Page 75 of Imbalanced Minds

Epilogue

Iris

I stand in front of my husband, wearing the most gorgeous white lace gown, looking longingly into his eyes as I think back on the events that brought us together. I would never have thought, after all the effort I put in chasing him that he’d be the one to end up chasing me. The universe works in funny ways and I’ll never understand why we had to go through so much trauma to get to this point.

It’s been just over a year since my first attack, if you don’t count the night Cory broke Tyrell’s nose. I’ve jumped lots of obstacles to get where I am today, yet, I don’t regret any of them. If I hadn’t fallen down the black hole of darkness, or the rabbit hole as I once called it, then I never would have learnt any life lessons on self-worth and self-loving. I learnt to love myself again and I kick arse at it every day. Every obstacle I ever had was met with defeat before victory and I wouldn’t have made the victories I have without my support crew and my new husband.

Every day I write in my gratification journal, and every day I learn something new about myself that I previously would never have acknowledged. It’s still thanks to the man in front of me for every look, every action and every compliment he has for me. Just me.

We’re standing in our backyard, full of friends and family about to take our place on the makeshift dance floor, when Cory pulls something small and shiny out of his pocket. Holding it up, I can now see it’s a golden chain necklace with a heart attached to it.

“Iris, I want to give you your wedding present.” I nod in wait, while he parts the chain and places it around my neck, doing up the small clasp. “When I was cleaning my old house, I found the photo of us in the lounge, but it didn’t survive the carnage, I’m sorry, but that had me thinking, what if I could get it remade and you could wear it always. So, I had Nat make me a much smaller copy and I put it in here.” Opening up the little heart locket, I can see the photo of us from Cory’s graduation and one from our engagement party sitting perfectly inside and it makes me well up.

“It’s so beautiful. I love it, so, so much. Thank you, Cor.” I say, then he kisses me sweetly before we finally take place on the dance floor.

We’re in no way traditional, but we are us. We chose something that holds sentiment and meaning to us. We’ve also planned for Nat and Jay to jump in and shake their booties with us when the song starts. We thought it fitting that since our engagement party had a re-enactment of Cory seducing me it only seems right to have the song, my favourite song, for our first dance.

We stand staring for what seems like an eternity, but I don’t care. I would stand here forevermore if it meant he was still mine.

The beginning beats of Feel the Love by Rudimental (feat John Newman) hits the outdoor speakers, and my soft smile breaks out in an all-out grin of excitement. As it ramps up to the bass drop, our two special guests join us. Newly engaged, these two can’t keep their hands off each other and it makes me queasy. But I’m super happy for them.

Cory grabs my hands and wraps my arms around his neck, with his arms encasing me resting on my lower back. We don’t bust a move like everyone else who’s come to join us; we sway and continue looking into each other’s eyes. Our future.

I’ve been wanting to tell Cory something for a few days now; keeping secrets isn’t what we do. At least, not anymore.

“Hey, Husband.” I smile up to Cory.

“Hey, Wife.” He grins back.

“So, I didn’t get to write my daily reflection today. I thought you might like to hear today’s entry.” He nods in reply, so I carry on. He’s never seen an entry, not one, so this for him is big—hence the wordless reply.

“I love how beautiful I look in my wedding gown today. With you looking down on me, eyes full of love. I also love making you laugh with my ‘horizontal comedian’ jokes at night, even if you’re laughing at me because I’m being ridiculous.” Cory scoffs at our inside joke. Taking a deep breath, I continue with my second entry. The one that’s going to knock him to his knees.

“Second, I’m grateful for the love of my life, my amazing husband, who is going to make the best Daddy in approximately thirty-two weeks.”

Time stands still and the world around us stops.

Silence fills the air as Cory absorbs my words.

I’m standing before the man I’m building a future with, tears lightly tricking over my cheeks, as his reaction becomes clear. His forehead scrunches while deep in thought, before relaxing and letting those stormy eyes open, bright and wide. He lifts me up and twirls me around, his excitement evident. To any one of our guests, it’d look like we’re lost in the music as newlyweds.

To us, we’re celebrating our new beginning, as a married couple.

We’re celebrating the life we’ve grown to love and cherish, for the rest of our lives and thereafter.

We’re celebrating our excitement of becoming parents of our unborn child.

I never would have thought in a million years I’d be celebrating my second chance at a happy life with this man.

Even people with imbalanced minds get their happily ever after because I just got mine.

The End

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