Wrong Car, Right Guy

I can hear Macy’s mother sniffing, moved by my speech, but I’m not done yet. Macy waits patiently, her smile splitting her face. I reach out and take her hand.

“I know that our love won’t be understood by everyone…that people won’t see the love we share. They will want to judge us, to try and bring us down. But we can get through anything thrown in our direction. We’ve already overcome so many obstacles hand in hand. We’ve already proved to one another that we can make it, no matter what life puts in our way. And I know that good days with you make all the hard ones in life seem insignificant. We have so much to look forward to, and I don’t care if we have to fight battles along the way. I know our love will only come out stronger. So with that in mind…Will you be my wife, Macy? Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Yes. Of course, I will,” Macy says breathlessly, smiling as brightly as the sun.

I smile so hard that my cheeks hurt as I slide the ring onto her finger and her parents applaud us. I stand and pull her up with me, kissing her for the first time as my soon-to-be wife, right there in front of her parents.

Wrapped up in one another, we don’t care that her parents are watching. This is exactly what I always dreamed of, except that the reality of it is even better. The love of my life has just said yes to becoming my wife and is pregnant with our child.

Life doesn’t get any better than this.

EPILOGUE

TWO MONTHS LATER…

Macy

The big day is finally here. The day when I commit to the man of my dreams in front of all of our family and friends. I can’t stop smiling to myself as I look in the mirror. I’m wearing a long, flowing white dress with floral lace. There’s a train to die for and a beautifully delicate veil concealing my face. My hair is perfectly curled and I feel beautiful.

Once upon a time, I didn’t know how to look in the mirror and love myself. I would stand in front of the mirror and pick out my flaws. But not anymore. Now that I’ve gotten rid of all the toxic energy in my life and replaced it with good vibes, everything has fallen into place.

I haven’t heard from Tanya since the day I saw her at my old apartment. Strangely enough or not I don’t even miss her. I haven’t been to a single bar ever since, either. But why would I waste my time in a sweaty bar full of mean, drunk men when I could spend time with my husband-to-be?

Because the main thing that’s changed in my life is the presence of him in it. Tate has shown me that I don’t need to go seeking acceptance in dirty old bars. He’s shown me that I don’t have to rely on friends that aren't willing to lift me up and instead cause me misery. He’s shown me that one person truly can be the source of all joy. Because finding him, my soulmate has been the single best thing to ever happen to me.

I knew from the moment I met him that I would love him, but it’s taken me a little longer to accept that I’m worthy of his love too. When we met, my self-confidence was so low that I was constantly beating myself up, making myself feel terrible with my own harmful thoughts. I was surrounded by negative energy and people who didn’t really care about me. Tanya was the main culprit of that.

But Tate proved to me that I don’t need to live that way. He’s told me every single day since we met that I’m beautiful, that I’m perfect just the way I am, that I’m worth a damn. I thought for so long that there was something wrong with me, that no man would ever love me. But then Tate came along and proved to me that good people do win in the end. No matter how much the world gets you down, if you are a good person, good things will come your way eventually.

And now I get to celebrate how far I’ve come. I get to look in the mirror and see myself the way that the people who love me do. I’m not full of self-hate anymore. I couldn’t have brought that energy any further in my life. It destroys everything good. Hell, it almost destroyed me and Tate. Sure there are days when those insecurities try to come back but I fight to push them away. I won’t teach our child all the bad habits that I learned over time. Just because I’m different from other women, to what society teaches us is the perfect shape, it doesn’t mean I’m not an amazing woman.