4 (jaylor) gleaming twilight and an infinite afterglow

chapter thirty one ; epilogue.

new years day
-
They'd been waiting for this day for months.

And when Joe had seen Taylor walking down the isle in her wedding dress, holding both her Mom and her Dads arms, he'd cried.

When Taylor had seen Joe, his hands clasped in front of him, his hair brushed backwards, and tears falling down his cheeks, she'd cried.

When Joe had seen her, her hair softly pulled back from her face with little yellow diamond suns, he'd wanted to hug her. Pull her into him, and cry.

When Taylor saw him waiting, Patrick nudging him with a goofy smile, she'd cried, but couldn't help but laugh at him too.

He'd smiled through his tears as she bent down in front of Thea, who had a golden smile across her cheeks, and handed her the bouquet and wondered how he could have possibly been so lucky.

When she gave Thea the flowers, she finally got to take his hand, and look him in the eyes. She finally got to see his smile, finally got to see the daylight pouring upon them.

It had rained the whole night - and but as soon as they'd arrived, Joe had texted her to tell her that it wasn't raining anymore. Here they were, in New Zealand. In Rosa's garden, the willow tree behind them. Standing under under yellow roses, standing under the sunlight. This was where they'd wanted to be married - and Rosa had almost screamed at the idea of it.

It was almost as if they'd blinked, and they were here. In this moment. Feeling their lips touch for the first time as husband and wife. Tasting salt, because they'd cried so much. Walking back, down the isle together.

Disappearing into a back room in Rosa's cafe while everyone was seated inside for dinner.
Taylor flung her arms around Joe's neck the moment they were alone.
"You look so beautiful," he murmured into her hair, and she couldn't help but cry.
"Fuck! I'm not allowed to cry, I don't want to have to fix my makeup!" She fanned herself, and burst out laughing. "Do you really think so? I didn't know if this style would suit me, and I wanted it to have long sleeves so that I didn't have to worry about my scars and I didn't know if it wouldn't look good on me and I'm-" Joe cut her off with a kiss, and she smiled against his lips as she kissed him.
"You're beautiful, love. I won't hear anything else. You're golden."
Taylor blushed, kissing his cheek. "You look... gorgeous," she told him as she kissed him again. "You're my husband now," she smiled. "Ah! I can't believe it! I love you so so so so much, Joe."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her into him.
"I can't believe we're here, and you're beautiful and this whole thing is beautiful, and Thea looks so pretty in her dress - and Nora looks cute with her little bow and I love Luca's little bow tie - I just..." Joe cupped Taylor's cheeks, and she wiped away a tear that cascaded down his cheek. "It's already been the perfect day and I wish that I could see you walking down that isle again, I wish that I could do it all again. All of this. All of us. Every single moment of it. I would do it all over again. But I'd better stop myself or else I might start quoting my wedding speech," he told her and she smiled.
"I'd better make sure my Mom brought tissues, then." She said, kissing him on the cheek again as there was a knock on the door.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Thea called out and Taylor laughed.
"It's not locked, Theabear!" She told her, and the door clicked open. Blake walked in, wearing the pale yellow bridesmaid dress that both her and Taylor had picked out together. Blake squealed when she saw Taylor, and the two of them flung their arms around each other.
"You guys!" Blake exclaimed as she had an arm around Joe, and an arm around Taylor. "You both look gorgeous!"
Taylor's mouth was beginning to ache from smiling so much - something that she thought that she'd be used to by now, because she was always smiling on tour.

She'd had three bridesmaids, Blake, Abigail and Selena, because that's all she felt that she needed. They were the ones that had been there through absolutely everything in her life, the good, the bad and everything in between. Blake had been the Maid of Honour - and Taylor had been so thankful that she'd wanted to play such a big part in everything. Betty, Ines, James and Thea had been flower girls - a moment that Taylor couldn't wait to see filmed. Joe had Patrick as his best man, and Thomas had been eager to help too. It had been the perfect day so far, and Taylor couldn't believe how beautiful it all was.
They were seated at a table with their families, and Taylor was nervous for the speeches. She'd planned her speech for Joe for months, but as the speeches were drawing closer, she was worrying that maybe it wouldn't be good enough.
It was hard to spell out how much you love someone on a piece of paper.
Thea was sitting in between her and her Mom, and Nora and Luca were being looked after with Gigi's baby girl in the next room.
She was holding Joe's hand, when her father signalled for the speeches to start. He was going first, and Taylor was so worried about what he was going to say to her. It wouldn't be bad, she knew that already, but she knew she'd cry.
"Thank you, everyone, for coming," her father started. "We've been lucky with the weather today, with the sun beaming down onto the ceremony. I don't know why I am surprised, when sunlight is a big part of what my daughter and my son in law have built their lives together with. It's been the glue that's held everything together, and it always has been, ever since Taylor was a little girl." She could see that her dad was already getting emotional, and she felt her lip begin to tremble. "She loved the sunlight, even when she was young, but oddly enough, she didn't love it as much as the starlight. We'd go out into the garden, as far away from the house as we could, and we'd look up at the sky together, while your mom was getting Austin ready for bed," he told her as he looked over at her. "You used to get me to explain every single constellation when could see, even if I didn't know for sure what they were. I had to go to the library and get out every book they had on the stars to make sure I could answer every single question you had. And boy, there were certainly a lot of them. But I used to relish your questions, even when they got a little more difficult to answer. When they went from pointing to stars in the night sky, to wondering why the girls at school were being mean. There aren't enough books to tell you what to do when your daughter comes home crying because someone made a comment about her. It's like I blinked, and she wasn't my little girl anymore. Suddenly, she was everyone's favourite, not just mine. The world fell in love with her as quickly as I had. Suddenly we were buying bulletproof cars and making sure we always had security, no matter where we were. It was scary, at first. But it was worth it, to hear her sing, to hear the crowds that seemed to get bigger every single time they heard her. I googled what you're supposed to put in these speeches, and it told me that I was supposed to share my pride. Big moments of your life, that I'm supposed to share with everyone." Her father paused, taking a deep breath, and Taylor felt Joe squeeze her hand, and she turned to him with a smile. "But there's just too many. And not just big moments. There are little moments and big moments and there is every moment in between." Her father paused again, and she felt a tear slip from her eye - because he was trying really hard not to cry. "And I've spent three months changing what I think the moment is that has made me the most proud of you." He paused, and Taylor didn't even know what he was going to say. He took a deep, shaky breath. "And I only just realised the answer last night. I think that I am most proud of you for choosing to see the daylight. Because a lot of people let the darkness of their past consume them, but you haven't. And I think that's what I am most proud of. That you... you found love and you have three beautiful children and you're happy. You... you have made me so proud, Taylor, honey. I can't believe you're sitting here, and you look so beautiful. And Joe, thank you for everything that you've done for my daughter. I don't think I wi ever be able to thank you enough." Taylor squeezed Joe's hand. "Taylor, I know you're not a little girl anymore, that you don't have corkscrew curls or little pink gum-boots anymore, but you will always be my little girl, my little Taylor. I love you so much, honey. Words aren't my thing as they are yours, but I love you, honey. Plain and simple. I love you, and I love the little family that you've created together."
Taylor wiped away a tear before standing up to hug her father.
"Thank you, dad." She told him as she held him. "Thank you so much."
She could hear Scott crying, and couldn't help but cry herself.