I studied my reflection in the mirror. The black dress felt so wrong against my pale skin. I glanced back and Jessa was playing on the bed in the little black dress with the blue ribbon tied in her hair. She didn't even know what today was. I felt sad for the little girl who loved to play with her Papa. She would be too young to remember him. He meant the world to her and it would be like he never even existed at all. I wrapped myself in a hug and watched as the tears were rolling down my face. Flashes of his gray skin and his cloudy eyes that see nothing had taken over every happy memory I had of him. I missed him so much.

Ezra opened the door. He was wearing black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. He looked over at the little girl playing on the bed and smiled until he searched for her Momma, who was falling apart. He kissed Jessa on the head while she happily ignored him and then crossed the room to wrap his arms around me.

I leaned into him and just let him hold me so I didn't shatter into a million pieces. I wouldn't have been able to go today if it weren't for the strength he gave me.

"Momma. So pretty." Jessa said, looking up at me from the bed, smiling. Her long curls bounced with every little jump she made.

"Yes, Jess, your Momma is very pretty." Ezra said, looking at my tired reflection in the mirror.

"Daddy, Jessa's pretty too." She said, pulling at her dress and touching the ribbon in her hair. I giggled at her wanting his attention too. She really was like me more than I would ever admit.

Ezra ran his hands over my shoulders and then walked over to the little girl on the bed to run his hand over her little face. "Jessa, you are so pretty, just like your Momma." He bent down and kissed her head before moving to the closet to finish getting ready.

I watched as Ezra pulled out two ties and held them up to me. I pointed to the one that was patterned with a swirl of black, gray, and little flecks of light blue. I didn't even know Ezra owned a tie, but as I watched him expertly move his fingers to fasten it, I could tell this wasn't the first time he needed one.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" I asked him, watching the reverse image of him in the mirror.

"Uncle Charlie. He told me any respectable man needs to be able to. Of course, I was like twelve when he told me that, but I never forgot the lesson." Ezra smiled and it actually extended to his eyes. He finished straightening the tie and went back to the closet to grab his suit jacket.

He pulled it on over his broad shoulders and buttoned it over his slim torso. I could only see the back of him, but I could tell how handsome he was just from here. The suit was cut perfectly for him, but you didn't need much help to look fantastic when you looked like Ezra Miller. He was flawless.

He turned around and caught me staring at him. "Terrible, right?"

I smiled at him lovingly. "You look amazing."

The small swirls of blue in his tie made the blue in his eyes stand out that much more. I can't believe this man was mine.

"Are you three ready to go?" I heard JD call from the hall. "We're going to be late."

I grabbed my cover and slid it over my shoulders before grabbing my black clutch. Ezra grabbed Jessa from the bed and carried the little girl to the door. I had a feeling he would be carrying the Davis girls a lot today. I flipped off the light switch and we went down the stairs to leave.

Anna and my Mom were standing at the bottom of the stairs with Kurt. He was in little black pants and a gray and black sweater. He looked so cute with his little blonde wisps of hair that curled at the ends. My Mom looked up at me and ran to hug me when she saw me. I hugged her back as hard as I could.

She broke away and hugged Ezra and Jessa next. My breath was in my throat, watching the gentle way he comforted her and she let him. JD walked down the stairs last and took in the sight of Mom and Ezra hugging. He looked over at me and smiled. The room was silent; no one knew what to do or say next. No one wanted to move.

I finally broke the silence that had lasted too long. "I guess we need to hit the road."

My Mom pulled away from Ezra and Jessa, nodding in agreement. She was holding back the tears in her eyes. The hurt deep inside her would never go away. My Dad was her first and only love. She would never love anyone in her life the way she loved him. He was her soulmate.

We went to the car, my Mom rode with JD and Anna and Ezra drove us. Ezra turned on some soft music for background noise as we drove. He could sense I was in no mood to talk about anything and he wasn't going to push me. Jessa was in the back, making up words to the music. She was very musical, like Ezra. It would not surprise me if she wanted to follow in his footsteps. She had been able to carry a tune since she first started making noises. He kept looking at her in the rearview mirror in awe of her. He didn't know all the amazing things she could do with her little voice. He was only getting a preview, but he would learn soon enough.

We pulled up to the church and Ezra parked the car as close to the entrance as possible. I could already see people walking in. I looked to the church and back to Ezra. My eyes began to water and tears started rolling down my face. I could feel my chest constrict and my breathing changed rapidly. Not right now, not today.

"Momma?' Jessa asked worriedly. She could hear me breaking.

"I'm ok," I said between strained breaths. I tried to concentrate on my breathing for the little girl sitting in the back. I knew my Mom couldn't handle this happening today of all days either. Ezra jumped out of the car and I heard him call to someone. When I looked up, Aiden and Kiera were running across the parking lot to the car.

"Aiden," Ezra said. "Can you grab Jessa for me?"

Aiden looked down at me through the window and saw me starting to lose control. He quickly opened the door to grab Jessa.

"We'll meet you inside. Please don't tell her Mom. She has enough going on today." Ezra said to them.

"Can I help you?" Kiera asked Ezra sweetly.

"She'll be ok. I've got her." Ezra said softly.

"Come on, sweet pea. Tell Uncle Den about your pretty dress." Aiden held Jessa in one arm and wrapped his other around Kiera's waist.

My vision was blurring and I struggled to find the oxygen in my lungs. Ezra came around to the passenger side door and opened it. He crouched down in front of me, taking my hand.

"Hey, beautiful." He said, cooing at me. "Look at me, baby."

My eyes were on his and he pulled his lips into a half-smile.

"I can't." I choked out. I couldn't go in there.

"That's fine, Riley. You can stay out here if you want to. You don't have to do this. I'm going to tell you a story first before you make up your mind about what you want to do. Before you try to stop me, this is one you haven't heard before. I think you'd really like to hear this one. Do you remember the first day after the park when I came back to your house?"

I nodded and concentrated on his lips and low tone. I wanted him to tell me.

"Do you remember when your Dad told you he was thirsty?" He asked.

I nodded, remembering coming back up the stairs and hearing them through the door talking about Jessa.

"Your Dad wasn't really thirsty. He wanted you to go so he could talk to me about you. He asked me if I still loved you. I told him I did with everything I had in me, but I knew I had messed everything up. He told me that I couldn't change what happened, but I could control our future. I lost you and I was so scared I would spend the rest of my life wanting to be with you and having to pretend I didn't to protect you from me. He said he knew you had never stopped loving me either. He said you would never say it out loud, but he saw it every day when he watched you look at our amazing little girl. He told me that every great love story has its good days and its bad days. He said ours was no exception."

"But you guys were talking about Jessa. I heard a little bit through the door before I came in." I studied his face.

"Riley, we weren't talking about Jessa." He said with kind eyes. "I told him I didn't know what I was doing and he said it was a good thing because you didn't know what you were doing either. He said we could learn together. He also said you were stubborn. I already knew that one." He chuckled at the memory.

I had thought for weeks that they were talking about Jessa. I never imagined my father was giving him advice about me. Ezra knew back then he loved me and my Dad gave him a little nudge in the right direction. I pulled Ezra's lips to mine and kissed him softly. His memory sent calming chills through my body. Just when I thought I heard the last of my Dad's great wisdom, he surprised me once more. I thanked my Dad for knowing what I needed even when I didn't know it myself.

"We can stay out here if you want, but I really think you should go in to be with your family today." Ezra suggested sweetly. I nodded. I was out of time.

It was time to say goodbye.