A year had gone by since Edmund’s proposal, and Jada was still the happiest girl on the planet. They had taken to planning a real wedding like pros and loved the ability to share their news and joys with those closest to them. Even as their issues with the caterer and photographer played out, Jada was simply too happy to be marrying the man of her dreams to care much.

Jada had taken up a quiet, unofficial role in helping Edmund run the company. The changes he’d implanted had been accepted, the philanthropic side of the tech firm grew and grew, and honestly, Jada had never seen Edmund so happy. The Scrooge he’d once been had disappeared without a trace.

Jada enjoyed supporting her fiancé’s decisions when he felt stumped, though it didn’t happen often. Mostly, she enjoyed spending her time teaching and selling her artwork on her site. In the time they’d been planning, Edmund had even gotten her a gallery space at a local art show, and each weekend when the crowds gathered, Jada sold at least two of her paintings. The success was strange and amazing.

Edmund commented each day on how wonderful a silent partner Jada was, though she was never very silent in reality. She would laugh and playfully punch him each time, reminding him that he could have just let her teach.

“Never. You are a great foil to me. Your heart and personality balance out my logical side. Plus, as a direct result of your input, the company is doing better than ever!” Edmund had smiled as he’d spoken, and Jada felt her heart warm deep to its core.

“The big day is coming soon. Do you feel ready?” Jada asked Edmund one afternoon in his office.

“Completely. I have bit more I have to do here though. Want me to meet you at home?”

Jada nodded, and after a lingering kiss goodbye, she rode with Jacques to their home. Edmund had finally purchased a place away from the office, and the large house was certainly a home fit for a CEO and his down-home princess.

Jada walked through the halls to the master suite, humming “Walking on Sunshine” to herself. She truly felt as though she were. Their shared room had an amazing bathroom attached to it, and Jada started the taps in the exquisite tub. Once it was full, she submerged herself in warm bubbles, enjoying the relaxing soak. She’d taken the week off from work to prepare for the wedding and then the following two for the honeymoon.

Thankfully, no one at the school minded her absence, and the substitute they had found was a good fit. The whole thing was working out better than she’d imagined, and it was amazing to see that sometimes in life, things really did go right.

Edmund and Jada slept that night in a tangle of arms and legs, as they always did. The following day, they finished their preparations for the ceremony, and Jada finally received her henna. She and her female family members and friends gathered to apply it, and it was a joyous celebration with laughter and tales of embarrassing childhood pranks.

Her mother spoke to the room, “It’s said that the deeper the color of your henna, the stronger the bond between husband and wife.”

Jada let the henna dry for eight hours to ensure a deep, deep color that would last throughout the wedding festivities. Her favorite part was that the names of the bride and the groom were “hidden” in the artwork. Jada had watched as they’d been crafted into the images, and it was tradition for the groom to locate them. Poor Edmund was going to have a hell of a time.

The next morning, the big day had finally arrived. Jada had made Edmund stay at a hotel, so they would be reunited when he saw her in her gown for the first time. The tradition seemed a bit silly for people who’d been living together, but the night of the wedding would be all the more special because she’d be able to make such an impression on him.

The morning of the ceremony was joyful chaos. Jada’s family had all flown in to be there, including cousins she hadn’t seen in years. They were all joining her at her home to help her get ready and prepare for the day. Harry, the new assistant Edmund had hired, confirmed with her that everything was proceeding as planned. The cake, the flowers—irises, of course—the photographer, the music—all of it was being prepared at the reception hall as they spoke.

Jada was thrilled, and as her family gathered around her in their traditional garb, she was so overjoyed that tears began to flow. Edmund had agreed that her Qaresman heritage should be represented at the wedding, and it was at that. The red and gold of her ancestral country were on nearly every surface, and traditional dances were set to take place during the reception, right after the couple’s first dance.

Edmund and Jada had even chosen a Qaresman-inspired design for the cake, which had several different flavors over four layers. As an added bonus, Edmund had gotten Jada a special strawberry rhubarb pie, since his fiancée had never been particularly fond of cake.

The wedding celebrations were so important to Jada, and especially to her mother, and Edmund had helped her arrange the entire thing to perfection.

The ceremony itself took place outside, and for once, the glorious San Francisco sun shone down upon them all day. The traditional fire set for the ceremony was beautiful and danced in the light breeze. Jada, alongside her mother and father, walked up to the canopy that was set up, and her parents handed her to Edmund in a symbolic gesture of unity between their families.

Jada had wanted to include some American traditions as well, and finally the time came for her to speak her vows, the ones she’d written so long ago.

“Edmund, we haven’t been together all that long, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever. I’ve watched you grow so much since I met you, and being by your side through it all has been by far the best experience of my life. You are always there for me when I need you, and even when I say I don’t. You make me feel safe and accepted, even for the crazy mess I am. You love spicy food and wandering downtown with me. You told me not long after you proposed that you’d finally finished The Hero and the Crown, and I cried like a baby. I never want to be apart from you, and I hope I can spend the rest of my life showing you new things and taking you on adventures.”

Edmund’s turn came, and his voice caught as he began to speak. “Jada, I never thought I would say that I owe my life to the Qaresman government, but today I can say it proudly. The circumstances that led me to you were in no way normal, but because of a law I tried to break, I am standing here today marrying the woman I love. What more could a government do for a guy, right?”

Everyone laughed.

“I know I’ve changed for the better because of knowing you, and I vow to work my hardest, not for my company, not to earn more money, but to keep growing and changing with you until we’re old and wrinkly and I can’t remember my own name. I know we’ll be there together at the end, and I know that even if I’m left a senile old fool, I’ll remember your grace and the way you came into my life and opened up a heart I didn’t know was shut behind a bolted door.”

Jada was balling at this point, and even Edmund let a few tears squeak out. The couple then moved to exchange rings and a garland—a gesture of acceptance of one another—as was part of Jada’s traditions. Towards the end of the ceremony, Jada was also presented with a necklace worn only by married women in her family.

The officiant proclaimed loud and clear that Jada and Edmund were now pronounced husband and wife. They kissed like she’d wished they’d done the first time Edmund had dipped her low, imitating the first time they had actually kissed.

Her family was surrounding them, and their sweet faces smiled and cheered so loudly that Jada was sure the next state heard them. There was hollering in joy, and her aunt screamed “iii-eee!” at the top of her lungs. Flower petals rained over them as they ran to the limo that would take them to the reception hall. The pair was smiling and laughing as their family ran after the car with more handfuls of petals. Jada was giddy, and her husband was so overjoyed that he couldn’t stop kissing her.

The whole world was a loud, booming celebration of love and family.

Jada’s eyes burned, tears streaking from the corners of her eyes. It was done; the beautiful ceremony was complete. In the eyes of both the law and her family’s customs, Jada and Edmund were husband and wife. Jada’s gown, which hugged her beautifully, was glowing in the limo’s light. The ceremony must have taken a while, but Jada felt like it had only lasted minutes.

She looked over at Jackson and couldn’t stand not touching him. His face was a perfect display of happiness, exhaustion, and revelry. He was staring back at her as well. Out the window behind them, Jada saw the nearby beach, the waves lapping raucously against the shore. She looked down at herself and the beautiful flowers she’d chosen. The stems were wrapped in a purple fabric, and little rhinestone accents fell in a sweet line down the center.

The was the most amazing day of her life, and Jada couldn’t have put into words how happy she was even if she’d tried.