He nods, a smile slowly spreading across his face again. “Okay.” He cleans everything, sets it all up again, and then he takes off his shirt. “I want you to put a C on my chest. There should be room here.” He points to a small gap between the existing ink that covers most of his body.
I suck in a sharp breath. “Over your heart?”
“Yeah,” he confirms, and I have to blink back the tears threatening to blur my vision. “I’ve got everything set up. I’ll turn it on and hand the gun to you. Use light, consistent pressure. The weight of the machine does a lot of the work. We can always add more. Sound good?”
“Yes,” I confirm when I’ve pulled myself together. I do exactly as he described, taking the tattoo gun and carefully adding a C to the place above his heart.
I fucking loved our Vegas wedding. I love that part of our story. But this, John not only marking me forever as his but trusting me to leave my own mark permanently on his heart, literally, this moment is so much better than I could have ever hoped when we said our vows all those months ago.
I might have promised that night to be the best husband ever. But I think I’ll have to share the title with John.
We were definitely the biggest winners in Vegas.
SECOND EPILOGUE
John
A couple of weeks later
“Hubby, I’m hooome,” Chad calls out just before slamming the front door.
I snort a laugh as I remember all the times he greeted me the same way when he first showed up here and how dismissive I was of both the title and the idea of us living together. Now both of those things bring me more joy than I ever could have imagined.
“Welcome home, Princess.” I greet him with a kiss on his cheek as I take the bags of ice he’s carrying to fill the coolers we have set up on the back deck. I would have gone out to get them myself, but someone needed to cook for this party we’re hosting, and that wasn’t going to be Chad.
A part of me still can’t really wrap my head around the fact that we’re hosting a party at the house we share, but seeing the way Chad’s face has lit up every time he’s talked about it since I suggested the idea, makes it easy to ignore any hesitancy on mypart. It’s just my family, Blake, Liam, and Wyatt coming, so it should be pretty relaxed.
Chad has been stopping by his old house with dinner to hang out with my brothers when we wrap up for the day, so we’ve all been spending more time together, which I’ll admit has been nice. I’ve tried to explain to Chad that he doesn’t need to feed anyone, that my brothers enjoy his company and they would hang out without bribes, but he insists it makes him happy, so I won’t fight him on it.
They all really do love spending time with him. Even James is never in any hurry to get home to his wife. Chad offered to send extra food home for her, but James was dismissive, and I don’t feel like we’re quite close enough yet for me to pry about his marriage. I think we’re making a lot of progress though. I told them about Luke, and they were very supportive. They gave me shit about not telling them sooner, but overall, it was a positive experience. I figure if they have anything they want to share with me, it’ll happen in time.
I quickly fill the coolers with ice and move drinks from the fridge out in the garage before I go back to the kitchen to set out snacks on our newly installed quartz countertop that Chad picked out. It really does look better than the tile one and is so much easier to clean.
He’s setting up his “perfect party playlist” on a speaker when the doorbell rings, and he immediately jogs to the entryway. “I’ll get it!”
“The party can start! I’m heeeere,” Blake announces as he makes his way into the house with Liam and Wyatt. Blake and Liam both helped us officially move Chad in, and we celebrated that night with beer and pizza I picked up from the sports bar, but it’s nice to have them here today too.
“Need help with anything?” Liam offers in greeting.
I shrug. “I promise I’m not dismissing your offer. Maybelater when it’s time to grill, but I think everything is set for now. Drinks are on the back porch.”
Liam and Wyatt head outside while Blake and Chad immediately go into the living room to say hello to Jack and Jenny where they’re sitting on the furniture like they own the damn place. They might as well. Chad would gladly replace anything they damage, and he refuses to entertain the idea that they’re not meant to behave as house dogs.
I drew the line at letting them sleep in our bed, which Chad agreed to quickly when I reminded him of the Shibari incident with their involvement, but he did set up the second bedroom as their room with special low-to-the-ground beds for them to sleep on. I quickly agreed to that when he reminded me having them in that room would be a great excuse to never have guests stay with us if we don’t have a spare room.
I love how much he gets me even though we’re so fucking different.
My brothers show up next, Mark and Drew first, followed by James who makes an excuse about his wife not feeling well. They join Chad and Blake with the donkeys.
Mark pauses by the fireplace and a huge grin splits his face before he turns to me. “So do you sleep in the shirt that matches this picture? Or have I just not seen you wearing it yet?”
My jaw falls open, and I glare at him as Chad whips his head in Mark’s direction. “How do you know about the shirts?”
“What shirts?” Blake asks, but Chad ignores him, staring wide-eyed at Mark.
My other brothers burst out laughing, and Drew adds, “Can I use the mug, or is that reserved for special occasions?”
“How do you know about the mug?” Chad presses.
