The sweeping coastline of Santa Barbara fans out on either side of me. I have a perfect view of the deep blue ocean and lush rolling hills from the backyard of my father’s house. It’s breathtaking and gorgeous and exactly the backdrop I pictured for my wedding day.

“Are you ready, Char?”

I turn around as Kelley walks toward me. She’s carrying my simple bouquet of deep blue violets in one hand and a wrapped gift in the other.

“I am, Kel,” I say with a huge smile. “I really am.”

Kelley grins back at me. “I can tell. You’re positively oozing happiness.”

She stops and fluffs my ankle-length dress. I wanted something simple and light for a May outdoor wedding, and this Vera Wang is exactly what I had in mind. It’s an ivory princess chiffon tulle dress with lace beading and sequins along the v-neckline. It was love at first sight when Camila and I had gone dress shopping, and once I had the dress, everything else just fell into place.

“It’s beautiful,” Kelley says, following my gaze out the window. “It’s the cutest backyard wedding in the history of time.”

I laugh. “It really did turn out, didn’t it?”

I sweep my eyes around my father’s backyard, its plain grass and sloping hill transformed into a candlelit grotto. Round tables covered with cream-colored tablecloths and lace runners dot the lawn. White lanterns in a bed of baby’s breath serve as centerpieces, their candlelight casting a romantic glow across the silver place settings and wine glasses.

A dance floor is set up a few feet away from where the band in setting up. Tate and I discovered the bluegrass quartet at a bar one night and booked them right away once we heard the few notes of that sweet steel guitar. Why not bring a little Kentucky to Santa Barbara?

Off to the side, family and friends are winding their way over to the chairs set up in front of a white lattice archway. It’s covered with vivid green ivy, some tendrils dangling down across the top. My father’s been growing it for months after I told him what Tate and I had planned for our big day.

My eyes stay on that archway. In a few minutes, once all our guests take their seats and fall quiet, I’ll take Tate’s hand and swear to love, cherish, and honor him for as long as I live. I’ll take his hand and become his wife.

“Charlotte,” Kelley murmurs, putting a hand on my arm, “I have something for you.” She holds out the present tucked under arm.

“You didn’t have to,” I say, taking it from her hands.

“Of course I did. You’re my best friend.”

I take her hand. “Thanks for being here today and for being my maid of honor. I couldn’t get through this without you.”

She scowls. “Alright, enough of that. Now open it before you make me cry.”

I smile at her and start tearing the paper. Soon a leather journal is sitting in my hands, the letters “CLG” embossed in curves in the center. My hand flies to my mouth. “Kelley…”

She smiles. “Haven’t seen those initials yet, have you?”

I shake my head, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes.

Charlotte Laine Gunner. My new name.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“You can journal about married life—and maybe how you two met. I swear they’ll make movies about it.”

I laugh. “I don’t know…”

Kelley winks at me. “Trust me.”

The door slides open and Camila steps through. She beams as she looks me over in my bridal gown. “You are a vision.”

I rush forward and throw my arms around her. “Thank you, Camila.”

“Pequeña, no llores,” she murmurs.

I wipe my cheek. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m rather emotional today. Kelley almost got me going a few seconds ago.”

Kelley comes up behind me and produces a tissue out of her bra.

“What?” she says, seeing my look. “They come in handy at events like these.”

I give a little laugh and dab my eyes. I feel my heart bursting from happiness and I haven’t even seen the groom yet.

Camila motions toward the door. “Your father’s waiting for you, dear. It’s time.”

Butterflies take flight in my stomach. “Okay.” I breathe, forcing air into my lungs.

Kelley takes my tissue, hands me my bouquet, and nods. “I’ll be next to you the whole time. Just think of all that’s happened to get you here. This is a cakewalk in comparison.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

As I follow Camila into the living room, I think about the twisted, difficult road that led me here. Tate and I…we never should have met. But in a random act to get my life back, I showed up at an audition I had no business being at and landed the role that’s now my reality. It all seems so farfetched, so unbelievable. But sometimes broken roads lead you right where you should have been all along.

They say your wedding day passes you by in the blink of an eye, to take mental pictures of the moments you want to remember, and they’re right. The day went by in a series of vivid, emotional moments that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

I look up and see tears of joy in my father’s eyes as I take his arm. And when he leans down and whispers, “You look just like your mother did on our wedding day,” I add my tears of joy to his.

And then I’m walking down the aisle, surrounded by the people I love and cherish most in this world. I look up and see the man standing in front of the archway, eyes shining and face overflowing with pride as he watches me glide toward him.

Then we’re holding hands and saying our vows. I promise my heart to him. To love and support him always, to challenge him, and to put our love and family first. He promises to cherish, protect, and honor me. To stay by my side, hand in hand, wherever our journey leads us.

Now the crowd is cheering and our hearts are hammering and he’s pulling me into his arms to give me our first kiss as man and wife. We rush down the aisle amid the cheering and clapping, and it hits me. I’m officially Mrs. Tate Gunner.

This is the happiest day of my life.

The reception passes by in a similar blur. The champagne flows freely, the food tastes wonderful, and everyone toasts to years of love and happiness. Then the band strikes up a tune, Tate and I take to the dance floor, and we invite all our friends and family to join us as we celebrate the newest chapter in our lives.

I dance with Tate’s sister, my father, Kelley, Camila, and even Tate’s mother. Although her memory went in and out all night, she had a great time and stayed well past when her nurse suggested she lie down. I’ll never forget the moment when she took me aside, kissed my cheek, and said, “Welcome to the family, my daughter.”

They send us off in a cloud of confetti and well-wishes, their laughter and cheers following us long after Brody rounds the bend and starts down the hill. I barely remember the drive to our honeymoon suite. I couldn’t stop staring at the man sitting next to me. The man who I can now call my husband.

Said husband goes into caveman mode when we reach the beachfront suite. I’m carried down the path to the room over his shoulder, plunked on the bed, and ravished until I’m numb with pleasure.

Okay, to be fair, I do a bit of ravishing myself. Being with Tate tends to make me lose control of my senses and mind…

Though I doubt he’d complain.

Hours later, we lie on the bed in the moonlit room with the faint crashing of waves as our background music. The cool wind from the Pacific drifts through the balcony doors and into the room, sending goosebumps rippling up and down my tingling skin. I gaze down at the man resting at my waist, his head rising and falling in rhythm with my slow breaths. He’s beautiful, he’s kind, and he’s mine. Forever and always.

Tate’s eyes flutter open and meet my own. “Charlotte?”

“Mhmm?”

He drags his fingertips over my chest, sending another wave of goosebumps across my skin. “Nothing could make this moment more special. I’m so content right now…so happy.”

I hold his gaze for a minute. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell him, and something tells me this is it.

“I have something to tell you…” I give a small smile. “I’m pregnant.”

Tate’s face goes slack for a moment, and then he’s in motion. He pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders in a passionate embrace. “Oh, Charlotte,” he murmurs into my ear. I can hear tears in this voice. “Is it true?”

I nod into his chest. “We’re going to have a child, Tate.”

Tate leans back and takes me by the shoulders. “I’m so… Words can’t describe what this…” He shakes his head. “Christ! I’m an actor who can’t find the right words.”

I laugh and take his cheeks in my palm. “Your face says it all. I’m happy, too. I’ve been wanting to tell you for days now, but with the wedding…”

“How far along?”

“Seven weeks. I noticed I’d missed my period two weeks ago, booked an appointment, and, well, how does a Christmas baby sound?”

He answers with a kiss, a long and passionate kiss that shows me that Tate’s just as excited as I am.

“Do you want to know the gender? They won’t be able to tell for a while, but it’s something they asked.”

Tate’s eyes go distant, and a moment later, he shakes his head. “No. There are two great surprises in this world, and this is one of them.”

I smile. “I feel the same. So it’s a surprise, then?”

He kisses my nose gently. “A surprise.”

That kiss turns into two, and then three, and before I know it we’re entangled in the sheets again.

“Tate…” I murmur, as he drags his lips down my collar bone to my breasts “…you said this is one of life’s great surprises. What’s the other one?”

Tate pauses his exploration of my neck and looks at me. “The other is lying on the bed under me, her difficult-to-unbutton dress in a heap on the floor, wearing a wedding band that matches mine.”

I lean forward and take his head in my hands, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I love you, Tate.”

“And I love you, Mrs. Gunner.”