Chapter 8 - The Wedding We Should Have Had
We decided to hold a second wedding.
Not for the newspapers.
Not for business.
For us.
We wanted to replace the memories of the courthouse.
That little room where we had married quietly.
The place where Nico had promised our life would one day be public.
Now we would make a new promise.
In daylight.
With our families watching.
The ceremony took place beside Lake Michigan.
It was windy.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Arthur served as Nico's best man.
Elena stood beside me.
My mother wasn't there.
But I carried her old necklace.
Nico watched me walk toward him.
He looked terrified.
I smiled.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
“Very.”
He laughed.
“Good.”
The officiant asked Nico for his vows.
He looked at me.
“I once believed protecting someone meant keeping them away from the world.”
He paused.
“I was wrong.”
He continued.
“I learned that love is not a locked door.”
“Love is an open door, and the person you love chooses to walk through it.”
I cried.
Then it was my turn.
“I once believed walking away was the only way to save myself.”
I looked at him.
“And sometimes it was.”
He nodded.
“But I learned something after I left.”
I smiled.
“Sometimes someone can change.”
The crowd was silent.
“I don't promise that I'll forget.”
“I don't promise that I won't remember.”
“But I promise that I will keep choosing the life we build together.”
We exchanged rings.
Then kissed.
The applause was deafening.
That night, Arthur gave Nico a gift.
It was an old photograph.
Nico's father.
My father.
Our mothers.
All four together.
The photograph had been taken before Nico was born.
On the back was a sentence:
Maybe their children will finish what we started.
Nico stared at it.
“What did they start?”
I answered.
“A chance to end it.”
He looked at me.
“We did.”
Our daughter kicked.
We both laughed.
Two months later, Lena Rose was born.
The labor lasted thirteen hours.
Nico nearly collapsed.
I laughed at him between contractions.
“This is your fault.”
“I know.”
“I'm never forgiving you.”
“I understand.”
When our daughter finally arrived, Nico cried.
Not quietly.
Not discreetly.
He sobbed.
He held Lena against his chest.
“She's perfect.”
I reached toward them.
“Let me see.”
He brought her closer.
I touched her tiny cheek.
“Our girl.”
He looked at me.
“Our whole world.”
May you like
For once, those words didn't feel dangerous.
They felt real.
