Free The Night Before Christmas by Mary McNear Page B

ceremony to begin. Then the five of them arranged themselves in front of the fireplace, with Jack and Caroline facing the judge and Daisy and Mary Beth standing on either side, and a little bit behind them. Beyond the judge was a row of windows, and through them Caroline saw that the last pinkness was draining from the sky, and that the wind was kicking up little swirls of snow. A log popped and then crackled in the fire, and the smell of nutmeg lingered in the air. This is it, Caroline thought . This is what I’ve always wanted. Jack and Daisy. My family.
    Judge Hilliard buttoned his jacket. “Shall we begin?”
    Jack and Caroline both nodded, and Jack released her arm long enough to tug nervously on his tie again. Poor man, she thought, he probably feels as if he ’s being strangled . “One moment, Judge,” she said, and she reached over and unknotted Jack’s tie and slipped it off him. Then she unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, and, after folding the tie neatly, deposited it into the inside pocket of his blazer. “There, now we can begin,” she said, and Jack, both amused and grateful, leaned over and kissed her temple.
    â€œAll right. You two have expressed a desire to recite your own vows. Do you have them prepared?”
    â€œThey’re right here,” Daisy said—­Daisy who was both maid of honor and best man at this ceremony. She handed Jack and Caroline each a sheet of paper.
    Now Judge Hilliard cleared his throat again and spoke. “Since you both asked me several weeks ago to officiate at your wedding, I’ve been thinking a lot about the two of you. About how you’re getting a second chance, and about how rare it is in life to get one. We’re not usually given an opportunity to correct a mistake, or to right a wrong from our past. Usually, the best we can do is to be honest with ourselves, to apologize when necessary, to make peace with what we’ve done or failed to do, and to move forward.
    â€œI remember speaking to your father, Caroline, shortly before he died. He said he could forgive you, Jack, for leaving his daughter and granddaughter, but he wondered if you would be able to one day forgive yourself. For forgiveness is what allows us to love. And, Caroline, another woman in your place might have become bitter over the years, raising a child and running a business alone. But somehow, through all this, neither you nor Jack lost sight of the things that matter most. Both of you have been able to forgive yourselves, and each other.
    â€œAnd I’m reminded of something a poet once said about love. He said that for one human being to love another is the most difficult task given to us, but that it is also the most important. And that love is the work for which all other work is merely a preparation. I think that’s true. Love brings joy, yes, but it also brings hard work. And here you both are, together again, after all these years, ready to do this hard work, but also, to partake in this great joy. So it is with immense pleasure that I preside over your wedding now and wish you real happiness in the years ahead. Would you like to read your vows?” he asked.
    Caroline and Jack exchanged looks, and Jack nodded to Caroline to go first. Caroline looked down at the sheet of paper and noticed it was shaking slightly. She steadied her hands and began to read. “Jack, when we said our vows to each other for the first time, twenty-­one years ago, I don’t think we really understood what those vows meant and how hard it would be to uphold them. We were so young. So inexperienced. But, as Judge Hilliard just said,” she said, looking up briefly and smiling at the judge, “we have a second chance now. And this time, I believe in you. I believe in us .” Now she smiled up at Jack. “I promise to love you, as my partner, best friend, companion, and coparent. I promise to support you in times of struggle, or