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Charlie and Gabe trade places. Gabe breathes in and out shakily, his crooked smile flashing as he looks at me.
“Teddy, you’re my soul. Not just my soul-mate. My soul resides in you. I’ve told you my life started when I met you. I’ve told you you’re my sunrise and sunset. I thought I was nothing without you, but you’ve taught me to make myself more. I want to spend the rest of my life learning from you, giving you the firsts only I can give you, living our dreams. Together, forever, baby girl.”
The prickling behind my eyes spills. Gabe grins and kisses my tears away, holding my hands.
“Gabe, when I met you, I thought I had it all together. I thought I was on top of my game. You showed me a different game. You showed me how to set aside my anger and live for joy. You showed me how small my dreams were, and how big they could be. You changed my whole world. I want to spend the rest of my life exploring this big, bold, new world with you. I want our houseboat. I want our unicorns. I want our babies. I want everything you can give me and I want to give you everything you dream of. Together, forever, baby boy.”
I reach up and put the second of the rosemary circlets on his russet crown.
He takes my hands. I grip his as an itch runs under my skin. The sensation runs up my arm, through my shoulder, and around my neck. It settles around the base of my neck, a tingling burn. I can see the line of white, raised skin reflected in Gabe’s midnight eyes. The collar that marks me as his.
He strokes it reverently with his fingertips before he pulls me into his kiss. I taste the memory of every kiss we’ve shared, from the very first, pressed against the door of his dorm room, to all the kisses I shared with Gabe in the future. Even though my husband is gone, I taste him in the man before me. They’re one and they’re mine, forever.
Gabe kisses away the tears wetting my cheeks again before he releases me and steps back.
Darwin steps into the middle of the circle. He doesn’t have any gifts in his hands. We agreed that he brought the greatest gift—our first home—to our handfasting. Instead, I put the last rosemary crown on his ash-blond quiff, while Gabe removes one of his silver rings and slips it onto Darwin’s finger.
Darwin swallows hard, his throat working, before he begins.
“Teddy, Gabe, when I started writing my vows, I struggled with who I’d swear to first. Then I realized I didn’t need to. You both own my whole heart, not separate halves. With anyone else, I’d be afraid my heart would be split someday. But not with you. I know I can trust you both with my undivided heart. You’ve given it back to me after I thought I’d ground it to ash. You helped me find my Path again. You’ve saved me in every way. Please let me devote the rest of my days to you. I will love, honor, and cherish both of you every day, forevermore.”
As Darwin speaks, I feel his Deathless Pledge coil inside me. It stirs in an electric crackle, like the rising of our Empyrean spirit. A high, sweet chiming rings in my ears.
“I will return to you always. I will stand beside you always. I will love you always,” I promise.
Gabe repeats my promise and our Deathless Pledges wind around each other into a Gordian knot that can never be cut. A mystery that needs no solution. An eternal intertwining that may puzzle outsiders but makes perfect sense to us.
A quaternion.
* * *
The winter sun’s setting when I Earth-Walk us back into our kitchen. We only have an hour before people will start to arrive.
Trying to keep the guest list small was an exercise in futility. Charlie’s lacrosse lads told half the campus and Rachel told the other half. Those who know us are coming to celebrate our handfasting; those who don’t are coming to gawk at the weird freshman foursome and drink our beer.
The boys keep their kilts on but pull shirts over and leggings under. I can’t tell whose shirt is whose and I think the boys have stopped keeping track.
I carefully fold my borrowed robe and put it on a shelf in my closet. It’s a gift, freely given, but all fae gifts come with a price; someday, I’ll pass the robe on to some other glowing bride.
She can’t possibly glow as brightly as I do.
I leave Charlie’s band of flowers in my hair while I dress. No trackies tonight. I wear what Darwin wanted to see me in: black, cotton thigh-highs and one of Charlie’s sweatshirts worn over them like a dress. Darwin’s hot eyes lock on to me as soon as I emerge from the bedroom. He’s arranged for caterers, who are setting up trays of finger-foods on the kitchen island. I stroll around, snagging a handful of mini-quiches and chorizos on sticks, making sure to give him a little extra arse-wiggle.
Both Charlie and Gabe immediately find a reason to pass me. One pinches my arse and the other smacks it. I blow them kisses, steamy promises I plan to fulfill later.
The lacrosse lads are the first through the door, which is no surprise. The caterers have set up a stand of three kegs between the man cave and the back door. That area’s swamped by athletic bodies in seconds.
I steer clear. Gabe joins me at the far side of the kitchen island. We feed each other canapes and sway together when Charlie gets one of his playlists going. Gabe can’t take his eyes off the band that circles the base of my throat. I looked at it in the mirror while I was changing. It looks like a white tattoo: a circle made of tiny, curling waves.
“I love it,” I tell him.
“I love you,” he says, grinning.
We’re staring at each other, a pair of besotted fools, when the back door opens. Rachel yells across the length of the kitchen, “Where’s my married b?”
Laughing, I go to hug her.
Lords is a step behind her. He looks a little out of place at a freshmen kegger, but he looks absolutely in the right place at Rachel’s side. They make a gorgeous couple.
