Epilogue

Brooklyn.

I didn’t know how they’d done it, but in less than a week, Nora’s wedding had been turned into my wedding. I was even surprised when, as I was getting dressed, my parents showed up out of nowhere. Abe had arranged absolutely everything. There were even clothes ready for my parents, and my mom helped me get ready, then Dad was there to lead me down the aisle.

The whole time, I felt like I would break down crying. Instead, I had on the biggest grin as I was led out to a crowd of people, waiting for me to arrive. Nora had managed to book the hotel’s garden, and a side of it had seats arranged in neat rows on two sides with a literal red carpet down the middle, it was the wedding I’d imagined, even if it wasn’t for me.

My eyes weren’t on the decoration, or the people, or the scenery. It was on the man waiting for me down the aisle, dressed in a dark suit with his hair styled away from his face, a wide smile ready for me and his hazel eyes twinkling happily.

My breath caught in my throat, and I was very glad to have gone with the dress with the thick veil, or everyone would have gotten a good look at my face as I tried to hold back the sobbing. By the time I made it to the front, and my dad handed me over to Abe, I still felt like all this was too good to be true. Abe’s hand was solid in mine, though, giving a light squeeze, just enough to keep me grounded.

The wedding proceeded, with the pastor giving a short speech, then having us recite our vows. We both said I do, a pair of golden rings were brought, and we put them on each other. Abe pulled my veil back and gave me a chaste peck on the lips, with his eyes burning with the promise of more for later. Then, off to the side, we signed the necessary documents, and just like that, we were husband and wife. Afterwards, onto the reception.

Even going through the whole process, I was left a little dazed.

This is the day that I’d been waiting for, for the past six years, and it went by so fast.

“What are you thinking about?”

Abe snuck up behind me and pulled me into a back hug, resting his chin on my shoulder. I sighed and leaned back into him, pressing my own hands on top of his. I was standing off to the side watching the festivities, feeling tired but happy.

“Is it strange, how all these people are here for me, and I feel like I’m an outsider looking in?”

“Of course, not,” Abe said with a chuckle. “Although, you did get that backwards. Today is all about us, and they’re the outsiders.”

“So many of them here to peek at us?”

“At our moment of happiness,” he added softly. “Because they’re people that care about the both of us.”

Abe was right about that. Besides my family, his own family was there. He’d even managed to find some of our old friends from college and invited them. The guests didn’t number a hundred, but they were all people we were close to.

I’d even had the chance to talk to his parents. They were a little stern, and I couldn’t tell if they were disapproving of me or not since I had been so nervous the whole time. I couldn’t even be bothered to try and impress them, I struggled to act normal, and Abe, the traitor, had left me alone at the time. I’d seen him receiving similar treatment from my parents, which was why I wasn’t still mad at him.

“Do your parents dislike me?” I asked suddenly, looking over my shoulder at him.

“Why would you say that?” he asked back, arching his eyebrows.

“I don’t know… I mean, I really don’t know anything about them. I just realized when I was standing in front of them, that we dated for three years and I met your sister a few times, but I never met your parents. Did you ever tell them anything about me?”

He sighed, eyes moving slowly across the room. “You could say that I did, but you could also say that I didn’t. I mean, I always knew how my life was going to go from when I was a little kid. I didn’t know if they’d accept you or not before, so I’d only told them bits and pieces. They didn’t even know your name until I called them to come for our wedding today.”

“What!” I yelped, trying to turn around. Only, he wouldn’t let me go, and I stopped struggling.

Abe, completely unconcerned, chuckled. “They thought it was something that I would get over, and I didn’t try to change their minds. You were something of a surprise in my life, and I really did intend to propose to you six years ago.” He took one of my hands, the one with the rings on it, and raised it up for the both of us to look at. “I bought this engagement ring for you long before you graduated. But I still finished a year before you did, and the extra year I stuck around was against my parents’ wishes. In the end, they thought I just needed to settle down, so they set me up on a blind date with a woman they thought suitable.”

I could feel a chill spread through my chest, but I waited for him to finish.

“I refused to meet the girl, I was still with you then, and it caused a bit of a problem. Not enough to take down the family empire, but enough to cause trouble for a lot of our employees. You see, I’d always known I would have to take up the mantle someday, but after watching my dad do it for years, I thought it would be simple. It hadn't occurred to me that I would be responsible for the lives of thousands of people until that incident.”

“Was it fixed?” I asked, feeling curious.

He sighed. “In the end, it was, but it wasn’t easy. I figured I needed to take responsibility, and you didn’t need to share that burden with me. I thought we could both move on…but I ended up pining for you for six years.”

After listening to what he had to say, I tugged on his arms so he would release me, then circled around in his arms and cupped his face between my hands.

“You should have talked things out with me before deciding on your own.”

“The first couple years were exhausting,” he said in a whisper, tucking stray strands of my hair behind my ear. “It was good distraction, too, and there were a few times when I thought I would fail. Thinking back, I’m still surprised I managed to get through those times. Even now, though, I can't really relax.”

I smiled, and felt my lips tremble, as I pressed my forehead against his. “Well, like you said at the airport, however things go from now on, I am definitely with you for the rest of our lives, okay? I’ll prove that you can depend on me. I’ll have my parents clear out my apartment for me and I’ll request a transfer from my job, or look for a different one here. I’m not letting you go this time.”

He smiled back, leaning closer to peck me on the lips. “I’ll hold you to that.”

I let out a light laugh as I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck, then I sighed.

“New York isn’t so bad after all,” I said. Then shivered, and felt his arms tightened around me. “Even if it is a little cold.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Abe said back. “And I promise I’ll do my best to keep you warm.”

He pulled back at the same time I did, and we both leaned forward as our eyes slid closed, meeting in the middle in a soft kiss of promise.

Maybe it was better that we spent the time apart. Six years felt like a long time, but right now it felt perfect.

No longer was I the fake bride, but a real one and with the man I never stopped loving, but he was a better man and the right one for me.

The End.