Katie still works for both them and me. Of course, she doesn’t have to work at all, since I have enough money for the both of us to live comfortably on. But she says she needs the experience for her law school applications.
She wants to be a “weed lawyer.” She describes this job title as “someone who informs stoners of their rights under the law and represents them if those rights are fucked with.”
That’s my Katie for you— all spunk and sass, with a fucking amazing body to boot. Her curves still turn me on just as much as they did the first day I ever saw her, in the law offices of Marks, Sanchez and Reed. That’s why I’m fucking marrying her.
If this ceremony is ever able to get started.
One of the wedding planners— Katie hired so many I can’t even tell them apart— comes over and whispers something in the officiant’s ear. He nods at me apologetically, as if it’s forbidden for him to talk to me— and for all I know, it fucking is— and walks away again.
Then the officiant clears his throat and whispers into my ear, “They say your mom is getting a little bit… restless… waiting back there. Would you like to walk her down the aisle to seat her, since your usher hasn’t arrived?”
“Sure,” I answer quickly.
I hurry off to get my mom, nodding at our wedding guests on my way there in much the same apologetic manner as the wedding planner had just nodded at me. I hope that bringing my mom here to Ibiza and to our wedding wasn’t a mistake.
I wasn’t even sure I should bring her, given her issues. But she’s been doing much better with the help of her doctors as well as the toys and games that my company makes.
She was so happy for Katie and me and said she wouldn’t want to miss this wedding for the world. So we brought her on our plane with us and we hired an aide to be by her side 24/7, although so far she hasn’t really needed his help very often. She’s been remarkably lucid.
As I approach the cabana tent where my mom is waiting with the aide and the wedding planner— trying not to think of how similar this tent is to the one I fucked Katie in the last time we were on this island— I hear a familiar laugh. It’s masculine and definitely doesn’t belong to my mom.
“Surprise!” Cameron calls out, walking through the sand to give me a hug. “I was able to make it after all.”
Asher is with him— and was the one laughing— and he also gives me a hug. Jameson is with them as well.
“I couldn’t leave without picking up Cameron and Ruby first and making them come with me,” he says. “And Jim was already coming with me so we both had to wait on Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez to get ready. So that’s the reason I’m late.”
“Don’t blame this on me, you asshole,” Cameron says, but he’s obviously joking. “Ruby and I had already decided to come and we were going to take our own jet. But Asher insisted we come with him and Madilyn and then he was late.”
“Why couldn’t you originally come?” I ask Cameron, curious.
I hadn’t wanted to pry, but since he brought up the pertinent issue I figure I’ll put the question out there.
“And why were you late?” I ask Asher immediately after posing the question to Cameron, without giving Cameron a chance to answer. I’m not sure which of them is confusing me more.
I look at Jameson for an answer but he shrugs his shoulders and raises his eyebrows. He was obviously just along for the ride and is just as perplexed as I am.
It’s not like Asher to be late and so it stuns me almost as much as the fact that Cameron had first said he couldn’t come, only to change his mind, all without explanation.
“So many questions, so little time,” Cameron answers. “Someone is supposed to be getting married right about now. So, I’ll tell you later.”
“Yes, we need to get you married,” Asher agrees. “But as for me being late, let’s just say my ex-wife is up to her old drama and tricks again.”
“Seriously?” Both Cameron and I ask him at the same time.
“You always have to make everything about yourself, don’t you, Dude?” Cameron asks him.
“Yes, I do,” Asher responds. “But you love me anyway.”
“You’re an asshole, but you’re a loveable asshole,” Jameson agrees.
“But wait a minute,” I insist. “I was asking ‘seriously?’ for fucking real. I mean, seriously, your ex-wife is still causing problems, Asher? Again?”
Cameron, Asher and Jameson— and Katie, based on what she’d heard from Ruby and Madilyn— had filled me in on the drama that used to go on between Asher and his ex-wife and how she had tried to take down the whole firm. But they had made it seem like it was all in the distant past, and I think Asher believed that it was as well.
“She sure is,” Asher says, while shaking his head. “But don’t worry. I’ll handle it. It won’t affect business.”
Fucking Asher. Always the business man, even at a time like this.
“There’s my handsome son on his wedding day,” my mom calls out, and I turn my attention to her.
I’m happy to see she’s cognizant. I go over to her and hug her.
“So this was just a ploy to get me back here and surprise me with the presence of my two lost groomsmen?” I ask out loud, to everyone and anyone.
“Your mom’s doing okay, but in all honesty, she’s glad to see you,” the aide tells me, speaking in a tone so low it’s almost a whisper. “Earlier she was rocking back and forth and reciting numbers.”
“She does that when she gets antsy,” I confirm. “And sometimes for no reason at all. Thank you for letting me know to come get her.”
“And it happened to coincide with our arrival,” Asher says with a grin. “I had to come get the lovely Mrs. Hudson so I could seat her for her son’s wedding.”
My mom’s smile fades, as she looks back and forth from Asher to me.
“Six hundred and twelve,” she begins, rocking slightly. “Six hundred and thirteen…”
“Well, actually,” I interrupt her, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Since I’m here, I think I should be the one to seat my mom.”
“Good idea,” Cameron says, but Asher’s pouting.
He likes my mom and I know he was looking forward to being the one to seat her. He doesn’t like being upstaged from anything, even if it’s just wedding duties that most people would probably be glad to get out of.
“Oh, come on Asher,” I tell him. “She’s my mom.”
“I know, and it’s only because she’s such an amazing mom that I wish I could be the one to walk down that aisle with her,” Asher says. “But I’ll still make the first toast at the reception.”
“You will not,” Cameron interjects, his tone surprisingly assertive. “Since I’m here and since Damien is officially my client, I prepared a speech and I’ll be giving it first.”
“Pretty ballsy for a guy who wasn’t even going to come to this wedding,” Asher says, but he’s smiling.
And I’m smiling too— not only because they’re fighting over who gets to give a toast to me first but also because I know we’re both impressed at Cameron for throwing his weight around a bit more. No doubt Ruby’s had something to do with that.
I take my mom’s arm in my own and say, “You ready, Mom?”
“Sure am.”
She beams up at me and I know I made the right choice by bringing her on this trip.
And I definitely made the right choice by proposing to Katie.
KATIE
“This is taking soooooo long,” I groan to my hair stylist.
I’m in the hotel room at the resort, getting ready for my wedding.
To Damien. I still can’t believe my rich, ripped, super-hung boss and I are getting married. But I’m sure it will feel even more real soon, when I walk down the aisle.
“Relax,” she says. “They told us the ceremony is starting a bit later than planned. So, you have enough time for me to finish your hair before it starts.”
Yeah, if my bridesmaids ever get here, I think to my
self.
I don’t want to complain out loud to the hair stylist because there’s really nothing she can do about it. Plus, I feel kind of pathetic not having anyone in here helping me get ready for my big day. I’ve had the door open all day, wondering when they would get here but they still haven’t shown up.
I was super bummed when Ruby told me she couldn’t come. But now Madilyn’s not even here, nor is my best friend Raquel from high school.
I was a bit worried about how all my family members and friends would take my non-conventional relationship but Raquel is the one non-judgmental person from what I think of as my “pre-Damien life” who listened to my whole story about what happened between Damien and me and had nothing to say but “cool.” (In fact, she jokingly added, “Where can I find one of these sugar daddies?” And that’s why she’s one of my best friends.)
So of course, I asked her to be a bridesmaid. She’s supposed to be coming in Asher and Madilyn’s jet, as is my boss at the law firm, Jameson Reed.
“It’s not a matter of timing the completion of this elaborate hair affair with the ceremony,” I tell the hair stylist. “I just hate having my hair done in general. It takes too long no matter what the occasion.”
She laughs.
“Seriously,” I insist. “Have you ever had to get an ‘up-do’ for a fancy event? I would not recommend it.”
“Of course I have,” she says, laughing again.
“That’s right. You’re a hair stylist. You gals probably practice doing up-dos on each other all the time. But I personally have always found the whole thing to be rather silly, and I’ve avoided it in the past. But since it’s my wedding day, I acquiesced.”
“Well, it was certainly worth the headache, because you look beautiful,” she says, handing me a small mirror so I can see the back of my hair in the big mirror I’ve been facing this whole time.
“Wow,” I can’t help but exclaim when I see my entire look.
My hair looks great and I have no idea how she made such an intricate design of knots and loops. It should have taken much longer, I think, now that I see what she was up to back there.
I can’t help but notice something even better than the awesome up-do in the mirror. My face is glowing and happy and I probably look the best I’ve ever looked in my whole life.
I guess that only makes sense, since I’m marrying Damien today. I just wasn’t expecting to look so damn good while doing it.
“Thank you,” I tell the stylist.
“Of course,” she says. “You look amazing.”
“Yes, you do,” says a voice, coming into the room. “Radiant.”
I look up to see Madilyn and nearly squeal with delight.
“Stunning,” says someone else, and I do squeal with delight once I see Ruby.
“The essence of bridal perfection,” adds Raquel, the last one into the room.
By this point I’m screaming like a crazy person.
“Oh my god. You guys. You’re here. Yay! Ruby! What the fuck are you doing here?”
Once they’re all the way into the room, they all hug me at the same time.
“Stop it,” I tell them. “You’re going to make me smear all this makeup the makeup artist applied earlier.”
“And please don’t mess up her hair,” the stylist says, as she winks and finishes gathering up her supplies.
“I’m so sorry we’re late,” Madilyn says. “There’s been some drama at the office but we’ll fill you in after your wedding. This is your big day.”
“How bad is it?” I ask. “Like, a secretary misfiled something bad, or all of the partners committed malpractice bad?”
“It’s not that bad,” Madilyn says. “Don’t worry.”
I look at her suspiciously.
“When someone tells me not to worry, I immediately worry. You’re just telling me this because it’s my wedding day. Things are bad. The firm is going down. Ruby, is that why you couldn’t come at first? You had to do some top secret hacking to try to save the firm?”
Ruby laughs.
“No,” she says. “My drama is not related to Madilyn’s and Asher’s.”
“Well then what it is then?” I say. “Just tell me. You know I have anxiety. Why the fuck didn’t I bring my vape pen? Oh yeah, international flight and all of that. Shit.”
I haven’t been nearly as anxious as I used to be but it still likes to creep up on me. I guess it only makes sense that my wedding day is an anxiety-provoking event, even though it’s also exciting.
“No, no, no,” Ruby says, “things on my end aren’t bad at all. They’re good. Really.”
I look at her again. There’s a distinct glow to her and I’m betting it’s not for the same reason that I’m glowing— because I just had fancy makeup applied and also because I’m getting married.
“Ruby Sanchez,” I say, clucking my tongue at her. “You are hiding something from me and I don’t like it. I’m feeling baby vibes in the air, and it’s not just because of Madilyn.”
I reach over and pat Madilyn’s bump, and she shows it off by turning from side to side in her bridesmaid’s dress.
“Let’s just say I had to have a fight with my doctor about whether Ibiza is in a Zika virus risk zone where pregnant women shouldn’t fly,” Ruby says. “And that at first my doctor won, and I wasn’t allowed to travel, but after Cameron argued with him, showing him CDC evidence that it is not in such a zone, we won, and I was allowed to come, so here we are.”
“Oh my God!” I shout, giving her the biggest hug I think I’ve ever given anyone besides Damien. “Pregnant? That’s amazing! Congratulations!”
“Of course, Cameron won,” Madilyn says, rolling her eyes. “Now he’ll be going around the firm bragging to Asher and everyone else that all Ron Sanchez ever does is win, win, win no matter what.”
But then she joins us in the hug as well, and Raquel does too.
“Congratulations,” they both say at once.
“Looks like you’re outnumbered,” Ruby says, nodding to my belly. “The only one at Sugar Daddy Central to have not gotten knocked up by now.”
“They know you call it Sugar Daddy Central?” Raquel asks, cracking up.
“Of course, we do,” Ruby says, and she and Madilyn and I join Raquel in laughing. “Katie is incapable of holding back her wise-cracking jokes.”
“Anyway. Enough about me. Today is your day and I want it to just be about you,” Ruby says. “This is why I hadn’t even wanted to mention anything.”
“But you just had to tell me,” I tease her. “And I can’t believe you even waited this long.”
“Seriously, Katie” Ruby insists. “It’s bad enough that we’re late but we’re all here for you now and it’s time to go get you married to that boss of yours that you’re so in love with.”
“Okay,” I tell them, breaking out of the group hug. “You’re right. I’m just so glad you’re here. And so happy for you. And don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t be long before I catch up with both of you. Damien’s already been talking about babies.”
“What is it with these men and the way they go from commitment-phobes to wannabe fathers as soon as they meet us?” Madilyn asks.
I shrug, but I’m smiling.
I know what it is.
Love.
I love Damien to pieces, and he loves me too. It’s the same thing for Madilyn and Asher, and Ruby and Cameron. They got married— and conceived babies— out of love, and now it’s my turn to do the same.
There’s just one more thing to do.
I walk down the hall in my fancy wedding dress, my heart beating fast for multiple reasons.
“Dad,” I say, as I knock on the door of his hotel room. “I’m ready.”
He pokes his head out and then smiles.
“My Katie. Look at you.”
We hug, and I swear he’s holding back tears.
I’m touched because just until recently I didn’t even know if he would come. Despite our differences, he finall
y told me he wants me to be happy and, as long as, I am, he is.
I told him I feel the exact same way about him. He said that he and my mom have told the church they’re going to separate.
I was completely shocked, but part of me believes that once he saw me doing what I truly wanted, he was inspired to do the same. Since then both he and my mom have been a lot more pleasant to be around. And even more importantly, they’ve both seemed a lot happier.
“Thanks again for coming, Dad,” I tell him.
Damien and I brought them here in Damien’s jet— our jet, now— and they are staying in separate rooms. Even though he’s here, though, part of me wondered if at the last minute he’d turn back into the father I had grown up with and lecture me or belittle me.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he replies.
I guess he’s finally realized that I really have grown up. And I guess he’s grown up some as well.
“Everyone’s ready to go,” I announce, and we all begin our walk to the best moment of my life.
Finally, we are at the ceremony and my bridesmaids squeeze my hand and say, “Love you!” before walking down the aisle ahead of me. Our viola player begins Canon in D and I take the biggest breath I can muster in my wedding gown that scrunches tight at the waist.
It’s a sigh of nervousness but also of excitement and relief. I’m marrying the man of my dreams. And it’s the most gorgeous setting on earth.
The turquoise water shines behind us. White sand comprises the earth beneath our wedding guests’ feet. And birds sing overhead, a sound even more beautiful than the classical music playing from the viola.
As my dad takes my arm and we begin walking down the aisle, I look straight into Damien’s eyes and he’s looking back into mine. We are silently telling each other “I do” even before the officiant instructs us to. Our eyes are also saying “I love you.”
Our guests stand to watch me walk down the aisle. I nod and smile at them and then hug my mom in the front row.
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