“I’m pretty sure it could’ve been raining buckets, and Brayden and Molly would still think it was the perfect day,” Carter says.

“Is the groom nervous?”

“I think he’s convinced she’s going to realize she can do better than him and disappear.”

I laugh. “I really doubt that. I think she’s nervous, but not as nervous as the ring bearer. He’s told me fourteen times that Brayden’s going to be his dad.”

“Only fourteen?” Carter asks. “Every time I’ve called him Noah this week, he’s corrected me. ‘It’s Noah Jackson,’” Carter says, imitating the little boy’s adorable voice.

“He knows where he belongs.”

Carter pulls my hands off his tie and closes the distance between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and slowly lowering his forehead to mine. “I can’t blame him for being excited about it. It’s a good feeling, knowing where you belong, knowing who you can call family.”

“Can’t argue with that.” I loop my arms behind his neck and melt into him.

“Get a room,” Isaiah calls from behind me, and I grin, as grateful to the Jacksons for pulling the teen into the fold as I am for their willingness to include me.

“Can you go find something else to do for a while?” Carter asks Isaiah, and I hear the kid chuckle and the sound of his steps.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I say, even as I curl into him.

“I wanted to ask you a question in private,” he says in my ear.

“What’s that?”

He clears his throat. “Today’s all about family. About making those who are family in our hearts family in name.”

That is such a freaking sweet way to look at it. “I love that.”

He’s quiet for a beat and I feel him go tense. Is he . . . nervous? “So what about you? Would you want to be a Jackson?”

I pull back to look in his eyes, sure I’m misunderstanding what I think I heard and hoping beyond hope anyway. “What?”

Carter grins and shakes his head. “You look amazing in that dress, but I keep thinking you’d look even better wearing a ring.” He digs a hand in his pocket and comes out with a black box. “My ring.”

Oh my God. “Carter . . .”

“You’ve been an honorary Jackson for a long time, Teagan, but I’m ready to scratch the ‘honorary’ from that title altogether.” He drops to one knee and opens the box to show a sparkling diamond. “I love you. You saved me from the darkness, and I’d be grateful to you every day for that alone, but then you became part of my life. You brighten every day that I get to spend with you and bring me more joy than anyone else I’ve ever known. I’m the luckiest guy in the world to call you my girl, but I’d rather call you my wife. Marry me?”

“Yes.” I drop to the ground in front of him and offer him my shaking hand. He slides the ring on, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “I love you so much.”