CHAPTER TWENTY
Epilogue
Happily Ever After...
Maggie
“Sometimes, for some people, life looks bleak.
Dreary.
Unfulfilling.
Unlivable.
Sometimes, for some people, life looks hopeful.
Bright.
Fulfilling.
Worth Living.
Then sometimes, you get people like me, who have seen both sides of life.
The good.
The bad.
The broken.
The beautiful.
Today, especially looks hopeful and beautiful an bright because today I marry the man that helped me see the light in my very dark world.
Four years ago today, I met this big, lean fighter that had the most irritating smirk in the world.
He was patient with me.
Kind to me.
Tender in a way I had never experienced.
And he scared the hell out of me.
I was terrified of what caring and loving someone else could mean at that time in my life and was determined to stay as far away as I could, but h wouldn’t let me hide or shy away, because thankfully fate had other plans for us.
I thank God every day for that.
That big hulking man became my solace in life.
My confidant.
My love.
He taught me so many things about life.
The joy of experiencing it.
The thrill The peace in its beauty.
The most important thing, however, was that life was worth living.
Live every day to the fullest and never take it for granted
Thats why today I want to make you a promise to be your wife and partner in life.
I promise to always make you Apple Crumb Crunch Cake when you get hangry.
I promise to laugh with you and probably laugh at you a time or two.
I promise to argue with you… a lot knowing us.
Above all I promise to love you with everything that I am and everything I every hope to be.”
I look up into Max’s eyes as I fold the paper with my wedding vows and slip it back into the pocket sewed into my wedding gown. He has the biggest smile on his face with tears running down his cheeks. He reaches up and carefully cups my face with a tenderness and a gentleness that lights my heart. He wipes the tears streaming down my own cheeks before leaning toward me kissing me softly on the lips.
The pastor next to us clears his throat and Max pulls back giving me that arrogant little smirk of his as our guests laugh. I can feel a smile stretch across my face as his hands fall away. He turns to the pastor and wipes his own tears and says loudly enough for the whole church , all of our friends and family, to hear,
“Sorry Padre, but if you think there was any way I wasn’t kissing that woman after that then you haven’t seen the right kind of couples coming through here.”
The pastor shakes his head as a few people chuckle, but its what he says next that gets everyone, including the pastor and myself, laughing again,
“Now lets get this show on the road. I want to kiss my bride again and no offense Padre I would rather do that without an audience.”
Once the laughter dies down the pastor turns to Max and indicates it was his turn to say his vows.
Unlike me his aunt written down, not that I expected them to be knowing my Max, but I don’t expect for him to step closer and cup my face once again. He holds me tenderly once more so that I’m looking right into his eyes.
*************************
Max
“I didn’t write these down for you because I wanted them to come from the heart, in this moment, when my heart is so full it feels like I’m going to burst.
Four years ago my life changed.
This unbelievably strong, beautiful, out of time warrior woman came into my life.
One look and it was over for me.
I was sunk.
You just talked about all the things I taught you about living life and love.
I hate to break it to you baby, but you had all of that in you already, you just needed a safe place to let it out and blossom.
So that’s what I’m promising you.
I promise to always be your safe place, no matter what storm comes our way.
I promise to never take you for granted.
I promise to protect that gorgeous, beautiful, generous heart you wear on your sleeve.
I promise to cherish you every day of my life because you are the greatest gift I have ever been blessed with.
I promise I will try every day to be a good and attentive husband. Although, lets be honest, I’m going to mess that up at some point by turning all our while laundry pink again like I did last week when I tried to help out with the laundry.
I promise, when the time comes, to be the best father I can be.
Above all, I promise to love you, honor you and cherish you every second of every day for the rest of our, hopefully, long lives together.
I love you with everything I am and hope to love you more and more every day of our lives.”
When I finish I lean down and rest my forehead against hers as I continue to try to wipe away the tears that have been streaming down her face since the ceremony started.
Her little hands reach up one more from their position holding my wrists to wipe away my own tears.
My own face hasn’t exactly been bone dry since the ceremony started either, but Im not ashamed in the least.
The tears are just part of us expressing our love for each other.
The pastor clears his throat again.
Maggie and I both smile mischievously at one another as we reluctantly let go and pull back form one another. I don’t think either of us can bear not touch at this point, staying connected, so we just link our fingers and hold onto each other.
I see Char standing behind Maggie trying to dry her own tears.
Looking around the church I see that we weren’t the only ones emotional and caught up int he moment.
I look back at Maggie and that brilliant soft smile she reserves just for me is shining on her face.
We exchange rings and the Padre isn’t finished announcing us as man and wife before I have my wife in my arms and kissing her with everything I have in me.
My wife.
The girl with the haunted eyes and the fractured spirit became my little fighting warrior.
My best friend.
The love of my life.
My whole life.
My wife.
I won’t spoil it and tell you what happens next, after all that’s Char’s story to tell. I will tell you that as far as Maggie and I go, on our 1 year wedding anniversary, 5 years to the day that fate planted this beautiful woman in my gym, my life got turned upside down once again. Fate gave me another extraordinary gift.
One wrapped in a pink blanket.
One that weighed 6 lbs and 3 oz.
One that had me wrapped around her little finger just as fast as my Maggie.
My one and only little Ella.