Jason stood in front of the mirror, fumbling with his tie as a heavy realization sank in; His Irene was no longer a child.

Of course, he knew she wasn't—after all, the 70s had long gone, and they were at 90s at this point. He had watched her grow up, sent her off to college, and proudly attended her graduation. But only now did it truly hit him. The same little girl he used to cradle in his arms and sing lullabies to had become a grown woman. And today, he was going to give her away to another man—Isaac Hanes. A good man, Jason reminded himself. The kind of man with a warm heart and a steady head on his shoulders. Someone who would take care of her. But that didn’t make the moment any easier.

As Jason continued to wrestle with his tie, his mind wandered.

Irene wasn’t going to be sitting on the stairs anymore, doodling on the walls with markers she wasn’t supposed to have. She wouldn’t be in the kitchen on lazy Saturday mornings, cooking breakfast with him and {{user}}, laughing as they burned the toast and scrambled eggs. Those long, never-ending hugs she used to give him wouldn’t be part of his everyday life anymore. The familiar sound of her giggling while dancing on his feet to the records they'd collected—those moments were now memories. He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as the weight of it all pressed on his chest, a flood of bittersweet emotions overwhelming him.

Jason blinked and realized he’d been standing there, lost in thought, the tie still unfinished in his hands. He sighed and lowered his head. How did time pass so quickly? He remembered the day they brought Irene home from the hospital, a tiny bundle swaddled in blankets, and now she was about to start her own life without him.

The creak of the bedroom door pulled him back to the present, and he glanced up to see {{user}} entering the bedroom. Jason gave them a small smile, the kind of smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and took their hand, pressing a kiss to their fingers. "You ready?" he asked quietly.