She took my hand and held it up, like this girl was imagining what it would look like for the ring to grace my finger.
“My grandpa’s was simple. Just a platinum band engraved with the word “always” on the inside. And my grandma’s…hers was beautiful.” She squinted, lost in the memory. “Antique and delicate and somehow striking.”
“Do you remember the details?” I asked.
“I will never forget it.”
“Then we’ll make it happen.”
Downstairs, someone pounded on the door. I frowned, hating the idea of breaking up the moment.
“Just ignore it,” I told her.
Fists pounded again, although this time it sounded like a herd of wild animals trying to bust their way in.
Shea’s smile made a resurgence. “We should get that.”
“Do we have to?” I pretended to whine through my grin, and the new onslaught of battering told me we most definitely did.
“Um…yeah. I’m not sure at this point a lock would keep them out.”
I pressed a resigned kiss to my wife’s mouth and rolled from bed. I grabbed a pair of jeans from my suitcase and pulled on a fresh tee, eyeing my girl while she quickly dressed, shorts and tank and everything sweet.
God, I was done for.
I hooked her hand in mine, knuckles pressed to my mouth, before I gave it up and towed her behind me downstairs to the unruly echo of my crew getting rebellious outside.
Quickly, I undid the lock and let the door fly free.
Ash waltzed in with two champagne bottles lifted over his head, knowing smug smile denting the lines on his face. Zee followed closely behind with a handful of flute stems wound between his fingers, Lyrik riding in on all his cool intensity.
Austin came shuffling in behind.
Ash made himself right at home, popped the cap on a bottle of champagne. “Think this calls for a celebration.”
“You think everything calls for a celebration,” I told him wryly.
He just smiled my way as he held up a glass and filled it. “And you say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
We spent a couple hours celebrating with the guys, the mood easy and light, and when they finally left, we texted April and asked her to set Kallie up on Skype.
Told her we had big news.
Through the screen, Kallie grinned at us, blonde curls wild, wild, wild, that toothy smile filling up my heart and my world. She frowned in confusion when we told her we got married and said she already thought we were.
And I wished I were there to wrap her up, take her in my arms, because there was nothing better in this world than a child’s innocence. Especially hers. Her belief in what we were long before it’d even come to pass.
A family.
It seemed word traveled fast. Soon I accepted a congratulatory call from Anthony, laced with some frustration about my impulsiveness getting me in trouble, forgetting details like a pre-nup there was no chance in hell I would have asked her to sign, anyway. Guy was always looking out for me. I got a text from Kenny, then fielded a call from Charlie that was chockfull of encouragement and dripping with warning.
Apparently if I hurt his girl he was gonna track me down and I’d be pissing from a bag for the rest of my life.
Noted.
But I just smiled, knowing there was no risk at all.
Shea got a snarky text from Tamar, something about being sure she had me by the dick.
Mission accomplished.
I gave Shea some privacy when April called and they sat on the phone for close to half an hour. Both of them had cried. I totally got it, understood the bond they had. They’d grown up together and had dreamed together. Lived together. Mourned together. Now I’d come in and shaken up that dynamic. Both of them knew the way things had been was coming to an end.
Sometimes when you welcome in something new, the old can no longer remain.