After three years together, Alice and I were finally getting married. Initially, we wanted a simple wedding. Yet, I couldn’t shake my unease about Alice’s recent lavish purchases—designer shoes, a branded bag, and diamond earrings, all beyond our means.

“Alice, can we afford this?” I asked, holding up the shopping bag.

She smiled reassuringly. “I got a bonus at work, Noah. I just want our day to be perfect.”

Her explanation eased my worries. But as our wedding day arrived, Alice’s nervous glances toward the entrance concerned me.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

She nodded, smiling at the priest. But during the vows, her eyes kept flickering to the door.

Then, during the priest’s call for objections, a man burst in.

“Stop the ceremony!” he boomed. “I’m sorry I’m late, Father, but I need to walk my daughter down the aisle.”

Alice gasped. The man had her eyes and chin.

“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s my dad.”

Her father, absent for much of her life, had chosen this moment to fulfill a promise. I told the priest to start over, and Alice’s father walked her down the aisle.

Seeing Alice beaming, we restarted the ceremony. Alice laughed through her vows and cried through mine.

Later, in our rented car, Alice explained. She’d reached out to her father weeks before the wedding, wanting him to be there.

“My dad bought the handbag,” she admitted. “But the shoes and earrings were from my bonus.”

“I’m glad he walked you down the aisle,” I said.

“Maybe he’ll stick around,” Alice said as we sipped champagne. Maybe he will.