"I promised you fifty years," he continues. "And I meant it. But standing here now, looking at you in that dress, I realize fifty years isn't enough. A hundred years wouldn't be enough. Eternity wouldn't be enough." He squeezes my hands. "You're it for me, Ingrid. My beginning. My end. My everything inbetween. I love you. I'll love you forever. And I can't wait to start this life with you."
I'm sobbing now.
Full, ugly sobbing.
Astrid hands me a tissue.
I dab at my eyes, try to compose myself.
It's my turn.
"Gunnar." My voice comes out wobbly. "I spent so long being lost. Being broken. Being convinced that I didn't deserve happiness. That I wasn't worthy of love. That anyone who got close to me would eventually see how damaged I was and leave."
He shakes his head, like he wants to argue.
I keep going.
"And then there was you. You, who never gave up on me. You, who saw through all my walls. You, who loved me when I couldn't love myself. You waited for me, Gunnar. Through all the years. Through all the mistakes. Through all the times I was too blind to see what was right in front of me. You waited."
My voice breaks.
I push through.
"You saved me. Not just from the man who hurt me—from myself. From the voice in my head that said I'd never be good enough. From the fear that happiness wasn't meant for people like me." I squeeze his hands. "You showed me what real love looks like. Patient love. Steady love. The kind that doesn't give up. The kind that fights. The kind that's worth waiting for."
He's crying again.
We're both messes.
It's perfect.
"I love you, Gunnar. I love the boy who followed me around the clubhouse. I love the man who held me when I fell apart. I love the husband you're about to become. And I can't wait tospend the next fifty years—the next forever—showing you how much."
Magnus wipes his own eyes. "Well," he says gruffly. "I think we're all going to need therapy after that."
Laughter from the guests.
A release of tension.
Of emotion.
"The rings," Magnus says.
Astrid turns to where Leif, my nephew, is supposed to be standing with the ring pillow.
He's not there.
"Leif?" She looks around. "Leif, honey, where?—"
"I dropped them!"
The panicked voice comes from under one of the chairs.
Everyone turns to see Leif, a small boy absolutely terrified, on his hands and knees, searching the grass.
"The rings fell off and I can’t find them"
Chaos.
