“Good job, man, proud of you. Fucking daddy Danger, hey? Who woulda thought?”
Danger smiles at Ryan, looking him up and down, then furrows his brows. “Did you guys have a function on or something we didn’t know about on this fine Saturday night?”
Tillie pulls her bottom lip in by her teeth and looks at Ryan. She slumps her body slightly as if she thinks we’re all going to be annoyed by what’s about to be said.
Ryan takes a deep breath and holds out his hand for Tillie, and she goes to him. “Seems like tonight is a big night for news all around,” Ryan says, and we all focus on him completely as they hold up their left hands, showing us unmistakable wedding bands on their ring fingers.
We stand in shock.
I’ve known them the shortest amount of time, so this doesn’t really affect me, but by looking at the faces of Matt, Danger, and Lunar, all I can see is a mixture of confusion and hurt.
“Are you telling us you guys got m-married?” Danger murmurs his voice slightly breaking.
Ryan winces and nods.
Tillie stands taller and clears her throat. “I didn’t want a fuss. I didn’t want anything huge. I didn’t want reporters andpaparazzi invading our day. I just wanted something intimate. Ryan’s already had a wedding, so we wanted something super simple…” She pauses for a breath. “We know you all would have liked to have been there, but to be honest, it really was a spur-of-the-moment decision. We didn’t want to offend anyone. Honestly, that was never our intention.”
I can see everyone’s a little on edge, so I decide to try to slice through the tension. “Well, I think you guys getting hitched is amazing. I’m super happy for you both. You know it’s not about the day. It’s about the marriage itself, and as long as you guys are happy, that’s all that matters in the end,” I say, leering at the other three, and they all sigh.
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I was just a little shocked. I wanted to do an epic best man speech,” Danger says, making us all laugh.
“Well, we’re gonna have an awesome party at our place anyway to celebrate in a week. So you can do it then, yeah?” Ryan offers, and Danger grins.
“You’re gonna regret that. You know that, right?” Danger states.
Tillie chuckles along with Lunar.
“We’ll have the pitter-patter of children with you guys next, then?” Lunar says, and Tillie’s smile falters as Ryan wraps his arm around her shoulder.
“That’s ah… something else we kept from you guys,” Tillie says, and we all look up in shock.
Surely she isn’t pregnant, too?
“So while Ria was around shooting the music video, Ryan and I were trying to decide if we should have kids in our future, and we thought we should maybe give it a go, considering his past and how awesome he was at being a dad. We both decided we should try, and if it were meant to be, it would be, but nothing happened. We had some tests done, and I actually have troubleproducing eggs…” she sighs. “So, the likelihood of us falling pregnant is pretty much impossible. We’ve decided that we’re happy having our fur babies. We just need each other, right, babe?”
My heart sinks, watching as her eyes mist up while she looks at Ryan. He weakly smiles and gives her a cuddle as Danger and Lunar both exhale heavily.
“Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” Danger says.
“Hey, don’t be. We’re okay with it. We said if it were meant to be, it would be, and it’s just not, so like I said, we’re good with our animals,” Tillie states.
“Adoption?” Lunar murmurs.
Ryan shakes his head. “No. We figured if we were meant to be parents, it would happen. Honestly, guys, we’re fine. Truly, we really are okay with our animals.”
“We really are. Sure, I would have loved something that was part me and part Ryan, but we’ve made a home for ourselves, and the love we share is enough. Now we’re married, and that’s enough for me,” Tillie says, looking up at Ryan with nothing but adoration in her eyes.
“You guys are amazing! Truly, you’re inspiring,” I say.
“Thanks, Alex,” Tillie says as Nate walks down the hall with the biggest smile on his face. We all turn to him, and he opens his arms wide like he’s the proudest man in the world.
“It’s a girl!” he shouts, and we all cheer before we rush to Nate and crowd around him. Honestly, he’s on cloud fucking nine. I think if there was a cloud higher than that, he’s on that one.
“Oh my God, you’re a dad,” Matt exclaims, hugging his brother so tight.
My stomach flutters, watching the two main men in my life celebrate together.
“It was so utterly terrifying and fucking amazing all at the same time, Matt. There are no words, man, no fucking words,”Nate says as everyone else gives him a high five or kisses his cheek.
