One year later, Daniel knelt in Emily’s living room with a small ring in his hand.

“I’m not trying to replace the past,” he told her. “I just want to build a future with you.”

Emily said yes.

And Daniel often thought back to that wedding night — the one he almost left early.

The night three little girls with pink bows asked him to pretend.

Because somewhere along the way, he had stopped pretending.

And finally found where he belonged.