“You just put it on?”
“About two weeks ago. Your mom had already given it to me, and I was trying to decide what part of it I could use without ruining it.”
My mom called out, “I told her she could cut it.”
Claire looked horrified. “It just didn’t seem right to do that.”
That made everyone laugh again.
Even me.
Claire squeezed my hand.
“I put it on as a joke at first. It looked ridiculous.”
“It still does,” Aaron muttered.
Claire pointed at him. “Thank you, Aaron.”
Then she looked at me again.
“But when I saw myself in the mirror, I thought about you.”
Her voice softened.
“You’ve spent this entire wedding pretending you weren’t sad your dad couldn’t be here.”
I swallowed. “I wasn’t pretending.”
“Really?”
“Okay. Maybe a little.”
“You barely talked about it.”
“I didn’t want everything to become depressing.”
“I know.”
She took a breath.
“And I know nobody can replace him. I wasn’t trying to do that.”
I looked again at the writing inside the cuff.
Richard’s Wedding Suit.
Then the little stitched Danny beneath it.
“I just wanted one part of him to walk down the aisle today,” she said.
That was the point where my mother completely lost it.
She sat back down and started crying into a tissue.
I couldn’t look at her because I knew I’d start again too.
The officiant, who had been standing patiently beside us for this entire emotional disaster, finally leaned toward me.
“I’ll give you two a minute.”
I laughed. “We’ll probably need several.”
Claire smiled. “I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I should’ve warned you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Really?”
I looked at the suit again. “If you’d told me, this wouldn’t have hit me the same way.”
“But you looked horrified when I came down the aisle.”
“I was.”
A few people laughed.
I added, “I thought you’d lost your mind.”
Claire laughed too. “I probably have.”
Then I touched the lapel.
The fabric felt old.
Soft from decades of use and storage.
I took a long breath.
Then I turned to Claire.
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“Let’s get married.”
The ceremony continued.
Claire stood beside me wearing my father’s wedding suit while I tried not to cry through the vows.
I failed. She failed too.
When it was her turn, she looked at me and said, “Daniel, I promise to love the person you are.”
“I promise to honor the people and experiences that made you who you are.”
“I promise to never let you pretend you’re not emotional when you clearly are.”
Everyone laughed.
I shook my head. “You added that.”
“I did.”
When it was my turn, I had planned vows.
Good ones too.
I’d written them and practiced them.
Then I looked at her in that ridiculous suit and forgot half of them.
So I told the truth.
“You have this way of seeing things I don’t say.”
Claire started crying.
“I think sometimes you know what I need before I do.”
“And apparently, sometimes what I need is to see you wearing my father’s suit and walking towards me.”
She laughed through her tears.
I continued. “I love you. I love how much care you put into people.”
“And I promise I will spend the rest of my life trying to give you the same kind of love you give me.”
We exchanged rings.
Then we kissed.
The photographer got a picture of us immediately afterward that is now probably my favorite photograph from the whole day.
Claire is laughing.
I’m crying.
My mother’s crying behind us.
Aaron looks like he’s trying not to.
And Claire is absolutely swimming in my dead father’s suit.
After the ceremony, we took pictures in it before she changed.
My mother insisted on getting one alone with Claire.
She stood beside her, touched the sleeve, and said, “Richard would have thought this was hilarious.”
Claire smiled. “I hope he wouldn’t be mad.”
“Are you kidding? He would’ve told everyone it looked better on you.”
Then Mom looked at me. “He’d be proud of you, Danny.”
