Chapter 105 Laney
Laney
The day is nothing like I imagined.
It’s better.
There’s no grand cathedral. No towering guest list. No spectacle.
Just a small white chapel near the trees, sunlight pouring through open windows, and the people who carried us here filling the pews.
The Magnolia ladies are crying before anything even starts.
Saint is at the front, holding Emmy in his arms because she absolutely refused to stay with anyone else.
He looks… terrified.
And so in love it almost hurts to see.
When the music starts, I walk down the aisle and everything else fades.
He doesn’t look away.
Not once.
When I reach him, he shifts Emmy to Wolf, who looks mildly panicked but manages.
Saint takes my hands.
They’re warm.
Steady.
The pastor smiles at us.
“We’re here for something simple,” he says. “Two people choosing to build a life.”
Saint swallows.
I squeeze his hands.
We write our own vows.
Saint goes first.
He takes a breath like he’s about to walk into something dangerous.
“I don’t promise you a quiet life,” he says. “But I promise you an honest one.”
I feel my eyes burn.
“I promise to come home,” he continues. “I promise to stand between you and anything that thinks it can take you from me.”
A few Rangers shift.
He looks at me.
“And I promise to learn how to live, not just survive. With you.”
I’m crying openly now.
When it’s my turn, my voice shakes.
“I promise to remind you that you’re more than your armor,” I say. “I promise to hold you when the war comes home anyway.”
He blinks hard.
“I promise to choose you. Every day. Even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.”
When he slides the ring onto my finger, his hands are shaking.
So are mine.
When he kisses me, the chapel fills with laughter and applause and at least one very enthusiastic whoop from Havoc.
Emmy decides this is also her moment and announces it loudly.
Saint laughs into my mouth.
Later, there’s cake. Fun dancing. Too many photos.
Saint never lets go of my hand.
Not once.
That night, when the house is quiet again and it’s just us and our daughter and our new name…
I fall asleep knowing:
We didn’t just survive this story.
We won it.