“Yes, I have,” I echo, and Max smiles.
“Are you prepared, as you follow the path of marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?”
“I am,” I say clearly, and Liam says it almost in unison with me. My heart leaps as I hear it, and Max hesitates slightly before speaking the next part of the marriage declaration, glancing between the two of us.
“Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"
Liam’s gaze goes instantly to my still-flat stomach, and I know what he’s thinking. We didn’t plan for this child, weren’t even thinking of it, but he’s already accepted this baby as his, whether or not it truly is, before Max ever said those words. He’s told me already, more than once, but that doesn’t lessen the rush of emotion I feel as he looks at Max without hesitation and answers clearly.
“I am,” Liam says firmly, and I echo it.
Max smiles. “Now repeat after me, each of you–”
It feels like I’m in a dream as I stand there, facing Liam with his hands in mine, repeating the vows as Max recites them to us.“I, Anastasia Ivanova, take you, Liam McGregor–”
“I, Liam McGregor, take you, Anastasia Ivanova–”
“To be my husband–”
“To be my wife–”
“I promise to be true to you–”
“In good times and bad–”
“In sickness–”
“And in health–”
“I will love you–”
“I will honor you–”
“--all the days of my life.”
“Do you have rings?” Max asks, and Liam glances at Niall, who digs quickly in his jacket pocket.
“They’re not much,” he says apologetically. “But it’s what I could get, calling in a favor with a jeweler friend. Just plain gold bands–I hope they fit.”
He holds out the box, and Liam and I each take out a ring–a wider, flat gold band for me to slip on Liam’s finger and a narrower, rounded one for me. They’re both plain, but to me, they look more beautiful than anything I could have imagined–because these rings will bind Liam and me together, a symbol of the promises we’re making tonight.
My heart is racing as we repeat the exchange of rings after Max. “Liam,” I whisper, reaching for his hand. “Accept this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” I slip the ring onto his finger, and it’s the slightest bit tight, but it fits. So does mine, as Liam slides it down my finger, repeating the same words.
“Ana, accept this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity–”
His eyes lock with mine as he saysfidelity,and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. We’ve never been unfaithful to each other, but up until now, we haven’t each been exclusively the other’s, either. Liam had to disentangle himself from his first engagement, and I had to grapple with my feelings for Alexandre. But tonight, as we promise love and fidelity to one another, the cool metal sliding over our skin, it feels as if all that has blown away on the warm summer breeze.
The sun is just starting to rise as Max looks at the two of us, painting the greying sky with brilliant strokes of purple and pink and yellow, the rising sun illuminating both of our faces as Max pronounces us man and wife.
Liam pulls me into his arms a second before Max tells him to kiss his bride, his lips already on mine as Max is saying the words. I arch against him, my arms going around his neck as Liam kisses me deeply, and I hear Niall whistle from the other side of Liam.
“I think it’s time we left the two of them alone, eh?” Niall says to Max, grinning, and Max laughs.
“Congratulations, you two,” Max tells us. “We’ll be going. Niall, breakfast?”
“Sure thing. I know a diner–”
As the other two men leave, going down the steps to the penthouse and out of the building, Liam turns to me. His face is glowing as his fingers thread through my hair, pulling my mouth back to his.