Noah
I stand at the altar, anxiously adjusting the bowtie, my heart a little unsteady but so full of love and appreciation that we made it.
“Chill, man, she’s coming,” Harry says reassuringly. I know he’s right, but holy shit, I’m nervous. But not in a fearful way, no, I just can’t wait for her to walk down the aisle and become my wife.
My wife.
Two words I could have only dreamed of saying a few years ago. Making Tori my wife and giving her the same last name as our daughter and me will be the final piece to our puzzle.
On my final deployment, when I thought my world was ending, she was the one I wanted to be next to, and today that dream becomes a reality.
We decided on a low-key wedding outside, with a view of the lake that my sister and Jack now live, with only our closest friends and family members.
The ones who have been through it all with us.
The ones who have witnessed every version of us.
Our journey to forever wasn’t easy, but one I’d repeat to be able to make her my wife.
As the music starts and my sister walks down the aisle holding my daughter, who is dressed in a little white dress, followed by Ali and Gabby, my heart begins to hammer wildly.
I turn back to face the altar, but Jack leans in and whispers, “Trust me, you are going to want to turn around for this bit.”
I take a deep breath and slowly turn as the music changes and people rise to their feet. I blink a few times and pinch my side just to check I am not dreaming because the vision of Tori walking toward me in a white satin gown, on her father’s arm, doesn’t seem real.
She steals my breath away, and I’m not sure I want it back if having it back means this moment disappears. She locks her eyes with mine, and I have to have a mental word with myself to keep it together. How did we get here? How did I end up being the luckiest son of a bitch and get the girl?
I hug her dad, and he gives me her hand, and I have to fight the urge to kiss her.
“You look incredible,” I whisper.
She smiles so wide it reaches her eyes and makes them sparkle. I get so lost in them, I don’t even hear the officiant welcoming our guests and announcing that we prepared our own vows.
“Noah, your vows?” the officiant says, and I wince.
“Sorry.” Our friends and family laugh.
I didn’t write my vows down. I’ve known what I’ve wanted to say since the moment I asked her to be my wife. I take her hands in mine, the large yellow diamond of her engagement ring sparkling under the light, and I inhale, then say the words I feel like I’ve waited a lifetime to say.
“Victoria May Walker, I have waited a lifetime to love you loudly. I think I’ve loved you before I even met you because no one gets me like you do.
Even when it felt like the idea of us was impossible, and we tried to fight it, we somehow found a way back to each other.
I promise to always be there for you and our daughter, through whatever life may throw our way.
I am a better man for being loved by you.
You tamed something inside of me and gave me a place to call home.
If there were two people who could get through everything that was meant to break them, it’s us.
Your strength is something to be admired, your resilience inspiring, and most days, I still can’t believe that you chose me.
You are my soul mate, my best friend, the love of my life, and I can’t wait to spend forever with you. ”
I lean in slightly, ready to kiss her, and stop midway closing my eyes when I realize it’s still not time. “Fuck.” I hiss only loud enough for Tori to hear. She throws her head back, never letting go of my hands, and lets out the lightest of laughs that then sets our family and friends off.
“Noah Jones, I’m not sure there are words meaningful enough to express to you the depths of my love for you and my gratitude for everything you’ve done for me, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to show you.
They say to be loved is to be known, and you Noah, prove that every day by the way you love me, desire me, and the way you know exactly what I need before I know myself.
You saved me, loved me when I wasn’t the best version of myself.
You gave me space to heal when I needed it most, and that is a true testament of your character and the type of man you are.
Our daughter and I are the luckiest girls in the world because we get to call you ours.
“I know now that everything we have been through led us to this moment, and I would do it all again if it meant I got forever with you, because you, Noah Jones, are the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend. My home.”
I don’t listen to what the officiant says; the only line I seek out is I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss your bride.
The word bride has barely left his lips before I cup her face and press my mouth to hers as our friends and families cheer and clap, but all of it fades into the distance because in this very moment, all I see, all I hear, all I can feel, is her. My love, my wife, my home, my forever.