Page 19 of Regret

“Let’s do this,” my brother says as we all walk together once I’ve got all my girls out and in the middle of the group of men. I don’t leave them alone as I place a hand on Savannah’s back and make sure the other three are close to us.

We quickly make our way up the stairs of the courthouse and inside. All of us go through the metal detectors after emptying our pockets of everything for the security guards on sight. Once we’re through, I lead our small party toward the back of the courthouse where Judge Paxton’s chambers are. He’s waiting in there for us.

“Zach, why do I feel as if something more is going on today?” Savannah asks me as we get closer to the chambers we’ll be entering.

“Because there is more goin’ on today, Love. Today, I’m makin’ you mine,” I tell her, bending down on my knee in front of her and pulling the ring box from the pocket of my black dress pants. “Savannah, will you do me the honor of becomin’ my wife? I love you and told you that I want you as mine in every single way. Today, as we make the girls mine as well as yours, I want us all to have the same last name. I want to marry you so the entire world knows you’re mine and I’m yours.”

“I love you, Zach. Yes, I’ll marry you. Weddings take time to plan though,” she says, looking at Shy and Annabell to back her up.

“We’re not havin’ a regular weddin’ right now, Love. Today, Judge Paxton will marry us. If you want a large weddin’ with all the stuff you dreamed of as a little girl, we can do that later on. For now, I just want a small ceremony with us, your sisters, and a few members of our family,” I tell her, needing this to happen today now that I’ve been thinking about it and we’re so close to making it happen.

“I don’t need a big ceremony, Zach. All I need is my family surrounding us and I’ll be happy. Is that why you had me get a white dress, Shy?” she asks, turning to Shy where she stands with Slim as I stand up and remove the engagement ring from the box.

“Yeah. Valor told us all what he wanted to do and we all helped him put it together,” she answers, a large smile on her face as Slim steps forward and looks directly at Savannah.

“Savannah, it would be my honor if you’d allow me to walk you down the aisle,” he says, looking down at my girl as tears fill her eyes and I slide the ring on her finger before wiping the lone tear from her cheek.

“Of course, Slim. Thank you so much for doing this for me,” she says, letting him pull her in for a hug.

“You girls are family and I’ll do everythin’ I can to make sure you get your happily ever after. Are you sure you wanna marry this fucker though?” he questions her, making us all laugh as she looks at me with love filling her eyes.

“Yeah, I wanna marry him,” she states in a firm voice as the girls surround us even more.

“You guys get inside and make sure Fox sent the marriage license over already. We’ll be right in,” Slim orders us as I lead my girls in the door of the judge’s chambers followed by Shy, Annabell, and then my brother.

I walk up to Judge Paxton where he sits behind his desk at the back of his large room. He stands immediately to greet me.

“Valor, it’s good to see you today. Are these the girls you’ll be adopting?” he asks, holding out his hand for me to shake.

“They are. This is Ava, Chloe, and Miracle,” I answer him, pointing at each girl as I introduce them. “Girls, this is Judge Paxton.”

“It’s nice to meet you girls. Today is certainly a big day for your family,” he says, smiling at the girls as they stand between Vault and me.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Ava says, holding out her hand for him to shake. “Our family is growing today and we couldn’t be happier.”

“That’s really good to hear, sweetheart. These boys are some of the best I’ve ever met. They’ll take care of you all and make sure you have full lives,” he says, complimenting Vault and I. “Let’s get this show on the road so we can get you out of here to celebrate today.”

Judge Paxton presses a button on the radio behind him and the wedding march begins to play. The doors behind me open as we all take our spots and I turn to watch Slim walk in with Savannah on his arm. She’s smiling so big and I can’t help but smile in return. She looks so fucking beautiful and I can’t wait to make her mine.

Slim walks her up to me and stops before Judge Paxton asks who gives her away.

“I do, sir,” Slim speaks loud and clear before turning to face my girl. “We love you girls and today you get one of the best men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowin’ in my life. Valor, you take care of your girls the way your dad would want you to and make him proud of the man you’ve become. Love her every day of your life and make sure she knows how much she means to you. They all are the center of your world and deserve to be treated as that.”

I nod in response, emotions clogging my throat as I take Savannah’s hand in mine and we turn to face Judge Paxton. He reads through the traditional wedding ceremony until he gets to the vows where we’ll speak our own.

“Valor, you may speak your vows,” he says, clasping his hands in front of his body.

“Savannah, I didn’t truly know what love was until you walked into my life with three young girls. Every single day I spent with you I wanted to be a better man than my dad taught me how to be. The four of you are my world and you are my queen. We’ve had our ups and downs and still managed to find our way back to one another. The day I got the call from Ava, I didn’t know what I was gonna walk in to find. Slim told me it was bad and that only made the fear fillin’ me even worse. You get me in ways no one else has ever been able to do and I promise here today that I’ll spend the rest of my life makin’ everythin’ up to you. With you I get a family of three beautiful, talented, amazin’ girls. My promise extends to them. I will forever protect and love all four of you. We are a family and I will never take a single second with the four of you for granted. I love you, Savannah. Today, tomorrow, and forever,” I say as my girl looks up at me with tears in her eyes that she’s trying so hard to hold in.

“Zach, the day I met you, I knew you’d change our lives in the best way possible. I started to fall in love with you soon after meetin’ you because of the way you took care of my sisters and me. You never once made us feel like property or that we were damaged. Instead, you made sure to tell us every day how special and amazing we are. When you moved here, you still made sure to talk to the girls as often as they called you. Even if you were in the middle of something, you still gave them your full attention and never made them feel stupid or as if they weren’t your priority. Even when I wanted to hate you, I still loved you because of the man you are. Here today I promise to love you, support you in everything you want to do, and have your back when you need me the most. None of us are alone any longer and that’s because you’ve pushed us to take a chance and open our hearts to you. I love you, Zach. Today, tomorrow, and forever more,” she says, her voice wavering as the tears finally spill over and roll slowly down her face.

Wiping away the tears, I barely hear the words Judge Paxton says until Vault nudges me with his shoulder and hands over the ring for my girl.

“Repeat after me,” Judge Paxton says, saying the words as I slide the wedding band on Savannah’s finger.

“Savannah, if you’ll repeat after me,” he says, turning toward her as I hold out my hand for her and Ava holds out the ring I purchased this morning.

My girl repeats after the judge and slides the ring on my finger. I barely hold back as Judge Paxton finally pronounces us man and wife before telling me to kiss my bride. Placing a hand on either side of her face, I lean down and press my lips against Savannah’s soft, full lips. I don’t hesitate to deepen the kiss as everyone else fades to the background. After several minutes, I finally pull away from my wife and close my eyes while holding her close for a minute.

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