“Gabriel? What’s going on?” Savannah asked as she peered around the yard. It wasn’t in her head. Everyone was staring.
A flicker of motion in front of her brought Savannah’s eyes back to Gabriel. He knelt on one knee. Gabriel took his hand in hers and Savannah’s heart began to pound faster than it ever had.
“I’ve thought about this for a long time. You know, if we’re buying a house together, we might as well get married, kitten.” Gabriel grinned and laughed. He held out a small black ring box and when he opened it, Savannah saw a simple silver band with a tiny inlaid diamond. “If you think you can put up with me for the next hundred years… If you want me to be part of your life until death, as I’ve been there since your birth, well, I’d love to finish out this life as your husband.”
Savannah couldn’t stop tears from leaking from her eyes. “Oh…,” was all she managed.
“Savannah Imogen Meridian, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” Gabriel grinned.
“Ew, Gabe, did you have to use my middle name?” Savannah teased. Gabriel only shook his head, still grinning. “Yes, Gabriel Alejandro Miguel Cano-Hernandez. I would love to be your wife.”
As Gabriel stood to take Savannah in his arms, Jay’s voice called from the front porch. “Damn, now that is a mouthful of a name. I’m never going to remember my niece's and nephew's full names.”
Laughter rang up from everyone gathered. Everything was perfect as Savannah kissed Gabriel in front of his family and hers.
At long last, Savannah knew she was getting her happy ever after. This was what she’d spent her entire life wanting. Now that she had it, Savannah knew a lifetime of yearning had been worthwhile.
Epilogue
One Year Later…
Gabriel was nervous as he stood at the front of the congregation. His mother’s priest was officiating the ceremony, a man he’d known since he was a little boy. Everyone gathered on his own property. His and Savannah’s backyard had been transformed into a white and green oasis. Close to a hundred people sat in the foldable seats aligned to make an aisle.
The music started, and the first person to walk down the aisle was Gabriel’s youngest niece. She threw flower petals as Rio, a giant of a three-year-old now, walked a few steps behind her. Jay and Paula followed a few steps behind him, with Gabriel’s two sisters and their husbands following. Finally, it was the moment Gabriel had been waiting for.
At the end of the aisle stood Savannah in a knee-length white dress trimmed in green at the waist and hem. Gabriel’s father was giving her away today since Savannah’s father no longer spoke to her.
Savannah had studied Spanish for two hours a day, every day, for six long months, so she could ask his dad herself. Gabriel’s father had teared up when he heard his future daughter-in-law ask him, in Spanish, if he’d walk her down the aisle.
The two of them walked towards him, and Gabriel studied the woman who would be his wife in a few short minutes. Her beautiful, unruly strawberry blonde locks were held back from her face and directed to fall over one shoulder. A short veil covered the smiling face, but Gabriel could see Savannah’s green eyes even from here. They sparkled with unbridled excitement.
Finally, his father, in a black tuxedo with his gray hair slicked back from his face, and Savannah reached the front of the aisle. The priest asked who gave Savannah away. Gabriel’s father answered. Gabriel took Savannah’s delicate hand in his own and led her the rest of the way to the front.
“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two people in holy matrimony,” the priest began. He repeated it in Spanish, as Gabriel and Savannah had requested. After a short prayer, the part Gabriel had been so anxious for started.
“Gabriel Alejandro Miguel Cano-Hernandez, quieres juntar su vida con Savannah Imogen Meridian como marido? Deseas vivir juntos como casados, ser fiel, amarla, honrarlo, consolarlo, y cuidarlo en cualquier temporada de sus vidas juntas? Si estás de acuerdo, diga: Si!”
“Si, hago.”
“And Savannah, do you wish to join your life with Gabriel as husband and wife? Do you wish to live together in marriage, to be faithful to him, to love, honor, comfort, and care for him in all the seasons of your life together? If so, say I do.”
“I do.” Savannah’s face glowed as radiant as the sun, and at that moment, Gabriel felt he’d never seen anything as beautiful.
The vows continued. At long last, the priest said, “By the power invested in me by the holy father and the state of Florida, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Gabriel flipped over Savannah’s veil. She smiled at him, and when he kissed her lips, it was like the first time. Although he wanted to kiss her more thoroughly than he ever had, Gabriel kept it short and sweet in front of the priest and their guests.
As they ran down the aisle to start their life together as husband and wife, Gabriel could think of no person in the world he’d rather share the rest of his life with. This was his happy ever after, at long last.