To The Moon And Back

Chapter 25

Song: Don't Deserve You - Plumb

Evelyn's POV

3 years later...

"Up next is Evelyn Lee Hudson, graduating with her bachelor's degree in Social Work." The announcer calls my name, and I walk up the stage with my head held high, a proud smile on my face. The audience does a round of applause, and I hear quite a few hollers, especially from my friends and family.

I head to the administration, who shake my hand and hand me my diploma.

"Congratulations, Evelyn. You'll be a wonderful social worker."

"Thank you." I give them all a warm smile as I continue to walk down the stage, shaking hands. When I'm done, I walk back to my seat and wait for the ceremony to end, clapping and hollering at my friends and fellow graduates.

Once the ceremony ends, I push through the crowd to find my parents, Braden and his family, and Emily and hers, including her fiance, Nicholas.

They all see me and Emily and Braden quickly run up to me and we all hug each other in excitement.

"We did it! We're finally done with school!" Emily shouts, and I giggle.

"I love you guys. Thanks for sticking with me through all these years." I say, getting teary-eyed.

Emily hugs me one more time then goes to talk and take pictures with her family and soon-to-be husband.

"I'm so happy for her and Nicholas. They're perfect for each other." I smile, glancing at Emily and Nicholas laughing and sharing a kiss.

All of a sudden, Braden grabs me by my waist and picks me up, twirling me around and I squeal in surprise and giggle. He puts me down close to him, and my face heats up at our closeness.

"I'm so proud of you, Baby." He smiles at me and leans in for a kiss that I happily comply with.

"I love you, Braden." He kisses me one more time, more heated, and we break away before it gets too intense.

"Save that for our anniversary," I smirk at him, and he blushes.

He smirks at me and leans in close to my ear, huskily whispering, "I'll give you so much more." and my face goes bright red.

"I'll keep you to that promise." I smile and kiss him softly one more time before we link hands and join everyone else to celebrate our success.

***

"Emily, you look perfect," I say as I admire her beautiful gown, bringing my hands to my mouth, trying to hold back my tears.

"My best friend is getting married today!" I smile brightly, and she returns my smile with a semi-nervous one.

"And to think three years ago I said it was kind of serious." She laughs and looks at herself in the mirror one more time, and I step beside her, admiring my beautiful maid of honor dress she chose for me. It was a long, rose gold dress with a sparkly low V-cut. My hair is curled and styled with a rose gold hair jewelry piece. And topping off the outfit was my matching heels that were surprisingly comfortable for how tall they were.

Emily wore an A-line gown with off-the-shoulder straps and a pointed sweetheart neckline. Her gown had a full lace hem on the skirt and bodice, giving the gown a romantic touch, while the lace was both soft and subtle. The dress was absolutely breathtaking, and as soon as Emily saw it when we were dress shopping, she knew it was the one.