Mickey thrived as his family expanded in the days leading up to the royal wedding.
Kon and his family did an excellent job of shielding not only Mickey but also Emma from the media interest the announcement of their existence sparked.
Her wedding was over the top with way more guests than she’d anticipated, but Emma didn’t mind.
Because the only two people who really registered with her were Kon and Mickey. Looking so proud he could bust his buttons, Mickey stood as Kon’s best man. They both waited, their attention fixed entirely on her, as Emma walked forward to join them and the priest.
She spoke her vows with conviction and a lot of emotion she wasn’t surprised to feel. Emma loved this man to the very depth of her soul and adored her son. Kon spoke his vows with an intense emotion that Emma had a very difficult time not calling love.
This moment wasn’t just about Kon and Emma and their commitment to each other, but it was about Mickey too. Their commitment to him and any future children they might have together.
And the little boy knew it. He’d insisted on making his own promises as part of the ceremony, to the obvious delight of the attendees.
Kon and Emma surprised Mickey with vows of their own to him and including each other.
It was a really special moment and the number of guests, the camera crews... None of it mattered as Emma gave and received vows that would govern the rest of her life and that of her little family.
Konstantin did not know what was wrong with him, but throughout his wedding and the reception that followed, he kept getting overwhelmed by emotion.
He would go to speak to someone and have to pause, take a breath and get his feelings under control. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, but his relief...his utter joy that Emma had not only agreed to be his wife, but had genuinely forgiven him knew no bounds.
She had promised everything that mattered during their wedding vows, looking him right in the eye when she said she would love and honor and cherish him for the rest of their lives.
He needed to get her alone, to ask if that meant what he thought. Even more important, he needed to tell her that he loved her.
It had struck him as she approached him and Mishka at the church. She’d looked so beautiful, but it was the light shining from inside her that completely took his breath away.
In that moment, he’d accepted that he needed her, that she sat as firmly in his soul as any member of his family, including their son, but that she was the one person he craved above all others as part of his life.
He loved Mishka and would be the best dad he could be, but it was Emma who gave their little family heart.
Coming up behind her, Konstantin slid his arm around her waist in a very uncool show of affection.
Emma gasped, like his action surprised her. And it should. This did not fall under proper protocols for public behavior.
And for once, he did not care.
He needed to be close to her.
“Hello, solnyshko moi. Are you enjoying yourself?”
Emma had been talking to Nataliya and Belinda Sloan. The Princess of Mirrus gave Konstantin a shocked look while Emma’s mother blushed, like his small PDA embarrassed her.
But Emma? Tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “I’m having a wonderful time. Everyone is so kind.”
“Of course they are kind. You are so sweet, to be unkind to you would be anathema.”
“You might be exaggerating, but that’s okay. I like it.”
“You said you loved me,” he blurted out with a complete lack of aplomb.
The sound of his younger brother groaning behind him told Konstantin that Dima had heard too. “Way to sound desperate, Konstantin.”
Emma just smiled. “I did.”
“Did you mean it?”
Emma turned in his arms, so their gazes met and no one else could intrude on this moment. “Yes, Kon. I meant it. I love you. With everything in me.”