I didn’t know exactly what the future held. I’d probably lose my footing again. That was who I was. But the idea of getting lost didn’t terrify me anymore.
If I wandered, he’d come looking.
We had each other.
For the first time in a long time, that felt like enough.
DAY PLUS 847
Eric
Maybe life wasn’t about chasing one perfect moment. Maybe it was about recognizing the ones worth claiming when they stood in front of you. Those rare intersections where everything aligned into something solid. The kind you grabbed with both hands and didn’t let go of.
Nervous energy moved through me in sharp, restless waves.
I inhaled slowly. Held it. Let it out through clenched teeth.
My hands weren’t steady. My stomach refused to settle, no matter how measured my breathing was. I’d walked into an operating room without blinking. I’d faced fear head-on and held my ground.
But this?
This had me exposed in a way nothing else ever had.
Everyone around me looked calm. Smiling and relaxed. Like this was just another beautiful day. Meanwhile, I was one breath away from being sick.
Not because I wasn’t ready.
Because I’d waited so fucking long for this. And some ruthless part of my brain kept whispering that something could still go wrong. That she could change her mind. That old habits would take over, and she’d run.
Christ. Get it together.
The doors opened. Light poured in first, blinding and absolute.
And then she was there.
Jamie stepped forward, sunlight catching in her hair, her white dress falling clean and simple around her. The noise around me faded. The crowd disappeared.
Mine.
She was mine by choice. In commitment. In the promise I was about to make and uphold with everything I had.
After two years, she still had the power to knock the air from my lungs. Still had the ability to unbalance me with one look. And standing there now, walking toward me, she didn’t look fragile. She looked certain.
More beautiful than ever.
When she reached me, I took her hands without hesitation. Held them firmly, grounding both of us. The minister spoke, words floating somewhere beyond the edges of my focus, but those details weren’t important.
Her blue eyes locked onto mine, and everything else fell away. That look was the only thing that mattered. Her love was my entire world.
We weren’t chasing a perfect moment. We were building something permanent.
For better or worse. Here and now.
She wasn’t slipping away again.
And I wasn’t letting go.
Jamie
