When she got half-way up the aisle, she saw me at the top of the altar. Her face brightened, and her chubby cheeks stretched into a wide grin, showing off the bottom and top teeth she’d cut. “Dada!” she shrieked, before dropping her basket and barreling towards me. Laughter rang around us at her outburst.
“No Bella!” Melody shouted.
I didn’t bother telling her to stop. Instead, I squatted down and held out my arms for her. She dove into them, bestowing kisses on my cheeks. From the way she was acting, you would have thought she hadn’t seen me in months, rather than a few hours.
“Look at you, mi bella princesa, mi niña hermosa,” I said, kissing her cheeks.
Bella tilted her head and gave me a teasing little smile that outrivaled my signature smirk. Yeah, she’d inherited a big dose of my cockiness. She was a downright flirt when it came to the guys and getting what she wanted from them. Just like me, Jake and Rhys were wrapped around her tiny finger. People already loved to tell me that I was in for nothing but trouble when she got to be a teenager. Jesus, I didn’t even want to think of that. I’d probably end up in jail for throttling some horny twatcake.
“Now, go to Abuela,” I instructed, motioning to the front bench where my mother held out her arms. Bella’s tiny brown brows furrowed while her lips turned down in a pout. “Go on. She has Cheerios for you in her bag.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, before I put her back down. If there was one thing she was addicted to, it was Cheerios. Thankfully, she made a bee-line for my mom who was waving the zip-lock bag at her. I had just retaken my place at the head of the altar when the organ began the introduction to Ave Maria, for Mia’s entrance. I gave a quick smile to the girls…and Dee, who was Mia’s Honor Attendant or Dude of Honor or some shit. I glanced back at the guys who all grinned back at me.
When the doors opened revealing Mia and Duke, my heart shuddered to a stop. It felt like an eternity before it started beating normally again. I had never seen her so fucking radiant. Her long, dark hair fell in waves over her bare shoulders. A glittering tiara sat on top of her head, holding her veil in place. Her strapless dress showed off just enough of her fabulous rack to get the lower half of me up and running.
As she approached me at the altar, tears sparkled in her eyes. “Hey, don’t cry, amorcito mio,” I whispered.
She shook her head. “Don’t worry. They’re happy tears. I promise.”
“They better be.”
“Who gives this woman in marriage?” the priest asked.
“I do,” Duke replied. Taking Mia in his arms, he hugged her tight. As he pulled away, he kissed Mia’s cheek tenderly before turning back to me. He held out his hand, and I shook it firmly. “Good luck, son.”
“Thank you.”
He gave Mia a final kiss before taking his seat on the first pew. “Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…” the priest began, but I tuned him out. With my heart beating so wildly I thought it might explode out of my chest, all I could do was stare at Mia. Until that moment, I hadn’t truly realized that there had been a hole in my heart—one that only Mia’s love could seem to fill. She and her love confounded me, humbled me, and so completely astounded me. I knew I was one lucky bastard.
I pressed myself flush against AJ, my husband of four hours, and swayed to the music under the twinkling ballroom lights. Besides the birth of Bella, today, my wedding day, had been the most amazing day of my life from start, and now, to almost finish. After the ceremony, we had left the church for my dream reception venue—The Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox Theater. Since we were comprised of two ethnicities known for partying, we had been going full force since seven o’clock.
I’d cut the massive seven tiered cake and smashed some onto AJ’s face while he’d managed to accidentally drop a piece down the front of my dress to be recovered by his tongue. I’d thrown my bouquet into Allison’s eager arms, only to have Dee teasingly snatch it away. Then AJ had used his teeth to extricate the garter off of my leg to throw at Rhys.
We’d spent the rest of the night dancing in each other’s arms. There was truly no better feeling. Our first dance as man and wife had been to Anema e Core, which was soon followed by Amorcito Mio. I’d barely eaten any of the massive spread of food or had some of the free-flowing alcohol. All I wanted was AJ—the man of my dreams and thankfully my reality as well.
Suddenly, in the middle of a romantic love song, my Spidey mommy senses perked up, alerting me that something was wrong with Bella. Sure enough, Mari started across the floor with a wailing Bella in her arms. The moment she saw AJ and me, she stretched out her arms and kicked her legs.
“I was going to take this little girl on across the street to the hotel to bed, but I got halfway out of the ballroom when she started screaming for her mama and dada.”
“Come here, mi amor,” AJ crooned, taking Bella from Mari.
Snubbing back her tears, Bella rubbed her red eyes with her tiny fists. I leaned over to kiss her wet cheek. “It’s way past your bedtime, sweetheart. Go on with Abuela. Mommy and Daddy will see you in the morning.”
AJ nudged me. “Surely she can stay a little while longer and dance with us? I mean, how many times do her parents get married?” he questioned, with amusement twinkling in his eyes.
With a grin, I shook my head. “You are spoiling her rotten. It’s no fun playing bad cop all the time, AJ.”
“Actually, that could be really fun for us to play in the bedroom.”
Considering his mother was still standing right there, I smacked his arm. “Fine. She can stay. But when she starts screaming again, I’m walking away, and you can deal with her.” I hugged Mari, before she started off the floor and back to her table.
AJ wrapped his free arm around me to where Bella was cocooned between us. She rested her head against his shoulder. He jerked his chin up at the band leader who nodded. When the opening notes to Unchained Melody came on, I smiled and pressed myself closer against AJ. I remembered the first time we had danced to this song, and he had sung to me in Spanish. This time he began singing to both me and Bella. By the time the song ended, she was fast asleep.
“I’ll go put her down,” I said.
“Nah, let’s make our exit.”
“It’s only midnight, AJ.”
“So?”
I laughed. “It would be considered poor form since Italian and Mexican couples do not leave the reception until at least two in the morning.”