had his choice of the girls. I caught the eye of Frankie, who had been the left tackle on the team, bigger than ever, and we exchanged grins.
But it was the last one in, the Matron of Honor if I have the nomenclature right, that captured my heart.
Okay, okay, no, I don't believe in love at first sight but I damn sure DO believe in lust at first sight and this was an attraction that hit me right down there at the brain stem. There was no thought involved at all. My dick got hard and my breath caught. I was, literally, unable to look away from her.
My Nancy always makes an entrance, and this time it was no different. She's 5'9" tall making her just an inch shorter than me and a couple of inches taller in the heels she likes to wear. At a shade over 200 pounds, she's big. Not fat. Not obese. Just big and powerful, an Earth Mother and Fertility Goddess. She looked particularly good right then. The bridesmaids were in a rainbow of colors and hers was a blue so bright it made sapphires look like something you'd get from a Cracker Jacks box or topaz look pale and watery. It was a good look for her and the cut of the dress put six inches of cleavage on display and showed off her figure. The 4" spike heels she wore did good things for her legs and the way her big beautiful ass moved under the tight dress.
But it wasn't that that really caught my eye.
Well, okay, who am I bullshitting here? The dress wasn't the ONLY thing that caught my eye. Nor was it her big, powerful but soft arms, broad powerful shoulders, or, yes, that wonderfully shapely big ass.
What caught my eye was her face, surrounded by a halo of the thickest auburn hair I had ever seen. It was a big face, round, with perfectly smooth skin. It made you wonder if she had pores. Her eyes were big and brown and the eye makeup, a pale green with eyeliner that put a little upturned point at the corners giving her a slightly exotic look, was perfect for her face. Her nose was small and straight, her cheeks round, her mouth was small with the brightest red lipstick I had ever seen, and her chins, both of them, only added to the overall appearance of being a big, sexy woman. When she smiled, her teeth were ridiculously white.
And I was smitten.
The cousin no longer existed.
Finally came the bride with that ridiculous bridal march playing. I didn't know her but I wasn't surprised. Benjamin, never Ben, had always had a thing for blondes with big tits and this one didn't disappoint. Her name was Carla and she had a mass of black curly hair peeking out from under the white bridal hat and veil, and about 10 inches of blue-veined cleavage on display. The surprise was that she wasn't blonde but, well, tastes can change in six years I suppose.
So they did the thing. It was a Catholic wedding so we did the kneeling and standing and sitting, all very formal. I took my cues from the cousin who still seemed interested. In the end, I know it didn't take hours, it only seemed like it, he kissed her and they walked out as we stood and applauded and then threw birdseed at them.
The reception was at the local American Legion hall and the cousin, Marji was her name, caught a ride with me. She sat close in the middle-80s Chevy I had rented at the local Rent-a-Wreck, and I would not have been surprised if she had grabbed my dick right there.
But she didn't and at the hall, she got swept away by a gaggle of girls (a giggle of girls?). I watched and waited. The band was setting up and I talked to the guitar player about his Les Paul. Just killing time, waiting, a beer in hand but not much of it consumed. I was watching the door.
The bridal party came in then, Benjamin and Carla in the lead. Nancy was right behind them, like a force of nature she moved ahead of them, clearing a path for Benjamin and Carla to get to the head table. I watched, fascinated, and waited.
Finally, Benjamin caught my eye and his face split into the grin I recognized so well from when we would pull off the play. He broke away from Carla and Nancy, who I didn't know yet, and almost ran to me.
"27 Quebec 94 Left on Three," he yelled in a voice I would never forget. "HAH!" I yelled back signifying I understood just as the coach had drilled into us.
He had just called the play we had used successfully at least once in every game. It would only work once, but it always worked once.
We embraced, hugging hard.
"SO glad you made it, man," he said, pushing me to arm's length and looking me up and down.
"Carla," he said, "Come over here and meet the best wide receiver to come out of this town's high school."
So we met and hugged and then they were swept away in the crowd.
But that was okay. I was looking for that Matron of Honor who had captured my attention.
And she wasn't hard to find.
Nancy is a big girl with a big voice and a big laugh. She was standing in a group with the wedding party folks, groomsmen, and maids of honor, all looking very wedding party.
Now that I had her spotted I wasn't in any hurry. I found some other friends from the old days, team members mostly but a couple of old neighborhood friends too. We shared a few beers and a few stories although, if we're being honest here, I was the only one who had done anything really interesting. Oh, Steve was a successful business owner who sold car tires, Jeff was a construction foreman, running a concrete crew, and Bonnie had married, divorced, remarried, divorced, and made it clear she wouldn't mind making me number three. I thought I was doing important things, but when I tried to talk about them it became obvious I was offending their sensibilities.
So I mostly listened. We did dinner, rubber chicken, even more rubbery meatloaf, and some other stuff. Pretty disappointing all in all.
The Best Man did his toast, something that gave me a bit of a twinge since I should have been in his place. Cake was cut and shoved into faces. And finally, the band started up.
I headed straight for Nancy, I didn't know her name yet, and offered my hand.
"I always make it a point to get at least one dance with the prettiest girl in the room," I said, a well-practiced line on my part.
She looked up at me, speculatively I thought, and then looked me up and down, slowly, her eyes lingering for a few seconds on the ribbons on my chest, before they slowly moved up and met mine.
She smiled and I think that was the moment when I knew I would marry this woman.
"Okay, soldier," she said, standing, a bit taller than me in the heels, "and thank you for your service."
I flashed my absolute best, my "A" game, my well-practiced, boyish grin, and said, "happy to serve."
The music was ending and I was offering a silent hope for something slow. Karma was with me and the frontman of the band went into a reasonably competent version of that old song from the doo-wop era, "Blue Velvet."
In my arms, she was big and buxom, soft with strong muscle under the softness. She was a full armload as my hand settled on her back, but not so big I couldn't reach around her.
"Marry me," I said, the first words I had uttered since my little introductory come-on, and she giggled.
"Shouldn't we at least exchange names?" she asked, a wide smile on her pretty face.
"Well, if we must," I said and pushed her away, stopped, moving, extended my hand, and said, "I am David."
She grinned then, a kind of crooked, mouth pulled to the side, speculative grin, and took my hand in a firm handshake. "Nancy," she said.
I stepped off, smartly and smoothly I thought, back into the tempo of the music, resuming the dance.
"Sooooooo," I said, deliberately drawing out the vowel, "what do you think? A Spring wedding? Maybe outdoors? Military honors with the crossed swords and the whole thing?"
This time it was a smile, not a grin, and she said, "shouldn't you at least buy me dinner first?"
I held her hand, pulling, leading, and walked her back to her table.
"Give me your phone," I said, smiling.
There was that speculative look again but she bent down, offering an amazing length of cleavage in the process, pulled her cellphone out of her little clutch purse, and handed it to me. I keyed in my number, handed the phone back to her, took her hand, kissed it, and said, "I know you're busy tonight so I'll let you get to it."