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“I was thinking we’d do a nautical theme. You know, teeny-tiny bikinis on the waitstaff. Knots. Yachts. Warm oyster shots.” She sputtered with laughter, while I took one last swig of my mocha. “Oh, and by the way, Rainbow? I’ve made one decision.” I licked my lips, giving her my million-dollar smile.
“I’m definitely a swallow girl.”
Epilogue
Grumpy
It was raining outside on our wedding day, but inside the Northeast Georgetown Country Club, the sunshine was blinding.
At least, my Sunshine was. She stood just inside the doors at the far end of the great ballroom, slowly making her way toward me in a daffodil yellow Danasha gown, her father’s arm in hers. For some reason, nearly every person she passed reached out to her, to kiss her hand, or speak a few words, so her trip down the aisle was taking far longer than it should.
But I got it. They all loved her. Everyone who met her had to.
Smiling, her father shrugged, as if in apology. I smiled back, ignoring the wedding photographer who buzzed in front of me, taking yet another picture of what a tabloid had dubbed “Grumpy’s Gorgeous Grin.”
To one side of the assembled guests, a twelve-piece string orchestra played Vivaldi. Lorelei, who had gotten ordained especially for this event, stood behind a podium. My father and his girlfriend, and my mother and her two boyfriends, sat on the front row on either side of my sister’s true mate, who fully deserved the seventy-thousand-dollar bottle of whiskey I’d promised her in exchange for keeping our parents apart.
I found myself grinning wider when I remembered Soleil’s excitement at being asked to be the matron of honor at Anne-Marie and Lorelei’s wedding the following year. She was already making plans for an “epic double bachelorette extravaganza” with unforgettable party favors. Then she’d mentioned something about ordering an extra “double bride-zil-do strap-on” to use at home.
I’d gently, yet thoroughly, spanked that idea right out of her. She’d liked it so much that she’d teased me about it a few more times. Life with Soleil would never be dull.
Sylvia stood at my side, dressed in a deep navy gown with yellow accents. In her hand was a basket with rolled-up copies of a pamphlet she and Soleil had written. All our wedding gifts were donations to a political action group that was introducing legislation at the state and federal levels to help level the playing field for omegas.
Sylvia had stopped wearing all black, and had turned into a social shark. She’d been present at every dinner and social event Lorelei allowed her to attend in the past few months, intent on winning my wealthy friends to her cause. “If I don’t change the world, Uncle G, who will?” she’d asked at the rehearsal dinner. “What happens if I turn out to be an omega? I don’t want to have to sneak around to follow my dreams, like Soleil. To live the life I deserve.”
She’d convinced Nicholas Paxson, the head of Paxson pharma, to donate five million to her political action committee. Of course, all my groomsmen had given plenty; she’d saucily informed Storm Halder the week before that since he was my best man, he had to donate ten million.
“Anything for my bestie,” he’d replied, making all our friends laugh. We hadn’t been friends until Soleil had walked into my life, merely business acquaintances. But now, he felt almost like the brother I’d never had.
And he wasn’t the only new friend Soleil had brought into my life. At some point in the past two months, she and her friends had gotten together and decided all the men in their lives needed to bond. I wouldn’t admit it to Soleil, but I was having more fun with her—and her noisy, young, whipcrack smart friends—than I had in decades. It didn’t hurt that most of the fiancés and husbands that came with her Omega Leaguers were around my age.
What was even better was that I didn’t hurt anymore. The symptoms that had plagued me when I’d left her had vanished completely with our claiming bites. Hell, the twinge in my elbow from playing tennis in college had disappeared as well. I felt twenty years younger.
Sylvia whispered, “Uncle G? I’m so glad you're marrying my betasitter. She’s good for you.”
I tapped her on the nose. “I think she’s good for all of us, Silly.” She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I leaned down for a hug. “I hear you decided to stay at the reception instead of going to the kids’ movie night?” Lorelei had rented out the historic Majestic Theatre next door and was showing back-to-back family-friendly movies there.
Sylvia smirked. “I would go, but Senator Olan is going to be at your party, and he’s on the House Ways and Means committee. I’m going to convince him to let one of our bills come up for a vote this session.” She peered up at me with a sweet, wide-eyed expression. “How do I look?”
I pulled out my pocket handkerchief and rubbed at her neck. “Sorry, Silly, but you had a tiny bit of Sartre showing there. It’s harder to look innocent and earnest when your neck reads ‘Hell is other people.’”
She just rolled her eyes, muttered, “But it’s true,” and smiled beatifically at the one groomsman she hadn’t fleeced yet.
Finally, my bride approached, and her father placed her hand in mine.
Sylvia whispered, “You sure about this, Soleil? Uncle G’s pretty old. Grumpy. Smells weird. Frowns an awful lot.” She winked and took the bridal bouquet of daisies and yellow roses when I huffed at her.
Soleil wrinkled her nose at my niece. “Why did I ask you to be my bridesmaid again, Ennui?”
“Because you love me?”
Soleil tucked a strand of dark hair behind Sylvia’s ear. “I absolutely do.”
“I love you, too, Soleil. I love you so much.” The two hugged for a long moment while Lorelei wiped at her tears, and I fought to keep my composure.
Once she could speak, Lorelei addressed the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to join the lives of two people who met on a boat, though one of them couldn’t swim. Or even float. And the other had been lost—not at sea, but buried in his work—for decades. Caring for his family, but waiting for the right woman to brighten up his life.”
At that moment, a sunbeam broke through the clouds outside and light streamed through the tall windows. Soleil’s hair was illuminated like a halo, the diamonds woven into the strands shining like constellations of fire.
