Page 108 of Forever Fascinating

“I’m happy for you, baby girl.”

Jana froze.

She recognized that voice… and disbelieving, she reached up to pull off the blindfold to see her father standing there, beside her, his eyes shiny with tears.

“You look beautiful, pumpkin,” he said thickly.

“Daddy?”she choked out, immediately starting to cry in astonishment, as she saw her mother appear beside him, handing her a small bouquet – and a few tissues, while her mom dabbed at her own eyes.

Her hands shook as she nearly dropped the small cluster of flowers – only to have her mother press them in her trembling hands once again.

“Mama?You’re here, too? What… I don’t understand… what is going on?” she whispered, feeling faint at realizing that her parents were here, somehow, in Iceland.

“Hey Twerp…”

Disbelieving, she turned slightly, and felt her knees give, catching herself on her father’s arm and a nearby pew to keep from collapsing.

Matthew was standing there in the distance, smiling proudly, his eyes gleaming with emotion… right beside her brother Jace, whose hand rested on Matthew’s shoulders affectionately, hugging him.

“He might be alright for you after all,” Jace said thickly, wiping his eyes and grinning. “And you look gorgeous, Twerp.”

“Matthew…” she choked out, stunned, as she saw that Anna and Sam were waiting near the front of the church – as was a minister and her sister-in-law, Karen, Jace’s wife.

There were no flowers or floral arrangements that Matthew had been ‘checking on’… he had somehow made sure that their family was there to see them married.

For her.

“Now, am I going to walk my daughter down the aisle today, or what?” her father said gruffly, as Jana let out a sob and nodded.

Time seemed to move so slowly as she stared in tearful disbelief at Matthew, realizing just how much effort and how many hoops he had to coordinate to get her family, her brother, and his own parents here for this moment – and he’d done it.

Every single one of them managed to keep it from her, hiding it, just to make sure that this was a surprise. She knew then the depth of his love, and realized that she’d only had an inkling before.

He’d done this so her father could walk her down the aisle – and so her mother could be present to see their youngest child married to the man she loved.

He’d invited his own parents, including them in this ceremony, because he wanted them to celebrate his commitment to her, growing as a person despite his past and the challenges they’d once had.

He had her brother there, standing up for him as his best man, as Matthew had done for Jace months ago, bringing the two of them together, because of her.

They would be coworkers, brothers by marriage, and almost looked like best friends at that very moment… and she couldn’t have imagined a better start to their marriage than this.

“Congratulations, baby girl,” her father said tenderly, kissing her on the cheek, before handing her off to Matthew. “Welcome to the family, young man… and thank you.”

“Thank you for trusting me with her,” Matthew replied, clearing his throat, and she realized he was trying so hard not to cry.

The minister began to speak, reciting his words in Icelandic and then in English for their benefit… yet everything was a blur, because Jana could not take her eyes off the man beside her.

That feeling she got the first time she’d seen him, that rush of longing, the sheer amazement and recognition that this person would change her world, hadn’t changed in the slightest.

In fact, standing there at his side, holding his hands in hers, and gazing at him… she understood so much now.

It wasn’t just love.

It wasn’t ‘Matthew’and ‘Jana’… those were names, labels, for what they called themselves, but the energy inside, that beautiful loving soul she beheld in his breathtaking eyes – that was her missing half she had searched for her entire life.

He was her soulmate.

“When I first saw you,” Matthew began speaking suddenly, turning to take her other hand in his, “I felt something change inside of me. There was this incredible woman standing behind me at the church and I had this instant disappointment that you were not the woman on my arm.”

---