“No crying!” Sariah demanded, her eyes suspiciously wet. “We need to keep ourselves perfect for the drive.”
“The drive?” I questioned. “We’re not having it here?” I’d assumed we were since this was the original venue for the wedding I knew about.
Sariah shook her head. “Fuck no we aren’t.”
ELDEN
“You nervous?” Swiss asked.
We were watching the dust fly up from the approaching cars.
“No fuckin’ way,” I replied, keeping my eyes glued for my bride.
If you’d told me three years ago that I’d be standing there, with Swiss as my best man, waiting to marry the woman carrying my baby, I would’ve… Well, the cliché is overused, but it gets the point across.
I hadn’t let myself imagine any kind of future where I was happy. One where I was alive was the best it was going to get. I’d made my peace with that.
Until Violet.
“Happy for you,” Swiss said in a voice that was no longer teasing. “Truly, there’s no one I’d rather have for a son in law.”
Hades, who was standing next to him, snorted out a chuckle. FuckingHades.
“You’re not gonna be starting with that shit,” I punched him playfully in the arm.
Swiss’s lips were spread in a wide grin. “Oh, yes I am,son.”
“Fuck, I might’ve preferred it when you wanted to kill me.”
“Well,, I’d love to stay here and chat, but I’m needed,” Swiss squeezed my shoulder once more before jogging down the aisle to meet the cars.
As expected, the women got out first. Music was playing from somewhere. But everything fell away when she got out of the car, when Swiss took her by the arm and walked her down the aisle.
Violet.
The ground shifted underneath my feet. No one else moved or seemed alarmed so I knew that they didn’t feel it. Like my whole fucking world had rocked upon seeing such a creature walk down the aisle toward me.
Mine.
That fucking angel wasmine.
She glowed with happiness, tears shining in her eyes as she clutched onto Swiss. It was only through sheer force of will that I remained standing, that I didn’t fall to my knees watching her walk toward me.
“She’s beautiful, man,” Hades leaned in to say into my ear.
Even Hades, the baddest motherfucker to walk the earth was affected. I noted that with detachment. All of my attention was on her, my fists at my sides, anxious to yank her out of Swiss’s arms and into mine.
They stopped in front of us.
Violet was beaming. She was the fucking sun itself.
She leaned in to kiss her stepfather on the cheek before leaping into my arms.
She fucking leapt into my arms. It was only because she was my whole fucking world that I got my bearings enough to catch her, my arms tight, reveling in her warmth, in her scent, the feel of our daughter between us.
I lifted her up, content to hold her forever.
But I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted her as my wife. So slowly, I set her down on her feet.