by Brook Greene
He gathers me to him, pressing my head into his barrel chest. “Leo, what are you doing out here?” I hear Eden’s voice.
“Not right now. Give us a few more minutes. Tell them she had to pee or something.” His chest rattles against my ear as he talks.
“Oh,” she hesitates.
“Go on.” He shoos her away.
“Okay, okay.”
He kisses the top of my head before tilting me back and wiping my face clean again. “Hollis, that man is a grade A fucking asshole.” I look around, waiting for the lightening to strike, but it never does. “It’s his loss that he doesn’t have you in his life. And this bullshit about you not having family,” he leads me over to the door he came through and guides me to look through the small crack he’s opened up. I gasp when I see the chapel is full of people. “See? Family isn’t always defined by the blood that runs through our veins, but by the people who are devoted to you and love you, Hollis. There’s a church full of them. You’re not alone, and you never will be. And see those eight people down in front, especially the one who’s looking a little green right now?” I nod. “They love you most of all. You even got us into tuxes again we love you so much.” He pulls me back and turns me to him. “What do you say we go put Roman out of his misery?”
I can’t hold the tears back any longer, and I fling my body at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I feel his tight hold around my waist too. “Thank you, Leo.”
“Anytime, Hollis.” He smiles a devilish grin and wriggles his eyebrows. “You sure you don’t wanna wait a little while longer and see if Roman passes out?” He has a joking smile on his face as he wiggles his eyebrows at me.
I playfully slap his arm. “No, I want to get married with my friends, surrounded by my family.”
“Okay, but I think that would be hella funny.” He offers me his left arm. “May I have the honor of walking you down that aisle so you can marry one of my best friends?”
“I would love it if you would.” I take his arm as he leans forward and knocks softly on the door, signaling Eden that we’re ready. He lays his hand over mine that I have tucked securely in the crook of his big arm.
~~~~~~
Roman
Avery leans into the space between us and whispers, “Where did Leo go?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
Then Hollis’s song begins to play through the speakers. I look up and watch as the double doors open and Leo leads Hollis through them. A collective gasp goes up and everybody stands as my beautiful bride makes her way down the long aisle to me on the arm of my best friend, my brother. She’s breathtaking, and I have to remind myself to breathe. She’s smiling from ear to ear, and so is Leo as they come to a stop in front of me and the preacher.
“Let us pray,” the preacher says, and I bow my head, but I never take my eyes off the woman on Leo’s arm. “Amen. Please be seated,” The preacher directs the congregation. “Who gives this woman in marriage?”
Leo looks over at me and the men standing up next to me with a smile on his face. The others move from behind me, walking down to surround Hollis in a semicircle, with her at the center. “The men of Mayhem and I do.” They each kiss Hollis’s tear-stained cheek as they file past her to rejoin me. Leo helps her up the steps as Emily comes over, visibly shaken, and fixes her train perfectly so that it cascades down the three steps. He gives me a slight punch to the back of my shoulder as he takes up his spot beside me.
I blink back a few tears as I take her small hands in mine, and the preacher begins to talk about the sanctity of marriage and how important it is that we live by the vows we’re getting ready to take in the presence of our family, friends, and God. But I hear none of it, my head so full of the woman standing in front of me.
My eyes drift over the delicate dress that fits her beautiful body perfectly. The way her dark wavy hair is fixed up on the sides and down in the back, her white veil flows right along with her locks.
“The ring?” The preacher asks, and Leo hands it to me as Hollis holds up her left hand. I slide it halfway onto her small finger.
Her eyes glisten and her smile is beaming up at me as I begin to speak my vows, the words from my heart that she completely owns. “Hollis,” I say her name on a sigh. Saying it is like pouring warm honey on my tongue. “You are the air that I breathe.” I hold her eyes as I push the ring the rest of the way onto her finger and repeat the words I will live by until the day I die. “I Roman, take you Hollis to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. To honor and obey until death do us part.” I’d wanted to write my own, but when I tried to put it to paper the way I feel about this woman, I couldn’t find the words.
I watch as a tear glides down her flushed cheek, and I raise my hand to catch it. “There’ll be no more sad tears, I promise,” I whisper to her, cupping her face with my hand.
“Hollis, the ring?” The preacher prompts Emily to pass over the white gold band Hollis and I had chosen. She smiles up at me as she pushes my ring onto my finger.
~~~~~~
Hollis
From the moment I walked into this chapel, all my doubts and fears have been completely erased by the people who are proud to call themselves my family.
“Roman.” My voice breaks as I fight to hold the tears that are burning my eyes. “You gave me back my soul.” I bite my lip, and then begin to recite the vows he had just said to me.
The preacher says one more prayer before he announces, “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may—” Roman doesn’t let him get the words out before he gathers me into his arms and crushes his mouth to mine. He threads his fingers into my hair as I do the same to him. The cheers go up around us, but the bubble around me and Roman drowns them all out.
But the preacher clearing his throat has us breaking apart. I glance over at him, feeling my face heat up. “There will be time for that later.” He smiles at us, and then holding up his hand, he says, “Mr. and Mrs. Roman Jefferys.” I hook my arm into Roman’s as he leads us down the aisle to claps, cheers, and people patting us on the shoulder. I’m smiling so big, my face is starting to hurt, and when he and I get to the foyer, he turns and sweeps me up into his arms, kissing me again.
I now know I was being an idiot to think these people weren’t my family and that they couldn’t love me like a person related to them by blood. I feel them all surround us, the happy tears continuing to roll as I’m embraced by them one right after the other. My heart is happy and my soul, the one Roman showed me I have, is full.
Dalton walks over to the doors of the church and flings them wide open to reveal a very large stretch limo. “Oh look, our ride’s here.” He steps to the side, holding out his arm. “The Bride and Groom first, of course.” Roman smiles down at me, taking my hand and wrapping it around his forearm as he leads me out to our sleek black chariot.
Once we’re all in and seated, Leo pops the cork on one of the two bottles of champagne in the ice bucket sitting on the mini bar. Handing out glasses as he pours them, he finishes with his before holding his glass up. “A toast to the beautiful as ever Hollis and the butthead she married, my best friend.” He glances over to Avery, who’s beaming up at him. I used to envy them and how they found each other, and I loathed Emily and Cowboy for the love they shared. And something I never thought would happen is Piper sitting on Dalton’s lap, which is something I‘ve been trying to figure out since I’ve been back. But the cutest of them all are Josie and Eno, who I completely and utterly adore. She’s such a sweetie, and unlike the rest of us, is a quiet little thing until you get a bit of bourbon in her. “Hollis, babe, I never thought I would be saying this, but I’m happy you came back.” Roman moves to stop him, but Leo holds up his hand and I pull him back. Roman settles back down beside me, but not before throwing a look of warning at Leo. “You protected Caden and you make this jackass smile. You are a best friend to my woman and the rest. You give without asking
for anything. And you support—,”
“Better than a push-up bra,” Piper yells out, causing Leo to cut his eyes over at her. “What? You’re getting all sappy and I feel like partying.” She wags her hand in the air at him.
Leo licks his lips getting ready to start again but it’s Avery this time laying her hand on his arm stopping him. “What Leo is trying to say is, congratulations, and we love you both.” She holds up her glass, prompting all of us to do the same.
“Cheers!” We all say in unison, clinking our glasses together as one.
~~~~~~
We’re introduced again when we enter the dining hall at the local country club. I look around in awe at the two hundred guests that attended my wedding and are now at the reception to help us celebrate more. The mic is passed off to Roman. “Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for coming out and helping me and Hollis celebrate this amazing day. We’re blessed to have so many members of the community supporting us.” He looks at me with his eyebrows raised in question, and I shake my head no, horrified. I don’t want to talk in front of all these people. He smiles back at the crowd who applaud him, and I marvel at my husband, the man I married who is so comfortable in front of a crowd.
The mic is taken from his hand as he leads me out on the dance floor, and Bryan Adams comes over the sound system. “Bryan Adams, really?” I thought he’d forgotten about this song, the one he’d played for me the first night we made love in his truck. He pulls me in close to him, and the smell of his cologne fills my nose. I breathe him in. I look up at him, not as much as I usually have to, thanks to the four-inch heels, but he’s still a few inches taller.
He smiles back down at me, his ice blue eyes gleaming with pride and happiness. “Are you happy?”
“I don’t think anything short of the birth of our first child could make me this happy.”
His face turns. “You trying to tell me something?”
“Oh no, just the only proper comparison I could come up with.” I laugh. “Scared ya, didn’t I?”
“It wouldn’t bother me if you were.” He ducks down and kisses my nose as the rest of our wedding party joins us on the floor. Roman drops my hands and wraps both arms fully around me, holding me close as we move slowly over the dance floor.
We dance, I dance, he dances. The dance floor is full and the open bar is busy. I would expect nothing less from a Mayhem Wedding other than what I’m getting right now. I’ve been shuffled from Leo, to Dalton, then on to a very freaking tall Cowboy, then Matthew, and I end with Eno.
“Beeker and Kayla wanted me to tell you congrats. They’re settling in great in DC, and Beeker has healed completely.”
“I’m going to miss them,” I sigh, wishing that two of our good friends could have made it. I’ve known them for years, but never really got close to them until these past couple of months after Beeker had gotten shot protecting Tessa. We had all chipped in and helped Kayla with a healing Beeker and colicky baby Anna.
“Yeah, well, after he was shot, a desk job was the only way for him to stay with the Agency, and the best paying one he took.” He pushes me out and spins me around, catching me off guard, and quickly jerks me back to him.
“Eno,” I say, laughing so hard I nearly snort. I nod my head to a dancing Kent and Noma. “What do you think about that?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Avery’s mom’s been gone for a while now, and so has Tessa’s dad. If we can find our happy, why can’t they?”
“True.” I look around, and my eyes catch on Ima and Hugh dancing, looking just as cozy as the rest of us. Roman had paid for child care for Gia, Caden, and Jackson. They hung around long enough to eat and make complete messes of their formal attire before they were taken back to Leo and Avery’s house. “So?” I look up at him expectantly as Dalton swirls Josie around us, dipping her, right before taking her off to the other side of the dance floor with her shrieking and laughing the whole time.
“So what?” He looks down at me with a ghost of a smile on his face, as if he knows what I’m hinting at, but is going to make me ask him.
“You’ve put a ring on it, so now whatcha gonna do, big boy?” I tickle him.
He shrugs me off and we go back to dancing. “Hold up now, we can only have so much excitement in one year.”
“Well, it’s catching like a cold. She’ll have the fever,” I warn him, because as we planned, I could see that fire in her eyes build with each decision made.
He just smiles at me as the song ends. “I think I want to go sit a minute, my feet are killing me.” He leads me to a chair right off the dance floor. Bending down, he gives me a kiss before I lose him in crowd.
I reach and take off one shoe and begin rubbing my foot. Looking out over the crowd, my heart twists in my chest a bit. These people are my family. Roman and his family have given me something I thought I would never have, and I will never take it for granted again. I’m letting go of the past and the people who made it toxic, and nearly ruined me. I’m no longer basing my worth on that part of my life, but invest in the future that is wide open in front of me. I’ve been forgiven and accepted, which are two of the greatest gifts of all.
Emily walks over and plops down into the chair next to me, and Tessa onto the one on my other side. “What are you over here looking so sad about? It’s your wedding?” Emily asks as she does the same with her shoe.
I eye what she’s doing, and then look back up to her. “I don’t want to be so damned worn out I can’t consummate the marriage tonight. I have us a nice cabin reserved for the rest of the weekend.”
Tessa holds up her overly swollen feet. “Tessa, you should stay off of them for the rest of the night. You’re not even supposed to be out of bed,” I chastise.
“Like I would miss your fucking wedding.” She slings her fat foot in my direction. “Could you?”
“Could I what?” I shy away from her offering.
“Peel that damned flip flop from between my toes.” She shakes her foot at me. “Well, go on.” I reach and jerk the flop off her foot and she moans in what I can only describe as ecstasy. She twists—as much as she can—in the chair, offering me her other foot. “Now this one.” She moans again and wiggles her fat little toes as I pull the flip flop from her foot.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Jefferys?” Our photographer comes up to us. “Can I get a candid of the whole wedding party?”
“Sure.” I gesture out toward the dance floor. “If you can wrangle them all up.”
He smiles at me. “Oh, I have it handled.” He turns, and Emily and I help Tessa up out of the chair, following behind him. The MC gets on the mic. “Can the whole wedding party please make your way up to the stage for the boutique toss and garter dive?”
When the floor clears, there are two chairs sitting in the middle. I’m offered one, and Roman the other.
“Now,” the MC begins. “As wedding traditions go, this one is my favorite. If you would please, sir.” He gestures for Roman to kneel in front of me. “Go find the garter,” the MC spurs him on, and the DJ spins a sexy song through the speakers as Roman wastes no time and dives under my dress like a man after his last meal.
I press my lips together as Roman kisses my calf, making his way up to my thighs. Lingering there, he licks and blows his hot breath across my skin. Had I not had over two hundred sets of eyes on me, I could shove his head between those thighs he’s playing with.
But after what seems like an eternity under my dress, he finally drags the garter down my leg and over my foot with his teeth. He stands triumphantly to cheers and hollers from the crowd.
“Now, all the single men.” I peek out from behind the fingers of my hands covering my face, to see a concentration of suited and tuxedoed-up, beer holding men gathered at the center of the floor vying for the prime center position. When Roman turns and flips it back over his shoulder, several of the men fall on the floor, but wait for it…Eno is the one who comes up with the lacy elastic, looking as pleased as punch. He twirls it around his fin
ger and winks at me, strutting around in front of the other men, taunting them with his prize.
“Now, Mrs. Jefferys, if you would please?” The MC offers me his hand and pulls me up the small steps and onto the stage. I’m handed a bouquet of fake flowers and directed to stand with my back to the crowd.
“One!” I wave the flowers in the air over my head. “Two! Three!” I toss it as hard as I can backwards and quickly spin around to see who catches it. And as if it had been choreographed, all the women but one step out of the way, parting like the Red Sea, and I watch as the flowers land perfectly in Josie’s waiting hands. She looks up and around to find Eno, and gives him a greedy little smile.
We get our pictures made with Eno and Josie, then the rest of my rag-tag wedding party joins us for the candid. We all have champagne and toast right as the picture is taken, but Tessa screams and bends over, holding her belly, making us all turn at the last minute when the flash goes off.
What a great picture memory this is going to be.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hollis
The double doors to the emergency room burst open and a doctor walks through them, stopping when he sees us. We’re still in our formal wear, and completely fill up the waiting room. There had been no time or care to change when Tessa’s water had broken at the reception, and none of us wanted to leave until we had news on her and the babies.
“Family?” The doctor asks. We all stand, and he eyes us over the clipboard in his hand skeptically. “I’m sure. You all look related.”
Leo opens his mouth, but once again, Avery stops him by stepping in front of the doctor. “Is everything okay with Tessa and the babies?”
He tucks the clipboard under his arm and smiles at us. “She and the two boys are resting comfortably, and the father is in exam room one for observation if you want to see about him.”
“The father? What the hell is wrong with him?” Cowboy asks.
“He passed out and hit is head pretty hard on the floor.” The doctor looks like he’s fighting to not bust out into a fit of unprofessional laughter.
