I look around, back and forth from Kate and Anne to everyone gathered around the hospital bed, laughing and talking. Kate is radiant as she holds our child. Outside the window, snow continues to fall heavily, and I think there’s no place on earth that’s filled with so much love as this place right now.
“Caulter,” Kate says, through the commotion. “I still want to get married.”
“Oh honey, the minister went home,” Rose tells her.
“We can still do it,” I say.
“You don’t want to just redo the ceremony?” Ella asks. “We could do it again.”
Kate laughs. “I’m happy right here,” she says. “It was a lovely wedding, though, Ella.”
“It was,” the Senator says, and Ella smiles as Libby and Bailey burst into giggles.
“It wasn’t,” Ella admits, laughing. “It was ridiculous. It was a total catastrophe.”
Then everyone is laughing and Kate is shaking as she giggles, trying not to wake the baby. “It was exactly what should have happened,” Kate says.
“We’ll have a great story to tell Anne about her birthday,” I say.
“This is her birthday story,” Kate says. “And it’s perfect.”
“Hang on,” I tell her. “I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?” Kate yells.
“To find a minister!” I call.
And, as luck would have it, I find one almost immediately. In fact, I run into him in the hallway.
Literally.
I run right into Santa Claus.
He was stranded overnight because of the storm after visiting kids on the pediatric ward.
“Sorry!” I say, the words rushing from my mouth. “I’m trying to find a minister. We just had a baby. We're getting married. I mean, we tried to get married today but it got all messed up. And we had a baby. Shit, did I say that already?"
“Ah, well, hell,” he says. “You found the right guy.”
"Huh?"
"You want to get married, don't you?"
“You're saying you can marry us? Legally?"
He shrugs. “I’m ordained online.”
I can see my future self telling this story to Anne when she’s older: “And that’s how your mother and father were married on Christmas Eve by Santa Claus. On your birthday.”
I burst into the room, tailed by Santa, who laughs as he walks in. “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!”
Kate cocks her head to the side. “Really, Caulter?" she asks. "Santa? Are you purposely trying to re-traumatize me?"
"I forgot about that," I say. "What with all of the excitement."
"Forgot about what?" Libby asks. "You have a Santa phobia?"
"Not exactly," Kate says.
"Let's talk about something else," the Senator says, clearing his throat.
We need a minister, not Santa,” Kate says. “No offense to you, Santa. And Ella, don’t even suggest that a reindeer should carry the rings.”
“A reindeer!” Ella says, her eyes wide. “Damn it. I should have thought of that!”
“I’m ordained,” Santa says.
“From the Church of the North Pole?” Kate asks, laughing.
“Close,” Santa says. “The internet.”
"Well?" I ask Kate. "I'm afraid we're limited as far as choices here. It's Santa or nothing. No offense, Santa."
"It's Gary, actually," he says.
Kate laughs. "It's fine," she says. "No, not fine. It's perfect."
“Where are the rings?” Libby asks.
Bailey laughs. “When we left, Bryan was telling Joe that he’d better follow the monkey around for the rest of the day and pick the rings out of the monkey poop himself, after what he pulled with the girl from the Celtics game.”
Kate groans. “I don’t know if we want to wear poop rings.”
I grab a plastic straw from the cup on Kate’s food tray, and the straw wrapper and tie them into rings. “These will work.”
She smiles broadly. “They will,” she says. “So are we doing this thing before Anne wakes up?”
“Do you want me to hold the baby?” Rose asks.
“No,” Kate says, taking my hand while Anne sleeps contentedly on her chest. “I think everything is perfect, just the way it is.”
“Do either of you have vows you want to read?” Santa asks.
“I think they got lost in the shuffle,” I say. “But I do have something I want to say. Katherine Harrison, I effing love you.”
Kate laughs. “I’m glad you’re learning to censor yourself.”
“I effing love you. More than I ever thought I could love anyone. And that love was multiplied today. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you and with our family.” He slips the straw wrapper ring onto my finger.
“Katherine?” Santa asks.
“I effing love you too, Caulter Sterling. I had no idea when we were in high school that I’d be spending the rest of my life with you. Or that you would have been the father of my child.”
“You’d have probably had a stroke,” I say, laughing as she slides the plastic straw ring onto my finger.
“I probably would have,” Kate says. “I was pretty stuck up back then.”
“And I was kind of an a-hole.”
“I love you, more than anything. And I love this little girl. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”