“Finnegan Charles ‘Chewy’ Reynolds, you were my fairy tale before I even knew it. You have been my best friend and my ride or die for my entire life. You were there when I was delivered the worst news of my life and learned I had cancer.” Her voice shook, and a tear streamed down her cheek. A lump formed in my throat, but I squeezed her hands and nodded. Because together, we could and would get through anything. “And somehow, you made that awful day my most memorable New Year’s Eve. You have celebrated my wins and picked me up during my losses. You have cheered me on through every up and down in my life. You have shown me what real love is and that I should chase every dream that I have. But I’ve come to learn that the only thing I really want to chase is the cute boy in the baseball cap who rides horses like he was born to and then goes off and becomes a big movie star. You are my dream come true, Finn Reynolds. I have loved you since my earliest memory, and I will love you for as long as I’m on this earth.”
There were sniffs and gasps, and Reese didn’t even try to stop the tears from falling.
“Damn, girl, you’re a hard act to follow,” I said as the group erupted in laughter.
“Go ahead, Finn,” Father Davis said.
“Well, we’ve done just about everything backward, and I’ve got to say, backward is the new forward.” I chuckled. “I cannot recall a single day in my life that you weren’t in my thoughts. Not a single day where I didn’t love you fiercely. We started this relationship by lying to everyone and pretending that we were a couple when we weren’t. But you see”—I glanced out at our families with a big smirk on my face—“that was mistake number one. Try fake dating someone you’re already in love with. That poor bastard, Carl, didn’t stand a chance.” I winced and made an apologetic face at Father Davis.
“Continue,” he said, over more laughter.
“You see, Reese and I loved one another before we even knew what it meant. My dad has always told the story about the first time that he saw Mama and all the hair on his arms stood on end, and he just knew she was the woman for him.”
“Damn straight!” my father shouted over more chuckles.
“Well, we’ve given him a hard time over the years, as we’ve all made fun of how hard and fast he fell. But it hit me when I was in Tokyo that I think I fell for Reese Murphy before I knew what it meant to fall. When we were meeting out in that treehouse before the sun went down every single day. Desperate to spend just a few more minutes with my favorite girl.” I leaned down and rested my forehead against hers. “I’d already given you my heart, so I spent many years being single because my soulmate and I needed time to figure out what this was between us. But the minute the opportunity came—fake dating didn’t make much sense, did it, Miney?”
She shook her head, and her bottom lip wobbled. “Nope.”
“Because my heart has always been yours. You are my best friend, my confidant, and the love of my life.”
She sniffed as tears streamed down her face. “You’re the love of my life.”
“Can I tell them the good news?” I whispered, and everyone laughed again because apparently, I was a loud whisperer.
She nodded and smiled. “Please do.”
I pulled back to look at everyone, with Reese’s hand intertwined with mine.
“We wanted to bring you all here to be part of our special day, which we didn’t want to wait to make official because, to us, we’ve already waited way too many years being apart. So, we’re not spending one more day not letting everyone know that we’re madly in love. That we found our forever, and we wanted to start living it right now.”
“Cheers to that! It’s about time,” my mom and Jenny said at the same time as tears streamed down their faces.
“Yep. We’ll be cheering real soon, I promise.” I looked down at Reese and winked. “But we also wanted you to know that we’re having a baby. And let’s just hope he or she is going to have their mama’s pretty looks and big brain.”
Reese’s head fell back in laughter. “And their daddy’s swagger and charm.”
“Wow. Go big or go home,” Cage said, his eyes wide. “But I’d like to point out that I did predict this would all happen, and I believe several of you owe me some money.”
“Ahhh… announcing the pregnancy during the ceremony is new for me.” Father Davis leaned close to my ear, and I barked out a laugh along with everyone around us. “But congratulations. I’m happy for you both.”