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Her eyes leak with tears.
“Will you marry me, love? Raise a family with me?”
The tears fall unabashedly down her face. “I love you so much, Nick. Yes, yes, yes,” she answers, her arms tightening around me as I capture her lips and spin her around for the finale.
The band wraps the song, and everyone begins to clap. I take her hand and walk with her to the leader of the band. He hands me the mic, grinning at the two of us.
“What are you doing?” she asks incredulously.
“Clearly the lass is petrified that I’ll start singing to the crowd, so I’ll spare you that. But I couldn’t think of a better place to share this than in a room full of the people Allie and I care about and in a place that means so much to her. Tonight, Allie and I are celebrating our engagement, because she just said yes.”
Whoops and whistles and bagpipes sound all across the pub, followed by a clinking of glasses and toasts as I pick her up and kiss her long and hard, claiming her for my very own.
Epilogue
Allie
( One month later )
The groundsof the Larussios estate have been transformed for the occasion with a long red carpet that trails a path across the meticulously cut green grass, all the way to the double white arch arbors that look out to the calmness of the bay. The row-to-row chairs on either side of the path are filled with family and friends.
Lexie stands next to Carlos Larussio, and I stand next to Chase. Her long white gown flows to the ground and beyond, trailing behind her to the right, while mine trails to the left. The off-the-shoulder design is as simple as us, and symbolic of the love and life we wish to have in the future.
We share a smile, no words necessary, both just taking in the monumental occasion of walking down the aisle and into the arms and protection of the men we will soon marry. Katarina’s eyes glisten as she watches her father and husband. They did not hesitate to offer the Larussio estate or to help give us away to Nick and Sheldon who have become as much a part of their family as their own.
“Ready, Allie?” Chase asks.
I nod, and then as if on cue, the traditional wedding song begins. The walk toward Nick feels like a dream, something I never saw myself doing in a million light years, yet, so right after finding a man who is as solid and caring as he is courageous.
Chase gives me to Nick when we reach the arbor he stands below, at the same time Carlos gives Sheldon Lexie’s hand. The gentle caress of Nick’s finger in the palm of my hand settles my nerves, while the familiar magnetism and energy flows from him to me, preparing us both for what’s to come.
And when the vows are done, repeated for each couple, and we are pronounced man and wife, Nick takes me in his arms and kisses me, claiming me for his very own, and causing my heart to race and stomach to float with butterflies and love. Nick would turn the universe on its head to protect and shelter me from harm’s way and would never do anything to hurt me, or the children we bring into the world, and now I belong to him.
And when I look at Lexie and Sheldon, I see that same love reflected in their eyes as well. They finish their first kiss as a married couple and share a look that transcends ordinary emotion to a level of deep and binding devotion.
The photographers capture memories to look back on before we enter the prestigious mansion the Larussios call home, where the great room has been prepared for the occasion. Katarina and Marenah both hug me and Lexie tightly before introducing me to Jenny, Sasha, and Bryanna who have come with friends of Nick and Sheldon and whom we’re told will become close friends of our own in the future.
