“Mikayla, it’s clearing up,” Justin whispered excitedly, pointing out the windows. “I know it’s good luck for rain, but I also know you wanted things perfect for an outdoor wedding.”

“With a view like ours, who wouldn’t want that?”

“The vendors will be here soon to get set up. I’ll make sure they know to set up outside. It didn’t rain much here, so the grass isn’t muddy and should fully dry out now that the sun’s out and the clouds are moving away.”

“Why am I starting to freak out now? Justin, this is actually happening…”

“I still can’t believe he’s not staying here at the house today. I mean, besides last night. Once midnight hit, he was out of the house to avoid any bad luck.  Is it bad I wanna take advantage of being alone in bed with you? The door is locked so the twins couldn’t bother you…”

“Plenty of time for that tonight, Justin.”

“Tonight and the next two weeks are you and JC’s time together. I think it’s kinda fitting our next time after all this will be where things started for us.  Not where we had our first time, but our first kiss, beyond being drunk, was there.  It holds a special place in my heart.”

“We don’t go there often enough.  Maybe it becomes an every summer thing, we go for a couple weeks or a month.  It’s already there, might as well use it, right?”

“I love you, Kay. I hope that is clear in everything that happens today.”

“Oh, I think I’ll figure it out,” she smiled, kissing him deeply and turning to be on top of him.

“Before we start, I wanna give you a wedding gift of sorts.”  He pulled an envelope from his nightstand, handing it to her.

She opened it slowly, seeing a card with a blank front.  Inside was a business card, and a note explaining what it all meant.  “I hope this is ok.  I know we’d discussed things regarding this, and I figured…”

She looked at him, her eyes wide. “You’re sure?”

“Very.  When will you tell JC?”

“When the time is right…”

…

“Why am I so nervous?” Mikayla asked.  “I’ve done this before, twice if we want to get technical.  So why does it feel so different now?”

“Because it’s JC,” Erin said.  “It may not be legal, but you’re getting to have a wedding and marry JC after all these years.”

“Was this a mistake?” she asked, looking at herself in the mirror.

“Was WHAT a mistake?” the girls asked back.

“Getting married.  If Justin and I had never gotten married, Josh and I might have had a chance of getting back together before the twins were born.  Did I legally marry the wrong man?”

“Justin has loved those twins like they were his own form day one.  No, there’s no harm in what you did.  Do you love him now?”

“With all I am,” she answered.

“Did you love him then, when this all started?”

“I thought I did, but it all happened so fast, he was offering me everything I needed, I was scared…”

“I was there, Kay.  I saw how you looked at him at the first wedding.  Hell, I was there for the one in Italy.  You loved him then, like you love him now.  This is just nerves because JC is part of it now.  Nothing changes with either of them because of this. You still love both of them, that’s why this is happening.  If you knew deep down that it wasn’t working with one of them, you’d have let them go by now. It’s been a year.”

“What if I hadn’t been pregnant with Silas when this started?  Would it be wrong to want to just be with Josh, have our chance at being a family?”

“Mikayla,” Heather said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I love you, I’m glad you love my brother, but he was an idiot 6 years ago.  No one blames you for the choices you made.  Any one of us would have done something similar if it was offered to us, celebrity or not.”

“Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what things would’ve been like if I’d never married Justin.  Would I be just as happy with Josh?”

“Yes,” Miranda answered.  “You would have, I have no doubts.  Things happen for a reason.  I’ve talked with Justin enough over the years to know that he’d be miserable without you.  Maybe it happened this way so you all could be happy, be with the ones you love.  You and JC could be together, but with how much Justin loved you from the start…”

“Define ‘from the start’,” Mikayla said.

“The first time I met him at a party, you were all he could look at.  I asked him how long he’d been in love with you, and he told me the moment he first saw you.  It’s definitely not a conventional love story, but you have an incredible love story between these two.  They would give everything to be with you, and today we get to celebrate that.  It doesn’t mean you were wrong in not choosing one.  You were meant to have both of them, not just for a little while, but for the rest of your life.”

Mikayla stood,walking to the window overlooking the backyard.  She was in her robe, hair and makeup finished, just needing to put on her dress.  The sun was sinking lower in the sky, and she could see where the ceremony would take place.  They had been ready to put a tent up if need be with the rain, but everything looked beautiful.  It was like the dream she’d had months earlier.  The house wasn’t what she imagined, not exactly, but reality was sometimes better than dreams.  This time, she wouldn’t wake up before she got to marry JC.

She sighed deeply.  “I just hope he likes it.  That this is what he imagined for his wedding, you know?”

“Honey, JC never thought about marrying anyone but you.”

“What about-?”

“Yeah, we thought they’d head in that direction, but you were so different.  As much as he loved her, he loves you more.  I have no doubts that at some point, you’d end up here, marrying him.  You could be in the biggest church, the fanciest ballroom, or at the county clerk with a justice of the peace, and he’d still be happy that he gets to marry you.  You are endgame for him.  Marrying you, in whatever form, is what he’s wanted all these years, even if it took him a while to figure it out and step up.”

“All that’s left is your dress, Kayla.  Are you ready?  Kathleen will come back in, then wants to go outside and get some pictures of us outside,” Miranda said.

She took a look at herself in the mirror.  “Yeah, I’m ready.”

They helped her into her dress, Jonathan’s girlfriend getting pictures from different angles.  The world felt like it was moving in slow motion, Mikayla feeling so right being in the dress.  It hugged her curves without being too much, feminine yet not overly so.  It reminded her of her first wedding, more simple, though this was definitely more bridal than her first dress.  

“If it helps, he’s just as nervous,” Kathleen smiled softly. “He loves you so much, they both do. They were talking about if he’d been smart enough to do this the first time around…”

“How does he look? How do they look?”

“It’s them, what do you think?” Kathleen laughed. Justin’s in a black suit, JC in a light gray, both with ties that match the bridesmaid dresses.  Long ties, not bow ties.  You’re gonna take their breath away, Kayla.”

“I’m still nervous. What if pictures get out, the world finds out about me and Josh, everything is ruined…”

“It’ll be fine.  No one here will post anything, no one else knows we’re here.  Everything will be fine, Kayla,” Erin assured her.

“I have put their careers in jeopardy before, but I feel like this could be the one you don’t come back from.”

“Why?  You aren’t hurting anyone.  It’s a mutually agreed relationship, which is frankly no one else’s business.  There are plenty of open relationships that don’t worry about this kind of thing.  It’s no one else’s business, and if it gets out, it shouldn’t change anything for any of you as far as how you feel about each other, right?”

“I guess not, no.  I know Jusytin has said he could never work another day in his life and be fine if we’re together.  I’m sure Josh feels the same.  I’d just hate to be the reason why.”

“You won’t be.  If it gets out, I doubt it’ll be a big deal within the people you know and the industry they’re in.  There are people with bigger skeletons in their closets that aren’t living in fear of being found out.  You happen to be in love with two men that are incredible fathers to your kids.”

There was a knock at the door.  “May we come in?  The guys kicked us out to smoke cigars and have some whiskey,” Lynn  groaned.  

“Come in,” Mikayla answered softly.  “Help yourself to our mimosa bar.”

“Mikayla, you look beautiful,” Karen gasped. “Honey, I’ve dreamed of this for a long time.  I know he got close once, but I’m glad you’re the one he is having this with.”

“Even if it’s while I’m married to Justin?  After everything that’s happened?”

“Better late than never.  It fits him, really.  I love him, but he was never the marrying type.  Today lets him be that man, whether it’s legal or not.  The love behind it is there, and that’s what matters.  I never thought I’d get to see him get married, and now that day has come.  I wish it was more binding, but I also know the love between you two is just as strong as if this were the real deal.  It’s symbolic of a decade’s worth of love, heartbreak, and finding each other again.”

“I’m glad you found Justin during a time where you needed love, but this fits, too,” Lynn smiled, standing next to Mikayla in front of the mirror.  "I remember when you were in almost this exact position, in Tennessee in that beautiful dress getting ready to marry Justin.  I was right.  There was love between you two that has only grown as time has come and gone.  If you didn’t feel right about this, you wouldn’t be nervous, you’d have run for the hills already.  You worried about how people would take it with you seemingly leaving JC for Justin, and nothing happened.  Any worries you have are nothing that the love you have between you can’t fix.  Let it make you stronger.  I love you and am proud to have you as my daughter in law.”

There was another knock at the door.  “Ladies, I’m told we need to start getting into position, if you’re ready,” Miguel called from the other side of the door.  “Mikayla, are you ready?”

Mikayla sighed, giving herself one more look in the mirror.  “I’m ready.”  They all pulled together for a group hug and raised a toast to Mikayla, finishing what was left in their glasses, whether a little or a lot.  They walked downstairs, some going to sit as guests, the others waiting in line to walk out.

Mikayla was last to walk downstairs, Miguel finally seeing her.  “My beautiful girl,” he sighed.  “I know I’ve done this before, but I know this was meant to be as well.  I love Justin, he’s been wonderful to you, but I know how much you loved JC, and I’m glad you’re making this commitment to each other, the twins.  I may not exactly understand it, but I see how happy you are, how happy the twins are having him in their life.”

She saw the twins walk up to her, Barb looking grown up in her flower girl dress, JOshy looking very much like JC in his dress shirt and jeans.  “Mommy, you look like a princess,” Barb sighed, gently touching the flowery overlay of the wedding dress. 

“Do you think Daddy will like my dress?” Mikayla asked, crouching down to their eye level.

“Daddy thinks you’re beautiful no matter what,” Barb smiled.

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. he tells me a lot.  Mostly cuz he says I look just like you.  So if you’re beautiful, I’m beautiful, too.”

“You are VERY beautiful, my big girl,” Mikayla said, pulling Barb into her arms.  “And Joshy, you look very handsome. Every day you look more and more like your Daddy.  We’re in trouble when you’re older, that’s for sure.”

Joshy rolled his eyes, having heard this all before and still being grossed out by the possibility of girls liking him. 

The small group of family still with her began to walk down, Joshy and Barb walking together.  Mikayla couldn’t help but smile as Barb tossed the petals with flair, Joshy just ready to be down the aisle and done with his job.  Mikayla had the perfect vantage point of her men without being seen back.  Her heart skipped a beat seeing them in their suits, whispering to each other as they waited for Mikayla to come into view.  She wished she could read lips, so she knew what they were talking about.  JC looked hesitant and nervous, probably over making sure he got everything right.  

“Alright, it’s time for us to walk out.  This is one of the happiest days of your life, enjoy it.  Before you know it, today will be over and it’ll all be a blur. I love you, Mikayla.  There’s nothing to worry about.”

Mikayla quietly gasped, feeling deja vu as she knew her dad had said that exact line in her dream.  She remembered how she felt in the dream, and that she had wished she’d been able to finish the dream. She smiled, knowing now she was able to, experiencing it in reality.