Finally it was time for us to go home. To our home.
***
“Well, here’s to the groom to be,” Dean said, raising his beer in the air.
“Here’s to my best man,” I said, knocking my bottle against the bottom of his, ensuring that a rush of foam would be surging to the top.
“You’re such a dick, Dex,” he whined after he tried to slurp up the beer that spilled over.
I gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “I don’t mind being called a dick. Why not highlight my best feature, right?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re an asshole too, you know.”
I grinned. “Tight as a whistle.”
He grimaced. “Please tell me Perry and Rebecca will be here soon because I don’t know if I can handle another moment of bro night.”
“They’ll be here,” I assured him, leaning back in my seat. We were in one of my favorite bars on 2nd Ave. Perry and Rebecca had gone and done girly shit so I decided to get together with Dean and meet up with them later. Now that Dean had officially accepted as best man and Rebecca had accepted as a bridesmaid, it felt right to have a little soiree.
I gave him a wry look. “So, you getting any preggo sex?”
He rolled his eyes. “Dude, she’s still a lesbian.”
“A lesbian you put your dick in. Your super sperm got her pregnant. I don’t think it’s that far-fetched to think that you may still be hitting that.”
“Hitting that?” he scoffed.
“Sorry. Fucking that vagina with your dick. Better?”
“Dex you need to get more idioms. Join us in the future, will you?”
“Can’t happen, my friend. I’m getting married. Didn’t you hear? That means that Perry accepts me as I am, faults and all. It also means I don’t have to ever change.” I took a swig of my beer and burped. “Isn’t that brilliant?”
“For you, maybe.” He shook his head in mock sorrow. “Poor Perry.”
Thankfully, Dean’s baby mama and my wife-to-be showed up before our conversation could disintegrate along with the contents of our drinks.
“Were you guys talking about us?” Perry asked, settling into the booth, a round Rebecca going beside Dean. The first thing I noticed was the stiff way Perry sat down. It was almost like she was trying to match Rebecca.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
She immediately looked at Rebecca.
“I told you he would know,” Rebecca said in her smart accent, though she looked awfully relieved to be sitting down. Next to Dean. No preggo sex, my ass. He was totally hitting that. Sorry, fucking her vagina. God.
“What, what?” I asked.
Perry breathed out of her nose in a huff and then said, “Okay, promise not to get mad.”
I frowned as she lifted up her shirt and exposed a black patch of plastic on her ribcage, the kind tattoo artists use.
“You got a tattoo?” I asked.
She nodded. “It’s not of you though.” She peeled back a corner and I saw a detailed blue and black waterfall with the names Maximus, Pippa and Mom on it. It was actually quite awesome. “You’re not mad?” she asked.
I shook my head, taking it in and feeling a bit of sorrow at the sight of Maximus. “Of course not. It’s beautiful. And painful looking. That must have hurt.”
She nodded.
I went on, “Why did you think I’d be mad?”
She tilted her head to the side in thought. “I don’t know, I guess cuz Maximus was on there too. And I’d only just got the anchor for you.”
“Kiddo,” I said, pulling her close to me and kissing her temple. “First of all, you can get a million tattoos, I don’t care. And second of all, I think your mom and Pippa would love it. And Maximus, well, his ego would love it too. I think it’s wonderful, really.”
And I did. It made my insides seem all warm and fluttery, though that could have been the beer and shots of Jameson.
She smiled. “OK, good. I just wanted to honor everyone, you know.”
I nodded. I knew.
I gave her another kiss and ordered Perry her favorite beer and Rebecca a club soda with lime. After our drinks came, the four of us raised our glasses to another.
“Here’s to living the good life,” I said, making sure to look them all in the eye. “And if not the good life, then just life in general. Here is to living life.”
We all clinked glasses and bottles, Dean getting mine good this time, my beer flowing over.
I grinned at him, grinned at Rebecca, grinned at Perry.
Life was good.
And it was only going to get better.
EPILOGUE
Perry
“On a scale of one to eleven,” Ada said as she stuck her hand into a crinkly bag of chips and popped them into her mouth, “how nervous are you?”