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“You may kiss your bride,” the priest announced.
Applause erupted as Olcan placed his hand on her growing belly and kissed her passionately until Fergus yelled out something about getting a hose pipe and sent the room into fits of laughter. Olcan turned with a smile and raised his arm up in victory, his hand laced in her own to bring it up with his. They ran down the aisle and out the front doors to a waiting car, followed by their guests who stood on the steps and threw rice at them.
The female guests lined up and Olcan had a distant memory of accidentally catching the bouquet at the wedding of Fergus and Eimear. He leaned down and whispered to Niamh as she got ready to toss the bouquet.
“How good a shot are you with flowers?” he asked, and she giggled.
“I’m pretty good,” she said quietly.
“Aim for Niall instead of the women,” he told her.
“Seriously? You want angry women after you?” she teased.
“Let’s just call it a recent family tradition. The women will survive to fight for another bouquet on another day,” he told her.
“I’ll do what I can,” she replied, raising the bouquet and tossing it toward the crowd. She missed Niall and instead hit Ronan in the nose with it. He caught it instinctively and laughed, holding it up in victory.
“Close enough,” Olcan replied with a laugh before raising his voice to speak to the guests, “Okay, everyone. It’s party time! We’ll see you all in an hour in the ballroom at The Liberty!”
There were cheers as the couple climbed into the dark sedan behind them and made their way to the hotel for the reception. Neither one was even aware of the trek there or the extra cars that flanked them for protection as they made their way to the west side of Boston onto what was considered neutral ground to finish off the night.
Olcan wondered if other men felt like this on their wedding day or if he was just a big old sap. He was all smiles as he drank and sang to his wife, waltzing her around the floor as the DJ played “All of Me” by John Legend.
There would be a live band later, but they’d elected to have the original song for their first dance. It all felt completely magical and wonderful, and he doubted he’d ever feel like he did today ever again.
The party lasted well into the night as they danced and sang with the additional guests invited to the reception and their clan family. Despite being pregnant and no doubt exhausted, Niamh danced with each of his brothers and several of the other family members until she was too pooped to go anymore and he demanded that she sit for a while to rest.
“You are having triplets soon, you know,” he cautioned, sitting her down beside Eimear and joining her there.
“Party pooper,” she teased.
“I honestly don’t know how you have the energy,” Eimear observed. “When I was pregnant with Dom, all I wanted to do was sleep! Not you though, you are just a ball of energy.”
“I think it’s just the excitement of the day,” Niamh laughed, sipping on the sparkling water she’d selected since she couldn’t have champagne.
By the time the party ended, she was beginning to show signs of fatigue, leaning on him as they made their way out of the great ballroom and slipping back into the dark sedan that had brought them here. She fell asleep in his arms as they were driven back home and let out on their doorstep but was very much awake again once they arrived.
“Ready to be carried over the threshold, Mrs. McNally?” Olcan asked her.
“Haven’t you already carried me across this threshold once?” she laughed.
“Not as my bride, I haven’t,” he told her.
“You might throw your back out,” she told him. “There are four of us rolled into one now, you know.”
“Then, I am carrying you all over the threshold tonight,” he said, lifting her in his arms and maneuvering his way through the front door, where he loudly exclaimed, “Welcome home to the latest four McNallys!”
Niamh laughed as he pushed the door shut with his foot and balanced her on one arm long enough to set the alarm instead of putting her down.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m not done yet. I have to carry you up the stairs so we can consummate this marriage.”
“I’m pretty sure, from the looks of this bowling bowl under my dress, that we’ve already done that.”
“Technicality,” he joked, charging up the steps and standing her by the bed to begin gently removing her from her dress.
They spend the rest of the night making love, enjoying their new union to its fullest before drifting off into a tired sleep. It had been a good day. In fact, it was easily the best day of Olcan’s lifetime. He’d never imagined himself here, but now that he was, he couldn’t imagine anywhere that he’d rather be.
