Fuck, this feels so right.
The giant wedding was still being planned by our families, but this was only for us, with my stepdaughters, Theo, andAmber as witnesses. Just us, Adeline’s hand in mine, and the girls giggling over bubbles. It was perfect.
The judge let the kids chase the bubbles for a minute before he cleared his throat. “Are we ready?”
“Absolutely,” I said eagerly.
The judge smiled and came to stand in front of us. Adeline looked at me like I was her whole world. I half expected her to disappear if I blinked wrong, hanging onto her hands like she was about to drift into a stormy sea if I eased my grip.
The judge led us through the vows, but honestly, the only parts of the ceremony I fully heard were the “I do’s” and “You may kiss your bride.”
I grinned, tugging Adeline into me for a kiss that made Jennifer cheer loud enough to shake the windows. Lu groaned, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “Gross.”
Theo high-fived the judge and Amber let out an excited whoop, but then yelped when Lu nearly tackled the bubble machine. I only slowed the kiss when Theo nudged me, but I didn’t let go of my wife yet. I bent and pressed my forehead to Adeline’s, just letting the truth of it settle that she was finally mine, now and forever.
“You’re sure you were okay with doing it this way?”
“A courthouse wedding was my plan all along, Zach,” she murmured, smiling against my lips. “I never needed the big wedding or any of that nonsense. I would’ve been fine with eloping or even just getting Theo ordained to marry us over breakfast at the house. Nothing mattered to me except you, but areyouokay with it?”
I tightened my grip on her. “All I’ve wanted for so long is to be married to you. That’s it.”
She pressed her lips to mine again, and for the first time in my entire life, I melted. Naturally, Theo noticed, oohing and aahing until I grinned and broke away from her.
We left the courthouse together, off to the Chicago Institute of Art. Adeline squeezed my hand as we walked up the museum steps, sending me a soft, knowing smile. “You’re taking me on one of our old dates.”
“You noticed?”
“You brought me here every time you wanted to impress me intellectually.”
I smirked. “In my defense, it worked.”
She laughed. “It really did.”
Lu and Jennifer sprinted ahead with Amber chasing after them, calling to us over her shoulder. “Why are children so fast?”
“Predator instincts,” Theo said wisely, but then he took off after her, both of them chasing the girls while Adeline and I took our time moving slowly from painting to painting, hand in hand, occasionally pausing while she told me facts about artists I immediately forgot because I was too busy looking at her.
At one point, she leaned lightly into my side. “What do you want to do now? We’re almost done here.”
I looked down at her, my wife, and said the only words that came to mind. “Honestly, I’d like to take you home.”
Her cheeks pinked, but she didn’t seem opposed to the idea at all. Unfortunately, Theo, Amber, and the girls were nearby, loudly critiquing modern art. I sighed, knowing that no matter how much I wanted to just take her home, that wasn’t in the cards yet.
Adeline followed my gaze, but she seemed to misinterpret my reasons for looking at them. “Is he next? Theo, I mean. You’re off the market now, which means Alex moves onto the next brother, right?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “You’ll have to ask Alex. He’s the ringleader of this show, so it’ll be up to him. But if history is any guide, then yes.”
“Right,” she said and leaned further into me. “For the record, Amber is taking the girls for the night, so if you really want to take me home, we can do it.”
Every trace of curiosity over my brother’s future and whatever else might’ve been on my mind vanished in an instant. I couldn’t even remember what we’d been talking about before.
I just tightened my grip on her hand and led her over to them to say goodbye. Theo gave me a goofy, encouraging grin, and I rolled my eyes, silently warning him to shut the fuck up. Amber hugged Adeline, murmuring something I couldn’t really make out, but it sounded like she was reassuring her not to worry.
When we got back to Westwood Manor, alone and unlikely to be interrupted for the rest of the day and night, I lay on my bed, listening to the shower running in my bathroom. After the big wedding, the girls would be moving in permanently.
Theo was still going to live here, but we could figure that out in time. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the money to finally grow up and get his own place. Whether he possessed the maturity to feed himself after leaving was another issue entirely, but in the meantime, this was still his house too and it was more than big enough for all of us.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, interrupting my musings, and I frowned when I picked it up to see a text from Theo. Immediately worried that he’d ditched Amber and the girls or that something had gone wrong, I opened it but then barked out a laugh.
