I was looking at myself in the mirror.  My black suit was on and my hair was gelled back.  It had always been Lizzie’s favorite, so I wore it.

            “I’m not a husband, but I am a father.  Stay strong for Hana, Eli.  Don’t lose your cool again.”

            There was a knock on the opened door.

            “Hyung, are you ready yet?  It’s time.”

            I looked over my shoulder at Kevin.  “Yeah, I’m coming.”  I sighed and followed him outside.

            The sky was clear, and the sun shone brightly.  I thought about how it was perfect for Lizzie as I took my spot in front of all my friends.  Music was softly playing.  It was what my fiancée had wanted.

            Kevin put his hand on my shoulder.  “You alright?”

            “Yeah, I’m fine.”  I found Hana among the people, sitting in my mother’s lap staring at me.

            Hana looked up at my mother, and I could tell she was fussing for me.

            I smiled and walked to my mother, squatting down in front of Hana.  “It’ll be ok, Hana.  Trust Daddy, ok?”

            She cooed and touched my face with her tiny hands.

            I smiled and kissed the top of her head.  “I love you, too, Hana.”  I stood up straight.

            Mom smiled.  “You look great son.”

            “Thanks Mom.”  I went back to my spot and sighed.  “Can they hurry this up?  I really want to get this over with…”

            Kevin squeezed my shoulder.  “Chill out hyung.  It’ll be fine.  She’s coming now.”

            Lizzie’s friends came outside first.  Their dresses were swishing as they walked to take their places.  My little sister was last; I gave her a smile of encouragement to walk up because she looked nervous.  Finally, the music changed and everyone stood, turning to look at the doors.

            I smiled as the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen was escorted out by Chunji of Teen Top.

            Lizzie’s dress was gorgeous.  She’d been so worried about wearing a white dress, but she had ended up getting one.

            As she walked up to me, I thought about three months earlier.

            “We’ve lost her…” the doctor in the OR said.  “We still have to finish stitching her up, nonetheless.”

            I’d pulled myself up off the floor and looked down.  Tears were running down my face.  I put my hand up to the glass.  “What about forever, Li?  We were supposed to be together forever.  Please…don’t leave me now.  I just got you back.”

            They’d finished with the stitching and looked at the dead woman on the table.  As if by a miracle though, something changed.

            “Doctor, we’ve got a pulse!  She’s back!”

            My fiancée had been dead for five minutes.  She came back, though.  When she came back, I couldn’t tell anyone the relief I felt when I saw her.

            Li stopped in front of me, pulling me from my thoughts.  She had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling.

            “Who gives this wonderful young woman to this man?”

            Chunji answered, “I do.”  He transferred her hand to mine.  “Take care of my sister, Kim, or I’ll kill you,” he muttered as he took his place on Lizzie’s side.

            Li handed her flowers to my sister and took my other hand as well.  We both faced the pastor who was standing in front of us.  “Did she fuss much?”  she asked softly as he read.

            I squeezed her hands.  “Not too badly,” I murmured

            “Good.”

            “The bride and groom have written their own vows to each other.  You may go ahead Mr. Kim.”

            Lizzie and I faced each other.

            She smiled.  “Don’t be nervous, Eli.”

            I smiled back and squeezed her hands again.  “Lizzie, we got together when we barely knew each other.  We’ve always been a strong couple though, and we took things slow and stayed steady.  It’s true, our relationship hasn’t always been perfect, but it’s not just us who have had bumps to go over.  We split for a little while, but then we got back together.  Our love is strong, baby.  And, I can’t tell you how proud I am to have you becoming my wife here today in front of our friends and family.  I promise to you, again, that I will always love you and stay by your side.  I was promised forever, and I am anxious to have just and only that.”

            She sniffled and looked into my eyes.  “Eli, I can’t tell you or anyone else here how happy I am to have you in my life.  I wasn’t always the best towards you, but you’ve always dealt with me when I happened to get a temper or just needed someone to hold me close.  I am so, so, so thankful that I was able to come back those three months ago.  If anyone here doesn’t know how I did that, it was the thought of leaving you here alone with our baby.  I couldn’t stand the thought of that, and I came back even though I was dead for five whole minutes.  I promise that as long as I live, I will always be by your side and will always love you with every ounce of my being.  I love you so much, and it surprises me everyday we go through because I never thought I’d find such a great guy.  You’re one of a kind, babe.  I’m thankful I can have such a great guy who can make me fall in love all over with him every single day.”

            “By the power vested in me, I now declare you man and wife,” the pastor said after we’d slid on each other’s ring.  “You may now kiss the bride.”

            I lifted the veil from Li’s face and pulled her close.  “You’re a Kim now,” I said, pressing my mouth to hers.

            Li giggled and messed with my hair after I pulled back from our lip embrace.  “I am a Kim now, just like you and Hana both.”

            We had a short reception.  When we cut the cake together, Li wiped frosting on my nose, but I got her back by putting it on her cheek.  After it was done, we went home with Hana.

            Lizzie carried Hana inside the house I’d bought a few weeks before for us.  I walked behind her as she went upstairs towards our bedroom.  Li went into the nursery a door down instead.  She kissed Hana and laid her down in her crib.  My wife had her hands curled around the top bar on the side while she looked down at our sleeping child.

            I wrapped my arms behind her.  “She’s sleeping so peacefully.”

            “She always does, honey.”

            I turned her around and kissed her.  “I love you Elizabeth Kim.”

            She smiled.  “I love you, too, Eli.”  She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me.

            I cupped her face in both my hands.  “I never would’ve given up that day.  It I would have had to go into that operating room to give you CPR for an hour just for you to come back, I would’ve gladly done it.”

            She smiled and removed my hands from her face, holding them in her own.  “I never would leave you and Hana alone.  Even if Hana was old enough to not need me, I know you would.”

            I smiled.  “You’re the breath of my life, baby.  If I don’t have you, I have no chance of love in this world from a woman at this point.”

            She looked at my tie and slipped the knot out, her lips jutted out in a pout slightly.

            “What is it baby?”

            “You didn’t get to carry me over the threshold again.”

            I chuckled and kissed her.  “No, but I’m fixing to carry you over two.”

            “Wait, what?”

            I lifted my wife into my arms and carried her out of the nursery, walking a door over.  I stepped into our bedroom and set her on the bed.  I leaned over her and kissed her.  “Stay,” I commanded.

            “I will.”

            I smiled and straightened up.  “Good.  Close your eyes, too.”

            Her eyelids went down and covered the hazel green irises.

            “I’ll be right back.”  I went into the bathroom and the bathtub, filling it with warm water.  I lit candles and scattered them in places they wouldn’t be knocked over, knocked off, and so they couldn’t enflame anything.  I walked back into the bedroom, pulling Lizzie off the bed into my arms.

            She leaned against me.  “What is it?”

            I kissed her neck softly.  “Let’s go take a bath,” I breathed.

            “Mm…ok.”

            I took her hair down and made it lay in the front over her shoulder.  I stood behind my wife and slid the zipper down on her dress, kissing the bared nape of her neck softly.

            “Eli,” she breathed on a soft sigh.

            I pulled the dress off of her and wrapped my arm around her side, my hand lying on her belly.  My lips skimmed the edge of her shoulder and went up.

            “Want to know something funny?”  Her voice was softer than usual.

            “Hmm?”  I looked into her eyes when she turned to face me.

            Li slid off my jacket and ed my shirt.  “It’s been exactly a year today.”

            “Since what, baby?”

            She looked up at me and back to the button she was undoing, smiling a little.  “Think of Hana, Eli.”

            “A year since we made Hana?  It’s really been a year today?”

            “Mm-hmm,” Li looked up at me.  “I love you Eli.”

            I let my shirt fall and kissed my wife.  “I love you, too.”

            She pulled me down and kissed me passionately while her hands went to the button on my pants.

            I felt my pants slide down and picked my wife up, stepping out of my clothes.  I carried her into the bathroom where we undressed each other the rest of the way and stepped into the bath water.

            Lizzie sat between my legs, leaning back onto my chest while my arms held her loosely.  “Most people spend their wedding day making love like they’ve done for centuries.”

            “Most people aren’t like us, baby.  We’re special.”  I kissed the top of her head.

            “We are.  What makes us so special is not only what has happened, but who ties us together forever no matter what.  It’s been an exact year since she came into our lives,” she said.  “I can’t believe it’s really been so long.”

            “You and me both, baby girl.”  I picked up the remote beside me and the stereo, choosing for it to play the first track on it.  I watched my wife rest her head comfortably on my shoulder and close her eyes.

            “I believe in love, For mine is so true.  If you think you can take it, Just watch and see, Cause I will never let you steal from me,” Li recited a poem we’d written together.

            “I took what’s rightfully mine, But only because, You are mine and only mine.  After all this time, I know I won’t ever see you walk out.  Like I told you once and I’ll tell you again, Baby you’re mine,  And you should know, I just can’t let you go.”