Ember steps back and he straightens. Instead of turning to go sit next to his wife, he reaches his hand out. I close mine around his and almost fall on my face when he pulls me forward. His hand tightens as he pulls his other around me with a strong smack against my back.
Then his head turns slightly. “I couldn’t be more proud that my girl found a man worthy of her. You’re a great man, Nate. Enjoy this blessed life.”
He steps away, and I watch his back until he sits next to Emmy. She hands him a tissue and he wipes at his eyes, eyes that I notice are now letting those tears fall freely.
I give him a nod and then … then I turn.
“Hey,” she whispers.
My mouth twitches, and I whisper back, “You look hot.”
Her eyes widen, and I notice my mistake instantly when I hear the pastor clear his throat into the mic. I just shrug, not ashamed at all because she does look hot.
With her hand in mine, not even hearing a damn thing that is said, I follow the cues and speak when I’m told. The whole time my heart grows a little bigger, filling my chest until I’m convinced it will burst.
“And I now pronounce you man and wife. Nate, you may kiss your bride.”
She’s in my arms before he finishes. I get an ear full of flowers when she wraps her arms around my neck, and I tighten my hold around her waist to bring her up off her feet.
And I kiss my wife deeply and thoroughly.
I would have kept kissing her, had I not gotten a nudge on my back. I make a mental note to kill Cohen later, then place her gently back down on the ground. Her lipstick is slightly smudged, and when her free hand comes up to wipe at my lips, I’m sure I’m wearing some now too.
Her eyes dance, and she smiles up at me before crooking a finger at me.
She turns obviously wiser than I am when it comes to the damn mic and I feel her breath against my ear. “You said not a day over six months and I should have believed you … Daddy.”
I can’t move.
I’m not even sure I’m breathing.
Nope, I’m lightheaded, definitely not breathing.
“It’s my pleasure to now introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Gregory Reid.”
I hear the pastor talk, but fuck if I’m not dumbstruck.
Her giggles bring me back to my senses, and I have to choke back a sob as I stand to my full height to look down at her. She’s smiling through her tears as she wipes my own away with her finger.
“Come on, husband.”
“I didn’t think I could ever love you more, but you proved me wrong, wife.”
I turn, the tears still falling, and after her arm loops through the crook of my waiting elbow, we walk down the aisle. This isn’t the first time I’ve felt the intoxicating power that loving her brings me, and it damn well won’t be the last.
EIGHT MONTHS AND SEVEN DAYS LATER
“I’M NEVER LETTING YOU PUT a baby in me again!”
I bite my tongue when her hand clamps down on mine with the strength of ten men. Fucking hell, I think she might actually break my hand before she gives birth.
“Okay, firecracker. No more babies.”
Hell, I would agree with her if she told me the sky was purple and the grass was black at this point. Anything to get her to stop looking at me like the devil has possessed her body.
Her eyes tear, and her face changes. Instead of anger, she looks like I just told her that all the puppies in the world are dead. “You don’t want more babies with me?”
I look over at the doctor between her legs when he snickers, and I try to figure out how to answer that without pissing her off more. Her hand tightens as another contraction hits, and the doctor tells her to push. I welcome the pain of my crushing bones since they just saved me from potentially saying something to make her head start spinning.