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I lifted my camera and got a few shots of her walking through the lobby, then nodded at Will. He stepped into her line of sight, and I clicked the shutter as fast as my finger could manage as her face went through a range of emotions.
First, recognition. Then, shock, as her feet stuttered to a halt and she gasped. Lastly, sheer happiness, tears and all. Trevor, Jo, Layla, and Zac stepped forward after she passed them, and I grinned to myself as I realized they’d be in the background of the photos smiling on as they watched. I made a few adjustments on my camera so I could have some with them in focus, then switched back to Will and Aria again just as she covered her face with her hands.
Will moved closer, and so did I, changing angles so I could get the entire reunion. She moved her hands from her face to his, reaching up like she wanted to make sure he was real, crying and laughing. Ugh, these photos better come out clear, because my own vision certainly wasn’t.
Aria was smiling as Will leaned down and kissed her, then she started up another round of tears as he kneeled in front of her small baby bump and gently rubbed it. I zoomed in on his face as he rested his forehead against her belly, speaking softly to the baby inside.
For the next minute, they barely spoke to each other, just hugged and cried—yes, even him. Everyone watched with wide smiles as I kept changing angles, and when it was finally over, I felt like my heart was about to burst from my chest. Those TikTok videos were cute, but compared to witnessing the real thing?Pfft, they were nothing.
I snapped a few more photos of Will greeting and hugging the rest of our group. It was a bummer that Shelby wasn’t here to witness this too, but since Paul had apparently been unable to come home early like Will, maybe it was for the best. Not that she’d be unhappy for Aria, but still. At least I’d get to photograph that homecoming next month, so she’d get her own special day.
“Sorry for crashing the dinner without a reservation,” Will told her as we all headed back to the courtyard.
Aria laughed, patting her tear-stained face. “I was ready to sic a bouncer on you. I can’t believe you did this. I’m a mess.”
“You’re beautiful,” he replied, kissing the top of her head.
One of the employees led them over to the table they’d prepared, and I took a few more photos of them, despite Aria’s protests about how her makeup was probably messed up. It wasn’t. Aria couldn’t look bad if she tried, and I knew she wouldn’t care about that at all when they looked back on these photos in twenty years.
That was the thing about being a photographer. I knew better than anyone how important capturing memories was, and it never ceased to amaze me how the subjects would stress about little things that wouldn’t matter at all in the future. It was all about this moment. The love they shared, the excitement, the awe—frozen in time to be cherished forever.
I finished up with Will and Aria, then took more photos of Zac and Layla under the glow of the twinkle lights hanging with the Spanish moss from the trees. And finally, right when I was finished with the rest of the dinner couples, I spotted my signal from Trevor. Camera in hand, I slipped over to a tree by the pond so I could capture another amazing moment.
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