“Breathe, dude!” Knight hisses.
Ah, right. Oxygen. Important wedding component. I suck in a lungful of air, which does keep me from falling over, butdoesn’tmake Remy any less breathtaking. Butch leads her toward the altar, though he does pause to make eyes at my mom. The fact that they flirt every time we get them in the same room together weirds me out, but it’s hard to argue with anything that makes my mom happy and carefree, so whatever. Honestly, after everything she survived, she deserves every ridiculous ounce of flirting she can get.
At long last, Butch places Remy’s hand in mine. He kisses her cheek. “You picked a good one, kid.” The approval in his voice lands harder than I expect it to. To my surprise, he clasps my shoulder and turns his watery eyes on me. “Take care of each other, okay?”
“Of course,” I tell him. “I will.Wewill.” Commitment doesn’t feel like a trap waiting to snap shut.
Butch steps aside, giving me a perfectly timed view of Dante pointing at our interlinked hands and saying, “I did that. I got those two together.” Unfortunately, he’s not entirely wrong.
Remy stifles a laugh as Viktor clears his throat.
“I call this wedding to order.” He folds his hands in front of his chest and speaks with a solemnity I rarely see from him.
“It’s not acourtroom,” Knight hisses.
“Order!” Viktor repeats. “No interrupting. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of this man and this woman …”
Remy shakes her head and smiles. I’m glad that she wasn’t disappointed by my desire for a small wedding and that she was amused by Viktor’s offer to get ordained for this event. All that mattered to her were the same things that matter to me. We’re here with the people we love, and who love us in return. Just us and the people who helped us become who we are.
I know that I was nervous only a few minutes ago. But with Remy’s presence grounding me, I can’t seem to remember why.
* * *
For at least the fifteenth time tonight, somebody taps their knife against their water glass. People hoot and whistle as Remy pulls me in for another soft, sweet, perfect kiss.
“I love you,” I whisper.
Saying the words feels a little miraculous every time.
She brushes a follow-up kiss against my cheek. “I love you, too, babe.”
At the next table over, Bowen has a notebook out. He’s scribbling furiously as Knight asks Cara a series of questions.
“Okay, so you’ve got twenty dollars on them getting a second dog within the next six months.”
“That’s right.”
“First big fight?”
“Oooh, let me see.” She reaches into her clutch. “I’ll split my bet. Let’s go twenty on whether to stay in the neighborhood, and twenty on Remy getting mad about Owen being away all the time.”
“Got it.” Knight tucks her money into an envelope. “And for the baby pool?”
I’m deeply uncomfortable with how invested everyone is in my reproductive timeline.
“Ooh, no bet. I’m thinking it’s going to be a three-year minimum before they start seriously discussing it, and I don’t trust you to hold my money for that long.”
“Fair enough. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”
Cara reaches into her clutch again. “Now, not so fast. Are you taking bets on Remy’s career? Because I’m pretty sure she’s going to go solo within the next year.”
Honestly? I can see it too. Remy’s spent her whole life making other people shine. She’s finally starting to realize how extraordinary she is herself.
“Bowen?” Knight asks.
Bowen flips to a fresh page. “One sec, let me do some calculations…”
Across the table, Ma laughs while Butch balances a dessert plate in one hand and gestures animatedly with the other.
