A Forever Kind of Love by Nora Roberts
Epilogue
“Dad? How much longer?”
“Just a few minutes. Here, let me fix this thing.” He hauled Jack up on a chair and straightened his fancy black tie. Fiddled with the red rosebud on his lapel. “My hands are sweaty,” Brody said with a little laugh.
“Do you got cold feet? Grandpa said how sometimes guys get cold feet on their wedding day.”
“No, I don’t have cold feet. I love Kate. I want to marry her.”
“Me, too. You get to be the groom, and I get to be the best man.”
“That’s it.” He stepped back, surveyed his son. A six-year-old in a tux, he thought. “You sure look slick, Jacks.”
“We look handsome. Grandma said so. And she cried. Girls cry at weddings, that’s what Max said. How come?”
“I don’t know. Afterward, we’ll find a girl and you can ask her.”
He turned Jack so they could look in the mirror together. “It’s a big day. Today, the three of us become a family.”
“I get a mom and more grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and everything. After you kiss the bride, we get to go have a party and lots of cake. Nana said so.” Kate’s mother had said he could call her Nana. Jack liked saying it.
“That’s right.”
“Then you go on your honeymoon so you can do lots more kissing.”
“That’s the plan. We’re going to call, Jack, and send you postcards,” he added, trying not to fret about going away without his boy.
“Uh-huh, and when you come back, we’ll all live together. Rod said you and Kate are going to make a baby on your honeymoon. Are you?”
Oh, boy. “Kate and I will have to talk about that.”
“I can call her Mom now, can’t I?”
Brody shifted his gaze back to Jack’s in the mirror. “Yeah. She loves you, Jack.”
“I know.” Jack rolled his eyes. “That’s why she’s marrying us.”
Brandon opened the door to see the groom and his best man grinning at each other. “You guys ready?”
“Yeah! Come on, Dad. Come on. Let’s get married.”
Kate stepped out of the bride’s room, held out a hand to her father.
“You’re so beautiful.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “My baby.”
“Don’t make me cry again. I’ve just put myself back together from Mom.” She brushed fussily at his lapel. “I’m so happy, Daddy. But I am not going to walk down the aisle with wet cheeks and red eyes.”
“Frogs in your stomach?”
“I think they’re doing the polka. I love you.”
“I love you, Katie.”
“Okay. We’re okay.” She heard the music, nodded. “That’s our cue.”
She waited, her arm tucked in her father’s while her sister and her cousins who were her attendants walked down the aisle. While her little niece sprinkled rose petals on the long white runner.
Then she stepped into the doorway, in the billowing white dress and sparkling veil. All the nerves faded into sheer joy.
“Look at them, Daddy. Aren’t they wonderful?”
She walked to them, feeling the music. And when her father put her hand in Brody’s, it was steady and sure.
“Kate.” As her father had, Brody lifted her hand to his lips. “I’ll make her happy,” he said to Spence, then looked into Kate’s eyes. “You make me happy.”
“You look pretty.” Forgetting himself Jack bounced in his new shoes. His voice carried through the church. “You look really pretty. Mom.”
Her heart, already full, overflowed. She bent to him, kissed his cheek. “I love you, Jack. You’re mine now,” she told him, then straightened, met Brody’s eyes. “And so are you.”
She passed her bouquet to her sister, took Jack’s hand in her free one.
And married them both.