They made their way upstairs, where by some silent agreement they both stripped down to their boxer briefs and crawled under the covers together.
“This okay?” Mark slid closer.
“Yeah.” Isaiah rolled so that his head rested on Mark’s chest.
“I love you.” Mark’s voice was sleepy now but no less earnest. “And I’m going to keep on loving you, even if you hate my wild idea.”
“It’s not a terrible idea.” Isaiah gave a rough laugh. “And thanks.” He was well aware that he hadn’t quite said the same words in the present tense. And he couldn’t get them out right now either. But he also couldn’t say nothing. “Be safe tomorrow, okay? I don’t want anything happening to my favorite person.”
“Always am.” Mark kissed the top of his head. “Sleep good.”
Unfortunately, Isaiah didn’t sleep well at all—fitful dreams and waking up in the wee hours to the baby squalling on the baby monitor and Mark’s side of the bed already empty. When he made it to the nursery, he discovered Mark already there. He’d pulled his jeans back on but not the shirt and was dancing with the baby, crooning to him.
It took Isaiah a second to recognize the song from Cal and Danielle’s wedding. The song. “You remembered?” he whispered, not sure he wanted to break this spell. “After all this time?”
“Always. It’s been in my head all night.” Mark offered him a sheepish grin. “Couldn’t think of another tune to get him back down. He likes this one though.” Mark turned so Isaiah could see Liam’s sleeping face.
You’re my person. The one. Isaiah was a newfound realist, but he was also still Isaiah, crown prince of slightly dubious, impulsive executive decisions. And in that moment, Mark dancing with the baby, humming the song that would forever be their song, Isaiah just knew.
“You’re it,” he whispered to Mark. “My person. You’ve always been in my heart.”
“Can you ever forgive me?” Mark asked after he laid the baby back down in the crib.
“I think I already did,” Isaiah admitted. “I’m scared of being hurt again, but I’m more scared of what happens if we don’t try.”
“Me too.” Mark tugged him into the hallway before pulling him into a tight embrace.
“I don’t want to wake up in a few years wondering what if.”
“Exactly.” Mark kissed him softly. “And we can still go slow—”
“No, I mean wondering what if, what if we’d been crazy and spontaneous? What if we’d just gone for it, crazy idea and all? I want you as my family too. I want to show that to the court.”
“You mean it?” Mark’s eyes went wide and he broke into a huge grin.
“I do. Let’s do this thing. Fair warning that my dad may kill us both, but yeah, let’s do it.”
“In three days, I’ve got another forty-eight hours off. We could get it done before the court investigator meeting end of next week. What do you say we run off to Vegas? Tell him after?”
Isaiah laughed. “Nope. Not Vegas. We need to take the kids with us. They’re at the center of this thing, even if we’re doing it for each other too. We’re making a family.”
“Where then? Courthouse here?”
Making another executive decision, he grinned broadly. “Disney. We’re going to Disney.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Somehow Mark made it through the day on duty. They had the candidates in the pool most of the day, and he emerged every bit as waterlogged as them, muscles burning from demonstrating different dive techniques. Finally, when he was alone in the locker room, he got a chance to fish out his phone and call Bacon, who thankfully picked up right away.
“I’m about to do something reckless and probably ill-advised,” he said without preamble. “But I need a favor.”
“I’m in,” Bacon said without hesitation, proving why Mark thought so highly of him. “What do you need?”
“I’m getting married. On Thursday. And I want you to see if you could get leave, come with us up to Disney.” Just saying the words made him need to sink onto one of the wooden benches in the room. They’d picked Thursday because it was another rare forty-eight-hour block of time off for him.
It was to Bacon’s credit that he didn’t even gasp. “I take it you fixed your fuckup?” he said dryly.
“Yeah. I think I did.” Mark still couldn’t believe that Isaiah had decided to forgive him, to take this chance together. “Anyway, we want to present a unified front to the court and get married—fast. But I want you there.”
“I’m typing an email to my senior chief as we speak.” God, Mark really did have the best friends. “Tovey’s on two weeks of leave right now. You gonna call him?”
“He’s next on my list,” Mark promised.
“He’ll have your six with your team. If you’re worried.”
“I’m...” Mark started to say he wasn’t worried, but honesty got the better of him. “Maybe a little. Guys might not know what to make of me getting married. I’m not exactly known for impulsive actions. And you add in that it’s to a guy—”
“It’ll be okay. Tovey will help if you let him. The man’s a bulldog. And your senior chief’s as good as they come. No one’s going to hang you out to dry.”
“Yeah.” Mark’s stomach still fluttered, but Bacon’s words were helping.
“Now. Let’s get you married. What you gonna need from me? Let’s make a list and split it up, ask Tovey to help too.”
“You’re the best, man.” Mark’s voice was hoarse. They worked on a list, Mark scribbling on the back of an envelope as Bacon rattled off things he never would have thought of. Then he made the second, harder call to Tovey. His brother. If he thought this was a terrible idea...
Tovey picked up right away. “Wizard! It was good to see you last night. What can I do for you? In case I didn’t say it last night, Maddox and I are here for you. Babysitting. Stuff sorting. Whatever you need.”
Mark’s heart seriously wasn’t going to recover from the generosity of his friends.
“Actually, I need something on Thursday.”
“You’ve got it. What’s up?”
“I’m...” Mark took a deep breath. He could do this. He could. “I’m getting married. To Isaiah. We’re eloping to Disney.”
The line was quiet several long moments. Then Tovey barked, “Maddox? Can you clear Thursday? We’re going to Disney. Wizard’s getting himself hitched. And you’ll never guess to who.” To Mark, he said, “Congrats. Seriously. He’s a great guy—”
Mark let out a warning growl.
“Ancient history. Maddox would flay me alive if I even looked twice. Trust me. He’s all yours.”
“Yes, he is,” Mark said more emphatically than he’d intended. “He’s my guy.”
“Okay. What do you need from me?”
Instead of saying he had everything handled like he might have a few months ago, Mark had a list of requests.
“I’m on it. I’ll see you Thursday. Oh, and can I tell anyone else? Or you need this on the serious down-low?” Tovey asked.
“No, tell anyone you want. I’m getting married. Can’t expect it to stay secret forever.”
In one of life’s more ironic moments, Johnson came into the locker room at precisely that instant, eyes bugging out like a comic book character. Fuck. Telling Tovey and the rest of their friends was one thing. But it wasn’t like he’d be able to hide this forever. He’d told Isaiah he’d deal with any fallout at work. Time to deal.
He ended the phone call with Tovey and then turned to Johnson.
“You’re getting married?” Johnson studied him critically. “Guess you really do need the childcare help—”
“I’m in love.” Mark knew this was going to look like a marriage of convenience to a lot of people, but in reality, it was so much more.
“Well, congrats.” Jo
hnson clapped him on the shoulder. “Who’s the lucky girl?”
Crap. Mark drew in a deep breath. You can do this. You owe it to Isaiah. To yourself. “Guy. Lucky guy. Your wife met him. Isaiah.”
Johnson blinked several times. “No kidding? The kids’ other uncle?”
“Yeah. That’s the one.” Mark’s heart hammered against his sternum.
“Well, doesn’t life work in mysterious ways sometimes? I’ll be damned. Kids must be thrilled.” Eyes wary but voice hearty, he slapped Mark on the shoulder again, and Mark knew that this was going to be okay. Maybe not perfect, but it would be okay.
“Yeah. We haven’t told them yet, but we’re eloping before the first court date. Taking my days off and going up to Disney—”
“Hold up.” Johnson fished out his phone. “I think I can get you an extra day if we switch out duty later in the month. Get you a real wedding night. I’ll talk to the OIC for you, get it hammered out.”
“Thanks.” For what felt like the hundredth time that evening, his throat went thick, voice croaking. People really were far better than he’d ever given them credit for.
“You’re one of the best, Wiz. You let me know if we can do anything else to help. Oh wait. The wife’s friend works at a tux place downtown. Want me to get a call in? See if we can get your guy suited up in time?”
Mark had actually handed that action item off to Tovey, but he bet Tovey wouldn’t mind some on-the-fly delegation. Especially when it generated some unexpected goodwill. “That would be awesome. Thanks.”
Your guy. Bacon, Tovey, and now Johnson all got it. The coming battle with his uncle still hung over him along with uncertainty about what the court would say, but a lot of Mark’s uncertainty about how his friends would react was gone. Isaiah was his guy. It really was that simple.
* * *
“We look like bee-yoo-tee-full fairy princesses,” Daphne announced, indeed looking regal in a frothy lavender dress. Dylan had arrived at the hotel shortly after they’d checked in, arms overflowing with fluffy dresses. The girls had had the best time picking out their favorites. Zoe’s was embroidered with giant daisies, and in typical Zoe fashion, she’d added a tiara and large fancy purse as accessories.
“You do.” Turning away from them, Isaiah looked at himself critically in the mirror. There hadn’t been time for a haircut, but he’d tried to trim back the face fuzz at least.
“Looking good, man.” Dylan grinned at him. Some friend of a friend of Mark’s had come up with the tux, a classy silver number that wouldn’t clash with Mark’s dress uniform. She’d done the alterations right there while they’d waited, unbelievably attentive service. Everywhere they’d gone, people had been willing to help.
Eloping to Disney usually took six months or more notice, but apparently when you had Mark’s kind of money coupled with some great friend connections, a “spare” garden at one of the hotels had been found along with a block of rooms and some day passes thanks to their “wedding specialist,” Kathy, who had a brother on a destroyer and who was only too happy to make this happen for a military family.
“We get to go on rides? Right?” Daphne interrupted again. “In our dresses?”
“Yup,” Isaiah confirmed. “After the wedding and then tomorrow before we head back home. You might even get to meet one of the princesses.”
This little trip was as much about providing a good memory for the girls as it was about a wedding for him and Mark. They’d take lots of pictures, have this happy memory to balance out the awful that had been the early part of this spring. He wanted the girls to feel involved with this family creation, wanted them to always know that they’d been at the center of it.
“The twins can’t believe we’re letting them get out of school for this,” Dylan laughed. “And playing dress-up to boot.”
Like Isaiah’s girls, the twins were in party dresses, and they held the younger girls’ hands as they made their way downstairs, Dylan carrying Liam for Isaiah. “Hey, chunk, you gonna walk soon or what?”
“He’ll do it on his own schedule,” Isaiah said with a laugh as they pushed through the doors leading outside to the interior garden. Kathy had sent him some pictures via email—it was a green lawn with decorative plantings and a circular stone patio. The small garden courtyard would be perfect for their little group—Him. Mark. Dylan. The kids. Bacon. Ben and Maddox. More than could comfortably fit at the courthouse, but not so big...
Whoa. Isaiah pulled up short as he got a good look at the garden. Which was neither that tiny nor sparsely populated with guests. At all. What looked like most of Mark’s team was there, all looking impressive in dress uniforms, which had to be Ben’s doing. And there were other people he knew too—Lydia and Jane and their kids, the Katz family, even Tony and Lonzo and his childhood bestie, Bree. Our village. The one they’d both been so resistant to go find had somehow found them, surrounded them and the kids. All that was missing was—
“I could have used a little more notice.” A dry, deep voice came from behind him. “Had to do a rush order at the dry cleaner’s. Aunt Louise isn’t going to forgive you for the lack of shopping time either.”
“Dad.” Isaiah’s heart leaped up somewhere near his sinuses. “Mark called you?”
“Mark came to see me,” his father corrected. “Said you wanted to send me a text after, but that he wanted something better for you. Said he wanted to surprise you with this.” His father gestured at all the guests filing into the wooden folding chairs. “Said you two needed my support.”
“We do.” Isaiah had to grit his teeth hard to keep tears at bay. “I know you’re going to think that this is too hasty or that we’re not right for each other or—”
“How about you let me say the words?” His father shook his head. “Yes, it’s fast. But he does seem rather genuine with how he cares about you and the kids.”
“He does.” Isaiah really did believe that.
“And I think our family’s had enough strife and heartache. I’m not here to argue. Let’s have some good news. I’m not going to lie—I’ve got reservations, but I love you.”
“Thank you for coming.” Isaiah gave him a hug. First one since...he couldn’t even remember when. His dad was solid, a pillar of strength right when Isaiah needed it most. They might have their differences, but he’d come through for Isaiah and that meant something.
He was, however, going to give Mark a piece of his mind for meddling. And then there he was, walking to the center of the stone courtyard with Bacon and Ben, all three an imposing sight in their dress uniforms. The last time he’d seen Mark dressed up like this had been the funeral, such an awful, somber day. It felt right that the spring that had opened so terribly was closing by coming full circle to where they’d first started. A wedding.
Isaiah would trade just about everything to have Cal here, to have his and Danielle’s blessing, to let them know that they’d made it here, back to what started six years ago because of them. God, he missed them both so much. And for the first time since the tragic news, he felt gratitude. Thank you. Thank you for finding each other so I could find Mark.
He headed toward him—they’d driven up together with the kids, splitting only to get changed and so Mark could meet up with Bacon and Ben, so they were hardly doing the whole “don’t see each other” tradition. Besides. He couldn’t wait another moment.
“There’s a lot of people here,” he accused.
“You like people.” Mark shrugged, cheeks going pink. “Far more than me. And I’m not responsible for all of it. Tovey and Bacon took the ‘you can tell people’ a little too literally.”
“You didn’t know your team was coming?” Even that cranky guy they’d met at the home improvement store was there on crutches, uniform full of medals gleaming.
Mark shook his head. “Guess Tovey sold them on free food and theme park tickets.”
�
�They came for you. Because you matter to them. Because they care about you, not Wizard.”
“I didn’t give them enough credit. I seem to make a habit of that.”
“You’re getting better,” Isaiah said, because he was. Mark was working on trust, same as him. They’d figure it out together, figure out how best to include their village.
The officiant was the pastor from Maddox’s church, who’d ridden up with the two of them, something that made Isaiah smile—big bad Ben delivering the pastor and the cupcakes Maddox had baked. “Are we ready?” she asked.
Were they? Isaiah gulped. This was a huge thing. Biggest thing he’d ever done. And it might be spontaneous and hurried, but at the same time, he’d secretly dreamed about a moment like this for years. And here it was. Their moment. Their happy ending—no. Happy beginning. Despite everything that had happened, everything that remained uncertain, he really did see this as the first day of the rest of his life. This is forever, he told Mark with his eyes.
I know. Mark’s eyes flashed back.
You better not change your mind, he warned.
“I’m keeping you,” Mark said aloud. “And yeah, I’m ready.”
“Me too.” Isaiah tried to calm the galloping zebras in his stomach. This is really happening.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mark couldn’t believe it was real. They really did it. Stood up there in front their friends and family, said the right words at the right time. Maddox’s pastor had had some beautiful things to say about creating families and did a great job including the kids in their big day. Late last night, lying in Isaiah’s bed, they’d written some vows together. Not poetry or even close. But heartfelt promises. Promises to trust. To talk. To work together. A blueprint for the future they wanted together.
“I promise to never forget that you’re my person. My everything.” Mark managed to deliver the final lines without his voice breaking, which was something of a miracle. Next, they did the standard vows too, and that was easier, just saying “I do” at the right intervals, trying not to look at Isaiah or the audience as his eyes were already burning and he was not going to cry.
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