My eyes went wide as she moved on to Jasmine. Voodoo laughed as he and Kira hugged me. “I take it Granmé told you? We haven’t said anything yet, so keep it under your hat.”
“Shit,” I whispered as I cast a sidelong glance at my wife. She might not be ready for that quite yet. Ehria was a handful. A beautiful, precious, and wonderful handful, though.
Angel was next, and as he hugged me, he whispered, “Remember, you hurt her and I’ll still kill you.”
As he stood back, he grinned at me and winked. Korrie rolled her eyes at him, obviously having an idea of what he’d said. I could only laugh, because I had no intentions of hurting my wife. Unless it was to smack her ass a little.
One by one, my brothers and their families gave us their best wishes.
The prez of the Tampa chapter, Nycto, and his ol’ lady, Eva, were next, followed by Void, Toxin, and his ol’ lady.
Spark and Croc even came with their ol’ ladies from Australia. Croc hooked my neck so hard as he hugged me, we nearly fell over. It was good to see him again and catch up. I had to tease him about how he was already picking up the accent.
Tarak and Edge were there from New Mexico with their ol’ ladies, which surprised me. I hadn’t seen them in forever.
Lean was there from Pittsburgh and his ol’ lady Mani was damn near making notes. “Thanks a lot, Chains, now she’s gonna have me in a monkey suit, too,” he said with an eye roll.
“I’m here to help out,” I replied with a laugh.
There was such an incredible turnout of brothers, I was blown away.
By the time everyone had run through the line, the drinks were flowing and the music was playing. Guests spilled out into the back that had been set up as overflow with picnic tables and another bar. The perimeter of the area was strung with lights from pole to pole that the prospects had busted their asses to get set up to Jasmine’s specifications.
“Can we get the bride and groom to the dance floor?” Ghost said into the mic that was broadcasted through all the speakers.
Jasmine and I made the rounds as we headed toward the dance floor. A smile so big my cheeks hurt couldn’t be tamed as I pulled her into my arms.
John Legend came through the speakers singing “Conversations In The Dark.” Jasmine caught her bottom lip in her teeth as we slowly moved around the dance floor. The words of the song resonated with me in a way not much else did. We often held each other in bed at night talking softly and sharing our dreams. She was perfect, and I wouldn’t try to change her. I would be there when she got lonely, and I wouldn’t break her heart. She was my everything.
“I love you so much, Mrs. Trinidad,” I said as I brushed a featherlight kiss across her perfect red lips. Her eyes glistened as I pulled back.
“I love you too, Mr. Trinidad.”
The song was wrapping up when a squeal caught our attention, and Ehria ran from the edge of the crowd where she’d been watching us. We both stopped, and I leaned down and lifted her as Jasmine kissed her cheek.
“Mommy! Daddy! Dance!” she demanded. Her dark curls bounced as she clapped and giggled while we danced with her to “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. Her tiny beaded purse swung wildly on her wrist. It was hard to believe she was already a year and a half. Time had flown.
I spun my girls as we hit the corner, and they both were all smiles. Never in my life had I imagined this. My heart was so full, I could barely breathe.
“Remember you have something for Daddy,” Jasmine said to our daughter, whose green-gold eyes went wide. Then she fumbled with her little purse as the tip of her tongue peeked from her rosebud lips. She pulled out a folded-up piece of paper that she proudly handed to me.
With a kiss to her cherub cheek, I took it. Every little scribbled picture she made me hung in my room at the shop. This one would be added to the collection.
I carefully unfolded it and immediately stopped dancing. As I stared at the grainy black-and-white image, I swallowed the lump in my throat. My gaze lifted from the small picture to my wife, who momentarily went blurry before I rapidly blinked.
“You’re….” I began but was interrupted by my daughter yelling.
“I a big sista!”
Overwhelmed with all the emotion coursing through me, I lifted Jasmine with one arm as the other held our daughter and spun us around.
Best fucking day of my life.