35. Epilogue

35

EPILOGUE

DYLAN

S ix months later…

Max danced from foot to foot next to me. "Is Mommy coming soon?"

I wasn't certain whether he was antsy with anticipation or he needed to go to the bathroom and we were about to experience some epic bad timing.

I knelt down in front of him. The officiant was behind me as we all waited for Jessica's father to lead her down the aisle.

"Do you need to go to the potty?" I asked.

"Daddy, no!" Max was indignant. "I went pee before we got out here. You made me, remember?"

I remembered. I didn't want any accidents, and he was young enough that excitement could still change everything. I fussed with the flower pinned to his little lapel.

"Mommy will be here soon, and then she'll really be your mommy."

As a wedding gift, Jessica asked if she could adopt Max. When we signed our wedding certificate, she would also sign the papers that completed that adoption.

The background music changed, and I looked up. At the far end of the carpeted aisle, the double doors started to open. Jessica's cousin, who was standing up at the altar with us as a bridesmaid, stepped out. I was frozen in place. This was it. I was getting married.

The second bridesmaid, Clara, stepped out. Jessica was next, and I honestly didn't know if my legs were going to hold me up. I didn't realize I was going to be that nervous.

"You got to stand up, Daddy," Max said as he began pushing on me.

I moved slowly, my eyes locked on the face of my bride. Jessica was stunningly beautiful. Her smile gave me the strength to stand when her father brought her to my side.

The ceremony didn't seem real. It was bright and shiny and felt more like a dazzling dream with an angel in front of me. Jessica glowed with love and her dress seemed to be made of stars. Words sounded muffled, and even slipping the ring on her finger did not seem like it was really happening, and then I was kissing her and reality swept back in. My chest felt like it was going to burst. I was married to the most amazingly beautiful woman.

Immediately after the ceremony, I lifted Max up and Jessica gave him a kiss on the cheek. I carried him as I led Jessica down the aisle as everyone applauded for us. I couldn't stop laughing. The feeling was amazing, exhilarating. I had no idea that getting married was going to feel like that. Once through the doors, we had to circle around and return to the back office and sign papers making everything official.

I signed both certificates first. Then I handed Jessica the pen. She signed the marriage certificate first.

"I now legally pronounce you husband and wife," the officiant teased.

Jessica looked down at Max as he stood between us. "Are you ready to be official?"

Max smiled up at her and nodded.

She signed the paper and set the pen down. She turned and picked Max up and pointed to her name on the paper. "That makes me your mommy now." She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

I reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumb. I leaned in and kissed her. My throat felt as if it were closing, and there was a burning sensation behind my eyes. Max had a biological mother who had given him away, abandoned him as if he had been nothing more than an inconvenience. My son had given my life so much meaning. I would never understand how his own birth mother had been able to do what she had, but now he had a mother who wanted him. Jessica loved him, and I had no doubt that when we had kids together, she would treat Max no differently.

I blinked a few times, trying to clear my suddenly blurred vision.

Jessica reached her hand out, and then she was wiping tears from my eyes. I captured her hand and kissed her palm.

"We're a family now," she said.

We had been a family ever since the day she came to work for me, only now, everyone knew it. "We are," I agreed. "We should get going. There is a party waiting for us."

"With cake?" Max asked.

"Yes, with cake," Jessica said.

A limo was waiting for us outside the church, ready to whisk us off to the reception. Max thought riding in the back was more fun than he had ever had. He didn't even complain when we insisted that he had to stop running back and forth along the long seat and get buckled into his booster. The entire idea of being able to stand up inside a car was exciting for him.

Jessica leaned against me, giggling at his antics. "You might have to get me a minivan. He'll never want to ride in a regular car again."

"He's going to be so disappointed when he gets taller and can't stand up inside a car," I said.

"He's going to be tall, like you. Do you regret not being able to stand up inside a car?"

I laughed. "I can't say that standing inside a car has ever been something I concerned myself with."

When we arrived, Jessica had to remind Max that the cake was for later, and he had to leave it alone so it was pretty for everyone to enjoy looking at. He ran in ahead of us, insisting that he must see this cake and make sure it was still okay.

As Jessica and I walked in, it sounded like everyone began tapping on the side of their glass with the edge of a spoon or a knife, making a clicking-ringing sound like they were calling everyone's attention. But too many people were doing it.

Jessica elbowed me in the ribs lightly. "That means you're supposed to kiss me," she whispered.

"Are you serious?"

She just looked up at me and puckered her lips. I didn't need to be told twice. A cheer went up as I kissed her.

We skipped the speeches since my best man was barely five years old. Jessica's cousin was relieved because she claimed to suffer from secondhand embarrassment just thinking about all the times she and Jessica got into trouble together.

We cut the cake early since Max was insistent. He was pleased to discover that Jessica had arranged for him to have his very own adoption cake. She insisted that Max have his own little cake cutting ritual the way the two of us had one. Only for Max's cake, the three of us wrapped our hands around the knife for the first cut. And there was absolutely no feeding cake to each other.

"Can you imagine how badly that's gonna go?" Were Jessica's exact words when I asked how she planned on letting Max smash cake into her face.

And every time the glasses started ringing, I happily kissed Jessica. I kissed her even when no one was clinking a knife against a glass.

While everyone was enjoying the cake, the DJ announced our first dance. Jessica and I floated across the dance floor, waltzing to a song that she picked, an orchestrated rendition of her favorite pop song. When our dance ended, it was time for the father-daughter dance. As Jessica took to the floor with her father, I walked over to see if Mother was interested in joining me for a small dance. I didn't think she would be up for more than a little bit, if that much, but I would never forgive myself if I didn't ask.

"Mother." I stepped in next to her chair. "While Jessica dances with her father, do you think you'd be up for dancing with me?"

She leaned her cane against the table and held her hand out to me. "I haven't danced in ages. I can't promise I won't step on your toes, but I would be delighted."

I helped her to her feet, and Mother hooked her arm around my elbow. I shot a glance at Clara, expecting her to arrive at my side and protest, but she was distracted by a conversation with Jessica's cousins. Pleasantly surprised that I wasn't going to have to defend myself, I slowly led Mother to the floor and began dancing.

I took a step forward and frowned. Mother's eyes went wide in a moment of panic. I stopped, and she relaxed.

"I don't think a waltz is the best choice for me," she said. "I'm not good with those backward steps."

Since the waltz was the only proper dance I actually knew, I reverted to a simple side to side sway. Mother was able to move along with me without any problems after that.

"Are you holding up okay?" I asked her a few moments later.

"I'm fine, Dylan. You worry too much," she scolded.

I continued to move carefully, a bit slower than the music called for.

"You should dance with your new wife," Mother said about halfway through the song.

Figuring that was her way of announcing she was tired, I led her back to her seat at the table. She shooed me away. I returned to the dance floor and interrupted Jessica and her father.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to steal my wife away to finish this dance," I said.

Her father scowled at me but stepped away.

"Is he angry that I cut him off?" I asked as I swept Jessica around in my arms.

She laughed. "That's just his face. Oh, look, he's asking your mother to dance!"

I spun so that I could see that side of the room. My mother, with a big grin on her face, was giving Jessica's father her hand, and he was leading her back out to the floor. Other people started to couple up on the floor and started dancing. I stiffened, prepared to go to her side if she needed anything.

"Would you relax? Your mother is fine. Dad won't let her fall. It's good to see her up and getting around. Maybe she's just being swept away by all the love in the air today," Jessica said.

"Are you telling me that love is giving her strength?" I teased.

"Love heals. Love gives you wings. Don't underestimate the power of love," she said.

"You sound like song lyrics. But you are correct. Your love gives me strength every day. Sometimes, your kisses even make me feel like I could lift entire buildings, like a superhero."

"Well, you are a super man. And you're mine." She beamed at me. Her eyes sparkled, and her entire face glowed with love.

I tipped my head and leaned in for a kiss. In the background, just at the edge of my awareness, I heard the obnoxious clinking of spoons against glass. Everyone had that backward. They were supposed to tap the glasses to make me kiss the bride, not when I kissed her. As if I needed a cue to tell me to kiss my wife. I was going to kiss her every chance I got.

I hoped our guests didn't break too many glasses with all the clinking they were going to have to do just to keep up.