‘Wish You Were Here, Dad’ Orphaned Bride Cries, Awestruck as Crowd of Cops Arrives at Wedding — Story of the Day

Charlotte's father breathed his last without getting to see his daughter as a bride. When she broke down over the father-daughter dance she would never have, she was distracted by a group of strangers gatecrashing her wedding.

The moment Arthur first laid eyes on his beautiful baby girl, she became his world. "I win!" he whispered playfully to his wife, Briana, as they shared a moment of pure bliss with their newborn.

Arthur had always wanted a girl, and he had thought of a name years before Briana was even pregnant. "Charlotte…" he called out to her and watched her eyes follow his voice.

Arthur and Briana found themselves relishing the simple divine pleasures of early parenthood. Of course, there were challenges, too. Some nights, Briana was too exhausted to put Charlotte to sleep. Some other nights, Arthur had to work overtime as sheriff at the local precinct.

The couple powered through the difficult days, never failing to have each other's backs.

Three joyful years went by, three birthdays, three vacations, and three Christmases in their new world. That was all the time Briana got to be around for her daughter.

Shortly after Charlotte's third birthday, Briana had a cardiac arrest and breathed her last without waking her husband or child to say goodbye…

Arthur's world had collapsed around him, and in the middle of all its rubble stood his little motherless angel, Charlotte. She was too young to feel the pinch of not having a mother, but Arthur was intent on preparing her to live with the void left in her life that she would soon become aware of.

"What's happening? Did somebody do something? Are we in some kind of trouble?" Charlotte frowned nervously.

And he knew that coddling her wasn't going to help. He had to harden her, make her strong to face the curveballs that life would throw her way.

"Charlotte, remember, you are strong, you are smart, you are fierce!" That was the slogan Arthur imprinted in his daughter's mind every single morning, rain or shine.

Arthur taught his daughter to be untamed by the world and still be disciplined about the smallest things in life, like making a bed and shining her shoes.

He taught her to try to fix her own problems. "Remember: strong, kind, and fierce, child. I'm not always going to be around to fix things for you just because I'm the sheriff. You listen to the voice that mama left in your heart and follow it."

For many years, Charlotte knew Arthur as a man who was stricter at home than he was at work as a sheriff. But she had seen the tenderness of his heart, too. He was also there, stroking her hair and singing to her through the nights when she was sick, holding her when she cried, missing her mother, and eventually, waiting up for her to see that she got home safe from a date or a late shift at work.

Arthur's little girl was not so little anymore, and she was the most terrified of him the day she brought home the man she wanted to marry…

"Dad, meet Akash!" she said and quickly excused herself to the bathroom.

"I hope dad likes him! I hope dad doesn't hate me for…suddenly growing up on him. I hope he isn't too scared for me, or sad that I might leave him soon, or sad that he might live a lonely life between these walls after I go away…" Before Charlotte realized it, she had been in the bathroom for close to an hour.

Her father ultimately knocked on the door. "Charlotte! You can stop hiding now, sweetie. Your boy and I are done talking!"

Charlotte opened the door with trembling hands, not knowing what to expect.

And she found Akash down on one knee in the living room, waiting to propose to her.

"W–what about dad?" Charlotte asked, barely able to speak through the overwhelming emotions.

"He said yes!" Akash grinned, making her chuckle.

The date was set, and Arthur was too excited about his daughter's big day to hide it. He had told every colleague at his workplace, and he sometimes talked his way into telling distant friends and strangers on the street, "My beautiful daughter is getting married!"

In his heart, he knew how excited Charlotte's mom would've been.

"I've done everything I could to raise you well, Charlotte," Arthur said, holding his daughter's hand at church a week before the wedding. "I was far from perfect, but you had your mother's honesty and her loving heart. And she would've been proud of the woman you've become! I'm sorry if I was too strict with you sometimes—"

"You have nothing to apologize for. You're the man who raised me to be a woman in a man's world, dad. I know you put your blood, sweat, and tears into bringing me up. And I know you sacrificed a lot of big career moves to be with me. I love you for all of it, dad. And I'll always be your little girl!"

They sat on the empty church bench, talking their hearts out for hours. Thank goodness they did.

Because later that day, Arthur and his team were in the middle of a shootout in the sketchy outskirts of the town, trying to nab a wanted criminal. They got the guy, but not before Arthur took a bullet to his chest and breathed his last doing the job he loved.

"Charlotte, baby, let's postpone the wedding if you need time to grieve. People will understand…" Akash tried to console his fiancée, two days before they were set to marry.

"That's not what dad would want," Charlotte realized and wiped her tears. "He was so excited about this wedding…"

Every time Charlotte wanted to break down and cry, she would remember her father's slogan. "You are strong, you are smart, you are fierce!"

So on her wedding day, she didn't cry when she got ready and didn't get to ask her father how she looked. She didn't cry when she walked down the aisle holding a framed picture of her father. But when it was time for the father-daughter dance, she couldn't hold back tears.

"This is so silly!" She chuckled through tears as she held the microphone with trembling hands.

"I promised him I was going to be strong today, and now I'm crying like a child. Wish you were here, dad! And I know you're missing me terribly because you spent a whole month trying to pick the perfect song and moves for this very dance. It meant everything to you…"

The beautiful bride broke down, and every guest present shed tears, too. Until they saw a crowd of unexpected men and women gatecrashing the party.

It was a group of 12 cops in uniform, walking with serious faces straight to the bride.

"What's happening? Did somebody do something? Are we in some kind of trouble?" Charlotte frowned nervously.

"Hi, Charlotte. Congratulations on your wedding day! Sorry to barge in like this, but we have a request," the man who seemed to be in charge said, looking at a confused Charlotte.

One by one, the cops explained how they were former colleagues of Arthur, and he had told him all about the wedding. "Especially about the father-daughter dance! He wouldn't shut up about it! Just like he wouldn't shut up about you and how proud he was of you for all the years…" an older colleague smiled.

"You will always be your father's daughter, even after his death!" another elderly policeman said with tears in his eyes.

"It's alright for you to cry, child. Today, of all days, you can be brave and vulnerable at the same time!" the seniormost man in the troop added, gripping her hand.

"And since our Arthur isn't here to play that special song for you and dance, I thought we would ask you on his behalf: May we have this dance with you, young lady?" the chief asked, putting his hand forward.

Charlotte was in tears, and it took a minute for her to be able to say "Yes!"

As she danced with the men who knew her father as the best sheriff and mentor, she saw something in their eyes: it was a glimpse of her father's love for her in each of them.

What can we learn from this story?

• A father's love for his daughter is endless. Arthur did everything he could to raise his beautiful daughter well and make her a strong woman, especially after the loss of her mother.
• Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud. Arthur's colleagues knew how much the wedding and the dance meant to him. And they cared enough to show up and fulfill his wish in the way they could.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about another father figure who raises his late sister's children with all his heart, until on one of their weddings, the biological father of the children shows up.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.