“I love you,” I said and she gasped as if it were the first time she was hearing it.
“Sam,” she called, her unsteady voice telling me she was close. “Oh God, I love you, Sam.” She arched her back and milked my cock, pulling my orgasm from me as I began to spiral, my pulse banging in my ears. I bent and kissed her shoulder, sucking, tasting, breathing her in, wanting as much of her as I could get as our orgasms joined, drawing out the pleasure.
Our breathing slowed and I rolled to one side, sliding her toward me, our legs entangling. “You’re my ultimate bliss,” I said, quoting Dumas. “I get it now. Without even knowing it, even through the darkest grief of my life, I waited and hoped. For you.”
She trailed her fingers over my tattoo. “I think I waited and hoped for you my whole life, too.”
“The day you appeared, a part of me knew it was always meant to be you.”
“Your soul,” she said. She never ceased to amaze me. “I highlighted that passage.” She smiled. “‘There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.’”
“I love you, body and soul,” I replied.
Grace
“She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, don’t you think?” Sam said, leaning over his daughter as he changed her diaper.
“You only just realized?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist.
He chuckled. “I guess I get reminded every now and then.”
Lauren kept her gaze focused strictly on her daddy, as if reminding him he better do her diaper right.
“She’s never this still when I change her,” I said.
“I think she knows I can’t get shit on my tux.”
I laughed. “Can you imagine the wedding photos?”
We’d walked the block to the Frick from our apartment. Lauren in her stroller, pushed by Sam in his tux, me in a red silk organza gown—who got married in white?
It seemed like the most perfect way to arrive at our wedding—with our whole world strolling along a New York avenue.
Sam fixed Lauren’s diaper and pulled up her tights. I’d managed to wrestle a headband of pink flowers around her head to match her dress.
“She looks like a sugarplum fairy,” I said.
“Did you hear that, sugarplum?” Sam lifted her upright and kissed her on her fat cheek. Lifting her onto his hip, he turned to me. “Are you ready?”
I smiled and nodded.
The museum had suggested we hold the ceremony in the West Gallery, but we both thought it was too big. We hadn’t invited many people and wanted it to feel small and intimate, so they’d set things up in the dining room where we’d had our first official date.
Smiles and cheers greeted us as we walked in. Sam wrapped his arm around my waist, our daughter on his other hip, not wanting the three of us to be separated. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You look incredible—a real Park Avenue princess,” Harper said, kissing me and then Sam.
“I’m just happy I found my prince,” I responded.
Scarlett and Violet pushed Max out of the way before he had a chance to kiss me. I just grinned at him as he rolled his eyes.
“You look stunning,” Scarlett said.
“And you can tell Lauren is your daughter. She’s such a cutie,” Violet said as she stroked Lauren’s cheek.
Sam moved us on and I blew them a kiss.
“Hey, Daddy,” I said as we approached my mother and father. Sam kissed my mother on the cheek.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so beautiful,” my dad said, his eyes misty with tears.
“I’m marrying the love of my life. What could be better?” I asked.
“I did the same forty years ago and I don’t regret a moment,” he replied. “She’s made me very happy—I can only wish you the same.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“That’s one hell of a dress,” my mother said. “You look gorgeous.”
Sam kept us moving toward the registrar.
Angie stood when she saw us. “I’m so proud of you,” she whispered to Sam as she hugged him, the embrace awkward because Sam refused to let go of me even for a second.
I waved at Chas, who was feeding their daughter, Morgan, in the front row. He grinned.
When Angie went to sit down I turned to Sam. “Are you thinking about your parents?”
“Always,” he replied. “But I feel them in my heart.” He dropped a kiss on my lips.
We had no bridesmaids, no best men, no bouquets and no speeches. It was just Sam, Lauren and me with a few of our friends celebrating our love and our lives . . .
Our ultimate bliss.
The End