Chapter 9 - The Wedding We Never Got to FinishTwo years later, Reid and I renewed our vows.
No reporters.
No military ceremony.
No lawyers.
No family politics.
Just twenty people in our backyard.
Evelyn carried flowers.
She was three now.
When Reid saw me walking toward him, his eyes filled with tears.
I smiled.
“You're crying.”
“I'm allowed.”
“You're a captain.”
“Not here.”
He took my hands.
“Here I'm just your husband.”
The ceremony was simple.
But before we exchanged vows, Reid surprised me.
He brought out the old casualty notice.
The one that had once destroyed me.
He held it over a small metal tray.
Then he lit it.
The paper curled.
Blackened.
Disappeared.
I watched the ashes fall.
“You don't need to carry this anymore,” he said.
I shook my head.
“No.”
I took his hand.
“Neither do you.”
We kissed.
Evelyn shouted from the front row:
“Daddy!”
Everyone laughed.
Later that evening, Julian approached us.
He had rebuilt his life.
He had apologized.
He had testified.
He had accepted responsibility.
Reid had forgiven him.
Not because what happened didn't matter.
But because forgiveness was not the same as forgetting.
Julian handed Evelyn a small present.
Inside was a music box.
When she opened it, a gentle melody played.
Reid looked at me.
“That song.”
I nodded.
It was the song we had danced to the night he proposed.
I remembered that night.
Before Vivienne.
Before the casualty notice.
Before fear.
Before lies.
We danced again.
Evelyn laughed.
The house glowed with warm lights.
For once, nobody was watching us through a window.
Nobody was controlling the phone.
Nobody was deciding what happened next.
We were free.
But just before midnight, Reid's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
I knew immediately.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“Vivienne is being released.”
My heart tightened.
“Does she know where we are?”
“She does.”
I reached for his hand.
“Then let her come.”
Reid studied me.
May you like
I smiled.
“I’m not afraid anymore.”
