To Have and To Hold

Betrothed. For years he’d hated that word. Now, it no longer sounded as horrible. Not after seeing how she had turned out. He was actually surprised when he saw her. Pleasantly surprised.
But then he’d always known that she would grow up into a lovely young woman. She had always been pretty. Although after seeing her again today, ‘pretty’ seems too inadequate a word. She’s absolutely beautiful!
Gabriel closed his eyes. What’s wrong with him? Had he forgotten that she was a shrew? Had he forgotten how she used to enjoy embarrassing him in front of everyone by contradicting his every word? How she constantly antagonized him? How she stole her brothers from him, wrapping them around her little finger, making them her allies? How she made him the odd-man out?
Besides, beautiful or not, she was nonetheless chosen for him. He did not choose her to be his wife. She is the embodiment of what he’s been fighting against all these years – his loss of control over his fate.
Still, he did not anticipate the wealth of emotions that she aroused in him with just that one, accidental encounter. And it lasted for only a few minutes, not really long enough to base a decision that would impact the rest of their lives.
Still…