MASON AND SAGE

Epilogue ~ Mason

Some years later...

After I proposed to Sage, she launched into wedding preparations right away. Although she had loved her old dress, she wanted something different, something that didn't remind her of the wedding that wasn't -- and why -- so we donated her old dress and she went shopping. Somehow, in just four months, Sage had organized the wedding she wanted, with me helping when I was asked to -- learning pretty quickly that unless my input was specifically requested, I should leave the wedding to the experts and just show up when I was told to. I refuse to use the term Bridezilla because I would never say that about my sweet Sage, but...I will say I was ecstatic when my beautiful bride walked down the aisle to me, looking so beautiful I swear she made my heart stop...and maybe just a little because wedding planning was over and done. 

All of the lead up to this day had been worth it just to see her smiling at me and feeling my answering smile practically split my face in two. The surprise during the ceremony -- that even I didn't know about -- was Sage having Cashew as the ring bearer. She'd asked one of our friends not in the wedding party to walk him up the aisle, and he looked so damn cute wearing a little black bow tie around his neck and the fake rings on a white ribbon around his neck. For the rest of the ceremony, our boy lay beside my feet, as good as you please.

I'd felt a sense of rightness when my bride walked down the aisle to me. Something finally happening that should have happened much earlier and would have had I not made that almost-fatal mistake with my ex. I do know that I learned a lesson that would stay with me for a lifetime about being careful to guard that which is precious in your life. Every moment of the rest of my life I would nurture my love for Sage, constantly vigilant to keep our connection safe and protected.

Hi! I'm sure you've been dying to hear about our wedding and all I can say is IT WAS SPECTACULAR!!! The whole day from beginning to end was exactly what we wanted! It was beautiful and intimate with only fifty of our closest friends in a gorgeous little church nestled at the foot of a mountain. Our breathtaking ceremony was followed by a lovely reception for more of our friends at a nearby mountain resort. Talk about amazing views! We hope you enjoy seeing the enclosed pictures. I especially love the one taken right before Mason kissed me to seal our vows. You can almost feel the deep, deep love between us.

Everybody said they'd never seen Mason look so happy or so in love. The look in his eyes as he spoke his vows to me was intense, so full of love that just about everyone started crying, including Mason. Afterwards he said he wasn't ashamed to cry in front of everyone because he'd never before in his life met a woman worth crying for...until me. As you can imagine, the sweetness of his words made me cry.

I'd write more, but we're about to leave on our honeymoon! I'll be sure to send you some pictures of our two-week island love-fest. Wink-wink! Tahiti is a beautiful location, but somehow I doubt Mason is going to let me out of bed for any sightseeing. ;-)

Sage had wanted to write the letter to Eva about our wedding, and she'd whipped that note out in less than ten minutes.

"Every word is true, and I hope she chokes on each one," my wife said with only a touch of spite shading her voice. Eva hadn't reacted well to it, and -- you guessed it -- time added to her sentence for bad behavior. I'd watched Sage when I told her that her letter had made Eva melt down, and she smiled a vicious little smile.

Just about every day, I would find myself watching Sage from across a room and marveling that she ever came back to me. That she could find it in herself to trust me again. That I had been given such an incredible gift, such an amazing woman. Safeguarding us was mission one.

I'd started a business as a security consultant, and as my business grew, I took on the administrative side so I wasn't traveling for work. I could work from home a couple of days a week, and once Sage and I started having children, we didn't have to find child care since Sage began working part time and was home three days a week and I was home the other two.