"God, can you imagine if the two of them ever met?" I heard him ask Tristan as they wandered off hand in hand. I heard Tristan laugh and say something about "Granny and Irene being almost as bad", before I was distracted by the sight of Nico walking in with Gracie on his shoulders. He had to duck under the doorway, making her laugh and squeal "Daddy, look out!" He was grinning ear to ear, as he usually did when she called him 'Daddy'.
The rehearsal and the dinner following it had gone smoothly,and Nico, Gracie, and I had retired to our suite afterward. Nico had flat-out refused to be separated from me on the night beforeour wedding, despite our mothers and Nonna arguing that it was bad luck.
I had agreed, with what I was sure was a lovesick smile, when he'd declared, "I've spent too many damned years sleeping without Allie in my arms. I'm not about to do it the night before our wedding!"
My father had directed his sternest glare his way before reminding him that sleeping was all he'd better be doing. "Your ring isn't on her finger quite yet, so remember that premarital relations are not allowed."
Matt had choked on his beer, and Josh, James and Tony all gaped at Nico before Dad lost his composure and laughed. By the time Dad had told the story of the initial "premarital relations" speech, we were all roaring with laughter, even Gracie and Micah, Min's son, who had no clue what we were laughing at but laughed anyway.
As it turned out, Nico ignored Dad's admonishment, making love to me late into the night with a sweet intensity that brought tears to my eyes.
"Allie, sweetie, are you ready?" I turned away from the window as my mom's voice pulled me from my musings.
I spotted Gracie twirling around in a circle, delighting in the way her dress swung back and forth around her legs. She was wearing a dusty rose dress, in deference to her request for "a pink princess dress."
She and I both wore our hair down today, with a crown of flowers in our hair and a few flowers and ribbons trailing down amongst our curls. Since I had done the traditional whitewedding gown and veil for my marriage to Alex, I wanted something different this time.
My dress was a vintage-looking silk dress in a beautiful darker champagne color, with a lace overlay in a slightly lighter shade. The flowers I'd selected were various shades of pink, from the palest blush to the dusty rose of Gracie's dress, with a few champagne-colored blooms mixed in.There was not a rose to be found. I still hated the fucking things.
After talking with my dad to make sure he wouldn't mind, I had decided to walk down the aisle with Gracie, rather than having Dad give me away.He had done that with my wedding to Alex, and had actually thanked me for doing something different.
"I've already given you away once, baby girl. I'm not sure my heart can take doing it again," he'd told me with a rueful smile and a huge hug.
Seeing Gracie gearing up for an even bigger twirl in her "swishy dress", I stopped her before she made herself sick.
"Let's go, Gracie-girl. It's time for us to go see your Daddy."
She giggled and slipped her hand in mine. Mom handed me my bouquet, and Nonna handed the basket of flower petals to Gracie. The rings were tied to the basket handle with pretty ribbon, and I checked to make sure they were still secure before we headed outside to the gazebo where everyone waited.
I stopped on the walkway around the corner from the gazebo, waiting for the wedding coordinator to give me our cue to begin walking down the aisle.I leaned down and whispered to Gracie "It's a surprise for Daddy, so don't tell him yet, but you're getting your new last name, too, today." She gasped and lookedup at me, giggling as I nodded my head. We had tried to explain the adoption process, but the only thing she really understood was that she would be Peretti then, too.
I heard the processional music starting, and she signalled us to begin walking. Gracie walked a step or two ahead of me, dropping flower petals and waving at everyone. I smiled down at her, then looked up to find Nico's steady gaze on me. He looked so intense, as if he were trying to will me to walk faster. I gave him a smile, and his face lit up.
When Gracie got about ten feet away from the front, she gave up on the flowers and dashed over to Nico's side. He scooped her up for a fierce hug, kissing her forehead before setting her back down on her feet to greet me.
He reached out his hand, and I placed my hand in his as he pulled me closer. His eyes roved over my face, as if trying to memorize how I looked.
"You take my breath away, Sunshine," he whispered huskily.
I smiled again, unable to speak with the emotion clogging my throat. We turned to face the front, with Gracie standing on my other side, as arranged.
Judge Carlson spoke about the power of love and the sanctity of marriage, before asking us to say our vows. Traditional vows were one of two things that Nico had requested when it came to the ceremony.
"I'm not sure I can stand up and tell everyone how much you mean to me with crying, Sunshine," he'd confessed. I told him that was fine, since I was sure any vows I could write would pale in comparison to the eloquence of his words as a songwriter.
I handed Gracie my bouquet to hold, and I retrieved both rings from her basket as Nico and I were instructed to join both hands and face each other. I slipped my wedding band to him, to hold until the time came for him to put it on my finger.
I smiled brightly through my tears as Nico repeated his vows and said "I do," in a strong, sure voice.
I repeated my vows, and saw tears in Nico's eyes. His hand tightened on mine, and his eyes closed, in what looked a gesture of relief, after I said "I do."We exchanged rings, and Nico raised my hand to his lips after sliding the band into place. "I love you, Sunshine," he whispered.
The judge didn't even finish the words "You may kiss your bride," before Nico was wrapping me in his arms and kissing me like his life depended on it. We broke apart to the sound of laughter, applause, and several wolf-whistles.
Now it was time for Nico's other request. He wanted to make a vow to Gracie.Hannah stepped up and took the bouquet and flower basket from her, as Nico scooped her back up in his arms.
"Nico, do you take Grace Elizabeth to forever be your daughter, to love her, watch over her, guide her, and protect her always?" We had left out the traditional 'until death do you part' of all of our vows, substituting 'always' and 'forever' instead.
"I do," his voice rang out, wavering every so slightly as he tried to control his emotions.
