Chapter 10 - The Walk Down the Aisle
Five years later.
The auto shop was gone. In its place, bought and paid for by the settlement and the girls' successful careers, was a beautiful, sprawling farmhouse with a wrap-around porch and a massive garden.
I was sitting on that porch, completely healthy, my bad knee surgically repaired, watching the sunset.
The front door opened.
Chloe stepped out. She wasn't wearing a graduation gown today. She was wearing a stunning, flowing white wedding dress.
Stella, now a junior partner at a law firm, and Harper, the head of a PR agency, followed behind her, holding the train of the dress.
"How do I look, Dad?" Chloe asked, her eyes shining.
I stood up, adjusting my tailored tuxedo. "You look like a queen, sweetheart."
The music started playing from the backyard, where hundreds of guests were seated under strings of fairy lights. Chloe linked her arm through mine.
"I'm sorry I almost fell for it back then," Chloe whispered as we walked toward the aisle. "I just wanted to fix things for you."
"You didn't need to fix anything," I smiled, patting her hand. "You girls fixed my life the day you were left on my porch."
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I walked my daughter down the aisle, the proudest father on the face of the earth. I had given up my twenties, my savings, and my sleep. But looking at my three girls, successful, happy, and fiercely loyal, I knew the truth.
I hadn't sacrificed a single thing. I had gained the whole world.
