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“Ready?” Luca asked quietly as we reached the aisle between the chairs.
“Ready,” I said.
He offered me his arm with the solemnity of someone taking his job very seriously. Together, we walked toward Colby and the minister who would make our choice official. Every step felt like a promise, every breath like a prayer of gratitude for the unlikely path that had brought us here.
When we reached the altar, Luca placed my hand in Colby’s with ceremonial gravity. “Take care of her, Dad,” he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “She’s pretty special.”
Laughter rippled through our guests, but Colby’s response was completely serious. “I promise, buddy. For the rest of my life.”
Luca beamed and took his place in the front row next to my mother, who immediately put her arm around him like he’d always been her grandson.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister began, “we are gathered here today to witness something beautiful. The celebration of a love that has grown from friendship into partnership, from necessity into choice, from arrangement into joy.”
I looked into Colby’s eyes and saw everything I needed to see. Love, yes, but also certainty. Peace. The quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly where he belonged.
“Colby and Gianna have already taken the legal steps to bind their lives together,” the minister continued. “Today is about something deeper, the public declaration of their commitment to each other and to the family they’ve built together.”
When it came time for the vows, Colby spoke first, his voice steady and clear.
“Gianna, four years ago you were the friend who showed up when I needed help. A year ago, you became my wife out of necessity. Today, you become my wife by choice, and that makes all the difference.” He reached up to touch my face gently. “I promise to choose you every day for the rest of our lives. I promise to build a life with you that’s worthy of the love you’ve given me and Luca. I promise to never take for granted the gift of your heart.”
My own vows came from someplace deep and honest. “Colby, you taught me that love doesn’t always look like the movies. Sometimes it looks like showing up every day. Sometimes it looks like choosing someone again and again, especially when it’s hard.” I squeezed his hands. “You gave me a family when I thought I was too broken for one. You gave me a son who calls me Mom and means it. You gave me a love that’s built on friendship and trust and the kind of partnership that lasts. I promise to choose this, choose us, choose our family, every single day.”
When the minister pronounced us husband and wife, Colby kissed me with such tenderness that I forgot we had an audience. When we broke apart, Luca was cheering so loudly that everyone else started laughing and applauding.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the minister announced with a grin, “I present to you the Marshall family, together by choice, united by love, and ready for whatever comes next.”
The reception was simple but perfect. Tables dotted the lawn, string lights twinkled overhead, and food prepared by half the town covered every surface. Luca gave a toast that made everyone cry, talking about how happy he was to have a mom who kept her promises. My mother danced with Colby and whispered something in his ear that made him nod seriously.
But my favorite moment came later, as the sun was setting and most of our guests had gone home. I found Colby sittingon our back steps, jacket discarded, and tie loosened, watching Luca chase fireflies in the gathering dusk.
“Happy?” he asked as I settled beside him.
“Incredibly.” I leaned against his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne mixed with April evening air. “You?”
“I keep thinking about that first night when you agreed to marry me. How desperate I was, how sure I was that I was asking you to give up everything for us.”
“You were asking me to give up everything. My independence, my careful distance, my fear of being left behind.” I turned to look at him. “But what I got in return was so much better.”
“What did you get?”
“Everything I never knew I wanted. A husband who sees me completely. A son who loves me unconditionally. A life that’s messy and real and chosen every single day.”
Colby was quiet for a moment. “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we’d been brave enough to admit our feelings from the beginning?”
I’d thought about that question many times over the past months. “I think we needed time to build the foundation first. Trust and friendship and partnership. This feels too right to have been an accident.”
“You think we were meant to be?”
“I think we were meant to choose each other. And we did, over and over, until it became the most natural thing in the world.”
Luca ran over to us, breathless and grinning, his hands cupped around something that glowed softly in the twilight.
“Look,” he said, opening his palms to reveal a firefly blinking lazily against his skin. “I caught one!”
“Make a wish,” I said automatically.
He closed his eyes tight, concentrating fiercely. After a moment, he opened his hands and we watched the firefly float away into the evening air.