She shook her head. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
His father lifted Tessa’s hand and offered it to Zach. When Zach took it, his father sandwiched Zach’s and Tessa’s between his own and met Zach’s eyes. “I know I don’t say it, son, but I am very proud of you. I wish you and Tessa and this little angel”—he tapped the end of Sophia’s nose—“all the happiness in the world.”
Zach’s throat swelled with emotion. While he’d made peace with the distance between himself and his family long ago, he couldn’t deny the warmth that surfaced now, proving that he would always be his parents’ son, no matter how old he got.
“Thanks, Dad. And thanks for being here. It means a lot to us.”
He nodded, kissed Tessa on the cheek. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.”
“Thank you.”
And he ran a finger across Sophia’s perfect cheek. “You too, muffin.”
Sophia giggled. “Thanks, Granpa.”
Zach’s father had mellowed significantly over the years, and with Tessa’s and Sophia’s help, he thought he and his parents might just be able to develop a relationship again.
When his father turned toward his seat, Tessa lifted a hand to the injured side of his face with a look of horrified amusement. “Does it hurt as bad as it looks?”
Zach burst out laughing, then immediately regretted it and groaned. “Only when I laugh.”
A wave of soft laughter traveled through the guests.
Tessa leaned her forehead against Zach’s and murmured, “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too, baby. Me too. You look…I don’t even have words.”
He lowered his head to kiss her, only to have someone yank on his jacket sleeve.
“Uh-uh,” Tucker said. “None of that before you’re married.”
And more laughter peppered the group.
The minister welcomed everyone to start the ceremony, and Zach released Tessa’s hand only long enough to pick up Sophia before clutching Tessa’s hand again. And while the minister spoke about the wonder of marriage, Zach couldn’t take his eyes off Tessa. Couldn’t stop reveling in the perfection of the moment, surrounded by the people that meant everything to him, to Tessa, to Sophia. He’d never imagined a life so rich or so joyful.
“Zach,” the minister drew his attention. “Would you like to share your vows?”
A pinch of panic burned his gut.
Vows. Right. They’d agreed on short and sweet.
He fully faced Tessa and squeezed her fingers. God, she was so damn beautiful, inside and out.
He cleared his throat and brought up the words he’d practiced.
“Tessa,” he started, slow and deliberate, hoping all the emotions he felt for her came through in his words, his voice. “I love you. I love you for all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you have yet to be. I take you to be my best friend, my faithful partner, and my one true love.” Her mouth quivered into a smile. Her eyes glistened with tears. “I promise to honor and cherish you always and in all ways. In sickness and in health, in laughter and in tears, in good times and in bad, in failure and in triumph, I vow to love you with everything I am, all the days of my life.”
The minister nodded and turned his smile on Tessa. “Tessa?”
She sniffled and smiled. “Zach, with my whole heart, I take you as my best friend and my husband. I promise to be faithful and supportive always and in all ways. I promise to always make our family’s love and happiness my priority. I will be yours in plenty and in want, in sickness, in health”—she smiled, huffed a laugh, and lifted her hand to cup his damaged cheek—“and in injuries.” Zach laughed along with the guests. “I promise to dream with you, celebrate with you, and walk beside you through whatever our lives may bring. Throughout this life and into the next.”
His vision blurred with tears, and he closed his eyes, turning his head to kiss her palm. Zach
could have never imagined this level of love or fulfillment before Tessa. Before Sophia.
The minister tied up the ceremony, Sophia slid their wedding bands onto their fingers, and Tessa kissed his torn lips gently. Then they both kissed Sophia’s cheeks to a rowdy round of applause.
Zach held Sophia close and wrapped his other arm around Tessa’s shoulders as they accepted hugs and congratulations, then started back toward the house for the reception.