Not Without You [Chris Evans]

94

Chris' POV

"You did good," my mom told me as I escorted her up the aisle to her seat. "I'm so glad to see you finally settling down, honey."

"I couldn't be wild forever," I teased her. "Now you can start working on Scotty - he's the only one left now."

"I'll give him a couple of days before I do," she laughed, giving me a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, Chris."

"Thanks, Ma. You're gonna make me start crying," I teased, blinking a little faster. She handed me a handkerchief as she let go of me and I tucked it in my jacket pocket in case I needed it later.

Ma patted my arm and let go of me; I went to stand at the front of the church, fighting the worst case of nerves I'd ever had. I was terrified that Megan would change her mind and would leave me at the altar.

"Calm down, punk," Sebastian ordered in a low tone, patting me on the back. "Show's just getting started."

"Relax bro," Scott said quietly as he came to stand beside me. "She's still here - and I've got the rings."

I felt immediately relieved when I heard the music change, proving him right. As I watched my radiantly beautiful bride approaching the altar with my best friends beside me, my heart was pounding like I'd just done a hard workout and I couldn't catch my breath - I was the luckiest man in the world because she chose me.

I'd seen her earlier in the day for pictures, of course - but I swear she looked even more beautiful now than I remembered - she was practically glowing. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her; Megan looked so happy as she glided down the aisle on her father's arm, smiling widely.

She almost made it down the aisle without incident; I could tell the moment her heel broke by the way she wobbled and held on tighter to her dad. I immediately strode down the aisle to her without even hesitating - my damsel was in distress.

"Let me guess, baby – your shoe?" I said with a grin. I'd already decided how I was going to handle this - it would make a great story to tell our kids someday.

"Of course," she sighed. "I have spares – Isaac's in charge of that."

I turned to her father and smiled, shaking his hand. "I can take it from here, sir."

"Pretty sure this isn't going to be the last time this happens," he chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Love you, sweetheart. I think you're in good hands here."

"I know I am," she said hugging her dad tightly. "Love you too, Daddy."

"You take care of my little girl," he ordered gruffly.

"Always," I said, picking her up and carrying her to the altar – much to the amusement of our guests.

"Do I wanna know how many pairs of shoes you're gonna go through today?" I teased her as Sadie quickly slipped off the broken shoe to replace it with an identical one, handing the broken one off to her younger son and returning to her place among Megan's attendants after Megan's sister.

"This is only the second set; Dodger ruined the first ones," Megan replied with a grin. I carefully set her on her feet and her attendants quickly adjusted her dress. "You ready to do this? Everyone's staring at us."

"Well, we are the reason they're all here, baby. I love you."

"Love you too," she said, her smile slightly wobbly. We turned to face the priest, who was smiling widely, amused at our antics.

"Dearly beloved -"

*      *

"I love you, wife," I said with possessive pride as I kissed Megan again on the dance floor just because I could.