Hundred and Eighty Two

Hundred and Eighty Two
A soft, lazy summer breeze caught at the hem of my dress as I stepped onto the path. The lake shimmered in the distance. It was a bright, beautiful day.

Cassie squeezed my hand one last time before the doors opened. “You ready?”

I laughed shakily. “Ask me again in a minute.”

She grinned, eyes bright with tears. “You’ve waited long enough, Willow. Go get your man.”

And then the music started.

When it was my turn to walk down the aisle, there was nothing I could see but him.

Standing at the end of the aisle in a dark suit, hands clasped in front of him, looking at me like he couldn’t quite believe I was real.

I took a shaky breath and started walking.

Each step felt unreal. I saw flashes of faces, but I barely registered any. My parents near the front, my mother already dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief; Cassie smiling through tears; Jacob seated in the back, hands in his pockets, a faint, content smile on his face.

And Noah, my beautiful, nervous, beaming boy, holding the little ring pillow, staring at me with his mouth wide open. 

Halfway down the aisle, he mouthed, You look pretty, Mommy.

I bit my lip, fighting tears.

When I reached Declan, everything else blurred out. He reached for my hands immediately. His hand were warm, and steady, and familiar. The officiant smiled, giving us both a moment to just breathe.

“Today,” she began, “we gather here to witness the marriage of Declan and Willow.”

Declan’s thumb brushed the back of my hand, a quiet reassurance to ground me. But I didn’t need grounding I was soaring. 

When it was time for vows, he went first.

He unfolded a small piece of paper from his pocket, and then didn’t look at it once.

He looked only at me.

“I spent years trying to outrun the past,” he said softly, voice steady but thick with emotion. “Trying to bury the memory of you because it hurt too much to carry. But love doesn’t fade just because we hide it. It waits.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. He smiled a little.

“You’ve always been the person who made me want to be better,” he continued. “Even when I didn’t deserve it. You’re my compass, Willow. My home. The only thing in this world that ever made sense.”

He paused, his voice breaking just slightly. “I promise to spend the rest of my life making sure you never have to doubt that again. I promise to protect you, to listen even when I’m wrong, and to love you in the quiet ways that matter most, in the mornings, in the ordinary, in every small moment that makes up a life.”

By the time he finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd, least of all mine.

Cassie sniffled loudly. My mother audibly sighed.

When it was my turn, my hands trembled as I unfolded my own note. But like him, I barely needed it.

“I used to think love was supposed to be easy,” I began, my voice shaking. “But we’ve learned it’s the opposite. It’s messy. It’s work. It’s forgiveness, over and over again.”

Declan’s eyes softened.

“You once told me that fear was what kept me where I was,” I said. “You were right. But what I didn’t tell you then was that I was never afraid of you. I was afraid of how much I loved you. Because it felt like something I couldn’t possibly deserve.”

I took a deep breath. “But today, standing here, I know that love isn’t something we earn. It’s something we build through every mistake, every heartbreak, every moment we choose each other again.”

His hand tightened in mine.

“I choose you,” I whispered. “Every day. In this life, in every life. I choose you.”

When the officiant asked for the rings, Noah practically ran forward.

“Me! I have them!”

Everyone laughed.

He held out the tiny pillow with both hands, his chest puffed out in pride. Declan knelt down to his level, smiling.

“You did perfect, buddy.”

Noah grinned, whispering loudly, “Don’t drop it, okay?”

“I’ll do my best,” Declan whispered back, making him giggle.

Jacob chuckled quietly from the crowd, shaking his head with amusement.

Declan stood again, sliding the ring onto my finger with hands that didn’t shake once.

“With this ring,” he said softly, “I give you everything I am.”

And when it was my turn, I did the same.

“With this ring,” I said, “I give you everything I will ever be.”

The officiant smiled. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you -”

But Declan didn’t wait.

He kissed me before she could finish, laughter bubbling between us as the crowd erupted in cheers.

Cassie yelled, “Finally!” and my mother began to clap like a maniac.

Declan pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against mine, whispering, “I love you, Mrs. Ashwell.”

I smiled through tears. “I love you, always.”

The reception was small and intimate.

Declan’s friends from university mingled with my parents and Jacob, who was surprisingly comfortable, even laughing at one of Declan’s jokes over drinks.

Noah had grass stains on his knees within ten minutes, running around with the other kids.

At some point, as the sky turned pink and the music softened, Declan pulled me away from the noise.

When the first dance started, it wasn’t perfect.

We almost tripped once. He stepped on my dress. Noah tried to join in halfway through.

And yet, it was perfect in every way that mattered.

Declan held me like the world could crumble around us and he’d still never let go.

When the music slowed, Declan leaned down and whispered, “You know, I never actually asked you.”

“Asked me what?”

“To marry me.”

I pulled back, surprised. “I mean… you did. Kind of.”

He grinned. “Not properly.”

I smiled. “You begged. You said please, marry me.”

He chuckled, “I couldn’t risk a no.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “It was a yes the moment I met you.”