I grin at her. “You’re very welcome but I can’t take the credit, Stacey was the brains behind it all. I was more the support and told everyone what to expect. I’m just happy Valerie said yes, it would have totally sucked if she didn’t.”
Paige’s eyes widen and she turns to Valerie. “You wouldn’t have said no would you?”
I start to laugh, getting the reaction I wanted and Paige thumps me on the arm.
“Ouch, in front of Logan too, I was joking, you had nothing to worry about, it was always certain she would say yes. For some reason, she loves you very much. I will leave you two to get reacquainted and spend time together. Enjoy it all and get to know this little cutie right here. I will be in touch soon and I expect all three of you to be at my wedding, no excuses.”
They quickly agree and we all share a hug. I leave them in a huddle kissing, smiling and sharing tears of joy. I go in search of Emily and quickly spot her smiling at me. I sweep her into my arms and kiss her sweetly. As I put her down, she is grinning at me. “How awesome was this. Stacey really outdid herself this time.”
“Yes, she did, but let’s keep that quiet or she will be insufferable.”
Emily chuckles then bites her lip and I see something in her eyes making mine widen. “What? What did you do?”
She kisses me hard distracting me, then pulls away and blurts out. “I told her she could plan our wedding.”
She runs off to Stacey before I have a chance to digest the words. I watch as Stacey throws her arm around Emily as she speaks to her. Stacey laughs so loud and looks at me. “I’m your wedding planner Charlie, move your butt, we have a lot of work to do.”
I bow my head shaking it in resignation and start to laugh. I take a minute to count my blessings. No matter what has happened before, to be here in this moment, with my beautiful fiancée, is all because of a chance encounter. I look forward to the day I can officially call her mine.
Epilogue
The last few months I have gone through so many emotions of wanting to kill Stacey to wanting to hug and kiss her. She is looking after every aspect of the wedding and if I say no to something, she goes to Emily to get approval. Thankfully, Emily is on the same page as me and we are able to reign her in a bit. I keep her away from choosing my outfit for the wedding and get my mom to help instead. We have a wonderful time and it is a special time for the two of us. She keeps me from throttling Stacey and keeps reminding me that she is my best friend who only wants the best for me.
We are going to get married at Emily’s home but her parents want to come to my mother’s to celebrate the day and that the spirit of my dad will be closer to me. That makes me cry and Gwen hugs me tight telling me that we got engaged in their backyard, it is only fair the next special moment should be here.
So here I stand in my old bedroom of my mother’s house, trying to squash the nervousness as my mom opens the door. I turn to face her, she gasps and smiles. “Charlie, you look beautiful.”
I turn to look in the mirror and smooth the ivory suit. “Are you sure I look okay?”
She comes and stands beside me. “I’m more than sure. You look so good, honey.”
“Mom, do you know where I’m getting married?”
She laughs at me and I frown as I am kept out of the loop from this major part of the day.
“I do know and believe me, you will love it and that girl has done a great job, it looks amazing.”
I huff. “Does Emily know?”
She hugs me. “Yes, she does and she thinks it is the perfect place.”
“You realise that’s very unfair?”
“You just have to suck it up. You are a soldier, stop pouting.”
She laughs at me again as she sees my pout get bigger. She pulls at my bottom lip. “Put it away or you will ruin your photographs.”
She moves to pick up my flowers and stops before she hands them to me. I see tears form in her eyes.
“Mom, please don’t cry.”
“Don’t mind me, I’m being silly. You have grown into such a wonderful woman. I am so proud of you and I know your father would be very proud of you too.”
I hug her to me and we share a few tears before she moves out of my arms. She wipes the tears from my eyes and puffs out a breath. “Are you ready to go?”
I take a deep breath and grin. “Yes, I’m so ready to take Emily as my wife. Let’s get me married wherever that will be.”
As we go outside, there is a white horse and carriage awaiting me. My mom grins at me. “Your carriage awaits Charlie, this is the start of your future.”
“You will be walking me up the aisle, right?”
My mom looks surprised but nods. “Of course, I will, every step of the way.”
We make our way to the ceremony and I realise where we are going as we get closer. My mom sees the realisation and squeezes my hand. “Breathe Charlie, don’t you dare cry now, because if you do I will start and we will look like a mess when we arrive at the lake.”
I smile and squeeze her hand back. I can see that Stacey has worked her magic and set up one of the most beautiful settings I have ever seen. Stacey is already at the top of the aisle waiting for me and I see her mouth drop as she sees me. She gives me a thumbs up and starts fanning her face. I chuckle as my mom takes my hand and we walk up the aisle together. I spot Rowan, Sean, and a few others from my unit in uniform sitting with Paige, Valerie, and Logan.
I smile at them and they smile back at me. Valerie waves Logan’s hand at me and I give him a wave back. I take my place at the top and wait for Emily to arrive. Stacey inches towards me. “You look amazing, is this okay?”
I look at Stacey and hug her tight to me. “You drive me nuts, but I love you and this is unreal, it’s truly magical Stace, thank you.”
I can almost see Stacey grow higher in height with the praise and the smile I receive, just makes my day brighter. The music starts playing signifying Emily’s arrival.
I feel the butterflies start and wait for her to come into sight. When she does, my mouth gapes open. She looks stunning in a simple but elegant ivory dress. Stacey nudges me. “Charlie, close your mouth, good lord you look as if you are going to jump her.”
I blush and close my mouth. Emily and Adam walk towards me and he passes Emily’s hand to mine. “You look after her.”
I smile at him and nod. “I will Adam, I promise.”
The ceremony starts and I cannot take my eyes off Emily. She is completely mesmerising and only the shake of my hand takes me out of my trance. Emily grins at me and I blush because I know she has caught me ogling her.
I look at the registrar and she laughs. “Your vows Charlie, you have to say your vows now.”
“Oh yes, my vows…sorry.”
“It’s quite all right, she is looking beautiful.”
I blush harder and Emily squeezes my hand. I clear my throat and look into her eyes.
“Emily, these vows I make to you today are not only promises, but I see them as privileges. Every day I have been with you, I have grown as a person. You have given me strength when I was weak and never judged. You accepted me for who I am, flaws and all. I get to laugh with you and hold you when you cry. You are not only my lover but you are my best friend and it is truly amazing that I get to marry you. You are my one true love and you make me happier than I could have ever imagined. You have made me feel so loved and so wanted and I look forward to growing old with you and building our life together. I love you so very much, so with this ring, I give you my heart and my everlasting love.”
I place the ring on Emily’s finger and see her lip tremble a little. I squeeze her hands. She looks down at our hands and then meets my eyes smiling.
“You have always been ‘My Charlie’ because you are my everything. You are my sun, moon, and stars. You have shown me more love than I could ever have thought possible. You have always been my rock, the one I can lean on in times of weakness, but you have allowed me to shelter you from your own storms. I will alwa
ys have my hand in yours and we will face every challenge together. I feel so blessed and I couldn’t imagine growing old with anyone else. I love you with every fibre of my being and with this ring I give you everything that I am and all that I am yet to become. I love you so much.”
The registrar smiles at the two of us. “Those vows were beautiful and now it is my honour to pronounce you partners in life, wife and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
We didn’t need to be told twice. We kiss each other tenderly to cheers and clapping. I take Emily’s hand, just as we are about to walk down the aisle, Paige and the others from my unit stand to give us a guard of honour. As we get through the guard of honour, we get into the horse and carriage and are taken to our reception for an evening of food, drinks, and dancing. It has been a magical day and as I dance with my wife for the first time, I hold her close to me and whisper in her ear.
“I love you Mrs Emily Davis - Cooper.”
She grins at me. “I love you Mrs Charlie Davis – Cooper.”
“This moment right here, right now, being your wife is perfect, from a chance encounter to this, this is home.”
A Chance Encounter Page 24
