Everyone laughed softly.
He pulled a folded paper from his pocket.
“I approve this marriage,” he read seriously, “because Julian listens to me about dinosaurs, and he never laughs when Mommy is sad, and he knows family means being kind even when nobody is watching.”
Julian covered his face.
You cried openly.
Then Mateo added, “Also, he makes okay pancakes, but Mommy’s are better.”
That saved everyone from drowning in tears.
Julian knelt in front of him before taking your hand.
“I promise I will never try to replace anyone,” he said. “But I will stand beside you and your mom for as long as you both let me.”
Mateo nodded.
“Okay.”
Then, after a pause, he hugged him.
You almost collapsed from the tenderness of it.
Isabella was not invited.
Your mother was.
Barely.
She sat in the back with your father, quiet and careful. After the ceremony, she hugged you and whispered, “You deserved this the first time.”
