by Amy Brent
When we finally parted I definitely needed to lie down, and he helped me get comfortable again. We were all teary messes and when I looked to Rachelle, I saw even she was smiling brightly.
“Look at us,” I murmured, my voice thick with from my tears. “We’re going to be a real family.”
“You’re lucky he’s so cute,” Rachelle said with a smile before she handed my little boy back to me.
“Yes,” I murmured, looking down at my brand-new world. “Yes I am.”
Epilogue
Anthony
* * *
It was impossible to quantify all of the feelings that were bubbling inside of me as I stood in front of the large crowd assembled under the canopy the contractors had created.
It had been three years since I had proposed to Stella, and while I certainly hadn’t intended on waiting this long before making her my bride, I was ecstatic that it was finally here.
At first it had been that we were just so busy with Tony Jr that we didn’t have the energy to plan a wedding at all. And then Stella went back to college and she was so stressed with getting back into the swing of that, that it wasn’t a good time then either.
But finally, she was graduated, and there wasn’t anything crazy going on at any of my locations, and we were finally having the ceremony she deserved.
At first Stella had told me that she didn’t need anything fancy. Just a trip to the courthouse would be enough. But I knew better and got Rachelle to whittle out what she actually wanted but wouldn’t admit because she didn’t want to be a burden.
And what she wanted was to be the Princess she never got to be as a child.
That I could do.
It had actually been relatively fun getting everything in order, if only because I knew that it would make her so happy. It’d started off with ordering her a horse drawn carriage to the venue, and then I found the venue itself. We had chosen this beautiful, carefully cultivated garden scape complete with a perfect gazebo to be wed under. After that, it was a quick walk to a reception center that had been decked out in chiffon drapery, flowers and all sorts of beauteous things in our wedding colors; silver, blue and white.
But none of that was going to be as beautiful as Stella.
It was hard for me not to shake as I waited for her to approach. It felt like I was full of so emotion and happiness that I would burst at the seams at any moment.
The music started up and I felt like my heart was going to leave my body again. This was it. I was marrying the love of my life.
First little Tony came out, dressed to the nines in a tux in our wedding colors. He looked so cute that I knew Stella was going to flip when she saw him. I had somehow managed to keep that a secret from her. All she knew was that he was our ring bearer.
I knew normally that tradition had him coming after the wedding party, but he was so young that we wanted him to walk up first and sit with Karen after he handed me the ring.
Yeah, Karen.
At first I thought she might be bitter about the boy and my much younger fiancé, but no, that wasn’t the case at all. From the moment she saw little Tony, she was absolutely in love.
In fact, he seemed to have been able to turn a lot of things around for her. Since he was born, she hadn’t gotten a single procedure done, and she’d stopped obsessively working out and bouncing from boy toy to boy toy to boy toy. It seemed even though our relationship had ended on a pretty poor note, we still craved a family.
Like a little champ, Tony made it to me with a smile and handed me the ring. I took it, placed it in a box then back in my pocket before pointing him towards Karen -who of course already had her arms out. He tottered over her, actually quite tall for his age, and she drew him up into her lap.
The music changed and then the wedding party was coming out. First was Rachelle and Reggie, because who else would be Stella’s maid of honor? Then was two of my mechanics who had been with me from the beginning, and then Candice -who Stella had met into one of her mother classes two years ago- and my cousin. It was an eclectic party, that was for sure, but they were all people we loved.
They marched up the aisle, and I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful my daughter was in her dress. She really had blossomed into a beautiful young woman and I was forever grateful that she had forgiven me.
That had been a particularly hard lesson to learn, but I was glad I did. I had gone about this whole Stella business the wrong way. I was lucky that it had worked out as well as it did.
And by well, I meant absolutely perfect.
They made it to the front and went to their appropriate spots, then it was finally time.
The music made its final change, the string orchestra that I had hired really giving it their all, and then Stella finally stepped out of the bridal tent at the end of the blue aisle we had stretching across the path.
My God.
I couldn’t breathe, and I felt like I didn’t need to. I could just stare at her until the moment I died, and I would be perfectly content.
She was wearing a white mermaid dress, but it was dotted with pearls and stones that made it sparkle like the night sky. Her beautiful hair was done up with intricate braids while a tiara rested on top of it all.
Yes. Because she was my Queen. My goddess.
And I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to spend the rest of my life with her.
Slowly she began to walk down the aisle, her eyes locked on mine, and once again it was just us and our family. There was nothing else in existence, just the four of us and our happiness.
She took her time, or maybe she didn’t. I didn’t really know. Time lost all of its meaning as she floated across the way to me, making me the happiest man in the entire world.
Eventually, however, she did reach me, and our dream reality extended to include everyone else around us. It was only then that I remembered that there was a minister standing there, a bible in hand and ready to marry us.
Right. That was an important part of the process.
“Beloved gathered here today, we are assembled for the wedding between Anthony Sternlicht and Stella Lawrie.
“A momentous day, where we will celebrate the union of these two families into one. The couple told me, when discussing what they wanted to make their day special, was that they wanted me to focus about how strange beginning can bring the happiest of endings.
“Although sometimes life seems dismal, dark and uncanny, there is the chance for so much happiness once you get to the other side.”
He went on, going over all the things we had discussed with him and quoting the same bible verses that my parents had used at their wedding. Stella didn’t have anything to add from her parents.
In fact, we hadn’t invited them at all.
Once her parents found out that we were an item, they really tried to sink their fingers into my money. And while I didn’t care about handing out favors here and there or helping out, they didn’t get a payday now after mistreating Stella her whole life.
We tried to work things out with them, we really did, but their greed and manipulation grew to be too much, and she had made the decision to completely cut them out of our lives. I agreed with her and had been the one to tell them that they weren’t welcome to our union.
“And now I believe the couples have prepared their own vows. Stella Lawrie, what would you speak to the man you would marry?”
She looked to me, her voice warbling but strong. God, I loved her so much. “I thought for a really long time about what I would say here and now. Three years to be exact.” There was a bit of laughter from the crowd. “How could I put into words how you made me feel? How could I express that you’ve completely turned my world upside down and change it for the better?
“Before I was with you, I trusted only one person in my life. I never believed that I was good enough, so I worked as hard as I could to try to make something of myself.
“But with you, I don’t have to do that. I know that I
am loved, and cherished, and I don’t have to perform endlessly to get some scrap of attention. When I look at you, I see safety, and sunrise. I see a better tomorrow that I never thought was possible.
“And so, I thank you for that, and I can’t imagine a better way to spend the rest of my years than figuring out how to show you exactly how grateful I am for you coming into my life.”
Wow. My heart thundered in my chest, overwhelmed with love. How was I supposed to follow that?
“And now, Anthony Sternlicht, what would you say to the woman you would marry?”
“Well, I’m just realizing now that letting someone with a degree in journalism and creative writing go before me was a big mistake.” Another titter from the audience. “But thankfully, that’s the only part about this that is a mistake.”
I cleared my throat, willing myself not to cry. “Stella, you are amazing in every definition of the word. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had just been going through the motions of life for so long that I had forgotten how to actually live.
“My life was filled with things to do, responsibilities and goal, but I didn’t enjoy any of it. I didn’t feel happiness, or contentment or much of anything really. It was always just a relentless trudge to get to some finish line or another.
“But you changed all of that. When you walked into my world as this amazing, intelligent, grown woman, you reminded me that there was so much more to live for. To hope for. That God was great enough to give me so much and sitting idle with it was a sin. You brought happiness back into my life and reminded me how much the little things mattered. That I needed to slow down and enjoy what I was working towards rather than running myself ragged in the hope that I would be tired enough for a full night’s sleep.
“I don’t know if there’s enough time left in the galaxy for me to express to you how grateful I am, but I swear to spend the rest of my life doing just that. Thank you, for believing in us, Stella. Because you never gave up, all the dreams I never knew I had are coming true.”
There was applause, ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s from the crowd and then the minister was speaking again.
Once more I found that I could hardly listen, my eyes only for Stella, until I caught my cue.
“Do you, Stella Lawrie, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or for worse, until death do you part?”
“I do,” she said, and I swore the world cracked under me and I fell down into pure joy.
“And do you, Anthony Sternlicht, take this woman to be you lawfully wedding wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or for worse, until death do you part?”
“I do,” I said, and the moment was finally here.
“Then you may kiss the bride.”
Yes! I reached for her, pulling her flush to me and dipping her, my mouth sealing against hers. It was the kiss to end all kisses, and I knew I never wanted to press my lips to anyone else’s ever again.
The crowd went wild, cheering and crying, and I almost wanted to cry too. Except I couldn’t, because I was just so damn happy.
When we eventually came up, we joined hands and marched down the aisle. I knew I should wave and look at the people cheering for us, but I couldn’t look away from my wife.
My wife!
I didn’t think that I would ever get tired of thinking that.
But God knew that I was certainly going to try.
“Wow.”
“Wow!”
“Oh wow!”
We finally reached our hotel and Stella murmured another ‘wow’ as we walked into the lobby. Apparently, she had always dreamed of going to Japan, and now we were doing exactly that for our honeymoon.
Ever since we had landed her jaw had been permanently dropped. I loved seeing her like that and I was looking forward for the one and a half weeks we had to just the two of us.
I had originally wanted longer, but Stella was only willing to be away from Tony Jr for so long. Karen had tried to encourage her to take as long as she needed, but considering that she was the one babysitting him, my ex might have been a bit biased.
I’d reserved us the honeymoon suite in the most Tokyo-ish resort I could find, and they were quite quick about getting us up to our room and settled. As soon as the bellhop was tipped and gone, Stella collapsed on the bed.
“Oh my God, I am so tired.”
“Maybe you couldn’t have danced so hard at the reception then,” I teased.
“Are you kidding me?” she said, giving me one of her patented saucy looks. “With the playlist we made? It was absolute fire.”
“You did put an awful lot of work in it.”
“Yeah, well it was about the only thing that you actually let me do.”
“You still had a lot on your plate with Tony Jr’s preschool applications, and I think it turned out pretty well.”
“That it did.”
I walked over to her and went to flop on the bed. I pulled her to me, but she wiggled out of my grip. I gave her a confused look, but she just looked over her shoulder mischievously at me.
“Don’t you want to open your wedding present?”
“Wedding present?” I echoed. “I thought we left all of those back in the states.”
“Well, not all of them,” she said, still smirking.
“Alright then, let me unwrap it.”
“Wait here.”
She scampered off to the bathroom, grabbing her suitcase and hauling it in with her. I stared after her, wondering what my crazy wife had gotten into and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
But it was all worth it, because when she stepped out, she was in the strappiest, laciest big of negligee that I had ever seen with a bright pink bow around her breasts.
“Here it is,” she said, giving a twirl, letting me see that perfect ass of hers. I was hard almost instantly, which I thought was impossible given all the jet lag that I was suffering.
“Well come over here and let me get my hands on it,” I said. “I wanna play.”
She traipsed over me, her body bouncing in all the right ways, and I could hardly contain myself. I wanted to throw her to the bed and ravish her, but I knew that patience was a virtue.
Instead I carefully pulled off the bow. Her breasts burst free and I took them in my hands, teasing them mercilessly before pulling one into my mouth.
She moaned and pressed into me, the perfect sound to get me going. From there, I began to rush to get her frilly, flimsy panties off until my free hand was able to reach between her legs.
“You’re already wet for me, baby,” I murmured into her breast. She was so soft, so wonderful, and she smelled of vanilla and strawberries. I loved it, and it made me want to eat her up in one gulp.
But I didn’t do that. Instead I worked at her until she was dripping and completely ready for me. Then, I shifted back to slide down my zipped and yank my length free.
It stood, tall and proud and aching for her. I grabbed her, then pulled her to straddle my lap, sliding up into her in one smooth move.
“Holy shit Anthony,” she breathed, rocking against me.
I grabbed her hips and pistoned her on top of me, up and down, up and down. I filled her, her body taking all of me, and her arms wrapped around my broad shoulders.
Once more our world melted into paradise, the two of us just breathing, moaning and thrusting against each other. I could feel my end coming far too soon, so I freed one hand from her hip and reached between us, my fingers searching for that hot little button that I knew would send her toppling over the edge.
There was a bit of balance and strategy to get to it, but eventually I got a good angle and worked my fingers in circle.
Her moans increased threefold, and I was glad we had an entire suite to ourselves, otherwise our neighbors might have complained. But her cries were like music to me, rising in a crescendo as I gave her e
verything my own hips could give.
After all these years, I knew how to work her right. A few moments later, she was clamping down on me and coming with everything she had. That vice-like, velvety grip was impossible, and I soon emptied out into her, practically roaring as I did.
Then it was over, and I was staring up into the eyes of my beloved wife.
We sat there a moment until we grew cold, just feeling each other, and then we collapsed backwards onto the bed. I was the one who manhandled the blankets out from under us and made sure we were both tucked in, and once we were settled, I pulled her to me.
I knew we both needed to go relieve ourselves and wash up a bit, but I just wanted to hold her for the moment. After all, we only had one wedding night, and I wanted to cherish every moment of it.
“I love you, Mrs. Sternlicht.”
“and I love you, Mr. Sternlicht.”
I pressed a kiss to the back of her head and she snuggled into me, cooing contentedly. Everything was just as perfect as I had always hoped, dreamed, and I couldn’t have asked for more. And as we drifted off, falling asleep in each other’s arms, I knew without a doubt that this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
So, what that it had taken me forty-three years to get here? The important thing was that I was here now, and I had an entire future to look forward to.
We both did.
* * *
***The End***
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