Epilogue

I heard a gentle knock at my door. Alicia walked in the room, holding her three-month-old daughter, Gracie. The two of them

were wearing yellow taffeta dresses. Alicia was my matron of honor, and Gracie was my honorary flower girl.

“It’s about that time,” Alicia said with a huge grin on her face.

“Come in,” I said. The door opened wider, and my twin brothers, Aaron and Marcus, entered the room, both dressed in their

Marine uniforms. Seeing them together caused my tears to fall yet again on this magical day—my wedding day. So many things

had made me cry today. Mama loaning me the pearls Daddy gave her on their wedding day, as my something old and borrowed. Pee

Wee’s grandmother allowing him to be the ring bearer. But most of all, having both of my brothers present to walk me down

the aisle. The blessings just kept pouring on me like summer rain.

Five months ago, shortly after Christmas, we’d received the miraculous phone call that Aaron had been located. They said he’d somehow escaped from his captors and was found wandering the jungle. He’d lost a considerable amount of weight, but other than some bruises and a couple of cracked ribs, he was okay. When we met him at the bus station, he was our Aaron, eyes sparkling with a hint of a smile on his face. Before Mama or I could get to him, Marcus wrapped him up in an embrace, crying and laughing, saying over and over, “My brother. My brother. My brother.” I didn’t think he’d ever let Aaron go.

A few days after we got him home, without my knowledge, Seth asked Mama, Marcus, and Aaron for my hand in marriage. On February

14, he proposed to me in our living room with both of our families present.

“I thought about taking this a bit slower, giving us both more time to make sure we’re doing the right thing, but, Katia Daniels,

I don’t have to wait another second to know that you are my heart—my one and only. Whether we do this a year from now or today,

my feelings will be the same. So I ask you, in front of everyone we love on this side of heaven, will you marry me?” Because

of his leg, he couldn’t get down on one knee, but I didn’t care.

“Yes,” I cried. “Yes, yes, and yes. I will marry you, Seth Christopher Taylor.”

We set a wedding date of July 27, which was special to me because it was Chad’s birthday. That morning, I’d taken a boutonniere like the ones the men and boys in the wedding were going to wear and placed it on his grave. I sat down and stroked his headstone. We had buried Chad the day after Seth and I returned from Prichard. There had been no fanfare. Just the group home staff, Seth, Mama, Marcus, and me gathered together by his graveside. Since then, I have visited his grave a few times, and today was definitely a day I wanted to somehow share with him.

“I sure wish you could be here with us, Chad,” I had said, smiling through my tears. This wasn’t the first time I’d visited his grave, but it was one of the first times

I’d actually smiled there. “I know that you and all of the other people I love who aren’t here on earth will be present at my wedding in spirit. I just wanted to tell you that

I’m happy and loved. I pray that you’re feeling that same love where you are.”

Now, here I was, about to marry the man of my dreams. A man like none I’d ever read about in any of my romance novels. I glanced

at myself in the mirror and positively loved what I saw. From the vintage lace on my dress and veil to Mama’s pearls, I’d

never felt so gorgeous. I looked behind my brothers, and Mama was standing with Pee Wee, who was handsome in a blue tuxedo.

Mama wore a long, pale blue dress and a matching hat.

“Baby girl, you are so beautiful,” she said, the tears streaming down her face. She touched the boys’ cheeks. “My babies.

I’ve got all of my babies home.”

Pee Wee came over to me, carrying the pillow that the rings would eventually be placed on. “I’ve been pr-pr-practicing how

to walk, M-M-Miss Katia. I won’t mess up.”

Pee Wee’s stuttering wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been. Having the stability of a home with his grandmother, even though it was filled to the brim with children, made him more relaxed, which made him stutter less. His grandmother and I had gotten close, and whenever she needed a break, I’d pick up Pee Wee and any of the other children who wanted to grab ice cream or see a movie.

I bent down and hugged Pee Wee. “You are very handsome, Pee Wee.”

“And you are v-v-very pretty, Miss Katia,” he said.

“We all look amazing,” Aaron joked. “Sissy, are you about ready to go get hitched?”

“Yes,” I said.

The twins escorted Mama to her seat, and then they came back for me. Alicia handed me my bouquet as my brothers stood on either

side of me, and I kept careful hold of it as I tucked one hand into the crook of Marcus’s arm, and the other hand into the

crook of Aaron’s arm. When the bridal music started, they escorted me down the aisle to Seth, who also looked sharp in his

own Marine Corps uniform. Aaron and Marcus kissed my cheeks, transferred my hands from their arms to Seth’s hands, then backed

away.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.

“And you are so handsome,” I whispered back.

“Okay, you two,” Pastor Bennett teased. “There’s a script we must follow. Y’all settle down and let me handle things decently

and in order. Amen?”

Everyone laughed, including us, but then, with all seriousness, Pastor Bennett began speaking the oh-so-familiar words of

the wedding ceremony.

I looked around the sanctuary and paid close attention to every face in the room. In this room were people I had loved my entire life as well as those I had just recently met. I also felt a warmness enveloping me, like a gentle hug from all of those I loved who had transitioned on. I looked up at Seth and he smiled down at me, brushing away a tear that had slid down my cheek.

I couldn’t believe this was my life now, and to think, it was only just beginning.