Epilogue
Snow had fallen. It was the perfect white Christmas everyone always wanted, but never wanted to deal with the aftermath of.
Like how, when the snow melted, it would leave water on the roads, turning into ice overnight.
The beauty and awe of it would last approximately one day before the annoyance would set in.
Christmas had been chaotic, the entire Miller family plus some, taking up all the space in our living room that the tree didn’t.
Elio and Crescent had sat on the floor to let Star and her boyfriend sit on the couch.
We’d opened presents with a ten-hour video of a burning yule log playing on the TV, eating the Oreo balls Olivia and Kelly had made.
There was chocolate everywhere. Mom and Dad were somehow the worst of them, their cushions covered in the most crumbs.
It was going to be a major bitch to clean up in the morning.
I looked at our tree, now bare after Daddy and I bullied everyone into helping us take the ornaments and lights down.
All the gifts we’d left beneath it were gone, the wrapping paper strewn across the floor, just like when we were all kids.
Christmas had always been so magical, despite how overboard Mom and Dad always went with the incense every year.
Daddy and I had exchanged one gift each. He’d gotten me a new set of stained glass to use, and I’d gotten him a new pair of running shoes. He still liked to go on runs when he could, and his old ones were breaking apart on the sides.
Though we’d agreed on one gift each, I was still a brat, and brats bent the rules sometimes. My final gift to him was burning a fucking hole in my pocket, the anticipation almost enough to break me.
Turning the final light off, I slowly made my way to our bedroom, taking deep, calming breaths with each step. Pausing at the door, I shook my arms and wiggled my body, trying to get all the nervous energy out of me before turning the knob. I pushed it open, gasping when I looked down at the floor.
Daddy was on one knee right behind the door, a huge, bright grin on his face. In his hand was a small box—a very familiar-looking box. He opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t let him.
Instead, I lunged forward, getting on my knees in front of him, and put a hand over his mouth.
“Oh, fuck no!” His eyes went wide, staring at me before his eyebrows came together in confusion.
Keeping my hand where it was, I used my other one to fish the ring box out of my pocket.
“No, Daddy, don’t you remember? I told you I won’t say yes.
I won’t say yes, because I’ll be the one to propose. ”
He tried to move away from my hand, shaking his head.
“No.”
He grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand away. “Brat, I swear to god—”
I had never spoken faster in my entire life. I’d had an entire speech planned, rehearsed down to the fucking comma, but I let it all go. “Will you marry me, Daddy?”
“Oh, baby.” Daddy’s eyes softened, his lips pulling into a smile. “Of course I will. Will you marry me, brat?”
I finally opened the ring box, just as he opened his. “Of course I will. Loving you for eternity would be the best gift ever.”
We looked down at our rings. His ring was a simple, classic silver band. Mine was a black band with a gorgeous line of diamonds in the middle. They were perfect together.
With the rings snug on our fingers, Daddy leaned forward, wrapping his arms around me.
The moment he squeezed me against him, the tears I’d expected to shed during my speech finally started to stream down my face.
He was so bright and warm and comforting.
He was everything I’d ever needed and more.
He was Emerson Blake, the love I’d been waiting for, and he was mine from now until forever.
Thank fuck I didn’t let him say it first.
1.5 Years Later
I stood, anxiously waiting for Moon’s entrance.
The music had already started playing, which meant he was close, though not close enough.
Elio and Crescent, now husbands themselves, smiled at me from their seats.
Star looked absolutely torn to pieces, a manicured hand swiping tears from her cheeks as her boyfriend rubbed her shoulder.
Mom and Dad were complete messes, with Mom borderline sobbing into her handkerchief.
Nobody was going to stand beside us. No groomsmen or bridesmaids. Nobody was going to walk Moon down the aisle. The officiant—one of Star’s friends named Carter—was the only person who’d be up here with us.
We didn’t need fancy decorations, or a fancy venue, or anything special when our love was the most special thing there.
From the corner of my vision, I saw him.
I smoothed my hands down my tuxedo, glancing over to the three empty chairs that were sitting in the grass.
One for my mom, one for my dad, and one for Harrison.
I imagined they were all there, watching with tears in their eyes and love in their hearts.
I knew, without a doubt, that they’d love Moon and his entire family.
His family, who’d taken me in as their own even before I’d taken their last name.
Looking back, Moon had come around a tree and was walking down the grass, his eyes never leaving mine.
He looked so fucking handsome. He looked like mine.
He looked like the next step in our long, amazing future with each other.
The dark blue of his tuxedo perfectly contrasted the bright white of mine.
I couldn’t break the wide, ear-to-ear grin on my face, tears starting to flow down my cheeks as he stood right before me. Just one more step, and then a shuffle to the side. One more, and we’d begin our everlasting tie.
One step. One shuffle. He leaned forward, whispering to me. “You look fucking amazing, Daddy.”
I was sure Carter could hear us, but I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck. “As do you, brat.”
Carter began once the music ended, clearing his throat. “Dearly beloved and honored guests, we are gathered here today to join Moon Miller and Emerson Blake in their union of life through marriage.”
He paused, looking around at everyone before turning a page in the notepad he was holding.
“Marriage is more than love. It is a promise. A promise to choose each other every single day, no matter the qualms, or the anxieties, or the arguments. Marriage is the promise to hold each other and love each other until death do you part. Moon, Emerson, please join hands.”
We held our hands out to each other, holding on as the world around us fell silent. No birds were chirping, the wind had stopped blowing, and we were surrounded by nothing but love.
Carter held our rings in one of his hands. “Moon, do you take this man, Emerson Blake, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?”
A stray tear rolled down his cheek as he smiled. “I do.”
Carter turned toward me. “Emerson, do you take this man, Moon Miller, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?”
I gripped Moon’s hands in mine. “I do.”
“Moon and Emerson will now exchange rings as a symbol of their love and commitment.”
Slowly, I slid Moon’s ring onto his finger, watching how it fit so perfectly. He did the same to me, his hand slightly shaking, despite the smile on his face.
Carter pulled a notecard from his pocket, handing it to Moon. “Moon, please read the vows you have prepared.”
I watched as Moon glanced over the notecard before looking up at me, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
His voice started on a choked sob, leveling out after he cleared his throat.
“Emerson, when I proposed to you, I had this whole speech planned. It was a great speech. An awesome one, really, but I never got to say any of it because you tried to one-up me. Which was rude as fuck.”
There was laughter from our friends and family as Moon shook his head, taking a deep breath.
“The first time we met, I was a shell of shadows and darkness. I felt like a weighed-down husk of nothing. The only thing that kept me going was the love I had for my siblings, but I had no love for myself. You met me at one of the darkest points of my life. But you, Emerson, were the brightest fucking light I’d ever seen.
From that day on, you have been my lighthouse.
My safety. No matter how far into the ocean I am, no matter how lost I may be, I know your light will be there to guide me straight into your arms so you can hold me.
I used to think I was broken. I used to think there was something wrong with me, and that nobody would ever want to pick up my pieces.
Now, I don’t think I was ever broken; I think I just wasn’t complete.
You were my final piece. You completed me.
You shine a light, hold the heavy parts of me, and make me realize I have always had a reason to live.
I had you. I had been waiting for you. My light, my reason, my missing piece.
And I will love you until our lights go out, and we join Marilyn, Thomas, and Harrison in the afterlife. ”
My heart had grown six times over three years ago, but this was almost too much.
There wasn’t enough room in my heart to grow anymore.
It tried, though. It tried so hard, I couldn’t even see Moon’s face anymore.
I was fully sniffling, crying, and breaking down because of how much I loved him.
I was crying because I knew my family was watching wherever they were.
I knew they were proud. I knew they were waiting for us.
Carter handed me a handkerchief and my notecard. “Emerson, please read the vows you have prepared. When you’re ready.”
I wiped my eyes and took a few deep, shaky breaths.
How the fuck was I supposed to move on from that?
Shaking my head, I glanced over the notecard, trying to get my bearings.
“Moon, how could I ever write into words what I feel for you? There aren’t enough words in the dictionary I could pull together to describe how you make me feel.
When I first saw you, something started to grow in my heart.
I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what it meant.
But I knew I wanted to know you. I knew I wanted to build a home in the emptiness of your eyes.
I never stood a chance, Moon. Never. I was yours from the moment we looked into each other’s eyes.
“The light in me had been searching for the light in you. Yours was tucked away under the dark for a while, but once I saw it? Oh, god, Moon, it was everything. Suddenly, the entire world had more meaning, and that meaning was you. I found a purpose I’d been searching for my entire life without even knowing it, and that purpose was loving you.
I used to be so lonely. So unbelievably lonely.
And now I know I won’t ever be alone again.
I will love you fiercely. I will love you gently.
I will love you in the dark, I will love you in the light.
I will continue to love you through every moment life gives us.
I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you for the rest of our lives, and even after. ”
Moon’s lip quivered as he stepped forward, resting his hand on my chest. “Promise?”
I waited for Carter to finish. “By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and husband.”
Cradling Moon’s cheek, I pulled him closer, pressing our lips together.
Our tears mixed, and our hearts melded as the clouds moved, the sun peeking through.
I could feel its warm rays on my skin, shining on us as we breathed each other in.
When we parted, I rested my forehead against his, closing my eyes and whispering to him. “I promise.”
The End.