“Dad told me I am her big brother, and I should take care of her.”
He paused.
Then came the final sentence.
“So that is what I am doing.”
I don’t remember how I remained standing.
I remember Daniel placing a hand against my back.
I remember Mom crying without even trying to hide it anymore.
I remember Father Michael removing his glasses and wiping his eyes.
And I remember Nathan folding his paper very carefully afterward.
Then he looked at Father Michael.
“Do I sit now?”
The church erupted into tearful laughter.
“Yes,” I managed to say.
Nathan smiled.
Then he walked over and sat beside Mom.
And the wedding continued.
Margaret said nothing.
Not about Nathan.
Not about the photographs.
Not that day.
Part 5 — The Album
Eight weeks later, our wedding photographs arrived.
The main album was beautiful.
There were photographs of Daniel and me exchanging vows.
Mom crying.
Our first kiss.
The reception.
The flowers.
The cake.
Everything a wedding album was supposed to contain.
But the second album was different.
That one began with Nathan.
There he was getting dressed.
Dad’s cufflinks resting against his wrists.
Nathan checking the time.
Nathan standing alone behind the church doors.
Nathan holding one arm out as he waited for me.
Then came the walk.
Page after page.
Nathan concentrating fiercely.
My hand wrapped around his arm.
His lips moving as he counted.
The moment he glanced at me to ask whether he was walking too quickly.
The moment he whispered something that made me cry.
The moment Daniel hugged him.
Then came the speech.
One photograph stretched across two full pages.
Nathan stood at the altar holding his folded paper in both hands.
Behind him, almost everyone in the pews was crying.
I stared at that photograph for a long time.
Then I cried all over again.
Part 6 — Margaret Saw What I Saw
The following Sunday, we hosted dinner.
Mom came.
Nathan came.
Daniel’s parents came too.
Nathan spent most of the evening discussing football with Daniel as though he had not brought an entire church to tears only eight weeks earlier.
I placed the special album on the coffee table.
I didn’t announce it.
