“This was mine and your father’s favorite song. We used to dance to it every time he came back from deployment or before he’d leave. I thought it would be nice,” my mom says as Landslide by Fleetwood Mac plays.
“It’s perfect. I had no idea, or I would’ve chosen it.”
When the song finishes, the DJ says he’s open to requests. I have a feeling that before the night is over, he’ll have us on the dance floor, doing the funky chicken. I’m going to need a lot more beer, just in case.
Ryley and I make our rounds. Our guest list is small, and while we know most people, we invited a few colleagues of Jensen and Carole’s. They’re the behind-the-scenes people who helped us unravel the mess we’re in.
Once we’ve thanked everyone, I take Ryley out to dance. I don’t care how I look. I want to remember tonight as being fun and free, and the day after tomorrow, I’ll deal with whoever is fucking with my family. We dance around until the music slows, and then I bring her close to me.
“Are you having fun?”
Ryley nods. “I am. Are you?”
“I am. It’s strange to think that years ago, we probably would’ve had a hundred or more people at our wedding, probably in service people alone, and now, we have barely forty.”
“It’s forty people we love and trust. Our lives are different now. We’re different. Before, it would’ve been a grand affair, but that was years ago. We’ve changed. I want intimate. I love that we’re sharing this moment with our friends and family, and we’ll remember every single bit of it. We know who is here, and we’ll leave tonight knowing we spent time with them.”
There’s a tap on my arm, and I look to find our son standing there. “May I cut in?” he asks, with a hint of laughter in his voice.
I step away from his mom. “Of course.” I put her hand in his and step off to the side, where I find my sister. “Hey, Tink, wanna dance?” I hold my hand out and wait for her to take it. She does and lets me lead her onto the floor.
“So, are you or Nate next?”
Tink scoffs. “I have to find someone first. Nate and Cara seem headed down the path of wedded bliss.”
“Ryley seems to think you have something going on with Rask.”
“We’re just friends,” she says. “He doesn’t have anyone.”
“He always has his team. The brotherhood doesn’t die.”
“It’s not the same. He confides in me. His parents have really hurt him.”
Returning from the dead, after six years, really messed our families up. I was the lucky one, so to speak. My family was where I left them. They had just moved on. McCoy had to hunt for his family while Rask’s parents told him they didn’t believe he was their son. And River, well, he’s another story.
“Just make sure he knows the door is always open. He doesn’t need an invite. If he needs a family, he has one with us.”
“I’ll tell him,” Livvie says.
We finish our dance, and the DJ announces it’s time to cut the cake. I wait for Ryley to walk over with EJ, and then we head to the cake table. “Are we doing the smashing thing?”
“I’d rather not,” she says.
“Sounds good to me.”
The caterer hands us a knife and shows us where to cut. We have to go slow so the photographer can get a million pictures that I’m sure we’ll never do anything with. The caterer then slices the piece we cut into bite-sized pieces and tells us to pick one. Again, we move slowly for the photographer. At the same time, Ryley and I lift the cake to each other’s mouths and gently take a bite. It’s the most anticlimactic thing I have ever done.
The DJ gets on his mic and says it’s time for a toast and that the best man has something to say. Nate comes up to us and asks that we take a seat on the two chairs on the dance floor. We do and find our son standing there with a microphone in his hand.
CHAPTER 10
EVAN JR.
When my papa told me it was my job to give a speech, I thought I was going to puke. I don’t like speaking in front of people and I don’t like writing. But Papa said he could help me if I got stuck. He also said I needed to speak from the heart. When I asked him what that meant, he said that I should write down all the thoughts I have about my parents and make sentences with those words, and then those sentences would turn into my speech.
My parents look happy today, especially my mom. I remember when she used to cry all the time. I don’t think she knows I saw and heard her, but I did. It took me a long time to understand why she was always sad, and then my Uncle Nate explained everything to me.