“Mike, Ren, you’ve made me so very happy today. My heart is full,” she said, her lips trembling with emotion.
“Thank you, Grammy. Thank you for everything,” he said, holding her tightly. When he let her go, she held me close.
“You are my answer to prayer, my dear. The one God brought to show my Mikey the light,” she said, and I prayed she was right. I stepped back, still holding her hand, and went to speak when Mike stood beside me again with a phone in his hand.
“Renata Walker, I’d like you to meet my parents, Andrew and Rachel.”
My eyes went wide as I looked between him and the phone, finally realizing what was happening.
“Oh, my goodness, Mr. and Mrs. Walker. What a beautiful surprise. It’s so good to meet you both,” I gushed, holding the phone and trying to tame my unruly curls after being tousled around by everyone.
“Renata, what a pleasure to meet you, too. Please forgive us for not being there. We’ve been out of communication and hadno idea what was happening. Seems we’ve missed a lot,” Mrs. Walker said, with a shake of her head and a smile that looked like Mike’s. “And please. Call us Andrew and Rachel. You’re family now.” Her voice broke, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“We are making our plans and trying to speed up our return. We can’t wait to meet you and get to know you. It was a beautiful ceremony,” Andrew said, slightly squinting his eyes.
“I can’t wait either. Please be careful, and we will be waiting for you,” I answered, looking back at Mike, who kissed the top of my head, as I handed him the phone.
“Grammy wants to talk to you guys. I love you both. Thank you so much for staying up to be here with us. Get word to us as soon as you know your flight information,” Mike said before handing the phone to Grammy.
I stepped away to give them privacy when I saw my parents standing off to the side, waiting to speak to me. My father opened his arms when I started walking toward them, letting go of Mama’s hand. I hadn’t realized he’d been holding it when they stood up.
“Renata, you are the most beautiful bride,” he said, pulling me in for a hug.
I chuckled. “You told me that when you walked me down the aisle, Papa,” I teased. “I’m so happy you’re both here. I just got to meet Mike’s parents in Africa.”
My mother still wasn’t smiling, but her posture was more relaxed than I’d seen in years. I walked over to her and held her tightly. “Thank you for being here, Mama. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
She stepped back and nodded. “It wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind for your wedding, but it was, ah, lovely.”
We both looked over my shoulder when we heard Mike’s loud laugh as he and Grammy spoke to his parents. When I looked back at her, she pointed to him with her chin.
“Your husband is--.”
“Wonderful?” I asked, pinching my lips to hold in my laughter when she looked at me, unconvinced.
She scoffed lightly, her expression softening. “He’s…interesting.”
My grin grew slowly. “He’s perfect.”
“Ha. Hardly.” She looked at him again, then at me. “The vows in Italian were sweet.”
“That’s because he’s amazing,” I said with sass. “Intelligent. Kind.” I couldn’t hold back my smile. This was the most fun I’d had with my mother in…ever, actually.
“Well, heistall,” she said with the tiniest smile.
“Good Lord, Lucia. You’re practically fawning over him now,” my father teased. She shook her head and walked away, turning back to glare at us both when we burst out laughing.
I looked at my father in wonder. “What has happened to Mama?” I asked.
He watched her walk into the house and then turned to me and said, “I think Grammy would call it a miracle.”
Confused, I scrunched my eyes. “What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath in and answered, “When the pastor told Mike he could kiss you, she leaned over to us and whispered that we were all witnessing a miracle.”
Mike had used the same word in the waiting room the night he first proposed.
“Then she looked at your mother, and it was like she was staring into our souls,” he said, eyes unfocused as he spoke. “She said, ‘there’s another miracle coming,’ then told us it was never too late.”
