I got terribly sick after that; it was as if I lost myself. It was Gabriel who eventually helped me to recover. He and the twins needed me, he said. “I just lost my brother, Diana. I can’t lose you, too. We need you.”
And just like that, I remembered Jade saying something similar.
He had told me Gabriel loved me and to be strong for all of them.

That’s when I asked the home nurse tending to me to remove the IV and all connections. Gabriel bathed me, dressed me up, and fed me.

I was asked to move out. Gabriel asked Jade’s sister to pack our things, and we returned to my parents’ home. She stayed with us for the length of six months, which it took for me to fully recover. I was in the company of family and friends, and Gabriel almost lived in. Taking care of myself and the twins.

He is the most understanding, caring, and supportive man I’ve ever met. And then I was ready. I told him I was ready.

He planned a beautiful proposal that left me speechless and amazed. Everyone we knew was available. It was bittersweet.

We traveled with Jade’s sister and the twins to spend a year in the US and only returned exactly a year later to plan our wedding.

It was beautiful and was made complete with a toast made by Jade himself.

This has everyone in tearful smiles.

(Jade’s Wedding Toast – To be read posthumously)

“If you’re hearing this, it means I’m not standing where I wish I could be, beside you, smiling, maybe even tearing up like a proper fool in love and gratitude. But I’m here… in words. And sometimes, words carry the weight of the soul better than anything else.”

To my brother, by blood, by bond, by every inch of loyalty we never had to explain…
You’ve been more than a cousin. You’ve been my keeper, my compass, my quiet strength in every storm.
I watched you grow into a man of honor, and today, into a husband. I’ve seen the depth of your love, the way you make room for others, the way you protect not just family, but hearts.

I owe you more than these words can repay.

You didn’t just give me time, you gave me the rest of my life.
You saw through silence, through pain, and into the truest wish I had ever buried deep…
You gave me the chance to love her, to hold her, to live, even if briefly, as more than a whisper in her memory.

And to you, my star, my unfinished story, the girl I never stopped loving, even when we said nothing at all.

You were always the pause in my chaos.
From high school fire to quiet longing, and back again, we danced around the truth until the end made cowards of time and brave souls of us.
You gave me laughter in the ache. You gave me life.
And most precious of all, you gave me our children, twin echoes of a love that defied silence, distance, and even death.

I may not be able to walk this world with you anymore,
But I left behind my heart in four beating pieces: two in your arms, and two in your own.

Today, as you and my brother begin this beautiful new chapter, know that you carry not just my blessing, but my deepest joy.
He is the only man I ever trusted with you,
The only one I ever would.

I raise a glass from where I am, somewhere softer, brighter
To love that lives in many forms,
To the family that makes the impossible possible,
To children who carry our legacy,
And to two souls who dared to rewrite grief into grace.

Don’t add new words. Divide this lovely article into many episodes

May your union be full of laughter,
May your hearts never forget how far you’ve come,
And may love, the messy, quiet, thunderous kind, always guide you home.

Forever yours,
Jade”

THE END