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“I know.” His voice is quieter now, and when he turns his face enough to press a kiss against my palm, I have to remind myself that we still have a ceremony to finish.

The rings are simple, exactly the way Nash wanted them after rejecting every elaborate option Alessia showed us. Mine feels unfamiliar when he slides it onto my finger, and I look down at the band before taking his hand and putting the matching one on him.

The man marrying us barely finishes pronouncing us married before I reach for Nash. My hand settles against the back of his neck as I pull him against me, and his arms come around my shoulders before our mouths meet. The people behind us applaud, but the sound becomes distant when his fingers slide into my hair and he presses closer. I’ve kissed him more times than I could count over the last two years, and there is nothing unfamiliar about the way his mouth moves against mine or the feel of his body against me. Knowing all of it has never made me want him less.

When we finally separate, Nash stays against me with his forehead resting against mine. I look at the ring on his hand before bringing my eyes back to his.

“My husband.”

His smile slowly spreads. Husband was never a word I expected to use again after Maria, and for years I had no reason to want it. With Nash, it means something entirely different because everything that brought us here was something we chose together.

He brushes his mouth against mine once more before we turn toward our family. Alessia has given up trying to hide her tears, and Kieran has an arm around her while Xavier leans across the aisle to say something that makes her laugh. Declan catches me looking at him and smiles, and for a moment, I can still see the five-year-old boy I once believed I could protect from everything.

Declan has Xavier beside him. Ronan has Colton and Ollie, while Conor and Jaxon sit close together a few seats away. Liam and Finn are here, Kieran still looks at Alessia as though no one else exists when she turns toward him, and Nash’s hand is wrapped around mine. He squeezes my fingers, and we start down the aisle together.

The reception spreads across the back lawn beneath strings of lights, with music carrying from the patio and the bar Nash insisted we needed becoming the busiest part of the yard almost immediately. Alessia managed to make everything look like a wedding without turning our home into something I won’t recognize tomorrow morning, although I’m sure I’ll be finding evidence of nearly forty people being here for the next week.

Nash stays beside me through dinner, but after that, keeping him in one place becomes impossible. He spends some time with Max, gets pulled into a conversation with Colton, and eventually ends up crouched beside Ollie when he comes running across the lawn. Every time I catch sight of him, he’s with someone different, and more often than not, he’s laughing.

The next time I look for Nash, he’s standing with Declan and Xavier. Xavier is already laughing, while Declan has the expression he usually gets right before Nash pushes him too far.

“I’m not calling you Dad.”

Nash points at himself. “I married your father. That makes me your dad.”

“You’re four years older than me.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“It has everything to do with it.” Declan looks at Xavier as though he expects help, but Xavier is laughing too hard to give him any. “You are not my father.”

Nash’s grin only gets wider. “I think you should at least try it once before you decide.”

Declan finally spots me across the lawn. “Come get your husband.”

There’s no reason for me to get involved, but the opportunity is too good to ignore. “He’s your dad now. Show some respect.”

Nash turns toward me so quickly that I can see the exact moment he realizes I’m going to help him make this worse. Declan looks between us before shaking his head.

“I hate both of you.”

Nash laughs and throws an arm around Declan’s shoulders. “Don’t talk to your fathers like that, son.”

Declan immediately removes his arm. “Keep it up, and I’m throwing you in the pool.”

Nash looks toward the pool and then down at his suit before wisely putting a little more distance between them. “Threatening one of your fathers on his wedding day. Alessia raised you better than this.”

That finally gets Xavier involved. He grabs Declan’s arm when he starts toward Nash, laughing as he tries to hold him back, and Nash takes advantage of the distraction to head across the lawn toward me.

“You’re encouraging him,” Declan calls after me.

“I am.”

Nash reaches me still laughing, and I slide my arm around his waist as he looks back at Declan. “I think he’s adjusting well.”

“He’ll come around.”

“I’m never calling you Dad,” Declan says from across the lawn.