And of course, because it was Hayes, he was prepared with note cards.
“I was three years old when Trixie moved into the house next door,” he began. “I can’t remember a time without her there. She’s always been an honorary Kingman.”
He glanced down at his cards, then back up at the crowd.
“One of my first memories of Trixie is her baking Christmas cookies with us, right by my mom’s side. She helped Chris take the training wheels off my bike. She lent me her copies of the Magic Tree House books and talked about each one with me,instilling in me a love of fantasy and sci-fi that I still have to this day.”
Hayes smiled, and I looked over at Trixie. Her eyes were filled with tears as she listened with rapt attention.
“We all always knew that Trixie was the one and only girl for Chris. So when he finally fessed up about his feelings last summer, you can be damn sure the Kingmans were prepared to help him do anything to win the girl.”
A few cheers went up from my brothers.
“I might be his best man today, but Chris is one of the best men I’ve ever known every day. It can’t have been easy to be the ringleader of this group of menaces, but he’s always been the best eldest brother you could hope for.”
Hayes paused, his voice thickening. I swallowed hard, and Trix squeezed my hand under the table.
“I always felt like I could come to my big brother with anything, and he would have the answers. And if he didn’t, he would help me find them. He could have been a jerk with no time for us little kids, but instead he was always there for us, never rushing us along. Time with Chris was special because he focused on you and made you feel like you were important. For me, the sixth of seven brothers and one spectacular sister, he always made me feel seen when it could have been easy for me to feel lost in the shuffle.”
Ah, shit. Why did my little brother have to make me get all teary-eyed? I was going to kick his ass later. After I finished hugging him.
“When Chris made it to the pros and catapulted himself into stardom, winning a Big Bowl in his first season as a starting quarterback, it would have been easy for him to ride off into the sunset. Instead, he stayed close to home and made sure he took all of us along with him.”
Hayes swallowed hard and looked down at his cards for a moment before continuing.
“After we lost our mother...” He paused, his voice cracking slightly. “After we lost our mom, dad held us together and built us into a strong family that could withstand anything. Chris has made us even stronger. He’s the most generous person I know.”
He looked directly at me.
“Like everything with the Kingmans, we turned who would get to stand up here with him today into a competition, and I’m so honored that it was me who was chosen to be here by his side. I love you, brother. All of us do. You too, Trixie. I know today is the best day of your lives, but I think I speak for myself and all of my siblings when I say that getting to see the two of you happy together at last... it’s also one of the best days of ours.”
He raised his glass.
“To Trixie and Chris.”
The crowd held up their glasses, and I looked around at my siblings. Every single one of them was crying as much as I was. I didn’t think it was possible to feel this much love in one room.
I stood up, grabbed my little brother, and buried my face in his neck. “Love you, Hazey,” I whispered.
“Love you too, big bro,” he said, holding onto me for a long moment while we both got our shit together.
Afterward, I took the mic from him, my face still damp and cheeks flushed.
“Well, okay then. Hi, everybody.”
A wave of laughter rippled through the guests.
“I just wanted to thank everyone for coming today. Trixie and I are honored that you’re all here to celebrate us. I know some of you may be wondering why we chose to have our wedding here and why we asked for donations instead of wedding gifts to support The Gentle Barnyard.”
I looked over at Trixie, and she slipped her hand into mine.
“My girl, my wife, the love of my life has always had a soft spot for animals. She’s been volunteering here for years and has taken me along with her many times, swearing that shoveling manure was for my football muscles.”
More laughter filled the room.
“But supporting this organization has given me a chance to honor the two most important women in my life.” I took a breath. “When planning this wedding, there’s been one person who’s been missing from all of this. Trixie and I wanted to announce that this building we’re in now will be known as the April Kingman Welcome Center, to honor my mother, who should be here with us tonight.”
The room went quiet. I could see my dad in the front row, his jaw tight with emotion.
