"Kari," I murmured her name as I approached her, and she hit me with a hard look and crossed her arms defensively over her chest.

"Can I help you with something?”

"Kari, I have to tell you that I’m sorry," I blurted out, not bothering to hold back a moment longer – I had been praying that I would get the chance to see her again, and now that the chance was here in front of me, I wasn’t going to let myself falter.

"Is that why you’ve been calling me recently?” she demanded. She was still standing a few feet away from me, the distance deliberate and pointed. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms, hold her close, and remind her of how much sense we made together, but I couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she’d heard what I had to say.

"Yes, Kari," I replied. "I...I heard something. At the event."

"What are you talking about?” she asked, but her eyes were suddenly wide, as though she was nervous at the thought of whatever I might have come across.

"I heard your ex," I told her. "I heard him talking to his girlfriend, and the two of them were talking about how he was the one who leaked the information to the studio. You know, about the...the stuff."

Her jaw dropped.

"Adam did that?” she gasped. She seemed about as shocked as I had been when I’d found out the truth, too.

"Yeah, I guess he did," I replied. It still made me mad just to think about what he had exposed of me, but now wasn’t the time to get hung up on that. I had her in front of me, and there was so much to say and so much to do.

"Jesus Christ, I’m going to tear him a new one as soon as I see him again," she muttered, patting her perfectly-coiffed blonde hair agitatedly.

"You don’t have to do that," I promised her. "I’m going to take care of it. Trust me."

"So what are you doing here?” she demanded. "If you’re not here to tell me off?”

"I’m here to say how fucking sorry I am," I implored her. "I’m here to say – shit, Kari, I’m here to say that my life hasn’t been anything without you. I jumped to conclusions, and I should have listened to you. I see that now. And trust me, I’m not going to make that mistake again."

She didn’t reply for a moment, staying silent and staring at me.

"And I understand if you never want to see me again," I assured her. "But I just had to tell you to your face that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it."

She continued to stare at me like she was trying to make sense of what I was telling her. And then, suddenly, her face cleared, and she smiled at me. A little nervously still, like she was sure that this was about to get whipped away from her. But she was smiling.

"Morgan, thank you so much," she gushed. "I didn’t think – when you were calling me, I just thought that you wanted to tell me off all over again, and I didn’t want to hear that, especially when I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. But...but I accept your apology. Of course I do. I can’t even imagine what it was like for you, having all your dirty secrets aired like that..."

"It doesn’t matter," I replied, and I meant it. I stepped toward her, planting my hands on her shoulders. "I just want you to know that I don’t blame you for any of it."

"Thank you," she murmured. She tilted her head to look up at me, and I couldn’t resist dipping down to plant a kiss on her lips then. She was just too tempting for her own good. I smiled, brushed my nose against hers, and whispered into her ear.

"You want to get out of here?”

She giggled and shook her head. She pulled away from me, and a flush of sadness rushed over her face. She chewed her lip as she looked up at me, and fear pulsed through my system. Had she met someone else? Surely, someone like her, being back on the market, she wouldn’t have lasted long. She was going to tell me that someone else had already moved in on my turf, and that would be that – no hope, no luck, no chance.

"Morgan, there’s something I need to tell you," she admitted. I stood there in front of her, ready for the worst.

"What is it?”

Her hands landed on her belly, and she glanced down at her stomach. I should have figured it out then, but still, I didn’t manage to put two and two together.

"Kari, what’s going on?”

"Morgan, I’m pregnant," she replied at last, and she looked up at me and smiled. I managed to focus in on her eyes, and I was glad for that, because if I hadn’t, I might have spun entirely and totally out of control.

"Pregnant?” I repeated after her, and she nodded.

"Mine?” I asked. She nodded again, and she took my hand and looked up at me earnestly.

"And look, Morgan, I know that you’ve never wanted a family, and I’m not expecting you to suddenly turn that around now," she assured me. "I’m keeping this baby, but I’m not going to ask for any money from you to help look after it. Just that you come and visit occasionally. We can figure it out once we have a little more time, but—"

"No," I cut her off mid-stream. Her face jolted, like that was the last thing she had been expecting to hear.

"What are you talking about?”

"I don’t want to be just some sperm donor," I replied. "I want to be part of this kid’s life."

"Morgan, you don’t have to do this—"

I leaned down and kissed her again, softly, on the lips, quietening her.

"Kari, I want this," I assured her.

"But you told me you didn’t want children…" she reminded me, sounding confused.

"Yeah, and I really thought that I didn’t," I confessed. "But then – when I met you, when I was spending time with your kids, and then when I did the event… I do want kids, Kari. I just want to be able to protect them from everything I went through."

"I’ll always keep them safe," she promised me, a fervency to her voice. I nodded.

"I know you will," I murmured, and I kissed her again.

"You’re not scared?” she asked as I pulled back, and I shook my head.

"Not just scared," I replied. "Excited, too."

"You need some time to come to terms with all of this," she suggested, pulling away from me slightly. "I mean, this is a lot for you to take in..."

"I think I need to stick around you, no matter what," I assured her. "You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Kari. Seriously. I’ve thought about you all of the time, and ever since I found out that it was Adam who talked to the press and not you, I knew that I had to make things right."

"Jesus, Morgan," she murmured, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I can’t believe I’m hearing this."

"You know I want to get married as well, right?” I remarked. She pulled away from me and raised her eyebrows.

"I’m sorry…what?”

"I know you haven’t had much luck with it before," I conceded. "But I promise, I’ll never be as much of an asshole as your ex."

"I trust you on that, don’t worry," she laughed. "But...marriage? Are you serious?”

"Yes," I promised her. "Yes, and I’ve known it for a long time. Every day that I woke up next to you in the cabin, I knew that marriage was what I wanted. I knew it was you, that it had always been you. I had just been trying to ignore it all of this time. But I don’t want to ignore it anymore. I want to be part of your family; I want to be your husband. I want to do all of it, Kari."

She was staring at me like she couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. In truth, I wasn’t sure I could believe them, either. But they were true, all of them, and I wasn’t going to hide from that truth any longer. All I had earned by doing that before was letting someone else control my narrative. Well, no longer. This life was mine, and I was going to grab it by the horns and make sure that it knew it.

"Well, we’ll have to wait until after the baby comes along," she pointed out. "So that I don’t look pregnant in all of my wedding pictures."

"Let’s do it before you start showing," I suggested. She laughed.

"Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be able to plan a whole wedding in two months—"

"Here," I suggested. "Now. Let’s do it now. And I can kiss my wife as the New Year rolls around."

"You have to be kidding me," she laughed out loud. "There’s no way we can do that. We would need—"

"Tiffany!” I called over the hostess, who had been so accommodating in helping me meet up with the woman of my dreams once again. She hurried over to join us.

"Yes?"

"If we wanted to have an impromptu wedding here, do you think you guys could make that happen?” I asked. Tiffany clapped her hand over her mouth and shot a look at Kari, who raised her eyebrows in her direction.

"You really want to do this?” Tiffany asked her cousin quietly. Kari looked at me and then nodded.

"I really do."

"Then of course we’ll make it happen!” Tiffany exclaimed at once. I took Kari’s hand, and she glanced up at me again.

"You don’t have to do this, you know," she assured me quietly. "You don’t need to make this kind of a gesture. I know that you’re serious."

"I want to," I promised her. "I’ve wanted to be with you from the first time I set eyes on you, and I’m not going to waste any more time. All that does is let someone else get there before you, right?”

"I’m not going anywhere," she promised me, and she smiled so wide that it looked as though her entire face was going to split in two. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as Tiffany spread the news of the wedding through the room, setting everyone off into high-alert as they worked their asses off to make it happen.

"We need to find a dress," Kari suddenly blurted out, and she looked up at me expectantly.

"Where’s going to be open at this time of night?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I think you look amazing in what you’re wearing," I assured her, but she shook her head.

"No, I want to go down the proverbial aisle in white," she replied. "It’s going to be a long time before I can wear it again, what with the baby bump and all..."

"Then we’ll make it happen," I replied firmly as I grabbed her hand and led her out of the hotel and to the car I had waiting outside.

"I can’t believe we’re doing this," she blurted out as I opened the door for her. I stroked her hair as I climbed in next to her.

"I can," I replied, leaning forward to give the driver instructions on where to take us. There had to be a few stores open somewhere, right? People made crazy decisions on nights like this one – why not us as well?

We rolled up and down the few shopping streets that were still open at this time, and finally, we spotted one that had a white dress in the window. She looked over at me and beamed, nodding keenly.

"We have to go in there," she announced confidently, and the driver pulled the car to a halt and left us to climb out and get to where we needed to go. We hurried into the store and ducked inside. Within a moment, the shop assistant had pulled the white dress down from the window and left Kari to vanish into the changing room with it.

"Do I get to see it?" I called out to her.

"Not a chance!” she answered. "You’re not supposed to see me before the wedding. It’s bad luck."

"Well, it’s the wedding day today," I reminded her. "Maybe I could sneak a look?”

"Alright," she conceded. "But be honest, alright? Tell me what you actually think..."

And with that, she pulled the curtain back and revealed herself. My jaw dropped. She looked incredible – the dress was tight over her chest and her waist, but it kicked out into a long skirt that fell in flattering waves around her legs. The off-white suited her, making her blonde hair look even more angelic than normal. I’d never been much one for tears, but I could feel myself getting a little choked up just looking at her. I reached forward, tentatively placing a hand on her belly, where she was carrying the child that I had never even known I’d wanted.

"You look beautiful," I murmured, and I meant it. She smiled at me.

"You’re really ready to do this?” she asked. I nodded.

"Let’s get back to the hotel and see what Tiffany’s pulled together for us, huh?" I suggested. "I’ll pay for the dress; you just head back to the car."

I covered the cost of the dress quickly and followed her out to the car once more, where the driver swiftly took off and headed back down to the hotel. I clasped her hand in mine, wondering what the hell I had done to deserve a woman like this, to deserve a night like this. She was perfect. This was perfect. And everything that was to come was only going to be even more perfect.

We arrived back at the hotel, and the whole place was buzzing with activity as Kari lifted her skirts to re-enter the ballroom. The guests were cheerfully chatting among themselves, and Tiffany came running over to us with a big smile on her face.

"So, Lia got ordained to do our vows for us," Tiffany explained quickly, gesturing to an older woman with a crop of dark hair. "And she said she’d love to do it for you guys. The hotel had some marriage licenses around from a wedding they did a couple of years ago, so if you guys are ready..."

My heart was pounding, but then I looked over at Kari and felt a calm in my chest. I was ready. As long as she was right here beside me, I was ready.

"I’m good," I replied, turning back to Tiffany. Kari beamed.

"Me too," she replied, and there was a spontaneous round of applause from the guests filling out the room. Kari laughed.

"I can’t believe we’re doing this," she murmured to me, her eyes shining in the soft light of this place. I looked at her, not wanting to forget a single moment of this, wanting it all committed to memory where I would never be able to forget it. This was going to change everything. Not just my life and not just hers, but our whole family’s life. Our entire family was going to be together, properly and truly. I had never imagined that I would be able to just give myself over to something like this, to sacrifice all of the control that I had held on to for so long, but with her, it seemed obvious. This was the way it was always meant to be between us. This was safe. This was comfortable. This was everything I’d been looking for all this time.

"I can," I replied. Tiffany caught Kari by the arm and tugged her to a makeshift platform that had been thrown together not far from the band. She pushed a small bouquet of flowers in Kari’s hands, pilfered from the luxurious displays scattered around the room. One of the flowers – I'd be damned if I knew what it was – drew out the color of Kari’s eyes just gorgeously.

"Well, I think we’re ready to go!” Tiffany exclaimed excitedly. The woman, Lia, had taken up her place at the front of the room, just in front of us. Everyone was clustered around us, waiting to begin.

"I’m good if you are," I murmured to Kari. She nodded.

"Let’s do this."

"We’re gathered here today," Lia announced suddenly, taking me by surprise – this was really happening. No backing out now. And I didn’t want to.

And with that, the ceremony had begun. Lia was reading off a piece of paper, but that was fine – as long as she got our names right, I didn’t care. Kari was beaming at me, one hand in mine and the other hanging on tight to the bouquet. She looked as though she couldn’t wrap her head around this. I knew how she felt. This was all so damn much. But what we had in front of us was so much more, and I couldn’t wait to get there already.

"Well, I don’t have any vows prepared," I admitted when it came around to the moment when we were meant to share our words about one another.

"But I just want this woman to know that I love her more than anything in the world," I continued, looking deeply into her eyes. "And I know that things have always been crazy with us, and that I can’t promise they won’t still be after this, but I can promise that as long as I’m by your side, I’ll make sure it’s never too much."

She bit her lip, her eyes shining with happy tears.

"I never thought I could feel this way about anyone," I continued. "But you, Kari – you make me feel safe. You make me feel loved. You make me feel valuable. And you make me feel like I can take on anything, even the shit I was sure I never could before."

"I’m not sure you’re allowed to curse in your vows," she laughed.

"Will you marry me anyway?” I asked, and she glanced over at Lia and nodded, a big grin on her face.

"I think I will."

We exchanged “I dos.” The rings would have to wait until later, but I was alright with that. All that mattered was that she was mine – that she always would be, that she knew how much I adored her, and that I was in for the long haul. Our family – me and her and the children – we were finally together.

"You may now kiss the bride!” Lia announced delightedly. I leaned down toward Kari as she wound her arms around my neck.

"I love you," she murmured, and I kissed her – the very first kiss that we would ever share as a married couple.

"I love you, too," I replied as the crowd around us burst into spontaneous applause. Outside, the bells had begun to toll to let us know that the New Year was finally here.

"New Year, new me, huh?" Kari remarked as the band began to play “Auld Lang Syne” behind us.

"New husband," I replied, and she clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled.

"I can’t believe we really just did that," she murmured.

"Me neither," I replied. "Not having cold feet, are you?”

"It’s a little late for that," she laughed and shook her head.

"And anyway, I’m not," she promised. "This makes sense to me. Really. I never thought I could do something like this, but..."

"Just a little movie magic, right?” I teased her gently. She wound her fingers around mine.

"Let’s see if you’re still into this when I’m all puffed up and pregnant," she teased me.

"Hey, I can’t wait to see you all big and round with the baby," I promised her. "I bet you’ll look so cute."

"You guys need to sign the license!” Tiffany exclaimed, grabbing Kari’s arm and guiding the two of us to the forms we had to sign.

"Not quite official yet," Kari remarked to me. "Still time to back out."

"Not in a million years," I replied firmly, and I rested a hand on the small of her back as I went to sign the papers that would tie us together for good. For life. Forever.