Chapter 14 - The Wedding Without Guards
They married in the garden.
Adrian wanted security.
Mara allowed discreet security.
Compromise.
Sofia attended.
So did Anna and David.
Evelyn.
Victor.
Dr. Cole.
Even Gabriel sent a letter from prison.
Adrian did not read it that day.
Leo carried the rings.
Dropped one.
Found it.
Received applause.
Mara walked down the aisle alone.
Not because she had nobody.
Because she chose to.
At the altar Adrian whispered:
“You look terrifying.”
“Good.”
Their vows were simple.
Adrian said:
“The first night I met you, I thought the most important thing you did was make Leo stop crying.”
Mara smiled.
“I was wrong.”
“You made me listen.”
His eyes filled.
“To my son.”
“To Sofia.”
“To my mother.”
“To people my father taught me not to hear.”
“And eventually, to myself.”
Mara cried.
Adrian continued.
“I can’t promise I’ll never try controlling everything.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Poor start.”
Laughter.
“But I promise when you tell me I’m doing it, I’ll listen before you threaten me.”
“Better.”
Mara’s vows:
“You were the scariest exhausted father I’d ever seen.”
More laughter.
“And underneath everything people said about Adrian Moretti, I found a man who loved a baby so much he was terrified of failing him.”
She touched his hand.
“You did fail sometimes.”
“Thank you.”
“But then you learned.”
She looked toward Leo.
“That’s what I love.”
They married.
Afterward Sofia hugged Mara.
“Happy?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Then Sofia hugged Adrian.
“Take care of my sister.”
Mara interrupted:
“No.”
Sofia laughed.
“Right.”
She corrected herself.
May you like
“Take care of each other.”
Much better.
