wasn’t a scary topic anymore. Not like it used to be.
“You and Miikka gonna be popping one out any time soon?” Dani asked her, eyes twinkling.
“I don’t think so?” Charli chewed her lip thoughtfully. “We want kids, but not yet. I just turned twenty-five and he will in a few months, so it feels like we have a little time.”
“Don’t rush it,” Laurel said. “Having a little time to be a couple before you have kids is a good thing.”
“I think so too.”
“I agree.” Dani nodded. “Sergei and I started trying last year but we waited a year so we could have time together as a couple, and for Niko to adjust to me being his mom.”
“We’ve only known each other a few months,” Charli said. “So we’re definitely going to take time for it to be just us. We’re rushing into the wedding because I start school again soon and he really wanted to get married in Finland, but we have lots of time to be together before hockey season starts.”
“Are you going to keep teaching?” Dani asked curiously.
“For now, yes. That may change down the road, but he’s busy during hockey season, so what else would I do while he’s traveling and doing hockey stuff?”
“Very true.” Kendra nodded. “Plus, I’d be super bummed without you at school every day!”
They talked and joked throughout the flight, even when they should have been sleeping. There was excitement in the air and Charli was a little flabbergasted that everyone was focused on her, that she was the center of attention and it was all good things. She and her mother had been slowly repairing and rebuilding their relationship, but it would take a while and Charli was okay with that. Just the fact that her parents were here with her and going to be at her wedding was a huge step in the right direction.
“Hi.” At one point during the night, when some of their friends had dozed off, Miikka sank down next to Charli.
“Hi.” She turned to look into his eyes. “I missed you.”
He smiled. “You had all your girlfriends.”
“But I still missed you.”
He leaned over to brush his lips across hers. “I’ll never be far. And even if my body is far, my heart will remain with you.”
“We’re getting married,” she whispered, as if it were a secret.
He smiled. “Three days.”
“Then our honeymoon.”
“Then the rest of our life.” He brought her hand to his lips. “I love you, Char-lot. Thank you for being mine.”
“I can’t wait to be your wife.”
How Aada had put together an American-style wedding in Finland, in such a short time was beyond Charli, but everything about it was surreal as her father walked her down the aisle. He was beaming as they walked, and her mother was dabbing her eyes from where she sat up at the front of the room. Most of their friends were there, including Kendra, Donovan, Logan, Gage and Laurel, and many of the others Charli had come to love since she’d begun dating Miikka. And everyone looked so happy it made her a little weepy.
“I’m really happy for you, sweetheart.” Her father smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Be happy. Both of you.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She turned to Miikka and blinked back tears of sheer joy.
Miikka looked as handsome in a black tuxedo as she’d ever seen him, and their eyes locked as she approached him. Everything else fell away and it was suddenly just the two of them. His sweet, smiling face. The tenderness in his eyes as he took her hand from her father. The way he wiped her tears with his thumbs, whispering that he loved her. The gentle way he slid the gold band on her finger. His sweet lips as they kissed.
And then they were married.
Husband and wife.
Wife and husband.
Miikka and Charli.
Nothing had ever felt so right.
Hugs and laughter followed the ceremony and as they moved into the hotel ballroom for the reception, it was like a black-and-white world suddenly came into full-color focus. Everything that had been drab and boring before was now full-bodied and beautiful, filling her soul in a way she never would have thought possible. All because of the wonderful man she’d just married.
“I don’t think there has ever been a bride as beautiful as you,” Miikka whispered as they danced.
“I don’t know about that, but there’s definitely never been a bride as in love with her husband as me.”
He smiled, pulling her closer. “Look around the room, muruseni. Do