Water under the bridge

Part 20: The end

Part 20: The end

I'm completely shocked and confused as I hear voices shouting SURPRISE. And even more so, when I turn my head towards the voices and see all of our children standing in the middle of the living room, with big smiles on their faces.
"What is going on here?" I ask loudly, looking around the room. "John, did you know about this?" I don't know why I ask him, because I know the answer. Of course this is his doing.
He grabs my face and fixes his eyes on mine, demanding my attention as he says
"Sweetheart.. today we are getting married, right here at the cabin surrounded by our children. I planned today thinking nothing could top it in regard to being surprised, but with the news you just told me.... Well it just made this day even more special and magical". His face just beams with so much emotion....love, happiness and pride. 
I love this man, so so much.

Do you know that feeling when you take a step back to just look at your surroundings, in this case the gathering of my family. Their happy faces, the loud laughter, the interactions with each other. It makes me so happy and proud that this, right here, is my family..the legacy of Doc and I, the product of our long love story.
And soon we will be welcoming a new baby. He or she will be so loved and spoiled by everyone...the baby of the family.
Marlena is standing in the middle of the room surrounded by our children. She is showing them the ultrasound picture. The girls are already planning and fighting over who gets to babysit and the boys are hoping for another brother so they won't be outnumbered. And here I stand, at a distance, with the biggest most content smile on my face and a heart so full it almost hurts.

Standing alone in the bedroom, I take one last look at myself in the mirror. After we finished gushing over the ultrasound picture, my girls led me into the bedroom where they helped me get ready for the wedding ceremony. No one has told me what is going to happen, which I normally would demand to know, but not today...I have complete trust that they have arranged this to be the most beautiful wedding. My girls have picked out this beautiful dress, the fabric is loose and a broken white color, it looks like a Greek dress style. They did my makeup in a natural look and braided my hair adding flowers, which compliments the Greek style. The beautiful bouquet of flowers I hold, they made themselves out of flowers from the area around the cabin.
I look very beautiful, earthy.. if that's even a thing, and very peaceful, if I say so myself.
A knock on the door tears my eyes away from the mirror and in comes Eric, looking very handsome in a white shirt and pants. "Are you ready mom?"
"Oh my, don't you look handsome my sweet boy.. I'm more than ready" I reply as he takes my arm and leads me into the living room.
Whatever I imagined doesn't even come close to the sight before me. Wild flowers, light chains, candles and my children dressed in similar outfits, matching the style of my dress. And there in the middle stands the man of my dreams. The man who holds my heart, the other half of my soul, the great love of my life.

She is walking towards me, led by Eric, looking like a heavenly vision, more beautiful than the day we met. It might sound ridiculous, but she gets more and more beautiful everyday. And now, knowing that she is carrying our baby, is making her beauty glow even brighter.
I can see the tears in her eyes, but also deep love and gratitude for this moment..for this family..our family.
When she is within my reach I take her face in my hands, gently wiping her tears away with my thumbs. 
" You are so beautiful...I love you!" I tell her as I can't resist placing a kiss on her soft lips.
Brady's laughing voice breaks our moment and says  "Hmmm dad...patience please, we will get to that part soon".
Brady takes the lead again..." Dear family.. We are gathered here today to celebrate the love and life of mom and dad. This is not their first wedding and probably won't be their last, but it will be the most important and special one. Today we are not doing it the traditional way...we..your children have decided that instead of the two of you saying your vows, we are going to be the ones to tell the both of you what you mean to us. We will take turns and all you have to do is just stand here and listen to what we have to say...okay??...let's get this celebration started."
I look at Brady with so much pride. He has come a long way from being a confused, angry and insecure boy, to the young man who now stands in front of us, taking charge of this ceremony and acknowledging that this is his real family. It was his idea, to be the officiater, his way of apologizing for his behavior and showing us that he indeed approves and loves Marlena like the mother she has always been to him.