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Music.
Laughter.
Toasts.
The groom moved through it like a man walking through water.
Nodding at the right moments.
Laughing at the right moments.
Holding his bride’s hand when she reached for his.
Feeling nothing but the letter burning in his jacket pocket.
During the first dance he held her close.
Looked at her face.
Her eyes.
Her smile.
Looking for something he had never thought to look for before.
Finding it.
The jaw.
The way she tilted her head.
The laugh that came from somewhere deep and unselfconscious.
His laugh.
His mother’s laugh.
He closed his eyes.
Kept dancing.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Perfect,” he said.
After the dance he found the boy in a corner.
Plate of food in his lap.
Eating quietly.
The way children eat when they haven’t eaten properly in a long time.