She smiled, pressing her cheek to mine. “You’ll do just fine, Mrs. Reed.”
“Alright, Reeds, we’ll catch you tomorrow,” Jordan said, already steering her gently toward the door, protective as ever.
Tyler’s hand slid low around my waist, his mouth brushing my ear. “C’mon, Mrs. Reed. Let’s get some air before your cousins rope me into another jig.”
Laughing, I let him steer me toward the door, slipping off my heels as soon as we hit the gravel path outside. The cool stones bit at my feet, but I didn’t care. I dangled my shoes from my fingers as we wandered toward the quiet shadow of the castle.
His eyes flicked down, a wicked grin tugging at his mouth. “Remember what I did to you in those shoes?”
Heat shot up my neck, but I couldn’t stop the smile. “Trust you to ruin a perfectly sentimental moment.”
“Nah,” he murmured, tugging me closer. “Just reminding you what I’m capable of.”
The night was still and cool, stars scattered like confetti across a velvet sky. Behind us, the music still played and laughter spilled from the hall, but out here it felt a world away. For the first time all day, it was just us.
“Today was perfect,” I whispered, my throat tightening. “More than I ever dreamt of.”
He pressed his lips to my temple, lingering. “That’s ‘cause you’re mine. And I’ll spend every day making sure you never doubt it.”
I smiled up at him, tracing my finger over the lapel of his suit. “You already do,” I whispered. “You’ve got nothing left to prove.”
“Hmm.” His eyes dropped to my mouth, voice low and teasing. “Maybe not. But I have a lot of interesting things planned for tonight, all of them involving getting you out of that beautiful dress.”
I laughed softly. “And there’s me thinking you could behave for once.”
“Behave?” His grin turned dangerous. “After tonight? Not a chance.”
He kissed me until the noise of the party faded into nothing. When he finally drew back, his forehead rested against mine, breath warm against my lips.
“So,” he murmured, eyes gleaming, “does this mean you’re gonna stop getting those birth control shots now that we’re officially married?”
I blinked as my pulse flickered. “Actually…” I hesitated. “I didn’t get my last one.”
His breath caught, the smallest pause between heartbeats. Then he tilted my chin up, that slow, knowing grin spreading across his face dark and full of heat.
“Well then,” he said, voice rough with promise. “Guess we’d better get to work, Mrs. Reed.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later
No one warnsyou that the moment you become a dad, the world rearranges itself without asking permission.
Riley was on the changing mat, legs pumping like he thought this was a full-contact sport, his red face screwed up in protest. Maddison lay beside him on the rug, making soft, indignant noises like she’d already decided the world was deeply inconvenient. Three weeks old, both of them, and already running the house.
“Alright, little dude,” I muttered, peeling back the diaper and instantly regretting my confidence. “Okay, no—hell no, that’s aggressive.”
He gurgled, clearly pleased with his efforts.
From the corner of my eye, Maddison was already shuffling her way off the mat I’d put her on. “Absolutely not,” I groaned, carefully hauling her back by the ankles while keeping Riley from rolling clean off the mat. “You two are conspiring against me. I can feel it.” They both stared at me. Completely unimpressed.
“Your mom’s upstairs getting the first proper nap she’s had in weeks,” I whispered, like they might give a shit. “So we’re keeping it down, yeah?”
The next thing I heard was the sound of what can only be explained as an eruption coming from Maddie’s direction. I dropped my head back with a groan. “Cool. Awesome. Totally crushing the dad thing over here.”
So yeah, I was exhausted, covered in spit-up and God knows what else, but looking down at the two of them—my kids, two tiny babies that were now somehow mine—my heart almost split in two.
Getting here hadn’t been easy. There were months that nearly broke us, nights I held Orla while she cried overanothernegative test, moments I wondered if wanting this was asking too much of the universe.
