by Taryn Quinn
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rylee shook her head and grabbed my arm as the church bell for six o’clock tolled outside. “Eeek, you’re late. C’mon.”
“Oh my God, I can’t be late to my own wedding.” I hurried out with her and turned to wave a final goodbye to the apartment where I had started my new life. Gavin hadn’t rented it out to someone new yet, and its location was the perfect place to get ready for the ceremony taking place across the street.
Plus, sentimentality. Tonight really was goodbye to this apartment and the new life I’d briefly had here.
The new life that had started and ended with Dare.
And a damn fine pepperoni pizza in both cases, depending on how things went tonight after the ceremony. I really had my heart set on a double stuffed pie—
“Come on, slowpoke.” Rylee tugged on my arm. “Everyone’s already waiting at the gazebo. Minus your ladies-in-waiting, of course,” she added as we rushed down the stairs to where Ally and Sage—and the princess in pink attached to Sage’s left boob—waited expectantly.
Baby Star pulled her mouth away from Sage’s breast, took one look at me, and started to wail. Loudly.
“There’s an auspicious sign.”
“Shh, shh. She just thinks you’re going to take her milk away. She’s very possessive. There now,” Sage soothed, returning Star’s petulant mouth to where it belonged. It took her a moment to latch on, but soon enough, she was self-soothing with her mother’s milk. “Not entirely unlike her daddy,” Sage said almost to herself, making Rylee snort with laughter.
“I do hope you don’t mean the milk part.” Ally shuddered and pulled open the door to the building, letting in a gust of frosty air.
“No, not the milk. Jeez, your mind is in the gutter. Or the pasture. Like out on the farm. I’ll have you know we haven’t even had sex since the blessed event.” Sage sailed out with baby in tow past Ally, who was shaking her head and trying not to laugh.
Rylee glanced back at me. “Your friends are kind of weird.”
I grinned. My friends. I truly had friends now, ones I hadn’t made just because of proximity or work events. They were like my sisters, quirks and all. “I know, and I love them.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Ally said. “Though we love you too. Now get a move on before Dare pulls off his bowtie and chucks it into the lake.”
“Aww, he’s wearing a bowtie? How sweet is that? He must be dying.” I blinked at Sage, hoping that I really hadn’t just seen as much of her ample cleavage as I was pretty sure I had. “Speaking of dying, it’s cold out here. Too cold for exposed…bosoms.”
“No kidding.” Sage flipped the bodice of her dress into place and tucked her now slumbering baby back against her chest like an old pro. “Tap’s off for now, babycakes. Mama needs to protect the supply.”
I touched my own barely-there belly. Would I be so natural with my child after giving birth? So ready to expose my breasts and feed him at a moment’s notice, no matter where we were?
A few months ago, I would’ve said no. Now? Who the heck knew what I’d do or who I was becoming?
It would be fun finding out.
The soft strains of the traditional wedding march drifted over to us and I gasped, reaching out for Sage on one side and my sister on the other. “Do you hear that?”
“Yes, seeing as we’re right across the street.”
Rylee’s dry tone and Sage’s giggle barely dented my consciousness. “That’s my wedding march. For me. Traditional all the way this time.” Well, minus the pizza joint reception after, but even that suited us right down to the ground.
Dare’s parents’ pizza place was now a family business. Family. I had one that I’d made, not just been given.
“Minus the bun in the oven. Though gotta say, in Crescent Cove, it pretty much is becoming traditional to get married while knocked up.” Ally grinned at my sister. “Better get out of town while you can.”
“I don’t live here.” Rylee sniffed. “I live in Turnbull.”
“Ah, yes, but have you had sex in Crescent Cove?” Sage pointed at my sister and nodded, well, sagely as Rylee visibly flushed. “That is the true test. Beware, little sister.”
“You didn’t get knocked up in Crescent Cove,” Ally reminded her. “Hello, Vegas.”
“Yes, but it was with a homegrown Crescent Cove penis. Same difference.”
“Homegrown?” I frowned. “Are you implying there’s a better success rate for local dicks? Because Dare isn’t from Crescent Cove and he inseminated me just fine.”
“Yoohoo, hello, ladies, wedding happening over here,” Seth called across the street. “You planning on joining us anytime soon?”
“We were waiting for traffic,” Ally called back, making a show of looking up and down the street. Her gaze stopped on the line of cars waiting for us to cross at the crosswalk.
Whoops.
My sister grabbed my arm and we hauled ass. The snow was still swirling and between that and the blur of my tears as I stared at the brightly lit gazebo, I couldn’t see much clearly. The Christmas tree in the gazebo shone with a rainbow of colors, and thick red velvet bows hung from the eaves, their long tails blowing in the breeze. But as beautiful as the scene was before me, that wasn’t why I was nearly blind from crying.
It was because there was a handsome man waiting for me on that gazebo, holding his little boy in his arms. A little boy who was waving to me as if he couldn’t wait for me to join them.
Just like a regular mom with a regular family.
I waved back and hurried up the walkway, belatedly forgetting that Ally and Sage were supposed to go first. And where were my flowers? Rylee was supposed to be holding them for me, but unless she’d stashed them in the bodice of her dress, they were MIA.
So much for traditional. I was just going to have to wing it.
“Ahem,” Ally said pointedly, raising her brows as she and Sage moved ahead of me up the walkway.
I waited for Rylee to do the same, since she was now part of the wedding party, an oversight I was making up for from my first wedding. Truthfully, I hadn’t thought she would be interested. We were close, but maybe not close enough, and she wasn’t exactly responsible, though I’d figured she could hang on to my flowers since she worked for a freaking florist.
But not only did she not remember to produce my flowers, she’d clearly also forgotten how to walk.
“Psst,” I said none too softly, causing some of the guests seated on the lawn surrounding the gazebo to laugh softly. Including my beaming parents and Macy, who toasted me with a warm mug of something that probably wasn’t entirely java.
“Do you have my bouquet?” I asked my sister.
Rylee was staring straight ahead, transfixed. Her mouth moved, but I wasn’t entirely sure her brain had engaged. “Yes. It’s sitting on the dashboard in my car.”
“Oh, that’s helpful. I’ll just go get it right quick.” I dashed away from the walkway, one hand on my now precarious tiara and the other holding my belly.
Gasps sounded behind me, and all too swiftly, I realized the crowd thought they had a runaway bride situation on their hands.
“Sorry, no, I’m not running away, promise.” I stopped dead and gave my stricken groom a sheepish smile.
Dare looked absolutely crestfallen, as if the idea of me escaping was the worst possible thing that could happen. And wasn’t that sweet?
Lord, I was crying again.
So, this ceremony wasn’t altogether different from the first one after all.
Thanks, baby boy. I’m blaming this sobfest on you.
“I’ll get the flowers.” Rylee dragged me back onto the walkway leading to the gazebo, casting one more glance over her shoulder at the waiting men. “And then I may not come back.”
“Um, okay, thanks?” She was already sprinting up the sidewalk to the long line of cars parked along the curb as if she wasn’t wearing six-inch spiked heels and there wasn’t a fine layer of snow on the ground.
“Kelsey!” Wes called, falling silent as his father set him down and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “I mean, Miss Kelsey.” He shrugged as if he didn’t know what his father was correcting him for.
Everyone laughed. Not me. I was too busy sniffling as I made my choice.
No flowers were worth missing another second of this ceremony.
Holding up my lacy white dress—I’d worn the one from our first ceremony with an added white cloak due to the weather—I ascended the stairs in a hurry, unable to drag my attention from Dare’s face. He was smiling down at me, but his brows were furrowed and his gorgeous eyes still held worry from my momentary flight.
He extended a hand to me, pulling me up that last step, and I totally broke protocol by reaching up to pull his face down to mine for a quick kiss. Oohs and aahs registered around us as I spoke against his lips. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”
“Damn straight you aren’t.” He squeezed my hand and I reached for Wes’s, making that same triangle we had the first time around.
With the Christmas lights twinkling and the snow softly coming down over the lake, we made our vows to each other in front of our friends and family and all of Crescent Cove who wandered by. I caught a glimpse of some of the townsfolk out of the corner of my eye, standing on the sidewalk in their winter best, watching us with glowing smiles. It felt like everyone in town wanted us to be happy.
“I pronounce you husband and wife—again,” Judge Hamilton said with a grin and a wink. “You may kiss the bride.”
And this time around, Dare didn’t keep things quite as chaste. He nudged my veil out of the way and dipped his head to mine, taking my mouth with that hint of aggression I’d never stop loving.
My gruff, rough, sweet-as-heck husband, kissing me for the whole world to see.
Including his son. Our son now.
“Eww, my eyes,” Wes wailed, yanking on the hand I still gripped so he could cover his face.
Laughter broke out around us and with that, the ceremony was over. Sage rushed forward to hug me hard, followed by Ally and my parents and Dare’s parents. His brother, Gage, stepped forward, his handsome face creased in a smile, but he came to a halt as heels pounded up the steps.
“Really? Isn’t this overkill?”
I turned at the sound of my sister’s voice. She was staring hard at Gage, and frozen petals from my bouquet of winter white roses were fluttering around her feet.
“Um, can I have that, please?” I asked. “I’d like to dry the flowers,” what remained of them anyway, “and press them into my planner.”
Rylee stuck the bouquet out at me and propped her other hand on her hip. “I thought we agreed on no repeats. So you, what, stalk me here? Seriously, dude, not cool.”
I glanced at Dare, who was giving my sister a rather intimidating look. It was kinda hot, to be honest. Not that I wanted him to be staring down my sister, but hi, this was our wedding. And yes, we’d had more than the usual allotment, but jeez.
“Stalk you here?” Gage’s smooth, deep voice rumbled out and answered a number of my questions. Well, sort of. “You think very highly of yourself. As well you should, but not that high.” With a smirk, he adjusted the cuff links on his crisp white cuffs.
“Um, Ry, don’t suppose you could—”
“That isn’t what you said last night!”
The audible gasp that went through the crowd had me closing my eyes.
See, now this wedding fit right into my life story perfectly. Just as I’d been dumped via text after pity sex post funeral, which had led to me moving to Crescent Cove so impetuously, now my sister was decimating my lovely second wedding with her booty call antics.
My eyes sprung open as the full realization of what had transpired descended on me. “You slept with my husband’s brother?” I asked, earning another round of gasps.
None the least of which came from our parents. And Dare’s parents.
Yay.
“Kel,” Dare said, his tone indicating he was not amused.
Neither was I. I was stunned and disturbed and feeling a little like a camera would soon extend from the nearest set of bushes, but not amused.
Gage lifted a hand and ticked off on his fingers. “One, two, three times.” He smiled, revealing blinding white teeth. “Welcome to the family, sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law, because you don’t know my name. Now, do you?” Rylee whirled around and fled down the steps.
I turned to follow when Dare gripped my upper arm. “Not our circus, not our monkeys, darlin’,” he said against my ear, making me laugh despite everything.
I’d said that to him last week when talking about something that had happened at school, and he’d needed an explanation as to what I meant. Tonight, he was using the phrase like an old pro.
“You’re right.” I turned toward Dare and snuggled against his chest as he tugged my cloak tighter around me. “Besides, we need to have a very important chat.”
“Already?”
I smiled up at him and shifted my bouquet so it didn’t get any more ruined than it had already been. “Yes.”
“Thanks for coming, everyone,” he called out. “We’ll meet all of you over at the pizza shop in a few minutes. Pop?” He motioned to his dad. “You mind taking this guy with you?” He ruffled Wes’s hair.
Wes pouted. “I don’t wanna miss the chat.”
I bit my lip and glanced toward Ally and Seth for help. “Laurie will be there. Right?” I asked more than a little desperately.
I didn’t like excluding Wes from anything family-related, but this conversation really wasn’t appropriate for little ears.
Bad enough he’d just had to hear my sister and his uncle re-enact an episode from the Jerry Springer show.
Seth and Ally exchanged glances. “Well, she’s with Alex at my Dad’s,” Seth began, jumping back when Ally slipped her hand in his pocket. Probably to pinch him. “Okay, okay, fine. We’ll bring them to the pizza parlor. The night will probably end a little late for the kids to be out, but hey, it’s the holidays and a celebration. Besides, this one’s out and about.” He nodded at Sage and Oliver, who were fawning over Star as if she were the Christ child herself.
Neither of them paid him any mind.
“Thank you so much.” I smiled at them and rushed down to hug everyone one more time before our friends and families dispersed.
Gage had already taken off, right after Rylee. I hoped he wasn’t chasing her down to argue with her. Or have more sex. That probably wouldn’t end well. Rylee always insisted on winning arguments, and she was pretty pissed at Gage.
I didn’t think she’d harm any vital parts of his anatomy while he was sleeping, but you could never be sure with my sister.
“Whew.” I feigned wiping my brow as the last car full of guests peeled away from the curb. “It was touch and go there for a minute or two, huh? Imagine if—”
Dare drew me into his arms and fisted a hand in my hair, dislodging my tiara and whatever words I’d planned to say. His mouth was warm and soft against mine, but he added a bite of teeth just to remind me of the honeymoon night we would have as soon as we’d stuffed ourselves full of pizza and good cheer.
I couldn’t wait.
“I’ve never seen you look so beautiful,” he said roughly, his gaze dropping to my belly before lifting again to my face. “And that’s saying a lot, because you’re the prettiest damn woman in the world.”
My eyes filled and I tipped my forehead to his. “Do you know how long I waited to have someone look at me the way you do? To see me and want what he sees, just the way I am?”
“It had to be a lon
g time, because I damn sure have waited a helluva long time for you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’ve made me the happiest man in Crescent Cove, do you know that?”
I let out a watery laugh. “You have some stiff competition for that title. And speaking of stiff…” I swayed against him, giving the hard column in his tuxedo pants a quick rub. “I can’t wait for our honeymoon.”
“Even though we aren’t jetting off to some fabulous island like the rest of the fancy pants couples in this town would?”
“Um, yes, because our island doesn’t include clothing. Thank you very much.” I gave him a swift kiss, then swallowed hard. “Dare, our son is yours. For real. The tests came in, and I’m sorry they told me when you weren’t there, but he’s yours. There’s no doubt left.”
Dare tipped back his head and his Adam’s apple bobbed before he met my gaze again. “Our son? It’s a boy?”
And that was why I loved this man so fiercely. He wasn’t focused on the fact the baby had the same DNA as him, but that he was a sweet, already so beloved little boy. “Yes.” I knuckled away a tear. “Wes is going to be the best big brother to this little guy.”
“Yes, he is.” Dare shut his eyes and when he opened them, I would’ve sworn there was a sheen of wetness there before he blinked and it was gone. “And I’m gonna be the best damn dad to him.”
“Just like you are to your little boy.” I took a deep breath. “To our little boy. We have two of them.”
“We damn sure do.” He flashed me a blinding grin and then he swept me up into his arms. I shrieked and tried to hold onto my tiara and veil as he carted me down the steps.
“Oh my God, put me down. Where are you going?”
“We have a reception to attend, don’t we?”
“Well, yes, but it’s a few blocks away—Dare!”
He bent his head and gave me a hard, quieting kiss. “I didn’t get to carry you over the threshold the first time, so I’m gonna do tonight right.”
“Does that mean we’re going to christen the back of your parents’ pizza shop?” I asked breathlessly as he strode down the sidewalk as if he was toting a loaf of bread. He wasn’t even winded. “Since you’re carrying me over that threshold and all…”