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“You know, I never thought I’d be this happy to walk you down the aisle a second time.”
I hold back a sob.
“You’ve always taken on so much, I’m happy you have two men who are willing to share your burdens and remove them from your shoulders when they prove to be too heavy.” He raises my hand to his lips for a quick kiss, and the floodgates go down.
I cry all the way to the altar, doing my best to make them silent sobs, but a few loud ones escape.
Valentino and Tácito glance at each other in alarm until Marisol yells, “You can’t stop joy when it’s abundant.”
Our select friends and family burst into laughter, relieving my men of their concerns. However, the noise startles Cielo from her curled position at Tácito’s feet. With a disgruntled frown, she stretches in her miniature best woman’s tuxedo dress. Tácito bends to pacify her with chin scratches. He brushes his fingers against the three rings attached to her suit, causing them to flash in the sunshine. The whole interlude is too freaking adorable, and more than one loud sob escapes me.
With one last step to go, I stand between my husbands. Everything about this ceremony is more intimate and more precious than our first wedding five years ago. For a while after our showdown with the Ghost Six crew, Tácito had me worried.
Immediately after, he’d say cryptic ass shit that made no sense to me. I almost thought he suspected me of doing something, but he reverted to his overbearingly nurturing behavior and I would let it go. Until I caught him staring into space, a frightening glower aimed at no one. When I finally pushed him to confide in me, he told me the sad story of a patient he almost lost. Although she knew she was pregnant, she never told her husband and Tácito discovered her pregnancy too late to save the baby.
I hugged him close and bawled my eyes out, lamenting that she didn’t feel she could share her blessing with her husband. I probably said a lot of things and promised I would never do anything like what she did to him and Valentino.
Whatever comfort I gave him helped. He stopped glowering at ghosts and voicing cryptic asides. Now, he stands before me without a hint of shadows darkening his smile.
The service blurs, going too fast when I want to hold it close and cherish every passing second. I want to replay for myself the sheen in Tácito’s eyes as he repeats his heartfelt vows and the many times Valentino clears his throat of the emotion making him sound gruff. I want to hold the memory of Tácito receiving his wedding ring, this time in front of our family. He designed our bands to compliment each other with our initials filigreed in the band.
Not to be left out of the vow exchange, Cielo climbs my dress in the middle of my kiss with Valentino. He plucks the munchkin off my skirt and hands her to Tácito. “I’ll only share with you tonight. Find her a new distraction.”
“Seriously, Valentino? You’re jealous of a cat?” I huff with my hands on my hips while our guests do nothing to hide their amusement.
Surrounded by good-natured laughter, Valentino pulls me into his embrace and lays the filthiest, most scandalous kiss on me with my parents watching in the front row. He releases me with a confident smirk. Dazed, I’m powerless to snark at him because Tácito takes the opening and swings me into his arms to kiss the last of my breath from my lungs.
“Giving y’all my blessings isn’t the same as saying I want a front-row seat to your orgy!” My father yells from his chair.
Tácito ignores him for a few seconds longer. When he releases me, I have to grab onto his arm to steady myself.
“I think everyone got your message,” I whisper.
He kisses my forehead. “If they didn’t, I’d put Valentino in an awkward situation because I would lay you out next to the cake and have my dessert while they’re having theirs.”
“There’s nothing stopping you from laying me out after they leave.”
“No, there isn’t.” He pulls me into his side and with Valentino, they lead me towards the reception.
I walk through the day on a happy cloud knowing there is more to come in the hours ahead. Our very close friends and family sit around the outdoor tables for the meal while I sit between my husbands. They stand to toast us, one following the other.
After the sixth toast, Valentino whispers in my ear, “Why is your glass still full?”
With a furtive smile directed to our guests, I take his hand and one of Tácito’s and rest their palms flat against my belly under the table. And I wait.
Tácito nudges me. “Are you not feeling well?”
“Holy shit,” Valentino whispers on repeat while tapping the news into his device for Tácito’s benefit.
I feel the moment my news clicks. The sounds around us mute and Tácito’s body becomes rigid.
With shaky hands, he turns my head. A tear falls from his eye. “How long have you known?”
“I took five tests this morning, but I think we should still confirm it with a doctor.”
He crushes me to him, bruising my lips with frantic kisses. Valentino pulls me out of his embrace to do the same. I can’t imagine what our guests are thinking at our display, but my men don’t give me much time to dwell.
Tácito drags me to the dance floor, and somehow we sway to the beat he must feel through the vibrations in the floor. The hours fly by until my eyes droop, combating the happiness surrounding us. We make one final round to assure ourselves that our family and friends want for nothing, but pause at the fierce frown on Sansone’s face.
“Sansone?” Valentino rests a hand on his brother’s shoulder, expressing his silent concern.
Sansone hands Valentino his phone. “It looks like I share an unfortunate trait with our departed father. Apparently, I have a son, and his mother kept him a secret from me.”
