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“I think we’ve got most of the details planned now and you two just need to actually get married.” Angela is sitting next to Lucy and grinning. “It’s going to be the absolute perfect day.”
“I hope so.” Lucy’s nerves are all over the place and Angela gives her a look of concern. “I’m just nervous about something going wrong, I guess.” They’ve been through enough and this day has to go smoothly. She just wants to get married to Tim at this point.
“Well, that’s what I’m here for and I promise that I won’t let anything go wrong.” She squeezes Lucy’s hand. “I did learn from the best people ever.” Lucy remembers how much Tim helped with Angela’s wedding and then she thinks of Jackson. Her heart clenches, but she does her best to shrug it off.
Lucy focuses on the rest of the planning with Angela. “You are going to be the most beautiful bride.” Both of their eyes fill with tears. “Thank you for loving Tim.”
“He always says that he’s lucky to have me, but I feel like I’m the lucky one. I love him more than I ever thought possible.” Lucy murmurs. “I still can’t believe that I’m marrying my soulmate.”
“It’s about damn time.” Angela teases her and stands up to get ready to leave. “Thank you for letting me help today.”
“You have been a lifesaver. I love you, Ange. I couldn’t do this without you by my side.” The two women embrace and Angela heads out.
Lucy is struggling with her emotions now that she’s home alone. Jackson had always teased her about wedding planning when the time came. He was always going to be her Man of Honor. It’s so hard to plan this wedding and know that he won’t be standing by her side. Her wedding to Tim is a dream come true for her. She never expected to have this. Jackson would tease her, after she finished rookie year. It’s like he knew that they would be here one day. Now he isn’t even here to see it.
Lucy pulls up her very organized list of everything for the wedding and starts to go through it to triple check everything again. Her emotions overtake everything and the tears start to fall down her face. The laptop drops to her side and she buries her face in her hands. They had dinner with the West’s not that long ago and her heart aches with how much he’s missed since he’s been gone. “Luce.” She looks up to see Tim and he has a concerned look on his face. “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought you were just wedding planning today.”
Lucy sniffles and Tim kneels beside the couch. “Angela was talking about how much you helped with her wedding and then I started to think about Jackson.” Tim’s heart hurts for his fiancé. “He should be here for this and he won’t be. He never got to see this version of you and my heart hurts because of it. We always joked that we would stand next to each other at our weddings. I didn’t think I’d get married but I know how much he loved Isaac.”
Tim grabs her hands and wipes a few tears away. “He’s always with you, Luce.” She looks up at him and he hates seeing the sadness in her eyes. “Jackson has probably cursed me out more times than I’ll ever know.” Tim manages to get a small smile out of her. “But trust me, he always knew. We talked about our own love lives when trying to get Angela’s wedding planned.”
“Really? Tim Bradford talked about personal things with someone else?” Lucy is shocked. “Wow.”
Tim chuckles. “Well, it just kind of happened.” Lucy looks at him to continue. “I can’t remember everything that lead up to those conversations or what was said exactly, but your name came up and apparently the look on my face changed. Jackson told me that one day we would be getting married and he couldn’t wait to give me a hard time for it. He also threatened to hurt me if I hurt you.” Lucy giggles. “He said that even if we didn’t see the feelings we had for each other, that others did. Our relationship or whatever we were, was rare, and we would end up here.”
“I can’t believe he said that to you.” She murmurs and focuses on Tim’s hands running soothing circles on her skin.
Tim shrugs. “Lucy, I knew my feelings were changing. When you went missing, I was not myself. I threatened someone and Jackson was there to see it all. I think even though I didn’t want to admit it, my feelings had already been changing. You were different than anyone I’d ever met. You challenged me since day one and were there for me no matter what. You’ve always had my back, unlike everyone else in my life.”
Lucy really is surprised by Tim every day. “You’re all that I thought about when I was in the barrel. I don’t know when my feelings started to change but you showed me what real love is supposed to be. You say you never felt worthy, but I never felt like I deserved to be loved. You really are incredible.”
Tim stands up and then sits down next to Lucy. He pulls her to his lap. “Why don’t we do something special for Jackson at the wedding?”
Lucy looks up at Tim. “I think that would be special. How can we honor him though?”
“We could have a seat saved with his picture on it.” Lucy doesn’t hate that idea, but is that how she would want to honor him? “Or light a candle in his memory.”
“I like the idea of saving him a seat.” She murmurs. “I could add his baby yoda to my bouquet because he loved that thing so much.”
Tim chuckles and pulls Lucy closer. “I love that idea. You could wear his necklace too or maybe I could.”
“That is a great idea babe.” She lays her head on his chest. “Thank you for supporting me with this and being the person by my side for everything.”
“Oh Luce. Jackson was a huge part of your life. I hated that I couldn’t take your pain away when he died. I just wanted to hold you and never let go.”
“You were there when I needed you the most and you’re here now.” She listens to his heart beating. “Can you do something with me?” She finally asks.
“Anything Luce.” He says as if it’s the easiest thing in the world.
“Can you come to Jackson’s grave with me? It’s been a while and it’s important to me.” Her voice is quiet and she doesn’t know why.
Tim pushes her chin up so they’re looking at each other. “Of course I will. It’s important to me too.” Lucy smiles and rests against Tim. She truly has the greatest person in the world by her side.