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The wedding ceremony is short,romantic, and funny. Jake pumps his fist in the air after Jana says, “I do,” and she gets teary during hisvows.

More of Jana’s illustrations are found in the paper details. The ceremony programs, the instructions for the cocktail hour, and then the seating chart for the reception, too. The cards at our seats are a special surprise. Jana’s drawn cartoon characters for each of us. Poppy’s writing in a notepad, and I’m wearing my ranger uniform.

When Jake stands to give his speech, the whole room goes quiet. “Thank you all for coming,” he says, and even though he made it through the ceremony without getting choked up, now his voice sounds a little thick.

I give him a thumbs up, and he grins.

“A year ago, I embarked on a new business venture. I do that a lot, so normally this story wouldn’t be anything special. But as those of you who have fallen in love know, there are these moments in time. Special, unexpected, magical things that happen. And this particular business venture happened to lead me to Jana’s doorstep. From the first second I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one.” He breathes in an exaggerated inhale. “Sadly, she thought I was some shmuck named MarcusDane.”

My mouth drops open. I didn’t know this part of the story.

And from the look on Jana’s face, she didn’t either.

He shakes his head and laughs at himself. “See, I was working as a SwiftEx driver, and when they asked me whose name I wanted on the uniform, I thought, shit…I can’t use my real name. Just in case. So I gave them the name of one of the best men I know, my friend Marcus, who left the tech world a decade ago to do a real days’ work instead. So I told them to put Dane on the name badge. Man, do you know how awkward thatwas?”

Jana’s laughing now, and she gets up and takes the microphone. “Don’t worry, Marcus, we straightened out the name thing before we got too serious.”

“Phew,” I say, lifting my voice.

“But anyway, that was the moment when my life changed. When I least expected it. When I wasn’t even myself. And I count my blessings every single day that I went to Baltimore and chose that route, because Jana is everything to me.” He takes her hand. “I love you so much, and I’m damn proud to be your husband.”

Everyone raises their glasses in a toast, and Poppy and I exchange a privatelook.

Yes, we know what that kind of a moment islike.

And I count my blessings every day, too.

* * *

* * *

THEEND