Epilogue Two
NORA
“ A re you nervous?” Scarlet asks, peeking her head around the flowy curtain separating us from the ceremony space.
“Not even a little,” I reply, meaning it with every ounce of my being.
What's there to be nervous about? Atlas is, without a doubt, my other half. He's my forever.
Not to mention, we're already official on paper, today is just to celebrate with friends.
Aside from Ellis and Scar, who are both standing with us as we exchange vows, we both invited a handful of other people.
“Mama,” James babbles, reaching for one of the curls framing my face, but Scarlet redirects him in the nick of time.
“Yes, my love?” I coo, brushing my index finger over his cheek.
“Dada!” He wriggles in my arms, trying to get me to set him down.
“It's almost time to walk to Dada.” I press a kiss to his forehead, only for Scarlet to scold me.
“You're gonna ruin your lips.” I shrug, and she throws her hands in the air. “I swear to God, Nora!”
“If my lip gloss getting smeared because I kiss my baby is the worst thing that happens to me today, it's still a pretty good day, Scar.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she snarks. “I know, your glass is always half full.”
“Indeed, it is.” I nod, trying my best not to smile. She's been crabbier than usual since the rehearsal dinner last night, and while I'm not saying it's because Ellis was dancing with a girl from my foundations of learning class, I'm also not not saying it either.
“Whatever. Hand him to me and go fix your face.”
I pass James to her, not missing the way she melts when my toddler snuggles into her. “Ma'am, yes, ma'am,” I say, complete with a mock salute.
“Such a smartass.”
“Learned it from you,” I fire back, swiping my index finger beneath my bottom lip to gather any stray gloss as I check my reflection one last time.
“Okay, my not-so-little jellybean, are you ready to go see Dada?”
“Dada!” He claps his hands together and squeals. You always hear the saying mama's boy , and while he was for the first ten or so months of his life, for the last two months James Wilder Morgan has been all about Atlas. Not that I don't see the appeal—I'm all about the man, too.
Scarlet sets him down, and he immediately tries to take off, but her hand on his shoulder holds him in place.
“Wait for the music,” I murmur. “And then straight to Dada.”
“Dada!” The song starts, and Scarlet lets him go. And go he does—like a rocket, screaming Dada over and over, until finally, he's right in front of Atlas, with his arms straight in the air, waiting for his daddy to pick him up.
“He made it down the aisle before the chorus.” Scarlet is doubled over, cackling.
“All the practice in the world wasn't slowing him down.” I sigh and then laugh myself. He's the cutest kid on the planet, that's for sure.
“Should I go now or wait for the next song?”
“Um.” I'm not sure what the right call is, but luckily, the DJ pivots and cues up Scarlet's song.“Well, there's your answer.”
She reaches over and gives my hand a squeeze. “See you in a few!”
Before I know it, the opening notes of the song Atlas and I selected together fill the venue. I wait a beat, and then with my simple sunflower bouquet clutched to my chest, I step around the curtain and start down the aisle toward my forever.
The sight of Atlas standing at the altar, dressed in his brown and tan wool plaid suit, has me weak in the knees. He looks so handsome, and our son dressed to match on his hip only adds to his appeal.
Honestly, it's unfair how good-looking he is, but I guess I'm okay with it, since he's all mine.
We’ve technically been married—on paper—since before James was born, but there's something about the thought of committing ourselves to one another in front of all the people we love and who love us that just feels different .But in a good way. Like we’re on the precipice of something truly epic.
“Mama!” James babbles as I get closer, pointing and waving and clapping.
“Hi, baby,” I whisper, glancing from him to thethree empty chairs reserved in remembrance of my parents and Atlas’s mother. I'd give anything to have them here with us as we exchange our vows.
I'm not quite sure what I believe happens after death, but it makes me feel better to think they're somewhere together looking down on us, so that's what I'm going with for now.
I shake off the melancholy and close the distance between me and my guys, pausing to press a kiss on James's mysteriously sticky cheek.
Paul—one of Atlas’s co-workers and our officiant—kicks off the ceremony as I take my place across from my husband. “Welcome friends and loved ones. We’re gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Atlas and Nora Morgan, to share in the promise they are making to one another, to offer your love and support toward their union, and to help Atlas and Nora to start this new chapter of their lives surrounded by the people they love most.”
My gaze settles on Atlas, his eyes meeting mine like a magnet to metal, watching him as he watches me. We’re surrounded by everyone we love, and yet, everything falls away and it’s like it’s just the two of us.
I can hear Paul in the background saying something about our love being our strength, but I’m essentially on autopilot as I attempt to catalog every detail of Atlas holding our son as he stares at me like I’m the single most precious thing he’s ever seen.
Day in and day out he shows me just how much he loves me—how much he loves us. And while it’s been a hell of a ride to get here, I can’t help but feel like I ended up exactly where I’m meant to be.
“As I understand it, the couple have prepared their own vows. Atlas?”
I snap back to the present as my groom slides a small index card from his pocket. “Nora, I can say with one-hundred-and-ten percent certainty that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Each and every single day with you is better than the last. Before you, I was drifting, content to spend each day just going through the motions—no offense, Scar.”
My maid of honor and best friend crosses her arms over her chest and scoffs. “Plenty taken.”
“Yeah, well.” Atlas shrugs and resituates James on his hip before continuing. “But with you, Pip, it’s like suddenly everything makes sense. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. The bravest. You’ve walked through hell— twice —and somehow managed to come out the other side still soft, generous, and kind. All of the good in you brings out the best in me.
“And this is going to sound like a line, but I mean it… You’re my reason for living, my entire purpose. You and James…” He trails off and presses a sweet kiss to our son’s temple, who readily turns and snuggles into him.
“The two of you are my whole world, and I promise to always put our family first. I promise to cherish you and to never take you for granted. You’re my heart, Pip, and I love you more than I can put into words. But know that even if I can’t articulate it, I’ll show you just how much you mean to me, every single day, for the rest of our lives.”
“I know you will,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.
“Nora,” Paul prompts as Atlas tucks his notecard back into his pocket before focusing all of his attention on me.
“My life didn’t truly begin until you saved me.” I pause, fully aware he’s going to interject.
“You saved yourself, Pip.” Like freaking clockwork.
Smiling, I shake my head and press on. “Trust me, you did the heavy lifting. You gave me a safe place to land. You helped me heal. You never gave up on me, and I promise, anyone else would have. But not you, never you, Atlas. You’ve set the bar so high, it’s honestly unfair for other men.”
“Tell me more, Pip. Keep going.” He pretends to brush his shoulder off, making everyone laugh while I roll my eyes. This man.
“You’re as patient as the day is long. You’re kind and gentle and protective. You are every good thing, and I’m so beyond thankful to call you mine. To know I’ll get to raise a family with you, to grow old with you by my side, it makes every minute of suffering before you worth it. You’re the light that dispelled the darkness. I love you, Atlas Morgan. I love you—now, tomorrow, and forever.”
“The couple will now exchange rings as a symbol of their undying love and commitment to one another.”
Atlas passes James off to Ellis before plucking a velvet pouch from his pocket. A pouch that I know contains the band he has made for me—the band he’s all but kept under lock and key. Apparently, it’s a surprise.
My heart thumps like a jackrabbit in my chest as I give my bouquet to Scarlet for safekeeping. In turn, she gives me Atlas’s ring, which was tied to her bouquet with twine.
“Please repeat after me as you exchange rings—I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that every day, I choose you to be my lover, my partner, and my best friend, now and forever.”
We repeat after him in tandem and then I slide Atlas’s ring onto his left hand before offering mine for him to do the same. My breath stalls in my chest at the sight of the band—I expected something simple, maybe even understated. But in true Atlas fashion, he went all out.
The band is dainty, with a slight curve, but what makes it really special is instead of diamonds, it alternates our birthstones.
“Atlas,” I whisper in complete awe as he slides the ring onto my finger. It nestles the diamond of my engagement ring perfectly. “I love it.”
“And I love you.” He boops my nose and then takes half a step back.
“Do you, Atlas, take Nora to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Paul asks, and despite us already being married on paper, I find myself waiting with bated breath.
“I do. Today and forever.”
“Do you, Nora, take Atlas to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do. Always.”
“By the authority vested in me, it is with joy that I pronounce you married.Atlas, you may now kiss your bride.”
Atlas closes the distance between us in the blink of an eye, banding his left arm around my waist while lightly cupping my cheek with his right hand.
“Love you, Pip.” He presses his mouth to mine, in the softest of kisses. “So much.”
I try to reply, but the second I part my lips, Atlas takes full advantage and deepens our kiss.
The crowd cheers as he takes us from zero to sixty, dipping me backward as he devours me whole.
“Okay, lovebirds, break it up,” Scarlet says, checking me with her hip.
My cheeks ignite as we break apart, both of our chests heaving.
“Way to kill the mood, Scar,” Atlas grumbles, but the dopey grin on his face belies him.
“Save it for the honeymoon, Romeo.” She rolls her eyes and struts past us, marching right up to Ellis to demand James. “Come see Aunt Scarlet?”
“Noooo. He doesn’t want you.” Ellis twists out of her reach, playing keep away with my son. “Do you, bud?”
“Scar!” James screeches, all but launching himself at her.
She plucks him from Ellis’s arms, props him on her hip, and smirks before turning back toward us. “C’mon, y’all aren’t out of here yet. We have toasts and dancing and cake, and then y’all can head out and”—she covers James’s ears— “Fuck like rabbits.”
“Scarlet!” I hiss her name, glaring. “What if people hear you?”
She snorts. “They all know what y’all are gonna be up to tonight—and tomorrow—and the next day. Y’all are literally that annoying couple that has to be touching in some way at all times.” She pretends to gag. “It’s gross.”
“You sound jealous,” Atlas says, goading her.
“As if.” She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the way she looks at Ellis when she thinks no one’s watching. “We’re gonna head inside. Y’all don’t take too long.”
I loop my arm through Atlas’s as she and Ellis head into the main cabin, where we’re holding the reception. “Let’s not keep everyone waiting.”
“Hold on a second.” Atlas grins down at me, his eyes full of filthy promises that I’m all too eager for him to deliver on, as he steps into my space. “Can’t wait for tonight, Pip,” he whispers in my ear. “Have I told you how amazing you look in this dress? My jaw damn near came unhinged when you walked down the aisle.”
“Thank you.” I glance down at my feet, suddenly feeling shy under his heated stare.
But like always, Atlas doesn’t let me linger in my self-doubt. “Now let me tell you how much better you’re going to look when I strip it off you and fuck you later tonight.” He groans as if he’s in pain. “Can’t wait to make you scream my name, to make you mine.”
I don’t mean to laugh, but a giggle breaks free, nonetheless. “I’m already yours, you caveman.”
He puffs out his chest. “Damn right you are. Forever.”
My lips curl into a private smile, because the rest of our forever officially starts right now.
THE END