Chapter 15-2

Megan's mom just raises her glass of wine as the wave of laughter slowly dies. "That being said, we do have a video of the ceremony, which we will play. Megan and I will exchange personal vows right after," Sam finishes. The video begins and Sam reaches out and takes Megan's hand. Time seems to stand still for a moment when Megan's eyes meet Sam's, then they exchange smiles. Both can't quite believe it's already been a year since they became wives. When the video ends, Megan is holding a microphone along with the vows she had written herself. She brings the mic to her lips and tests to see if it's on. "And now for the embarrassing part," she says to everyone. The crowd laughs again. "Sam, I wish that I could pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with you, but for some reason I can't. If anything, I fell in love with you multiple times over the years. Like the moment you chased me down in the airport, and on a random morning when I woke up with you lying next to me. It happened one day while we were having coffee and talking about insignificant things... and when you confessed to me that you couldn't see yourself with anyone else." Megan pauses and takes a deep breath. "There are moments that I think there's no way I can love you more than I do at this moment. Yet, I prove myself wrong again, time after time, because right now I'm falling in love with you even more than I thought possible. Our relationship was never easy, but meeting your soulmate rarely ever is. I believe that's the beauty of what we share, and I feel so lucky to have gotten to marry mine." The knot in Sam's throat makes tears form on her water line and her heart screams with emotion. Everything Megan is saying comes from the heart, and Sam isn't sure if her vows will be able to top Megan's. "I look forward to spending forever with you, and I look forward to experiencing everything this world has to offer us. But the one thing I look forward to the most is falling in love with you over and over again, every day for the rest of our lives," Megan finishes. She hands Sam the microphone while wiping her eyes at the same time. Megan's impressed with herself for being able to control the tears as well as she did. Sam brings the mic to her lips. "Now, how am I supposed to follow that?" The crowd laughs again as Megan gives Sam a wink of encouragement. "Okay," Sam starts. "Sometimes, when people meet for the first time, before they even know each other, they feel this immediate sense of comfort, and love begins to blossom. Their hearts know that they're gonna spend forever together before their brain even comprehends what's happened..." Sam looks up from her paper. "That's not what our relationship was like, at all." The crowd laughs again, and so does Megan. Sam finds encouragement to continue as a result. "Sometimes we have to be destroyed to rebuild ourselves into who we're supposed to be. You're the one that taught me that. You challenged me, you pushed me to open my mind, and you showed me what love – unconditional love – is supposed to feel like. Some people say your partner shouldn't try to change you, but you didn't even have to try, because simply loving you has altered my life in ways I will never be able to understand. I changed, for the better, because of you and your love." Sam took a moment to steady her breathing before continuing. "So, with that being said, I promise to never try and change you. I promise to love your stubbornness and cherish the little disagreements and compromises. I promise to stay up late with you when you're stressing over work, and to make your coffee in the morning just the way you like it. I promise to stand next to you, not in front or behind, and to support you in whichever direction you want to go, just like you've done for me for so many years. And I promise to love you for exactly who you are, unconditionally, forever." As the venue erupts into applause, Megan and Sam finish with a kiss that lights up the room around them. Sam sees her and Megan buying their first house. She sees herself coming home to Megan every night, not even being able to properly put away her things before rushing to give her wife a kiss. She hears Megan calling out to her from the bedroom while changing out of her work clothes as Sam cooks dinner. She feels the warmth of Megan wrapping those arms around her waist while Ava verbally disapproves of the public display of affection from the couch. She sees holidays, birthdays, and vacations... And maybe, one day down the road, another little one to make them a very happy family of four. When the kiss ends, Megan pulls back and smiles. "I love you," Megan admits. "Thank God," Sam teases. "Because that would've been really awkward if you didn't." Megan shoves Sam playfully and kisses her one more time. "Okay you two," Blair interrupts as the music starts. "You'll have plenty of time alone later, but now it's time to party." "Party." Sam smirks. "Right." * * * A few more years later... Nervous wasn't a strong enough emotion to describe how Sam felt right about now, but she knew everything would go well tonight despite it all. It kind of had to by default, because The Grind had been a small miracle of success since opening a few months ago. Their clientele would show out, she just had to remind herself of that. Dane walks through the bustling kitchen and joins Sam, who is manically cleaning the tables for the third time today. "Sam," Dane says as he puts a strong hand on her shoulder. "Stop cleaning the tables. They were clean the first time you wiped them down." "You're right." Sam takes in a deep breath and nods in agreement. "I should be checking the sound system one more time, for safe measure." Sam heads out the café and for the outdoor stage that was setup for tonight's band. Dane reluctantly follows her out and knows Sam's intentions are good, but he's worried she's going to worry herself to death instead of enjoying tonight. Tonight is important for the dually-owned sober café, The Grind, because they would be putting on their first ever charity event while announcing their presence to all of Jacksonville. Sam and Dane's vision is clear, they just hoped other people would be able to see it as well. With a volunteer band and all proceeds made tonight going to a local non-profit for addiction and rehabilitation, things going well would impact more than just their business. It would impact their entire community. That's when Dane spots Megan, who is talking about something with Ava as Blair carries Quinn, Megan and Sam's youngest. He feels relieved, knowing Sam's family is here to comfort her and hopefully tame some of her anxiety over tonight. "Well, look who just showed up," he says. Sam's head pops up and she immediately spots her family. A smile quickly spreads across her face while she becomes distracted with greeting them and no longer obsessing over checking the sound system. "Everything looks really great," Megan observes. "Are you excited?" "More nervous than excited," Sam admits while looking at Blair. "Where's Tony?" "He'll be here in an hour," she says while bouncing Quinn on her hip. "He's got work until five and then has to go let the dog out." So much had changed over the past few years, and Sam was convinced she was still recovering from the whiplash of how quick it had happened. Ava was now almost a teenager and no longer the shy little girl she was when she became family. Now that she was going to be a big eighth grader this year, she was quickly exhibiting the normal teenage traits that made Sam nervous. Megan was now teaching high school again and coaching their softball team, who were one of the best teams in their district. Blair and Tony had moved to Jacksonville soon after Blair had graduated college, along with Dane, J.C. and Andre, wanting to join Megan, Sam, Shawn and Casey as soon as possible. And then Quinn was born, almost an entire year ago, who had made life even more exciting for the Carsons. When Megan had expressed her desire to carry a child to Sam, a plan was made, and a wish fulfilled. Quinn resembled both Megan and Sam, even though she only shared Sam's DNA, but the donor had been specifically picked to have Megan's key traits. She was bold like Sam and sweet like Megan, which made anyone fall in love with her immediately. Blair hands Quinn over to Sam. "Is there anything else that needs to be done?" "No," Dane says while joining the group of women. "Everything is ready to go."