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“Looks like packing for our honeymoon is going smashingly,” I mutter, and the guys laugh.
Wes joins me, leaning against the wall as Zoey and Aidan come barreling through the hallway.
Sebastian and Wyatt scoop them up, then bring them to the couch. They’re covered in chocolate, and I can guess what they’ve gotten into.
“What have you two been up to?” I inquire.
“I’ll tell you what they’ve been up to.” Ariah holds up the empty bag of Halloween candy.
Wes shoots off the wall and engulfs Ariah in a hug while I signal for Owen to bring a warm rag to Sebastian and Wyatt so they can get rid of the evidence.
Zoey and Aidan giggle, nearly sidelining our mission before it’s even begun.
“Wesley Edgewood, you better move,” Ariah begins to protest but stops once he kisses her.
I clear my throat once the coast is clear, and Wes releases her lips, holding her in place. “It’s Bradford now, remember,” he informs her.
“Only for a day, buddy, and if you keep this up, we won’t make it to two.”
“Five,” Sebastian states, and Ariah flushes red.
All these years later, she still gets the best tint to her cheeks when faced with punishments.
“Oh no, Dove, that doesn’t sound very nice,” I tease. “Now, what could these two innocent angels have done?”
I have to fight back my snort because these two are anything but angelic when they team up.
“They ate all the candy after I told them it was for their costume party once we get back,” Ariah huffs.
Oh, this is going to be glorious.
“I see no evidence that they’ve committed the crimes they’re being accused of,” Wes states with such seriousness even I question their known guilt.
Ariah’s mouth opens and closes at least three times before she crosses her arms and utters, “Testing the limits of our vows already?”
That response catapults me back to yesterday.
“Today, we commit our lives to each other. We commit to the greatest of times and even more to the hardest of them. We commit to supporting each other in our triumphs and struggles.” I hear Sebastian promise, but I’m too focused on our wife.
She’s stunning. Ariah is wearing a white lace dress embellished with thousands of midnight blue Swarovski crystals along the train and in her veil. The mermaid-style dress has a strapless sweetheart neckline that looks painted on. I want to say screw the reception, throw her over my shoulder, and fuck her while she’s tied with the white rope I bought just for this occasion.
Wyatt brushes the wisp of hair from her breathtaking face into the cascading curls falling over her right shoulder. “Our love story transcends the laws of fate because we stand here pledging before all present and absent that we are bound to each other through all of life’s iterations.”
“We’ll honor our bond above all else and destroy all who try to oppose it. No objections will be heard today—or ever because I’ll cut out the tongue of anyone who dares to.”
I bend my head and pretend to be clearing my throat to cover up my amusement. Only Owen would find a way to threaten to cut someone in his vows.
Stepping forward, I capture Ariah’s hand, peering down at the three slim diamond-encrusted bands adorning her left ring finger before gazing up at her.
She smiles through her tears as she mouths, ‘I love you,’ and my chest grows tight at the burst of the all-consuming love within our family.
“You are our North Star. We look to you and are home. You are the Ursa Major to our twins—fiercely protective and unconditionally loving. You pour support, passion, advice, and forgiveness into our lives, so we commit to ensuring that your cup is always full,” I profess, sliding the band on her finger before placing her hand into Wes’s.
“There aren’t enough words in all lost and known languages that can ever encompass how deep our bond is and how much deeper it will grow. Even the totality of the words in our commitment to each other barely scratches the surface of what we have,” Wes exclaims, pushing the ring higher. He pauses just before it’s fully on, looking deep into her stormy gray eyes, and declares, “We will love you in this life and every reincarnation, Ariah Elaine Bradford, because you are our forever girl.”
“Don’t give me that the evidence speaks for itself,” Ariah argues, pulling me from my thoughts.
Aidan and Zoey are sitting between Owen, Sebastian, and Wyatt as Wes begins his closing arguments. “At best, this is construed as?—”
