Julian’s POV
Winter arrived early that year. By mid-November, the city had its first real snow, the kind that stuck and turned sidewalks into ice rinks. Elise loved it. We bundled her in the red snowsuit Vivian bought, took her to the park near the apartment, and let her toddle through drifts that came up to her knees. She laughed every time she fell forward, face-first into powder. I filmed it on my phone. Nadia stood beside me, cheeks pink from the cold, smiling like the world had finally stopped trying to prove her wrong.
We didn’t talk about the wedding much at first. Just quiet decisions over breakfast or late at night when Elise was asleep. Small ceremony. Rooftop in April if the weather holds. Twenty people max. No live band, no photographer, no hashtag. Elena would officiate; she
