Danni’s hand curled around mine, her fingers flexing every time the emotion rose in her chest and she felt she needed my support.

There was something fucking beautiful about being a part of other people’s journeys to the extent that you become who they wanted sitting front and centre on the biggest day of their lives. We’d all missed out on Suzie and Paul’s wedding. Alex and Nat’s was a first for every one of us, and it was made all the more special by the twisted route they’d had to take to get there.

Danni caught my eye as we sat on the pews, her unshed tears making her eyes glisten as she smiled that smile which was reserved only for me. It was the smile that said so much in silence. I knew because my own said the same back to her.

I’m grateful for their journey, too. It brought us together. It brought me right where I was always supposed to be.

I held no doubts about my future with Danni. She offered me completeness. I offered her reassurance and love. That would be us standing up there saying our vows one day. Just not yet…

This moment in time belonged to Alex and Natalie.

I turned back to look at the two of them standing in front of the vicar, unable to contain their mega-watt grins before they’d even said a word to each other. Alex had lifted Natalie’s short veil back behind her head, exposing her perfectly made-up, natural looking face that looked beautiful from the happiness she was wearing.

Her dress, as Danni had whispered in my ear as she’d walked down the aisle, was made from organza and lace, and had a fishtail train that pooled behind her effortlessly. Her lace sleeves showed a flash of her ivory skin, and her shoulders were bare. Something Danni said was very important on a wedding day. A woman had to keep a man enchanted with the promises of her exposed neck and the curves of her breasts. I’d rolled my eyes and smiled at that one.

Women.

If only they knew that men didn’t need to see anything to be enchanted. Not Alex with Natalie. Not me with Danni. Our minds and memories promised us enough.

“Tell me if my makeup runs, won’t you?” Danni whispered as she leaned in, her voice already breaking.

“As long as you promise to tell me if mine does, too.”

She giggled softly before focusing her attention back on her friends, her body pressing even closer to mine. I glanced around at Suzie and Paul who were doing the same. Then I saw Sammy and Cam to my right and noticed they weren’t quite as close. Cam was tugging on the collar of his white shirt, shuffling around on his bum and stretching his neck out in discomfort.

Weddings and commitment.

The guy was fucked. I laughed internally as I watched Sammy glance up at him with lovestruck eyes before she grabbed hold of his hand, pulled it down into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. Cam offered her a smile and he gulped as he turned my way. I pressed my lips together and held my laughter in, almost crying with amusement as I saw him grind his jaw together and grit his teeth tightly. He flipped me another not so subtle middle finger. One my sister couldn’t see.

I flipped him one right back.

The vicar commanded our attention again, asking if anyone knew of any reason why the bride and groom could not be lawfully married. The small church stayed eerily quiet, but neither Natalie or Alex looked away from one another as their smiles stayed screwed in place. They had nothing to fear anymore. They had no demons to outrun. No fathers to escape. No one in their lives who wanted anything other than their eternal happiness.

They were blessed, and their future was bright.

It was a small wedding without many guests. An intentional decision the two of them had made to only be surrounded by those who mattered the most. A few of Natalie’s relatives were there. So were her work colleagues, including Barbara who kept catching my eye every time I turned around, her smirk in place as she winked at me and laughed. Cleveland was there, too, along with his sister, whose name I’d completely forgotten.

But it was clear to see that everyone present was there to witness one of the greatest love affairs of all time.

We’d all played a part in it, and somehow, even through the darkness and the uncertainties, we’d all ended up exactly where we were meant to be.

The time for the vows soon arrived, and I felt Danni’s fingers squeeze mine even harder. I huffed out a small laugh and planted a delicate kiss on her exposed shoulder, watching as the spattering of goosebumps tore down her arm and up her next.

Huh. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong about the power of exposed skin.

“I’m going to cry,” she whispered. “And you’re trying to turn me on?”

“I don’t have to try very hard,” I breathed back against her skin, my lips brushing her shoulder before she shivered and glanced at me. “See?”

“Behave,” she mouthed.

“Never,” I mouthed back.

“Natalie,” the Vicar said, breaking our moment. I looked up to see little Nat staring down at her feet as she held on to both of Alex’s hands. You could feel the emotion rolling off her in waves, and the part of me that had always tried to look after her wanted to go and give her a hug, reassure her she could do this and promise her that her happiness was on the other side of those vows.

When she lifted her head and cleared her throat, she looked straight into her future husband’s eyes and released a small, emotional laugh.

“How do I even begin to say what I need to say to you?” she started, her voice happy, but torn. “You weren’t meant to be there on the darkness night of my life, but you were, and by being there, you kept me in the light. You were the beginning, waiting to happen as my world came to an end.” She paused to run her tongue over her bottom lip before she bit down on it and shook her head. “My sister told me to let you in like she knew that you were the one always destined for me. It took me a long time to believe that she really was as magical as I’d always grown up thinking she was... And you were her final trick. You were the one who came along out of nowhere, and she knew, Alex. She knew before she’d even met you that we were meant to be together forever. I’ll always be grateful for that. But… as much as I love Lizzy and wish I could thank her for the gift of you, I’m not going to.”

Her hands curled around Alex’s, pulling him closer, his face a picture of disbelief and unwavering love as he stared down into the eyes of Natalie.

“I’m going to thank you for being you. I’m going to be grateful that you were the kind of boy who wouldn’t let a lost girl walk home alone. I’m going to grateful that you held onto me when I was drowning in grief. I’m going to be grateful for your first kiss, your first smile, your first everything. I’m even going to thank you for the mistakes made along the way,” she huffed out, a burst of tear-filled laughter slipping free. “It’s because of those mistakes that we’re stronger now. It’s because of that time apart that we’re here, together, doing this with our most precious friends and family by our side. It’s because of everything you did right and everything that you did wrong that we’re together. You’re the best man I know, Alex Law. You’re the most selfless, loyal, loving soul mate I could ever have wished for… and I can’t wait to spend the rest of eternity, no matter how long or short that time is, being your wife. I promise you, I’ll love you more than either one of us know is possible.”

Danni and Sammy started cheering right on cue, as if they knew the exact moment they had to bring the church to life with the happiness the occasion deserved.

I had a lump in my throat the size of Texas as I started slow clapping myself, my smile big as I shook my head in wonder, watching Alex as he tried to get a grip of himself before he spoke. He rubbed his lips together several times before he brought a thumb up to the corner of his eye and wiped a stray tear away.

Goddamn pollen, I imagined him grumbling in his mind.

“Natalie,” he began, having to clear his throat straight away as his voice broke. He looked nervous. Uncertain. He looked like he needed some strength.

Before he could speak again, Natalie was stretching up on her tiptoes, leaning into his ear and whispering something the rest of us couldn’t hear. I glanced at Danni the same time she glanced at me, the two of us smiling but frowning in confusion before we faced the front again.

Whatever Natalie had said had done the trick. Alex had a big grin on his face, his head shaking in disbelief as he stared down at her and sighed softly.

“You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever encountered in my whole life. There isn’t a moment when you don’t surprise me,” he said calmly, with complete reverence for her. “Like right here in this church on our wedding day. Our wedding day.” Alex beamed. “You have more strength than you will ever realise. Even when you were the shy, unsure, broken girl of fifteen years old who thought she went by completely unnoticed, I saw you, Nat. I saw you and I wanted you from the start. You may have felt weak, but you’ve always been my strength. You breathed life into me. You made me want to be a better boy, a better man, a better human. I, too, thank Lizzy for what she said to you about letting me in. Every day. I don’t know what she saw in me in those few minutes before she went to sleep, but I’m grateful she saw it. She was the hand on your back pushing you closer to me, and I felt stronger because I had her blessing. I felt stronger because I’d witnessed your love when I lived in a world starved of it.”

Natalie smiled up at him, her silent tears falling slowly, freely, landing at her feet as she became lost in the moment.

“I promise you, I’ll never let you down again so long as I live. So long as there is air in my lungs and blood in my veins, I’m going to give you everything I’ve got. Everything. I love you with all that I am. I love you for everything you are. I love your smile. Your eyes. Your voice. Your laugh. Oh…” He paused to close his mouth and his eyes, getting lost in his own daydream before he opened his eyes again. “Your laugh. It sets me on fire.”

The whole congregation laughed, and the vicar shuffled on his feet beside them, rolling his eyes and smirking.

“You set me on fire,” Alex said as he leaned in closer to her. “The only vow I have to make to you is this: I promise to be whatever you need me to be for the rest of our lives together. Nothing less. I promise to be whatever you demand of me morning, noon, or night. I promise to be the best husband possible.” He stopped and took a step closer, his hand breaking free from one of hers before he dropped it to her stomach and held it there. “And the best father in the world to our child.”

Goosebumps broke out across my skin. Danni’s hands flew to her mouth in surprise as every single one of us went wide-eyed and silent, a collection of people staring forward, looking at the vision of perfection standing in front of us, declaring their love while announcing their news.

Alex dropped his head to Natalie’s, and they took a moment together before they turned to the rest of us and grinned.

“Surprise!” they both cried.

Rosie Vincent screamed out in complete ecstasy, her tears of happiness bursting free for all of us to hear. Tom’s low voice of disbelief could be heard as background noise as his eyes remained wide, his attention on his daughter as he began to slowly rise to a stand and walk over to them.

“Oh my…” Danni breathed out next to me.

“Don’t say the Lord’s name out loud,” I muttered in warning.

“God,” we mouthed silently together.

It didn’t take long for the shock to wear off and for each and every one of us to stand on our feet and applaud the happy couple.

“Well, it seems this is more than just a wedding,” the vicar said, his low, muted laughter making everyone else chuckle with him.

“Sorry,” Alex said over the top of Rosie’s head as she squeezed her future son-in-law and refused to let go. “We couldn’t resist throwing another surprise in there for you all.”

“Way to go, Law!” Paul shouted out, his face a picture of happiness for his best friend.

“I’m going to be an auntie!” Sammy cried. “Well, not biologically, but fake aunties are always the best aunties anyway, right?”

We all laughed some more before the vicar called for order again and asked us all to be seated. I’d never seen or been part of a more perfect moment.

When the declaration was made, and the vicar pronounced them as husband and wife, the whole church erupted. Considering there weren’t many of us at the ceremony, we sure made a lot of noise.

I guess when you loved someone you had the strength and sound of a whole army within you. And one thing was for damn sure: every single person in that church loved Natalie and Alex.

Or should I say…

Mr. and Mrs. Law.