Ex-Husband's Regret

“Yeah, what uncle Gabe said... Mom wouldn’t run; she’s excited about marrying you again. Her happiness is so sweet, it’s enough to give someone a sugar rush.”.

He gives me a smirk, one that is eerily similar to mine and that of Gabe. | was about to say something when the wedding march began. Standing up straighter than a rod, | face the entrance.

The first to walk in is Corrine. The color she chose looks radiant, but | don’t really fucking care about her or Letty, who walks in next. | just wanted to see my daughter and my soon-to-be wife.

Iris finally walks in with a small flower basket, throwing petals on the ground. She’s now two and a half years old, since our engagement took a year and a half. My heart swells with so much love.

| watch, smiling, as she tries her best to focus on her task. Half way through the aisle she looks up and spots me. A big smile breaks out. She drops the basket and starts running full speed towards me, her task completely forgotten.

“Papa!” she screams. “Miss you” There’s a burst of laughter and aaws from the crowd, but | don’t pay attention. None of them matter.

| go down on my knees just in time for her body to crash into mine. | hugged her, smelling her sweet and comforting scent, before standing up with her in my arms.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Hi, Bubba,” she greets Noah, using the nickname she gave him. “Hi, best uncle.” They greet her back.

| kid you not, Gabe trained her to call him the best uncle. Soon I’m distracted when | see Ava with her parents. They start walking, and can’t keep my eyes from her. She looks beautiful and radiant. It was like watching an angel walk towards you. | was completely mesmerized.

When they get to us, | don’t waste time wrapping my hands around her waist, pulling her to me, and kissing the daylights out of her. | can hear the laughter and chuckles in the background, but it sounds so far away.

Someone clears their throat. “You clearly skipped to the part where you kiss her”

Another round of laughter and chuckles hits me just as I’m pulling away from her. She looks up at me with her beautiful brown eyes and warm smile. Moments like this make me fall for her all over again because she’s just got that kind of grip on my heart.

“Okay, let’s begin,” the priest says.

Nora tries to take Iris, but she refuses, clutching onto me like I’m her lifeline. Finally, she gives up, and the whole ceremony she spends in my arms, which | don’t fucking mind because she’s my daughter in every way.

Everything is a blur as my focus is on the woman standing in front of me. We chose not to say our vows before others. That one will just be between us.

“Do you, Ava Howell, take Rowan Wood as your lovely wedded husband?” the priest asks her.

She smiles, her eyes sparkling and her smile radiant. No one else knew yet, but part of her radiance stems from her pregnancy. “| do,” she answers and | place the wedding ring on her finger

“And do you, Rowan Wood, take Ava Howell as your lovely wedded wife?”

“| do”

At my answer, she places the ring on my finger. The feeling that rushes through me is unexplainable. It’s exhilarating. My love for her expands inside my chest. Forgetting everything else, | pull her into my arms again and kiss her.

The last thing | hear over the roar of happy shouts and congratulations is the priest’s strong voice.

“| now pronounce you husband and wife.”