Chapter 10 - The Vows (A New Beginning)
A year later, the silver Audi was parked outside a stunning vineyard in Napa Valley.
I stood in front of a mirror in the bridal suite, adjusting the lace on my white dress. There were no toxic relatives outside waiting to ruin my day. There was no anxiety knotting my stomach.
There was just peace.
When the music started, I didn't have a father to walk me down the aisle, and I certainly didn't have a mother. But I didn't need them.
I walked myself down the aisle, my head held high, stepping toward the man who had driven out of the darkness to save me when I was completely broken.
Marcus was waiting at the altar, looking impossibly handsome in a black tuxedo. Next to him was our son, Leo, now a toddler in a matching tiny tux, happily babbling at the flowers.
As I reached them, Marcus took both of my hands in his. His eyes were shining with that same fierce, protective love I had seen the night Leo was born.
“You are my family,” he whispered as we prepared to say our vows.
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“We built this,” I whispered back.
We had survived the fire, and from the ashes of a broken family, we had built a fortress. And as we kissed, sealing our forever, I knew one thing for absolute certain: the past could never hurt us again. We were finally home.
