A/N: And now we skip some things and go a little off of the show's timeline! I think you'll like what's coming!
Henry's first trip since we got engaged went as good as expected. Every trip makes me appreciate the homecoming but I'll kind of miss having the bed to myself. I won't miss him not being in it, but I love taking up the entire bed.
There were tense and scary moments, but nothing like what we just went through. I'm thankful for the only minor scares… and the fantastic phone sex. We've had phone sex before, it's actually become a bit of a tradition when one of us travels but it doesn't always happen on my trips and tends to happen more than once on his.
It was only slightly different with the world knowing we're engaged. People were finally referring to Henry and my fiancé and it feels like Henry's position is solidified as my partner. It's not that it wasn't to me before… but now it is to the world. I often think forward to the many times in the future where we are introduced as each other's husband and wife.
Now with the engagement announced, we can finally begin wedding planning. I think it was expected that we would have a traditional, formal wedding for a few hundred guests like it was some sort of social ball… but that's not who we are. We've decided on a destination wedding, something small and casual. We've both been married before and at this point, we aren't doing it for the wedding.
Initially, Henry had picked a historic cathedral in Santo Domingo but we quickly discovered that they do not allow weddings, no matter what name we drop. Then we considered Hawaii but Henry couldn't find a church that felt like "the one."
How most brides are with their dress is how Henry is with the church. A church ceremony was his only request and he is very particular about it. I happily agreed, knowing how much it meant to him, and let him run with this. After a little more digging, he found a historic cathedral in old San Juan that happily worked with all the grand ideas he had.
Now we finally have a date and on June 3rd, we'll finally start forever as husband and wife. We have a lot to do until then. We've got six months to plan it all and do the pre-marital classes that the church required. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get away from the office at the same time every week for six weeks but I'm determined to make it work, for Henry.
There were a couple of other things that we agreed on instantly. We both wanted just white roses but not too many. We'd keep our guest list extremely small and limited to just close friends and family. Finally, we'd meet on the beach just the two of us the night before the wedding to actually exchange our vows to each other privately.
We debated making it just the two of us but we couldn't imagine not having the kids there. The church requires us to take the traditional vows… even though we're anything but traditional. We wanted to say our vows to each other in private so meeting the night before to do that seemed like the perfect compromise. That is the more important moment for me. The ceremony is great and all, but making the promises that I want to make to him is what really matters.
It'll be easy to say I promise to love him forever. I made the same promise to Max and I meant it. I do still love him… but as the father of my children; the love is different now. With Henry, of course I'll love him forever but I'll also always cherish his smile, appreciate his intelligence, and hold his hand when we're old and gray in rockers on our front porch. I'll always be thankful for the sacrifices he's made for me.
His sacrifices are always made with no complaints. When Ali got her learners permit, he immediately reached out to Max to see when he was free to help give her driving lessons. I wouldn't have thought to do that but it was second nature to him to make sure Max was involved in his children's lives still. I love that about him.
I know I am constantly making him sacrifice things. Sacrifice his time with me, sacrifice his time with Stevie, sacrifice his free time… I can never express to him how much that means to me and how much I will always appreciate him for it. I know eventually I'll be the one that makes sacrifices for him and I'll happily do that with no questions asked. His unconditional love and support has truly shown me what unconditional love is.
If I ever figured out what I did to deserve someone who loves me the way he does, I'd do it over and over again.