“What? Where?” Lucas had always acted much older than he was, but there were times when he showed his real age and it was usually when he was excited over something.
“Follow us,” Jag said as he scooted his chair back. Lily took his hand and skipped beside him while Lucas and I followed at more leisurely pace. He had resorted back to his much calmer and older demeanor. “Are you ready?” Jag asked as he stood by the closed door of the media room.
“Yeah!” Lily bounced up and down.
“It’s okay to be excited and act like a six-year-old,” I said quietly for Lucas’s ears only. He looked up at me with big blue eyes that were just like mine and smiled widely.
“Yeah!” Lucas said, echoing Lily.
“Me too.” I clapped my hands and jumped around. Jag threw open the door and we rushed inside.
“Wow!” Lucas said.
“I love it!” Lily squealed and did a happy dance like I had just performed.
“This is our media room where we can come and watch movies and eat popcorn together as family,” I told them. “Someday you’ll have friends come over to stay the night and you can come up here and have fun. Do you love your surprise?”
They showed us how much they loved us with hugs and kisses. Jag pulled a coin out of his pocket so he could flip it to see who got to pick the movie first. Luckily, Lucas won so we were able to put off Frozen for at least ninety minutes. Once we settled in to watch Monster’s Inc., I felt Jag’s eyes on me and I looked over at him. I saw the comical look on his face and I thought I knew what he was thinking.
How did the kings of no commitment, who hated Valentine’s Day, end up celebrating the holiday with happy, sappy hearts in their eyes? How did we end up wearing matching engagement rings and dreams of happily-ever-after? It was fated, that’s why. Chase and Gray met and fell in love by some wicked twist of fate, and because of them, we did too. It wasn’t love at first sight, it wasn’t even love at third sight, but it developed over time into a love just as solid as the rest of our friends had. We might not be as vocal or as demonstrative, but it didn’t make our love any less real or significant.
We were no longer two oddly shaped pieces of a giant puzzle that never fit. We connected and realized that together we were perfect. The puzzle expanded to include two more beautiful pieces that made an even more beautiful puzzle. I couldn’t help but wonder if our puzzle would be expanding someday down the road to include more perfect pieces. I guessed that time would tell.
THE CHURCH HAD the air conditioning cranking to combat the hot July heat, but it did nothing to cool me down. Wasn’t there a saying about being as nervous as a whore in church? Was that my problem? I didn’t feel allergic to weddings anymore after all the ones we attended the past few months.
Gram kicked off the weddings in April in the botanical gardens of her retirement community. Jack and Liam were next in May and were followed by Ben and Xavier in June at the same church that Gray and Chase got married. The same church I was standing in and sweating like I had just walked through hell. The same church where I adjusted my fucking bowtie for the tenth fucking time. I couldn’t swear out loud, not only because I was in a church, but because I had little ears around me almost all of the time. I didn’t want to be struck down by lightning before Miller would legally become mine. I didn’t want to swear in front of the kids because I wanted to set a good example for them.
I was going to legally adopt Lucas and Lily once we returned from our honeymoon so that our family of four would become official in the eyes of the law. I was just as excited about that as I was the wedding. Married! I, Jagger Jackson of confirmed Bachelorville, was about to take the plunge and I couldn’t have been happier. My nerves came from the scary thought that Miller had come to his senses and was on his way with the pool boy to Cabo San Lucas instead of me.
There was a knock on the door followed by girlish giggles. “Are you ready to marry us, Uncle Jag?”
I strolled over to the door and pulled it open. “Yes!” I did the happy Lily dance to demonstrate my happiness. “Are you ready to be the prettiest flower girl in the whole world?” I asked her. Lily’s answer was a ballerina twirl, which I took as a “yes.” I looked up and saw Miller and Lucas heading our way. Miller took my breath away every time I looked at him and seeing him in a tuxedo was a beautiful sight to behold. My nerves faded immediately when I saw him smile happily.
He stopped in front of me and gave me a quick kiss. “Told you I’d show up.” I might have expressed my concern the previous night when we were separated because it was bad luck for the grooms to see each other or some stupid shit.