Elena pulled me into a hug that smelled like roses and home. "No, mija. You saved each other."
At some point, I noticed Garrett standing alone near the edge of the room. He was looking at his phone, but not reading it. Just staring at something on the screen.
When he caught me watching, he pocketed the phone quickly. Offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
I wondered who he'd been looking at.
When he caught me watching, he offered a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, then slipped outside.
Brian found me as the evening softened, two glasses of champagne in his hands.
I took the glass, clinked against his. "I can't believe it. A year ago, I was running from a man who wanted to kill me. Now I'm married to the man who saved my life."
"You saved yourself. I just stood with you."
"You did more than staying." I stepped closer and let him pull me against his side. "You made me believe I was worth saving."
The music shifted, turning slow. Brian set down his glass, took mine, and led me onto the dance floor.
"I love you," I said.
"I love you too."
"Even when I'm difficult?"
"You're my favorite difficult person." He pressed a kiss to my temple. "Mrs. Torres."
I smiled against his shoulder.
Around us, the reception swirled on. My parents danced together. Shane and Maya wrapped around each other like teenagers. Zoe filmed everything on her phone. Dr. Park told stories to a rapt audience of nurses. The Engine 295 crew got progressively louder as the champagne flowed.
This was my family now. Chosen, inherited, and earned.
I looked up at Brian. My husband. My partner. My home.
"Thank you," I said.
"For what?"
"For waiting. For not giving up on me. For showing me that some vows are worth breaking."
His arms tightened around me. "Thank you for letting me in."
The song ended. Another began.
We kept dancing.
Epilogue
BRIAN
Three months married,and sometimes I still didn't believe it was real.
Nothing much had changed, really. That was the strange part. We still had coffee every morning. We still talked about our shifts, the small disasters and quiet wins that made up our days. Watson still demanded breakfast at unreasonable hours judged us from his usual perch on the armchair.
But now there was a document filed somewhere in the city clerk's office that saidforever. Her ring caught the light when she reached for her coffee cup. Now I could look at her across the couch and thinkmy wife, and feel the truth of it settle into my bones.
Ava stirred beside me, her hair a mess against the pillow, one hand curled beneath her chin. The early morning light caught the auburn in her hair, the curve of her cheek, the faint furrow between her brows that appeared even in sleep.
