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“Need any help?” I ask Dawn.
“Nope, just a basic eggs and toast for breakfast. Everyone will be here at around eight.”
“Why so early?”
“Decorations, and apparently, I have to do my hair and makeup.”
“You don’t need it,” I say, biting into a piece of toast. “Can I give her this?” I ask Dawn.
Her eyes are soft as they watch me. “No, she’s still too little.”
“Sorry, baby girl. Not today,” I tell Daisy, offering her a small toy that she ignores and keeps watching me as I devour my toast.
“Yeah, so the house is about to be taken over.”
I shrug. “End result is you’re my wife. They can do their worst.”
“Your parents are going to be keeping an eye on her today.”
“I can do it.”
“I know, but when you get ready and stuff.”
“Babe, you put me in jeans and a button-down. It’ll take me like two minutes.”
She laughs. “You can duke it out with your dad. He’s the one who suggested it.”
“Baby hog,” I say to Daisy, making a funny face which has her smiling. “Grandpa is a baby hog. He did it with Imogen and Isaac too,” I grumble. I feel bad as soon as I say it. Dawn would give anything for her dad to be here. I glance at her and she’s smiling, and I exhale. That’s all I need to do is offend her or make her cry on our wedding day. She’s shed enough tears.
We’re barely finished with breakfast when the cavalry starts to arrive. My parents are the first and, just as I suspected, my dad makes a beeline for Daisy and scoops her out of her high chair. My baby girl giggles at the faces he makes and instead of giving him a hard time, I think about how lucky I am. They’ve accepted Dawn and Daisy into my life without question. They’ve accepted her as their granddaughter. It’s sometimes those in your life that you love the most that you take for granted. I’ll never do that again. Not when looking at my future wife allows me to remember the pain and tragedy of losing those you love and how you don’t always get the opportunity to say goodbye.
“There’s still time to back out,” Kent murmurs. I give him a death glare and he chuckles. “Just needed to be said.” He grins.
“You’re supposed to be behind this union,” I whisper back harshly.
“Oh, I am. I love Dawn and Daisy, but you know, as your friend and now the officiant of this blessed union, I wanted to throw it out there.”
“All I need you to throw out is you may now kiss your bride.”
He clamps his hand on my shoulder and nods.
“I can’t believe what the girls did to the house,” I say, looking at the arch of flowers we’re standing under.
“They have no boundaries. All three of them have been slave drivers for the last two weeks. We kept if from you both, wanting it to be a surprise.”
All of my earlier irritation fades away. “Appreciate it. Today is going to be hard for her.”
He nods in understanding. “Showtime,” he says as Matt Stell’s “Prayed For You” begins to play.
I feel myself choke up, and I swallow hard. I haven’t even laid eyes on her yet, and I’m already feeling the well of tears. Sucking in a breath, I slowly exhale. Our living room has been transformed into a wedding—small, intimate, complete with the flowered-covered arch I’m standing under. I know everyone wanted this day to be special for her. We all know how hard it’s going to be.
There is no bride side or groom side; it’s all one side. There are four chairs in the front row, and two of them have single red roses placed there. One for each of her parents. The other two I assume will be for mine. Again, I swallow hard thinking about them missing this day.
Looking toward the hallway, I see my mom appear and Daisy is in her arms. My little girl is wearing a light-pink frilly dress, with a matching bow on her head. Mom takes each step slow and steady. Daisy takes it all in. When she sees me, she smiles, and my heart beats like a drum in my chest. Heavy, steady beats as they draw closer. Instead of taking her seat, Mom brings Daisy to me. This wasn’t the plan, but it was the one thing that I insisted on. Mom said she would make it happen. I’m not just marrying Dawn, but Daisy too. It’s important to me that she’s here and with us.
“Hey, baby girl.” I kiss her cheek and she squeals, making everyone laugh. “Look.” I point to the hallway just as Dawn appears. I choke back a sob when I see my dad by her side. She’s gorgeous in a long-sleeve white dress. It stops just above her knees and is form-fitting. “There’s Mommy,” I tell Daisy.
Dad stops in front of me, Dawn on his arm, and I want to reach for her. “Who gives this woman away?” Kent asks.
“It’s with incredible honor, in the memory of her parents, that I do,” Dad says, his voice holding a bit of a wobble as he says the words. I watch as he brushes Dawn’s tears away with his thumbs and kisses her cheek. He then turns to me. “I’m trusting you with her heart, son.” I nod because my throat is clogged. I can’t speak. He places her hand in mine and she steps closer. Daisy squeals again and reaches for her.
“Hey, baby,” Dawn says, her voice cracking.
Needing my hands on her, I snake an arm around her waist and pull her into me. I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in. Daisy wiggles from being stuck between us. “I prayed for you,” I whisper.
“Now, now, enough of that,” Kent says, and everyone laughs. I pull away from her and we begin. We decided to just let Kent roll with whatever. That’s part of what makes this day special. It’s people we love and hold dear to us who are here. He surprisingly doesn’t do anything outlandish. He sticks to the traditional vows as we exchange rings.
“Now, Mark, this is the part you’ve been waiting for.” He grins wolfishly.
“Finally,” I say dramatically. Again, our guests, our family laughs.
“Wait,” Dawn says.
My heart drops.
“I-I wanted to say something.” She looks up at me, then out to our guests. “To all of you.” She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. “The night I got the call, I was going to tell you that I loved you.” She smiles, but the sadness in her eyes is powerful. “I was so scared, not sure if you felt the same way, but I felt it deep and wanted you to know. I was prepared for you not to say it back.” She pauses and swallows hard. “Then I got the call, and instead of telling you that I loved you, I was leaning on you. Depending on you to hold me up, to catch me when I fell.” Reaching out with my free hand, I wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t even have to ask you. You were just there.” She turns to our guests. “All of you were there. Supporting me, loving me through the worst day of my life. I know that there is no way I could have made it through without all of you.” She bites her bottom lip as it begins to wobble. “Then, just when I was starting to feel like I could maybe learn to live this life without them, this little lady entered the world.” She leans in and kisses Daisy on the cheek before her hazel eyes find mine. “Again, you were there. No stipulations, no pretenses, you just were.” She again looks at our guests. “All of you were.”
She looks at her feet, and my heart stalls waiting for what she’s going to say next. When she doesn’t speak, I say, “I told you,” I whisper, “I’ll always be there to catch you when you fall.”
She smiles through her tears. “I never could have imagined that this is where we would end up. Raising this little girl to be our own. Your heart, Marcus Adams, is one of a kind. I will spend every day showing you what you mean to me, showing you how special you are to accept not just me and my crazy baggage, but this little girl. We love you so much.” She takes in a few deep breaths. “I wasn’t sure what to get you for a wedding gift. It’s hard to find a gift for a man who has given me everything. That is until I got the mail yesterday.” She turns to the crowd, and Kendall hands her a piece of paper. “This came at just the right time, and I don’t know if my parents are up there cheering for us, but it’s what I’d like to believe. Maybe even my sister.” She whispers
that last part. “Open it,” she says, handing me the folded piece of paper.
She tries to take the baby, but I shake my head, opting to open the paper and read it. My eyes scan the page, and I freeze, going back to read the first line again.
Congratulations! Your petition for adoption has been approved.
My eyes scan the letter and it has my name at the top. I look up at her and she nods. “I got one too. I opened yours hoping this is what it would say.” She shrugs with zero remorse for opening my mail. Not that I care. She’s my wife, or she’s about to be.
“D-Daisy?” I say, my voice cracking. I hug her to my chest and kiss the top of her baby-soft hair. I love this little girl with all that I am, and I’m officially going to be her daddy. “D-Daddy loves you,” I tell her, my voice trembling. I look over at Kent and even his eyes are misty. “Let’s do this,” I tell him. Everyone laughs and the tension is broken. I should say something back to her, tell her that my heart belongs to her, but I can’t. She’s literally rendered me speechless.
“With the power vested in me by this great state of Tennessee, you may now kiss your bride,” he says, and I waste no time pulling her into a kiss. Daisy wiggles and I faintly hear Kent say, “Not in front of the baby,” as he takes her from my arms. My hands cup Dawn’s face, and I kiss her as if it’s the first time with the promise of all of our tomorrows.
When I finally pull away from this kiss, I can’t find it in me to remove my lips away from hers.
My wife.
