Dear Bailey

Epilogue 3/4

Lucas

The doors swing open and I look past all of our guests to see the love of my life. She has never looked more beautiful than in this moment. I don't want to know what I did to be so lucky that I get to marry her twice.

"Wow," Liam says, nudging me with his elbow.

As each of her friends walk down the aisle I can feel my anticipation growing. Liam isn't immune when he sees Juliet walking towards him. I give them another year before they are married. I know he has a ring burning a hole in his pocket as we speak.

Our guests stand as Bailey steps through the doors and the wedding march begins to play. I finally feel at ease, like I have righted a wrong even though it never really felt wrong. When we got married so quickly last year, a lot of people weren't at the wedding. Now everyone is here to watch us say our vows again. It was so hard to keep this a surprise, especially since I had to involve her parents in order to make sure I could get everyone here for tonight.

Her sisters giggle as they throw flower pedals on the ground at her feet. They were both so excited to be a part of this. Their dad watches them with a smile on his face and I can only imagine what he might be thinking. Three girls might equate to three weddings one day and with as much work as it has been to get this one together so quickly, I don't envy him for a minute.

My brother stands between Liam and I as my best man. I had to pick one of them, but the reality is that every man that's standing up here with me is equally important. My brother, Liam, Wes and Mateo are my family. I close my eyes for a minute and remember Pines. It's been a long year without him. I wonder if they will ever get any easier.

When I open my eyes again, Bailey is looking into mine as she takes her last steps in my direction. I reach out and take her hand. The preacher is saying something, but all the sound falls away and I'm suddenly back to that day in the snow before I deployed when I knew I'd love her forever. She stayed with me through everything and while this last year has been a roller coaster of grief, adjustment and moving on, I never doubted her commitment to us.

I whisper, "I love you," right before we turn to face the preacher.

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