“Amy,” Colin says. “My love.”
“Holy fuck,” I murmur. I clutch Fish’s arm to hold myself steady, just in case Colin’s next words confirm my hunch.
Colin’s Adam’s apple bobs. He clears his throat. “Amy, our love story started a lifetime ago, but our romance started six months ago at a wedding—so I figured a wedding would be the perfect place to start the next chapter of our story. Our engagement.”
Everyone around me cheers and claps, while I clutch Fish and whimper.
Visibly shaking, Colin kneels at the edge of the stage and holds up a small box, its tiny contents sparkling like crazy under the stage lights. “Amy O’Brien,” Colin chokes out, his voice quavering. “You make me swoon from down deep in my soul. I love you to the moon and back again. And I always will. Amy, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I shout over the heads on the dance floor, and the crowd around me explodes with cheers.
Hooting gleefully, Colin rises, shoves his mic into a stand and then yells into it, “Make way! I’m gonna land there.” He points at a spot in front of him that’s currently covered by humans and barely waits for the crowd to part before leaping off the stage like the rock star he is. Once on the ground, Colin bounds toward me like a puppy in a field of tall poppies, and when my new fiancé reaches me, he slides the glittering ring onto my shaking finger and kisses me passionately, eliciting even more cheers and applause from our audience.
Colin and I kiss and embrace, laugh and exchange words of excitement and adoration. But when my all-time favorite 22 Goats song, “Fireflies,” begins blaring from the stage, we break apart and turn to look, both of us curious to see who’s playing drums on the song.
It’s Caleb.
He’s sitting behind the drumkit, banging out the famous groove to “Fireflies,” behind Dax and Fish, while Ruby of Fugitive Summer plays keys.
Oh my God.
It’s a truly astonishing moment. And not surprisingly, everyone at the party collectively loses their shit. People always go crazy for this song, regardless, but this time, we all know we’re witnessing history. Frankly, it would have been a showstopper for Caleb to join Dax on any song tonight. But it’s especially mind-blowing to witness Caleb joining Dax on this particular song—the smash-hit love song Dax wrote for his beloved wife, the former Violet Rhodes. Surely, Caleb knows the history of this song, that Dax wrote it about Violet Rhodes, given those final lyrics of the song: You’re a flower, a road, a destination.
I truly can’t believe what I’m seeing. Hearing. Feeling. This song, this moment, is an incredible gift. And not only to Colin and me, as a celebration of our engagement. It’s also a gift to Reed and Georgina on their wedding day. For that matter, it’s a gift to every guest at this wedding, too, who’ll always have an amazing story to tell.
But, mostly, based on what Caleb and I talked about all those months ago at his house, I know this performance is Caleb’s highly personal gift from him to Violet Rhodes Morgan. His first and only love. It’s his way of letting Violet go, once and for all. He’s letting her know he’s finally man enough to wish her happiness, in whatever form that takes. And I couldn’t be prouder of him for it.
Tears pricking my eyes, I throw myself into my new fiancé’s arms and sway with him for the duration of the song, until, during the last bit of lyrics, Colin leans in and whisper-sings them into my ear.
“I’m so glad you said yes,” Colin whispers, as the song reaches its final note.
“Did you have any doubt?”
“No,” he admits, laughing. “But, still, I’m relieved.”
I hold up my hand and gaze at my sparkling rock. “It’s gorgeous. Thank you.”
“You can pick something else, if you’d like.”
“No, it’s perfect.” I smile. “Unlike you.”
Colin laughs. It’s become our little inside joke these past six months—the fact that Colin isn’t a perfect man, but he’s perfect for me.
“I love you so much,” I say simply.
“I love you, too,” Colin replies. “And I always will.”
Epilogue
Colin
One year later
Shit.
I was so excited to surprise Amy with a strings arrangement of “Swoon” for her walk down the aisle. But now that the moment is upon me, now that Amy is set to appear at the top of that aisle any second now, I’m suddenly worried I’ve messed up.
Will Amy love the fact that I told the string quartet to disregard her selection for her walk down the aisle and, instead, play my requested arrangement? Or will she be not quite as thrilled with my surprise as I’ve been assuming, up until this moment?
I shift my weight nervously, take a deep breath, and exhale.
It’s become a fun thing in our relationship to surprise each other. Amy’s told me countless times, in other contexts, she loves surprises. But it’s suddenly occurring to me that maybe it’s a bridge too far for me to surprise her, in front of all these people, with her makeup done so carefully and a photographer at the ready to capture every smile and tear.