"You ready?" Chief Vick asked, walking up behind Juliet and pinning one last hair into place.
Juliet looked in the mirror. She had found the perfect dress. It was white with a hint of peach, with a long train that fell past her ankles and flowery lace layered over it. The top was perfect too. The dress itself was strapless, but Laura had helped Juliet find a sheer lace to cover her chest and fall over her shoulders to keep the dress up and cover the scar under her collar bone from the port.
It was a perfect day too. It was April in Santa Barbara, so it was warm but not blazing hot with summer yet, and there were no clouds in the sky. They had decided to have the wedding in the backyard- exactly one year after the car accident. Not too big. Just their family and some close friends, mostly from the station. Ewan had gotten a vacation from work, and even Carson had been able to bring his wife and their three boys.
"You have no idea," she replied, smiling at her reflection and Chief standing behind her.
That couldn't have been more true. Thinking about this day had gotten her through the long days that she had to stay in the hospital while she recovered from her surgery. It got her through the even longer days that followed her at home, while she was stuck on bed rest. It got her through emptying her drains and phantom pains. It got her through her last four rounds of chemo that they put her on with new meds to make sure it never came back, and the target radiation they shot through her skin, burning it to a crisp. It got her through physical therapy, taking her from not being able to lift her arm up or open the refrigerator door to a hundred pushups. It got her through her fears as she fought with her own mental health, pushing her to go back to group therapy, and even speaking a few times.
Thinking about this day- every detail, every flower and plate and ribbon, got her all the way through the rest of her treatment until Dr. Miles finally looked up at her from a chart, smiled, and said, "Juliet, you are in remission. You made it."
Shawn had laughed and scooped her up into a hug and spun her around. She had been in shock, accepting the hug and letting the moment sink in.
"You did it, Sweetheart! You did it!"
That was six months ago. And four months ago, thinking about this day had gotten her through two rounds of getting her tattoos across her chest. In light pink ink with a dark fuchsia outline, right along the line of her scar, one side said:
This too shall pass
in loopy letters, sitting on top of a blue iris flower.
One across the other scar said:
Survivor
in cursive that turned into pink cancer ribbon.
It wasn't too big. It was hidden under most of her shirts. But it still covered her scar, which was all she'd wanted.
"Let's do this," Chief said, pulling Juliet back to reality. Juliet turned around in the stool and looked up at Marlowe, who was holding her veil. She had finally gotten out of prison and had been around with Lassiter quite a bit the last two months.
"You look beautiful, Juliet," Marlowe said, arranging the veil around in her short hair. It was about three inches long and fell just around her ears.
"Feel it," Juliet had told Shawn, looking in the mirror in the bathroom and grabbing Shawn's hand to place it on top of her head.
It had been a month since her last chemo appointment, and her hair was starting to grow in. It was softer than it had been before, and a little darker too.
"It feels like peach fuzz," Shawn had said.
"Peach fuzz?" Juliet giggled. "I like that." She replaced his hand with her own and rubbed her soft scalp.
"You ready, Juliet?" Frank said, Lloyd standing next to him.
"Let's go." She stood up and turned to look at the mirror one last time.
They walked to the back door. Juliet looked out over the seats full of people from the porch. She saw Carson, Ewan, Henry, and Lassiter lined up behind Shawn, with Gus right behind him, patting him on the back. On the other side, Carson's wife, her mom, Shawn's mom, Marlowe, and Chief Vick were lined up, leaving space for her right across from Shawn. Father Westley stood in the middle. When he saw Juliet standing on the porch, he nodded.
"Okay, Iris," Juliet said, giving her a kiss on the top of the head. "Lead the way."
Phil Collins started playing as Iris walked down the middle of the chairs. She was wearing a white dress with peach colored rose petals lining the skirt. She threw softer peach colored rose petals out of a basket as she walked towards Shawn. When she finished, she stood in front of her mom and everyone stood up and turned to face the back. Slowly, with Frank and Lloyd on either arm, Juliet walked down the aisle.
She looked around at all of their friends and family who had been there for her. Their close friends from the station, the rest of their family- even Hannah, her nurse, was there.
She turned her head to look to the other side of the aisle. Sitting in the third row from the front was Jeff, Holli's husband, and their two boys. Holli had passed away the week after Juliet's surgery, but she had made it to see her son's play.
Shawn had taken Juliet to visit Holli at home on their way home from the hospital to say goodbye.
"This is my husband," Holli said from her spot on the couch. There was a home care nurse with them and monitors surrounding her. "And these are my boys."
"Keep an eye out for them, would you?" Holli had asked her later when Shawn and Jeff had taken the boys to throw a baseball around, leaving the two women to talk.
"I will."
It was the last promise she had made to her, and she had intended on keeping it.
That had been her last good day. Four days later, Jeff had called to let them know that Holli had passed away in her sleep, surrounded by family.
Juliet continued down the aisle. She saw Buzz and Francine sitting on the other side. They had made sure Shawn and Juliet were well fed for at least a month after Juliet's surgery- and that didn't even include the leftovers, which lasted another month after that. Francine would stop by after work once a week to help Shawn clean the house when Juliet still couldn't lift up her arms.
Finally, Juliet made it to Shawn. Frank and Lloyd walked to stand behind her brothers, while everyone else sat down.
"You're stunning," Shawn whispered.
They turned to face Father Westley, who began leading a beautiful service.
"And now, it is time for your vows," Father Westley said. "Shawn, are you going first?"
"Yes."
Shawn looked at his almost-wife. He took a deep breath. In. Out.
"Jules, I don't know what I can say to you that I haven't already said before. So I'll just have to say a bunch of stuff again and see what sticks."
Juliet laughed as he continued.
"Sweet Jules. You amaze me. You are strong and a fighter and can take on the world with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back. But everyone here knows that. We've all seen you do it. But Jules, no one saw it better than me. I had a front row ticket to the Juliet-Versus-the-World show. And man, was it a show. You know what the best part was? That you were the hero and that you came out on top."
He paused, and his voice deepened. "Juliet, I waited for too long to get you. But now you're mine and I'm yours and Baby, I ain't never letting you go. You've got me. Now and forever. To hold you. To protect you. To love you to the end of time. I love you."
Juliet giggled and took a deep breath.
"Shawn," she started, "I don't know how I could have done any of this without you. You have been my rock, especially in the last year. You learned how to care for me better than I could have ever imagined you were capable of. You even learned how to cook and clean just so you could take care of me when I couldn't."
"Achmm," Gus grunted from behind Shawn.
"With Gus's help, of course." She laughed. "But how far you've come, for me? Shawn, that is amazing. And I feel so lucky to have you." Her voice cracked. Shawn rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs. "And I promise that I will be there for you too, whenever you need me."
She looked into his dark eyes. "You've got me. And I will protect you."
"I will protect you right back."
"Now," Father Westley stepped in. "Shawn Spencer, do you take Juliet O'Hara to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, until dea- "
"I do," Shawn interrupted, "until the end of time."
He took the wedding band from Gus and placed it on Juliet's shaking finger.
"Juliet O'Hara, do you take Shawn Spencer to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, until the end of time?"
"I do," she said, taking the band from Chief Vick and placing it on Shawn's finger.
"Then by the power vested in me by our Lord, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
"Ahh!" Juliet gasped as Shawn pulled her into a kiss. His arms were so tight around her back and her fingertips pressed into his smooth cheeks.
And it was perfect.