Darkness Before Dawn

the mirror one last time before opening it and letting Aubry come in to get me.
    His blue eyes look at me from my feet to my head, and he smiles his huge, show all perfect teeth goofy grin before he walks over to me and embraces me. "You look stunning, Cowboy. Stunning. I got something for you," he says, letting go of me and reaching into his pocket to take out a small box.
    I smile up at him. "You're definitely one of the most handsome men here," I reply, opening the little box to find a silver necklace with a cowboy hat on it. I laugh as I run my hands on it and look back up at him. "I love it! Thank you so much!"
    "You're welcome. It's from Greg too, he helped pick it out," Aubry responds, shrugging one shoulder. "Are you ready to make Cole the happiest motherfucker alive?"
    I nod, exhaling a breath and tuck my arm into his, winking at my girls over my shoulder.
    "Okay, I gotta go. I promised Sandra I'd help Elijah practice walking WITH the rings on the pillow. God help us, I hope that kid doesn't lose them," Aimee says with a sigh.
    As we walk down the hall I curse at myself and tell Aubry to wait for me while I go back to the room quickly. He helps Becky go down the stairs and I wave off his promise to be back up in time to help me carry the train of my dress. I go back into the room and shuffle through our things in search of my phone, finally finding it beneath my discarded jeans. I click on the screen and find a voice message, which I ignore to type Cole a quick text and smile when I press send. Curiosity gets the best of me and I dial to check the message, my heart dropping to my stomach when I hear the gruff voice on the other end.
     
    "Blake, it's Alex," he starts before clearing his throat. "I heard you were getting married today. Had a long talk with Liam yesterday and just wanted to say sorry again. I want you to know that your mother was the love of my life. I would've done anything for her. Maybe someday you'll forgive me and we can talk. I...I'm so sorry. I can't believe I kidnapped my own daughter. I can't believe I treated you that way after all these years." His gruff voice is full of emotion and trails off before he coughs into the phone and speaks up again. "Maybe you'll never forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Have a good wedding day. I wish...I wish things could have been different. Maybe someday you can give me a chance to make them better." He exhales. "You're beautiful, just like your mom. I know she's smiling down on you today. If you ever need me...I'm around..."
     
    I take deep shaky breaths, blinking back tears that threaten to heave through my body.
    "Hey, what happened?" Aubry asks, making me drop my phone and snap my head up to look at him.
    "Nothing," I respond. "I'm ready."
    As promised, Aubry helps me with my dress as we walk down the stairs, and in that moment I realize that I have conquered more this past year than I have my entire life. Walking slowly down the flight of stairs, I reminisce on how far I've come and smile at the overwhelming happiness I feel. When we reach the last step, Aubry steps down in front of me and reaches for my hand, pausing to pose for the camera beside us. Aimee and Becky walk toward us and help fix the back of my dress before giving me kisses on the cheek and walking out into the courtyard where the ceremony is about to start.
    Aubry holds my hand in his as we stand in front of the closed doors. He shifts his body so we're standing looking at each other, his blue eyes searching mine.
    "You sure you're okay?" he probes.
    I sigh. "I am. Alex left me a voice message apologizing for things."
    "And?" Aubry presses.
    "And I don't know. Is it weird that I don't care as much anymore?"
    "No, it's not. Maybe you finally realized that the family you have is the one that's important," he replies with a shrug.
    "I think so," I whisper with a smile.
    He bends down and places a kiss on my cheek before straightening his jacket. "Now let's go get you married."
    When Christina Perri's "Arms" begins to play, our cue to begin our walk down the aisle, the gentleman standing beside the doors pushes them open and we step out to the courtyard where our guests are looking on. I take a moment to look around at the faces of our guests: Dean, Connor, Sandra, Mark, and Colleen. I smile at them before turning my eyes to the man waiting for me at the end of the aisle. Waiting for me like he always has been, and when the doors close