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I say what I’m supposed to, and Landon does the same, but none of it seems real until we get to the kiss.
Echoes of cheers and applause swirl around us, but it only serves as the soundtrack for the happiest day of my life.
I’m standing in the same spot my dad stood when he married Sophia, where so many other people married their soul mates, and I feel like it only gives Landon and me the strength and fortitude we’ll need to last for eternity.
We’re announced as husband and husband by the minister, forcing our lips apart on a chuckle from the audience.
I hate that tradition with marriages at the clubhouse dictate that we step to the side while the clubhouse is very efficiently transformed into a reception area.
I blame Gigi, one of Kincaid’s twin daughters, for that because it wasn’t a rule before she got married. But after she and Hound disappeared right after they got married and didn’t emerge for two days, the rules changed. Now we all have to suffer because of it.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” Khloe says as she approaches, giving both of us hugs before stepping back into Dustin’s arms.
He shakes both of our hands, congratulating us. “I guess our own wedding day has been replaced.”
She smacks his chest in that playful way she always does but doesn’t argue.
Dad approaches with Sophia to congratulate us, and I cling to her harder than I ever have, tears stinging my eyes. Despite our closeness in age, she quickly became like a mother to me. I just don’t have the words to explain how grateful I am for her loving my dad the way she does. I think I took this kind of love for granted because I never thought I’d have a chance for it to be reciprocated. For the longest time, I was bitter about others being in love, so sure I’d never have it for myself.
I say so much with my hug, and the way she squeezes me back tells me that she understands.
There are tears in her eyes when she pulls back. Dad hugs me next, a quick, backslapping display before holding his arms out to Landon.
That embrace lasts a little longer. He whispers something that makes my husband nod, and although I don’t know what he said, I can see that my father completely accepts my choice. The young man who was like a son to him his entire life has now become his son-in-law. Dad has never looked happier.
“We’ll chat more later,” Sophia says. “I know there are a lot of others that want to give their congrats.”
And so it goes on, all the couples coming up and giving us tidbits of advice and joking with us in a way they never did before, but that’s one of the great things about Cerberus. When they recognize you as an adult and no longer a child, the transition is immediate.
Summer break saw us still as a couple of the kids hanging around, but now as married men, we’re part of a different group in Cerberus. It makes me feel a little guilt for all of that sneaking around we did when we were younger.
Eventually we make it to the end of the line, and as if everyone knows what we’re feeling, they chat with others, and we’re awarded a few minutes in limited isolation in the corner of the room by the Christmas tree.
“We did it,” Landon says, his eyes shining with love and happiness.
There isn’t a hint of the fear I saw in his eyes two months ago when he stepped up on that bench in the locker room.
I nod in agreement, letting my eyes run down his body. “Did you look this good in a suit at prom?”
He snaps the lapels of his jacket. “Of course I did. I always look amazing in a suit.”
“There’s my humble husband,” I say, leaning in for a kiss.
It’s a light press of our lips, and then I’m wrapped in his arms, our heads buried in the other’s throat.
Tears burn my eyes, and I have to cling to him tighter.
My insides are a war of emotions. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, but three days before we head back to Texas for our final semester of college, I have to watch my husband swear into the Marine Corps, using their delayed entry program. Christmas break is seeing him make not one but two life-altering commitments.
“I’m scared,” I confess into his neck.
He nods in understanding, turning his face slightly to press his lips to my neck. “Being married to me won’t be too bad.”
I huff a laugh. “About the Corps.”
He doesn’t placate me, doesn’t offer me assurances, and for that I’m grateful. I don’t need to be treated like a child. I know how dangerous it will be for him.
