Best Friends... 20 Year Reunion

"Stage four." was all Liz could say in the moment. Her mom had some kind of cancer as well. Liz didn't go into details, but she didn't have to.

Her mom was close to death.

She gathered herself, taking a couple of deep breaths, then walked over and pulled up a chair beside her mom. She laid a hand on her mother's hand and smiled as Debbie looked over to her.

"Hey mom...how are you feeling today?"

"Like a million fucking bucks." Debbie answered before coughing roughly. She composed herself and smiled at her daughter. "Is that....?" she asked, looking over my way.

"Yes mom. That's Chris. Do you remember him?" Liz answered as I gave a little wave to Debbie.

"Yes I do. I thought it was him. I always thought you two were going to either get together or fuck like rabbits back then." Debbie said, causing Liz and I both to turn red in the face immediately. Debbie laughed herself into a coughing fit, then once she got herself calmed down, she continued. "So, what brings you two here?"

"Well mom..." Liz started, before looking at me and smiling. "...I wanted to let you know that I'm moving back here to be close to you." Debbie smiled and squeezed her daughter's hand tightly before Liz continued. "And yes...Chris and I are OFFICIALLY together."

"It's about damn time baby." Debbie said, looking at her daughter, then me, then back to Liz. "So, when's the wedding?"

Liz looked at her mom with an open jaw, then she smiled at me as I laughed to myself. I had no idea how she knew it, but she did.

"Well...we haven't set one yet. We just got engaged yesterday. It was..." Liz looks at me, trying to find the words to say.

"Spur of the moment, but years in the making." I added, causing Liz to smile again. "We spent some time apart, and I couldn't do that ever again. I didn't even get her a ring yet, but I love your daughter and I don't want another moment without her." Liz wiped a single tear away from her eye as Debbie looked at me with a big smile.

"Claudia...please go to my bedroom and grab the box out of the top draw of my dresser." Debbie asked, with Claudia nodding and walking out of the room. A moment later, when she returned, Debbie looks my way again. "Give that to him."

Claudia gives me the small box, and I open it. Inside are a men's and women's wedding ring set, along with an engagement ring. My eyes go wide and I look at Debbie, who simply nods.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I most likely won't make it to your wedding day." Debbie says as Liz looks to the floor, tears flowing freely now. "The least I can do is offer you these. That's the set that your father and I used the first time around. When we remarried, we swore to be buried in a new set. We wanted to give these to you when the time was right."

"Thank you mom!" Liz said, leaning over and hugging her mom the best that she could. "I suppose we should start talking about a date soon." she said, looking over to me. I nodded in agreement, but we were surprised when Claudia spoke up.

"Why not today?"

Liz looked at me with her eyes wide with surprise, and I turned to look at Claudia as she stepped closer to Liz and I.

"Today?" I asked.

"Yes!!! Why not today? We can make it happen!"

Liz smiled at me, and almost as if she spoke to me using her thoughts, I knew what was coming.

"Okay...how can we make it happen?"

"Well...my boss is an ordained minister. He's been called bedside many times to give patients their last rites or to perform a marriage ceremony for patients in their final days. I just texted him and he said he can be here in about an hour and a half. That will give you two time to go to the courthouse and get a marriage license. We can absolutely do this!" Claudia couldn't help but beam with pride as she finished her thought. She came up with a great idea, and I didn't even think twice about it.

"I'm ready if you are." I say to Liz, who is smiling yet crying at the same time. She looks down to her mother in the bed, the smile never leaving her face.

"What do you say, mom? Are you up to watching us get married?"

"Honey, I'd love to. If you don't today, I can't promise that I'll be there any other time." Debbie answered, squeezing Liz's hand once again. "Besides, your father used to joke about how we would be gone long before you got married..prove him wrong, kid."

Liz laughed, gave her mom another hug, and stood upright, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Okay. Let's get married!"

*****

The next couple of hours went by in a blur, even though the courthouse was taking their time getting our marriage license ready. When they finally did, they told us what we needed to fill out and gave us their best wishes.

When we pulled back in the driveway, we were greeted by the man who would marry us. Introductions came and went, and within a few moments, we were ready.

Nothing too flashy or extravagant. Just the two of us, the minister, a witness in the form of a healthcare worker, and the mother of the love of my life. With my parents living out of state now, they were there on screen via a tablet that I had carried with me for work. We would make the trip to see them soon. But, for now, we were giving a dying woman her wish of witnessing her daughter get married. We said our vows, placed rings on each other's fingers, and sealed it all with a kiss.

After all the time spent apart, after all the years that we said we were better off as friends, we finally came to our senses. We finally became husband and wife. And, we had her mom there to celebrate with us.

Almost a week and a half after our small wedding, Debbie passed away. We buried her beside Doug. When all was said and done, we were contacted by the attorney that had helped handle Debbie's will, and we were both surprised to learn that not only had Debbie left Liz and I the house that Liz grew up in, but that it was completely paid off. Apparently, after our wedding, she contacted the attorney and made the last change to her will. She instructed that he inform us that the house was a wedding present, and that no matter what, it needed to be a part of our own family.

That night, Liz and I had a long, long talk about what the future would hold.

*****

EPILOGUE:

6 MONTHS LATER

"Okay. That's absolutely fantastic! Yes. Yes, we'll be there. Tomorrow morning, 9 o'clock on the dot. We will see you then! Thank you so, so much!" Liz excitedly ended her conversation on the phone as I put my truck into park, killing the ignition as we arrived at our destination.

"Well...that sounded promising." I say to my wife. She looks at me, eyes filled with tears, but she's smiling ear to ear. She's absolutely beautiful and beaming with joy.

"Umm yeah!!! That was Christine from the orphanage. Everything is settled and approved. We can go pick up Olivia tomorrow!" Liz practically screamed, leaning over and wrapping her arms around me.

Olivia was a 5 year old little girl that had lost both of her parents to a car wreck earlier in the year. Ironically, around the same time that Debbie had passed away. Liz heard about what happened and immediately looked into adoption. We had decided months beforehand that even though Liz couldn't have children, we absolutely wanted to start a family. We settled on adoption as soon as I even mentioned the idea. We had been back and forth with the orphanage in the months since, visiting Olivia and getting to know her and letting her get to know us. We finally asked her if she would like to live with us and she gave us a definite yes, so we moved forward with the paperwork, background checks, and everything else. Several months into our marriage, and we were finally able to call ourselves parents.

"That's fantastic!!! Oh God, I can't wait!!!" I said with the same level of excitement that Liz had. "You're going to be an amazing mom!"

"You'll be a great dad, too! I love you!"

"I love you!" I say as Liz goes to give me a kiss. "We'll have to get a celebration shower in after this." I say after Liz breaks the kiss. She smiles, bites her bottom lip, and quickly flashes her tits to me. I stare at my lovely bride's chest, reaching a hand to touch her, but she slaps my hand away with a laugh, covering herself once more.

"Later on, mister! We need to get inside."

"Okay okay. As you wish!"

I get out of the truck, walk to the passenger side and open the door, offering a hand to Liz as she stepped down.

"Let's go see if any of these assholes have changed!" Liz said with a laugh. I wrap my arm around her waist as we walk past a sign in front of the open door ahead of us.

"Jackson High School Welcomes Class of 2003 --- 20 Year Reunion"