Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Wave to the camera, future Mrs. Lanigan,” she tells Brogan.
Brogan waves to the camera. Her eyes are glassy like mine, but her smile is radiant. “Hey, husband.” She grins at the camera. “I can’t believe you’re going to be mine. This is the best day of my life.”
“Aww,” the woman running the camera says.
The video cuts off and turns back on to recording me standing at the altar. I shift from one foot to the next, but I freeze, and my eyes lock on what I assume is Brogan. They’re not showing her on the video, but it has to be my wife who’s captured my attention. Eventually, she comes into the frame, and I take her hands in mine.
The video cuts off again. This time it’s a new angle, and it points to the doors in the back of the chapel. When they open and Brogan walks through them, she’s glowing. She looks happy, and I can tell the moment we lock eyes. Her smile changes. It’s a little softer, but the look in her eyes says she’s exactly where she wants to be.
She wanted to marry me.
The camera remains on us as the officiant reads us our vows. When it’s time for the rings, I pull them out of my pocket, handing one to Brogan, before repeating after the officiant and sliding the ring on her finger. I watch closely for any sign that either one of us don’t want this. My hands are steady, and so are hers.
That process is repeated, where she slides my ring onto my finger, and then the famous words pronouncing us husband and wife are declared, and I get to kiss my bride. I watch as my lips move, but I can’t make out what I’m saying. Whatever it is, it makes my wife smile.
My eyes are riveted to the screen as I watch myself slide my hand behind her neck and guide her lips to mine. Brogan rises on her toes as I wrap my other arm around her waist and pull her close.
Even on our wedding day, I couldn’t get her close enough.
When we come up for air, we’re both smiling. I lace her fingers through mine, and we turn to face the videographer. We raise our entwined hands and smile for the camera as we walk down the hall and out of the chapel doors.
The video ends with the logo of the chapel, just as it began. Brogan and I are both quiet, just staring at the screen, and the logo of The Little White Wedding Chapel, the place that changed our lives.
“We looked happy,” Brogan says. Her voice is small, but she’s cuddled up next to me, so I hear her just fine.
“We did look happy.”
She moves to sit up but stays close. Her eyes find mine. “What about now?”
“Am I happy now?” I ask her, and she nods. “I’m not good with words,” I tell her, and she scoffs.
“Trust me, you’re better than you think you are.”
I grab her hand in mine, because I need to be touching her. “I’ve never felt this kind of happiness. I’ve never been excited to go to bed because I know I get to hold you. I’m just as excited to wake up with you in my arms. I get your first smiles of the day. I don’t remember that.” I point toward the screen. “However, I do know that when I woke up in Vegas next to you, wearing this ring, I knew. I knew you were meant to be mine. I felt it in my gut. The entire flight home, all I could think about was how I could convince you to give this a shot. You took a chance on me, and I’m pretty sure I was already halfway in love with you from that alone.”
Her smile is soft as she replies, “This kind of happy is new to me too. My entire life, I’ve felt something missing. I know it was my mom and then my dad. The girls were born at the same time we lost him, and I didn’t have time to worry about the missing pieces.”
“You didn’t have time to find your happy. You were too busy being strong for everyone else.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, as she moves to climb onto my lap. Once she’s straddling me, my hands rest on her thighs as she places a palm on either side of my face. “I wasn’t looking for my happy, Maddox. I didn’t think I deserved it, and to be honest, there’s still a large part of me that still thinks that way. However, today, you didn’t even flinch at the appointment with Susan. I was so sure that you were going to walk away from me. That my drama would be too much, but you didn’t. Instead, you told me you loved me.”