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In one of life’s more ironic moments, Johnson came into the locker room at precisely that instant, eyes bugging out like a comic book character. Fuck. Telling Tovey and the rest of their friends was one thing. But it wasn’t like he’d be able to hide this forever. He’d told Isaiah he’d deal with any fallout at work. Time to deal.
He ended the phone call with Tovey and then turned to Johnson.
“You’re getting married?” Johnson studied him critically. “Guess you really do need the childcare help—”
“I’m in love.” Mark knew this was going to look like a marriage of convenience to a lot of people, but in reality, it was so much more.
“Well, congrats.” Johnson clapped him on the shoulder. “Who’s the lucky girl?”
Crap. Mark drew in a deep breath. You can do this. You owe it to Isaiah. To yourself. “Guy. Lucky guy. Your wife met him. Isaiah.”
Johnson blinked several times. “No kidding? The kids’ other uncle?”
“Yeah. That’s the one.” Mark’s heart hammered against his sternum.
“Well, doesn’t life work in mysterious ways sometimes? I’ll be damned. Kids must be thrilled.” Eyes wary but voice hearty, he slapped Mark on the shoulder again, and Mark knew that this was going to be okay. Maybe not perfect, but it would be okay.
“Yeah. We haven’t told them yet, but we’re eloping before the first court date. Taking my days off and going up to Disney—”
“Hold up.” Johnson fished out his phone. “I think I can get you an extra day if we switch out duty later in the month. Get you a real wedding night. I’ll talk to the OIC for you, get it hammered out.”
“Thanks.” For what felt like the hundredth time that evening, his throat went thick, voice croaking. People really were far better than he’d ever given them credit for.
“You’re one of the best, Wiz. You let me know if we can do anything else to help. Oh wait. The wife’s friend works at a tux place downtown. Want me to get a call in? See if we can get your guy suited up in time?”
Mark had actually handed that action item off to Tovey, but he bet Tovey wouldn’t mind some on-the-fly delegation. Especially when it generated some unexpected goodwill. “That would be awesome. Thanks.”
Your guy. Bacon, Tovey, and now Johnson all got it. The coming battle with his uncle still hung over him along with uncertainty about what the court would say, but a lot of Mark’s uncertainty about how his friends would react was gone. Isaiah was his guy. It really was that simple.
* * *
“We look like bee-yoo-tee-full fairy princesses,” Daphne announced, indeed looking regal in a frothy lavender dress. Dylan had arrived at the hotel shortly after they’d checked in, arms overflowing with fluffy dresses. The girls had had the best time picking out their favorites. Zoe’s was embroidered with giant daisies, and in typical Zoe fashion, she’d added a tiara and large fancy purse as accessories.
“You do.” Turning away from them, Isaiah looked at himself critically in the mirror. There hadn’t been time for a haircut, but he’d tried to trim back the face fuzz at least.
“Looking good, man.” Dylan grinned at him. Some friend of a friend of Mark’s had come up with the tux, a classy silver number that wouldn’t clash with Mark’s dress uniform. She’d done the alterations right there while they’d waited, unbelievably attentive service. Everywhere they’d gone, people had been willing to help.
Eloping to Disney usually took six months or more notice, but apparently when you had Mark’s kind of money coupled with some great friend connections, a “spare” garden at one of the hotels had been found along with a block of rooms and some day passes thanks to their “wedding specialist,” Kathy, who had a brother on a destroyer and who was only too happy to make this happen for a military family.
“We get to go on rides? Right?” Daphne interrupted again. “In our dresses?”
“Yup,” Isaiah confirmed. “After the wedding and then tomorrow before we head back home. You might even get to meet one of the princesses.”
This little trip was as much about providing a good memory for the girls as it was about a wedding for him and Mark. They’d take lots of pictures, have this happy memory to balance out the awful that had been the early part of this spring. He wanted the girls to feel involved with this family creation, wanted them to always know that they’d been at the center of it.
“The twins can’t believe we’re letting them get out of school for this,” Dylan laughed. “And playing dress-up to boot.”
Like Isaiah’s girls, the twins were in party dresses, and they held the younger girls’ hands as they made their way downstairs, Dylan carrying Liam for Isaiah. “Hey, chunk, you gonna walk soon or what?”
