Epilogue
Haruki - 33 years old
About a year later
E lsham Cove in August is not as nice as blogs and websites make it out to be. There is no way to sugarcoat it. There are lots of tourists and the weather is too hot. Lucky for our group, we have most of the beach to ourselves. Unlucky for everyone who is a part of today’s celebration, it’s four in the morning right now.
I would have settled for a sunset wedding, but Bryce insisted on having one at the crack of dawn. To be sentimental , he insisted. Everyone lapped up the romance and got over the time they’d need to set on their alarms quickly once Bryce told them the reasoning behind it, Kate and Nick being his biggest champions.
Birdie walks in front of me in her short summer dress, holding a bouquet of roses. With my father holding my arm, I give him one last glance, momentarily taking my eyes away from the small crowd in front of us. “I’m sorry that you missed out on the first one, Dad.”
“Your mother would have been proud of you. She would have been so happy for you,” he says with a smile. “I know I am.” Those words . This is it. I’m ready.
As we walk closer to the small altar under the flower-covered arch, I take a look at all of the people here with us today. I smile when I see Bryce’s dad wearing a business casual outfit. It’s not like we didn’t tell him the dress code. But he’s here, and he’s trying. That’s what matters. To be honest, I expected him to show up in a tux. Next to him is Nick in khaki shorts and a white linen shirt. On the other side of the aisle, I see Torben, Kate’s husband, with a sleeping Aurora strapped to his chest. Kenji, Lorenzo, and their families are in the second row. Kate is circling the area with a camera in front of her face. All of them, aside from Bryce’s dad, dress like they’re going to have a fun day at the beach today. And they will. The kids are going to love getting served shaved ice for breakfast.
My steps come to a stop and I take my place next to Bryce, who is wearing board shorts and a beach resort shirt. In front of us is a beaming Lily in Birkenstocks holding a mic.
“We are gathered here today in Elsham Cove to celebrate the marriage celebration of Bryce and Haruki,” Lily kicks off the ceremony.
Bryce and I both look at one another, smiling from ear to ear. The last time we did this, it was just the two of us. Two lost souls, desperate to be tethered to one another. We didn’t know what would come our way. Today, we still don’t know what life will hurl at us. But we do know that we’ll be facing them all together. With each other. With all the people that are here with us.
Lily continues with her beautiful speech before telling us to hold our hands together. “Bryce and Haruki will now share their wedding vows with us and exchange the rings.”
Bryce’s grip gets more intense, and so does his gaze. “Some people meet the love of their lives later in life, but I met mine when I was eighteen. I met her on this beach, exactly in this spot. Some people would say that had we met when we were older, our journey would have been different. Relationships are hard, and so is life—it doesn’t matter how old you are. Haruki, I promise you, I will always put you first. I will always try my best. I will always believe you and I will always believe in you. Love is a choice. I chose you then, and I choose you now. I vow to always choose you for the rest of my life, Haruki.”
Bryce lets go of my hand and picks up a velvet box from the table separating us and Lily. He slides the golden band that he gave to me all those years ago on my ring finger with such gentleness, I struggle to breathe.
I try to blink the tears away, but it’s not working. Deciding to just let them flow freely, I start my vow after taking a deep breath. “Bryce, all my life I have struggled to fit in. I didn’t know where my place was in the world. When fate brought us together fifteen years ago, I was at the lowest point in my life.” I look at my father, feeling unsure of what I’m about to say. My father mouths it’s okay with a smile, and I continue. “You became my rock. You became the center of my world. You became everything to me. During our time apart, even after I was lucky enough to find my way back to my family and meet the wonderful people that I now have the honor to call my friends, something was always missing. It was you. You are my home, Bryce. You are the anchor that keeps me grounded. You are the person that I come back to after long trips, and you are the one that keeps me safe. It doesn’t matter whether I’m eighteen, twenty, or thirty-three, when I fall into your arms, I feel complete.”
I’m barely done with putting on his ring when I feel him grabbing the nape of my neck and kissing me.
“By the power vested in me by One Life Online Church, I now pronounce you husband and wife!” Lily squeals, and I hear our small number of guests roaring and clapping along with her.
“I can’t wait to get back home,” Bryce whispers to me.
By home he means the house we just bought in Aabenraa, a beach town between Copenhagen and Berlin. With both of our jobs, we have the luxury of picking where we want to live. It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows us that we ended up picking out the Danish equivalent of Elsham Cove.
I don’t need to travel much because I mostly work from the nearby T?nder now, a municipality in Denmark, famous as a wedding destination due to its easy requirements and quick processing for international couples. My gigs there bring in a lot of money for Kate. And me too, the moment I purchase the shares next month and officially become her business partner.
As for Bryce? He goes to Berlin once a month to attend in-person meetings. During those trips, he always stays over at Lily’s apartment so that he can spend some time with Birdie. According to him, he sees enough of Nick both at work and at Lily’s, and he reaches a Nick-induced coma by the time he’s back home.
I turn my gaze to our friends and family. Looking at them all, and also at us, I can’t help but smile to myself. From an outsider’s perspective, we seem like a group of lunatics. Who gets married at four in the morning? Why is everyone wearing casual outfits except for that one guy who is in slacks and a short dress shirt? Why is there a shaved ice machine in the corner? With all the different ethnicities, we look more like a crew from a party hostel. But this is us. This melting pot is the exact definition of Bryce and I. We’re a little crazy, a little random, a little awkward, but filled with so much life and with so much love. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
THE END.