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He claps me again on the shoulder and takes his seat.

Then a string quartet starts up somewhere in the back, and everybody stands.

I see Cade come around the corner of the barn first, arm out, and then I see my whole damn life on his arm.

Margot.

I’ve never seen her like this. In a white dress, simple. No veil, because she said she wanted to see me as she walks down the aisle.

Her auburn hair is loose, wearing her mother's pearls, and she’s looking straight at me with her chin up and her eyes never breaking eye contact.

And she’s breathtaking.

Cade walks her to me slowly, and when they reach me he stops. He lifts her hand off his arm, and he sets her hand in mine.

And then he steps up beside me, best man, brother on both sides of this thing, giving her away and standing up for me in the same breath.

We keep the vows simple.

Margot wrote numerous drafts and threw them all out. She told me last night she only had one thing to say and she was going to say it and that was that.

I go first. I've got a whole speech prepared, years of things I never got to say, and standing here holding both her hands with the sun going gold behind her, none of it comes, and I don't need it to.

"It's always been you." Four words. The truth of us. "And I'm going to spend the rest of my life being the man you saw before I ever did." My voice cracks and I let it, "I love you."

Her eyes spill over. "It's always been you too." She squeezes my hands. "I love you, Jax."

The officiant says the words, and I don't hear most of them, and when he gets to the part that matters, I kiss my wife.

Our family and friends start clapping. Ryker whoops. Mason sobs. Derek is watching Dr. Olivia cry, and I see him wrap one arm around her.

And my best friend, my brother, my best man, pulls Margot and I into a hug. Wrecked and grinning, his mouth against the side of my head.

"I wish you'd done this sooner."

"Me too."

MARGOT

String lights are on, now that the sun's gone down. And my wedding day is better than I ever could have imagined.

It's perfect.

When it's time to throw the garter. Someone must have told the goalie that if he catches it he gets a prize. And being a goalie, of course, his odds of catching anything was high.

Mason catches the garter and immediately looks like he regrets every choice that led him to this moment and throws it to Derek who catches it on instinct.

I start laughing. Derek looks down and he looks utterly confused, and I watch as Dr. Olivia leans in and takes it.

I hear my mother’s laugh and turn towards the sound. She raised two kids alone after our dad walked out the door. She’s sitting beside Cade, smiling and happy, and I have to look away or I'll lose it all over again.

Cade took care of me growing up, while our Mom worked. I love my brother, he helped me have the courage to go after what I want in life.

Aiden stands to give a toast, captain to the last. He lifts his glass, and the whole team immediately goes quiet and everyone else follows.

"We had a hell of a year. We made the playoffs. We took Boston to seven games in the second round and we lost it in overtime, and it broke our hearts."

A few of the guys knock on the tables.