Chapter 10 - THE WEDDING LAUREN HAD ALREADY BLESSED
Annie refused a society wedding.
“No ballroom.”
“Fine.”
“No five-hundred-person guest list.”
“Fine.”
“No magazine photographers.”
“Fine.”
“No swans.”
I frowned.
“I wasn’t planning swans.”
“You’re a billionaire. I’m establishing boundaries early.”
We married in the backyard.
Lauren’s parents attended.
That mattered more than I could explain.
Her mother, Susan, asked to speak privately with Annie before the ceremony.
Annie looked terrified.
Twenty minutes later they emerged crying and holding hands.
“What happened?” I asked later.
Annie smiled.
“She thanked me.”
“For what?”
“Loving the boys.”
At the ceremony Jordan and Justin carried the rings.
Poorly.
Justin dropped mine in the grass.
Thirty people searched for it.
Jordan finally found it inside Justin’s shoe.
Nobody understood how.
Annie laughed through the entire disaster.
I realized I had never loved her more.
During my vows, I looked at the twins.
Then Annie.
“I once believed being strong meant handling everything alone.”
I swallowed.
“I was wrong.”
I looked toward Lauren’s parents.
“Love survived in this family because people refused to let grief become a locked door.”
Annie cried.
“You opened that door.”
I took her hands.
“And then you stayed.”
Her vows were simpler.
“I cannot replace what you lost.”
She looked at the boys.
“And I never want to.”
Then at me.
“I only promise to love what remains and help build what comes next.”
We married beneath an oak tree.
No headlines.
No corporate executives except close friends.
No performance.
Just family.
Afterward, my mother approached Annie.
Their relationship remained difficult.
Evelyn had changed, but change did not erase consequences.
She held out a small box.
Inside was Lauren’s favorite pearl bracelet.
Annie immediately shook her head.
“I can’t.”
Mother’s eyes filled.
“Lauren once told me she wanted Jordan’s wife to wear this someday.”
Annie smiled.
“Then save it for him.”
Mother laughed.
For the first time, they understood each other.
Rebecca eventually accepted a plea agreement involving financial crimes.
She avoided prison on the most serious charges because of her cooperation, but lost her board seat and most of her fortune.
She wrote me letters.
Eventually, I answered.
Slowly.
Boundaries.
Not revenge.
Life became quieter.
Annie finished her degree.
She started a foundation supporting children who had lost parents to sudden death.
She refused to let me simply fund it.
“I’m raising money properly.”
“I have money.”
“I know.”
“You’re intentionally making this difficult.”
“Yes.”
I donated anonymously.
She discovered it.
I slept on the couch.
Marriage.
One evening, nearly a year after our wedding, Annie entered the kitchen holding something behind her back.
“What?”
“Sit.”
That sentence terrified me now.
I sat.
She placed a pregnancy test on the table.
Positive.
I stared.
Then looked at her.
“Is this—”
“Yes.”
I stood.
She started crying.
I did too.
The twins entered.
“Why’s everybody crying?” Jordan asked.
Annie crouched.
“You’re going to be big brothers.”
Justin’s eyes widened.
“To a baby?”
“No, Justin, to a forty-year-old accountant.”
Annie slapped my arm.
Jordan screamed with excitement.
Justin looked suspicious.
“Does baby get my room?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
He hugged Annie.
That night, after the twins slept, I lay beside her.
My hand rested on her stomach.
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
“What if something happens?”
Annie touched my face.
“Something always can.”
I hated that answer.
She smiled.
“That’s why we don’t waste the safe days being afraid of the dangerous ones.”
I kissed her.
Months later, our daughter Grace was born.
Healthy.
Loud.
Perfect.
Jordan cried when he held her.
Justin asked when she could play soccer.
Annie looked exhausted and beautiful.
I stood beside the hospital bed holding my daughter.
For one moment, grief and happiness existed together.
Lauren should have seen this.
That thought no longer destroyed the moment.
I imagined she would have laughed at me.
May you like
Then told me to cover Grace’s feet.
So I did.
