Epilogue

"Stop fidgeting," my cousin ordered as I stood next to him. "You're a trained soldier. You know how to stand still."

"I can't help it," I replied.

"I know you're nervous," Ranger started to say.

"I'm not nervous," I said, cutting him off. "I'm excited."

He grinned and shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

I shifted my attention back to the door. "I could say the same thing about you."

Before he could reply the music started and my heart kicked into overdrive.

Stella was the first to appear. She was beautiful in her floor-length silvery grey dress. The A-line of the dress was smooth and covered in what I think was a black tule. Black lace appliques covered the body of the dress and trailed into the tule.

Kristina followed, wearing the same dress. Then Stephanie appeared. Her dress was the exact opposite of Kristina and Stella's. It was black and covered with a shimmering see-through silvery grey tule and lace appliques. Each of them left their hair down and each carried a single white calla lily.

Then the music changed and everyone sitting at the tables stood. A moment later, Casey appeared with Tio Ricardo.

After finding out about the baby, we decided Casey should try to reach out to her family after all. She immediately sat down and drafted a letter. That was two months ago and much to our disappointment no one replied. So, Tio Ricardo made good on his offer. All I could say was thank God for my family and friends.

I couldn't take my eyes off Casey as she made her way across the hall to where I stood waiting. She was stunning in her long-sleeved champagne-colored, lace, and tule multi-layer A-line dress. Much like her bridesmaid's dresses, lace flowers covered the top of the dress and trailed softly into the tule skirt. Her gorgeous blonde hair was done into an intricate braid with baby's breath weaved into it. The bouquet she carried was made up of the same white Calla Lily's the bridesmaids carried.

When she and Tio Ricardo finally stopped in front of us, Reverend Ridgley moved forward. "Welcome family and friends. We have all come here today to celebrate the love of Lester and Casey." He turned to look at Tio Ricardo. "Do you give this woman to be married today?"

"Yes," Tio Ricardo said, then pressed a kiss to her cheek, before placing her hand in mine and going to take his seat.

Reverend Ridgley proceeded to talk about finding love, how God creates a soulmate for every person, and how happy he was that we'd found each other.

"Lester and Casey chose to write their vows which they will now read." He motioned to me to begin. With a lump already in my throat and my heart threatening to pound out of my chest, I took a deep steadying breath, and as I stared at my soulmate I began.

"Casey my love. I vow from this day forward that you will never be forced to face this world alone again. I promise to always give you the space you need to grow, and the support for when you need more strength than you have and need someone to lean on. I also promise to try and be as open with my need for support and not close myself off from you. I vow to never take for granted your kindness, generosity, and all the small ways you make my life better. Always remember that I will hold your hand through this life and promise to never let go. I love you now and forever."

Reverend Ridgley turned to Casey and nodded.

Even as she smiled up at me a tear broke free and trickled down her cheek. She sniffled, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"My Lester. I'm not sure there are words to accurately convey how much you mean to me, but I'm going to try. I want to start by saying that I already love the man you are today, even the parts you don't like about yourself. I also promise to love and support the husband you'll be tomorrow and the person you strive to become in the future. I make that promise with a fierceness and passion that comes from deep in my soul. I promise to never let a day go by without taking a moment to appreciate how lucky I am to have you. I also promise to always try to make you as happy as you were the first time I told you I love you. I will never forget that what we have is a once-in-a-lifetime love and I will choose you every day for all the days of my life. I love you."

I am so glad I went first, because after hearing her vows, that lump in my throat is now the size of a fucking boulder.

"Beautiful," Reverend Ridgely murmured then turned to me. "Lester, do you take Casey to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others, and holding only unto her forevermore?"

"I do."

"Casey, do you take Lester to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others, and holding only unto him forevermore?"

"I do."

We then exchanged rings, Reverend Ridgley said a few more words, this time offering advice on how to keep a marriage working and the love alive.

"Now," he said. "With the power vested in me by the State of New Jersey, and in the presence of family and friends, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

I leaned in and kissed Casey as the cheers and clapping began in the room. Then we turned to face the small group that my mother gathered. Between my family, close friends, and co-workers, there were about sixty people in total.

I'm still a little shocked that my mother was able to pull off this event on such a short notice.

When we told her about the baby and our decision to not have a large catholic wedding, she was both happy and disappointed. Then, she begged me to give her just a couple of months to put something together for us. She would take care of all the planning and run any choices by Casey for her approval.

We agreed and somehow my mother managed to score the Trenton Country Club for both the service and ceremony. Ella made the gorgeous three-tier white carrot cake with black and grey flowers to match Casey's color scheme.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Reverend Ridgley said. "For the first time anywhere, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Santos."

While everyone again clapped and cheered, we made our way back down the aisle that ran between the tables. Once the entire bridal party was out of the room, the DJ announced that while the bridal party took pictures everyone should enjoy the hors d'oeuvres table.

Much to my frustration, we spent the next forty-five minutes taking every picture combination imaginable. Me and Casey on the grand staircase, followed by all variations of pictures with the rest of the bridal party, then my parents. We then moved to the wall of windows to take the same combination of pictures with a different backdrop. Next, he guided us outside to take pictures on the front porch. Forget the fact that it was the first weekend of March and colder than an elf's nuts outside. He was all about getting the best shot. It only took about ten minutes before I could feel Casey beginning to shiver in my arms. When he tried to move us to yet another location for pictures with a snow backdrop, I put my foot down.

"Absolutely not," I said, stopping the photographer in his tracks. "That's enough pictures. My wife (boy did that sound weird to say) is outside in below freezing temperatures with no coat. I don't want her to get sick. So, we're going back inside."

I didn't wait for him to reply. Instead, I stripped out of my suit jacket, wrapped it around Casey, and headed back inside the building.

Stella ran to get Casey a warm cup of tea as I guided her back to the room we were using as a bridal suite. "Lester," Casey protested. "I'm fine."

"Humor me," I begged as I guided her to the couch. She rolled her eyes at me and let out a sigh, then eased down to sit. Stella returned just a moment later with Casey's tea. While she drank it and warmed up, I walked over to where Ranger, Ram, Bobby, and Tank stood waiting.

"Is she okay?" My cousin asked.

I nodded. "I think so. She just needs to warm up."

Bobby grinned. "That move with the photographer reminded me of when you pulled her off the bridge back in October. You had that same protective look on your face."

"Damn right I'm protective," I said as I glanced over to where Casey sat surrounded by her friends. "My future is sitting over there, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let anything happen to her that I can prevent."

Tank laughed. "Hell has officially frozen over." He motioned to the window. "Which would explain why it's ten degrees below the average temperature for early March."

All I could do was shrug in response. After all of the shit I said over the years about never getting married, I deserved whatever they wanted to throw at me. "People change," I finally said.

Casey set her cup aside and stood, catching our attention. "Better?" I asked as I took her by the hand.

"Yes. Thank you," she replied.

"Are you ready to party?"

A big smile lit up her face as she nodded.

Once our wedding party made their grand re-entrance for the reception, the DJ immediately called me and Casey to the dance floor. The song for our first dance was the only item in the wedding I'd asked to have a say over. Thankfully, Casey readily agreed.

I couldn't take my eyes off her as Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback began to play.

Time is going by so much faster than I

And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you

Never, when I found Casey on that bridge back in October, would have I thought we'd be married just four short months later. Yet, I can say with complete certainty that I don't regret anything that happened in these past four months because it all led me to this point.

Now I'm wondering why I've kept this bottled inside

So I'm starting to regret not telling all of it to you

However, my feelings about the events that originally brought her into my life over a year ago are mixed. I'm still angry at Blackmore for what he did to her. However, I can't deny the fact that if she hadn't ended up in his clutches we would have never met, and I might have missed out on finding my soulmate. It kills me to think that she had to go through those horrors before she was able to find me.

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know

You're never gonna be alone

From this moment on

If you ever feel like letting go

One thing I do know is that from this point forward, I will do everything in my power to prevent anything bad from happening to her again. I will always protect her and our child, with my life, if necessary.

I won't let you fall

You're never gonna be alone

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone

Casey stared up at me and a sexy, yet innocent smile tipped her lips. "I love you so much, Lester."

"I love you too, Precious."

And now, as long as I can

I'm holding on with both hands

I caught a glimpse of my mother sitting at her table with the rest of my family. She was smiling and crying at the same time.

'Cause forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know

Maybe, if we were lucky, I'll be able to carry on the Santos name for my late father after all. I know how much that will make my mother happy. Plus, it would be a lot of fun to have a boy. Oh, the things I could teach him.

You're never gonna be alone

From this moment on

If you ever feel like letting go

I won't let you fall

Casey's going to be a wonderful mother. Though it is kind of sad that our child won't know that part of his or her family. I know how sad she was that no one from her family responded to her letter and how disappointed she was to not have any of them here.

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on

We're gonna take the world on

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone

Maybe one day, for her and our child's sake, they'll be able to reconcile and if not, then I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to be enough for her.

Ooh-oh

You've gotta live every single day

Like it's the only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Don't let it slip away

I know exactly how lucky I am to have her love me and I meant every word I said in my vows.

Could be our only one, you know it's only just begun

Every single day

Maybe our only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Tomorrow never comes

If I have my way, I will be there to support her in every way until the day I take my last breath. Until that day comes, I will strive to always be the man she believes I am.

Time is going by so much faster than I

And I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you

You're never gonna be alone

The man who for years thought he was nothing more than a broken soldier damaged beyond repair. The man whose soul is maybe not quite as dark as it used to be.

From this moment on

If you ever feel like letting go

I won't let you fall

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on

Bobby said that the reason Casey and I found each other was because we needed one another to heal. I'm pretty sure he's right.

We're gonna take the world on

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone

I'm gonna be there always

I won't be missing one more day

I'm gonna be there always

I won't be missing one more day

Casey's eyes glistened as the song ended. "I didn't think I wanted any kind of actual wedding, but this just feels so right," she said.

"Make sure you tell my mama that," I replied as I guided her back to the table. "She'll be thrilled to know that you were happy with everything."

Our meals came and a little later the speeches followed. While my cousin and my best friends continued to roast me, they all said wonderful things about my new bride. The special dances followed. We'd gone back and forth about whether to have these dances because of Casey's situation. In the end, Casey said I couldn't deny my mama her mother-son dance. So, once again Tio Ricardo stepped in and made the father-daughter dance as special as he could for my new wife.

Once the formalities were out of the way for a while, the party got started and everyone began to mingle and dance. That is everyone but Ram, who remained at the bridal table, drinking, and taking everything in.

I slid into the empty seat next to him. "You, okay?"

He nodded. "I will be."

"You know that under the circumstances, I would have understood if you wanted to stay with your father for a little longer."

He shot me a crooked smile. "I know, but Dad insisted I needed to be here. He said it would make me feel better to celebrate something happy."

"But you don't feel like celebrating," I said.

He shook his head, then took another drink of what looked like rum and coke.

"If you want to leave, I'll understand. All I ask is that you call an Uber and don't try to drive."

Again, he shook his head. "I'm not bailing on my best friend's big day." With the glass still in his hand, he motioned toward the dancing crowd. "Besides, I promised Maddie another dance before the end of the night."

I gave his answer a chuckle. "There are at least a dozen single men here who would be happy to dance with her in your place."

"All the more reason for me to stay," he replied, then took another swig of his drink. "She's been through enough without some drunk, horny cretin pawing at her."

I arched a brow at his choice of words. "Some of those drunk horny cretins are your co-workers."

He lifted the glass as if in a toast. "As I said, all the more reason for me to stay." Huh….was my partner hooked on Madalyn? Interesting.

"Did you know, that today before the wedding, she pulled me aside to thank me for saving her life back in December?" He lifted the glass to his lips, then paused. A scowl followed when he realized the glass was empty. "As if there was any other choice," he grumbled.

"You're right," I said as I pulled the empty glass from his hand and replaced it with a full glass of water. "There wasn't another choice, but that doesn't mean it didn't cost you to do it."

He shrugged as he stared at the glass. "It always costs me a little when I have to take a life. That's part of the deal. Protect the innocent at all costs. They just don't tell you until it's too late that part of that cost is losing pieces yourself in the process."

I didn't like where this conversation was heading. His thoughts were spiraling, and the alcohol wasn't making them any better. Though, I could understand to a degree. Exactly two months to the day he killed Pfeiffer, he lost his mother. Thankfully, he'd been able to spend most of the time in between with her, but that didn't make losing her any easier for him.

He took a long drink of the water, then grabbed my shoulder with his empty hand and squeezed. "I know you're worried. Don't be. I promise I'll be okay."

"You know, I'm always here for you, right? So are the rest of the guys."

"I know," he said. "It means a lot, but tonight you need to be there for your bride."

I glanced over to where Casey was dancing in a group with Stella, Kristina, Manny, Junior, and Woody. She looked to be having the time of her life and once again, I felt torn between my friend who needed me and my new bride.

After the Pfeiffer incident, when we returned to our apartment, Casey had insisted that I go take care of Ram. I'd been torn, right up until I realized that Stephanie, Kristina, and Stella would be spending the night with Casey and Maddie. Knowing they were in good hands made the decision to go to my friend easier. It turned out to be a long, hard night for him, and in the end, I was glad I'd been there for him when he needed me.

Ram nudged me. "Go. I promise that I'm not in any kind of headspace where I'm gonna do something stupid, okay?"

He'd never broken a promise to me before, but I'd still feel better if one of the guys was willing to keep an eye on him. "Okay," I finally said with a sigh. "But if you need anything-"

He waved me off. "I know and I will."

I patted him on the back, warned him to stay off the alcohol, and headed out to the dance floor. It took a few minutes to pull Ranger, Bobby, and Tank aside without Ram noticing. After I filled them in on my conversation with him, they all promised to keep watch over him while Casey and I were away in the Florida Keys for our honeymoon.

Ram did eventually come out from behind the table and join the festivities. He even managed to catch the garter. Much to Manny's dismay, since Stella caught the bouquet.

We cut the cake and made our rounds and by the end of the night Casey and I were both exhausted. I climbed into the back of the limo, closed the door, and nodded to the chauffeur. He pulled away from where everyone stood in the cold waving and watching; and drove us toward the hotel where we'd spend our first night as husband and wife. Tomorrow we'd fly to Florida for a week.

Casey threaded her arm around mine and leaned against me. "I'm tired."

I kissed her hair, "Me too. Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Very much," she replied. "I can't believe it's only been four months since you found me on that bridge feeling completely alone and thinking about ending it all. It feels like a lifetime ago, now."

It might feel like a lifetime ago for her, but it still felt like it happened yesterday for me. "I promise, Preciosa, from this point forward, you're never going to be alone again."


Well, folks, that's the end of Lester and Casey's story. It's been a wild ride. I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me through all of my ups and downs to see this story to completion and stay tuned for the next story in my Reconciliation series.