✧･Epilogue #3
My voice breaks.
"You."
Mae closes her eyes for a second, tears slipping down her cheeks.
I squeeze her hand. "I love you, Mae Rivera."
I let the words sit between us.
"I loved you before I knew how to say it. I loved you when I was too afraid to admit it. I loved you when I was running from it."
I smile through my tears.
"And I love you now."
I take one last breath.
"I choose you."
Mae's lips tremble.
"I'll choose you tomorrow. And the day after that. And every day after that."
I look at her, feeling something inside me finally settle.
The officiant smiles between us, giving us a moment before speaking.
"Claire Whitman, do you take Mae Rivera to be your wife?"
I don't hesitate, not even for a second.
I look at Mae, at the tears on her cheeks and the smile she's trying so hard to hold together, and suddenly every year, every mistake, every mile between us feels like it has led to this exact moment.
My fingers tighten around hers.
"I do."
Mae closes her eyes briefly, overwhelmed, and when she opens them again, she's smiling at me through her tears.
The officiant turns toward her.
"And Mae Rivera, do you take Claire Whitman to be your wife?"
Mae looks at me like there was never another answer.
"I do."
The words are simple. Two words I've heard in movies, at weddings, in stories. But hearing them from her feels like the whole world has shifted into place.
The officiant smiles. "By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce-"
The rest of the sentence never quite reaches me.
Mae doesn't even wait.
Her hand slips from mine and comes up to the back of my neck, her fingers curling gently into my hair as she pulls me toward her. I barely have time to laugh, barely have time to realize what's happening before her lips meet mine.
And everything disappears.
My hands find her waist instinctively, holding onto the soft fabric of her dress as she kisses me like she's been waiting her entire life to do it. I smile against her lips, a breathless, disbelieving laugh caught somewhere between us, and then I kiss her back.
It's not careful.
It's not the kind of kiss you'd expect at the end of a perfectly composed ceremony.
It's Mae.
Warm and familiar and a little impatient.
The same woman who spent the last few minutes standing in front of everyone we love and promising me forever is now pulling me closer because apparently she has decided waiting another five seconds is entirely unreasonable.
I feel her smile against my mouth, and that somehow makes me laugh again.
My fingers tighten around her waist.
She pulls back just enough for our foreheads to touch, both of us breathing a little harder, both of us smiling so ridiculously that I can't imagine either of us looking remotely graceful.
Mae's smile grows, and for a second I forget we're standing in front of everyone.
I forget the flowers.
I forget the music.
I forget the people.
There is only her.
Her hand is still resting against the back of my neck, her thumb moving slowly along my skin, and I lean into the touch without thinking. I look at her and wonder how it's possible that this is the same woman I once thought I'd never see again.
The same woman I loved before I understood what love was.
The same woman I lost.
The same woman who found her way back to me.
Only now, she's my wife.
A sudden roar of cheering finally breaks through the little world we've created.
I hear applause.
Laughter.
Someone whistles loudly enough that Mae jumps a little.
Then I hear Lucas somewhere behind me shouting something that sounds suspiciously like, "FINALLY!"
Mae laughs against my forehead.
I smile.
The sound grows louder around us, everyone on their feet now, clapping and cheering and crying. I can hear June laughing through her tears, and somewhere behind us my sister is making enough noise for three people. Helena is laughing too and someone calls our names.
But it all begins to fade.
The applause becomes distant.
The laughter becomes soft.
The room disappears around the edges until all I can see is Mae.
Her eyes.
Her smile.
The little crease that forms beside her mouth when she's trying not to laugh.
The way her hand is still wrapped around the back of my neck.
I hold her a little tighter, and she looks at me like I'm the only person left in the room.
Maybe, for this moment, I am.
I think about the girl I was when I first met her. I think about the woman who left town believing she'd have to learn how to live without her. I think about every year I thought I had missed my chance.
And then I look at the ring on Mae's finger.
At the one on mine.
And I smile.
Because somehow, after everything, we're standing here.
Mae leans in and presses one last, soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
"I love you," she whispers.
I close my eyes for a second, letting the words settle somewhere deep inside me.
"I love you too."
She smiles.
And the cheering keeps going, but I barely hear it anymore. Because Mae is still holding me, and for the first time in my life, I don't want the moment to slow down.
I don't want to go back.
I don't want to change anything.
I just want to stay right here.
With my wife.
Forever.