AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Talon breathed out and gazed at the man he loved more than his next breath. “We can do this next week. I—” But Finn leaned forward and pressed the lightest of kisses to his lips.
“No,” he croaked. “I can’t wait for even another second.”
“Besides,” Sam drawled. “With Finn’s track record, if you wait another week, we all know you’ll be saying your vows in an ER somewhere.”
Talon was pretty sure the whole team laughed.
He didn’t think it was at all funny.
Chapter Ten
Finn watched everyone leave, and then it was just him, Talon, and Elijah as they had planned. Finn eyed the boy. He’d been through far too much in his short life, and he’d hoped they were going to provide stability. Finn had failed him at the first hurdle.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. He could at least whisper without it hurting his throat.
Elijah looked up and met Finn’s gaze warily. “What are you sorry for?”
He felt Talon’s arm tighten around him but knew Talon would stay quiet for the moment.
“Because I wanted to be a safe space for you, for all of you,” Finn admitted. “And you nearly got killed.”
Elijah eyed him. “Does that mean you’ve changed your mind?” He glanced at Talon, then back at Finn.
“Changed my mind about what?” Finn asked, confused.
“Us staying here, living with you,” Elijah mumbled and glanced down at the floor.
Finn pressed his lips together, his throat hurting for an entirely different reason. “Never,” he whispered and held his arm out. Elijah looked up and rushed over. Finn hugged him tight, and Talon wrapped them both up in his arms.
“I heard what you said,” Finn whispered after a moment, thinking Elijah’s grief should be acknowledged. He’d screamed at Clive. He was going to need to unpack all that with Jonathan. Finn would send him armed with a Starbucks.
“I hate the word father,” Elijah agreed. He glanced between them both. “I was thinking dad.”
Finn’s heart just about stopped.
“And I ain’t gonna choose,” he carried on. “Up to the others what they call you, but I’m just gonna go with dad for the both of you.” He shrugged. “You guys can work it out which one I want.” He nodded to himself as if that was decided then stepped away and turned. “Think we should get on with this before Kai decides to go set something on fire.” And with that, he walked out and headed for the garden to go stand at the front across from Gael.
Finn struggled again. His throat burned even more until he took a few deep breaths and turned to Talon whose own eyes seemed a little more sparkly than usual. Talon held out a hand. They’d agreed they were walking out together.
They both left the bedroom then Finn came to an abrupt stop and started patting the pockets of the dove -gray suit. “Shit!”
Talon didn’t laugh, but Finn could see it was a struggle. “What?”
Finn continued searching. “I lost my vows. I had them written down. I mean I learned them obviously, but they’ve gone completely out of my head now.”
Talon nodded seriously and kept Finn heading for the yard. “That’s okay. I think you just have to promise to obey me.” He oofed at the harder hit than he’d expected from Finn, but then they were outside, and Sebastian’s band was playing. Everyone stood, and Finn looked around at all the friends that were there. That had come for him, for them. He was going to cry some more, and everyone might laugh...and to be honest Finn didn’t care. This was their day. One he’d never dreamed would happen. There had been quite a few moments he never thought he’d be alive to get there. So, he smiled big and clasped Talon’s hand firmly as they walked behind a very solemn-looking Henry clutching the two rings like his life depended on it, and a beaming Asa who was very serious about his rose petal distribution.
Apparently Liam had offered to help him with the math, but Asa had shut him down so fast the guy had gotten whiplash. He was going to be a very strong person and Finn would be his biggest cheer-leader. Asa had also spent quite a bit of time with Liam afterwards to make sure Liam hadn’t been upset. Finn fancied Liam had been in awe.
He couldn’t smile at everyone without crying and hoped they would understand, but he smiled at every single child that was there. When they got to the front, Asa emptied his basket with a flourish and ran to Connie. Matthew high-fived him as he sat down. Finn felt a hand slip into his, and Henry stayed there through the whole service. It was a little like three of them got married.
Finn clutched his son’s hand tightly and turned to look at Gregory, who of course, was a notary. Florida, apparently, was one of the few states that allowed notaries to perform weddings. He didn’t think things could get any more perfect.
Talon said his vows first. Finn listened as Talon simply promised him his forever. “I can’t possibly guess at how long that might be,” Talon added. “But I want to promise it.” He paused. “Whether that’s at home, at work, or in any random ER.”
Everyone laughed.
Finn looked at Talon when Gregory said it was his turn. “I had all these fancy vows written out, but I lost them.” Another round of chuckles was heard. Finn grinned and patted his throat. “But it doesn’t matter because we’ve been tearing up the rule book since we met.”
