Epilogue Juliet
~5 years later~
"Girl, you really are crazy as shit for having your wedding the day after your graduation," Evie remarked in her tipsy state.
Rolling my eyes, I snatched the shot glass from her before she could take another swig. "Well, I wanted it to be on the day Luciano saved me because, ya know, it was the first day I met him and the beginning of it all." Of course, with my luck, the day was literally the day after I graduated from graduate school.
I wasn't stressed about it, though. It wasn't a huge ceremony or anything, just a nice little beach wedding in our own backyard with our close friends, the bodyguards, and other syndicate members. A small, personal wedding, just like I wanted. The reception would also be held outback, and the tent area, heaters, and tables were all set up.
It was rather laid back for a wedding ceremony, and everything was planned to a tee. So, I wasn't worried one bit about the event tomorrow. Especially since Luciano had so many people working on everything to ensure things went smoothly.
"I was a huge mess for my wedding, so I don't know how you're so chill about it all right now," Evie mentioned with a chuckle.
"You threw a whole ass party with like two hundred people. Of course, that's stressful as fuck. Honestly, how you didn't lose what marbles you had left in your head is a wonder of the world to me. Hell, how Aidan put up with you is the bigger question." I seriously couldn't fathom how Evie and Aidan managed to throw such a big wedding together and have it run smoothly.
Well, there was a small hiccup with some of the guests who decided to wear white, but nothing some red wine didn't fix. Besides the small group of haters, everything went rather smoothly with their wedding. However, their wedding really drove me to solidify my decision to have a small and intimate ceremony with Luciano when the time came. Fuck all that stress with planning and managing a big, fancy ceremony. Wedding planner or not, that was a circus I refused to put on.
"Where are the boys anyways?" Evie asked, peeping up from the couch like a meerkat to scout the empty house.
"Off on their last-minute bachelor party for Luciano." Leah mused with a chuckle and roll of her eyes as she joined Evie and me on the couch with the other girls in tow.
"You really trust them after what happened with Aidan's bachelor party?" Jade, Ares's wife (that's a crazy story for another time), questioned with a raise of her eyebrow as she picked up a glass of champagne off the coffee table.
A chortling scoff from Naomi—Sebastian's wife and Leah's younger sister—had our heads turning towards her as she looked knowingly at Jade. "Says the person whose man is the troublemaker of the group." She remarked smugly at Jade.
"Oh, as if Sebastian is a saint himself." Jade snapped back with a flat glare at the younger woman.
"Listen," Leah spoke up, cutting the rising tension with her authority, "Let's all agree to disagree that we have the worst and best taste in men."
"Says the one who trained her husband to be the perfect man," I muttered under my breath with a roll of my eyes.
"Hey, just because Nikita is younger does not mean I had to teach him shit." Leah defended herself with a sarcastic scoff and click of her tongue. "He was just a little rough around the edges and needed some smoothing out, that's all." She muttered into her glass of scotch before sipping at it sullenly.
"Okay, come on, no more talking about the boys. They can handle themselves out there," Evie said with a clap of her hands. "Tonight is about our little Juliet here, who is about to get married… Again?"
Waving a dismissive hand in the air, I took a few sips of my drink before replying, "It's just the ceremony, guys, nothing to make a big deal or fuss about." Maybe I was a little too nonchalant about this whole thing, but I really didn't see the big deal about it.
Yeah, I was excited and nervous about it, but I wasn't freaking out about it. Granted, Luciano was pretty chill about it all too, kind of. He got snappy a little toward the end, but I wasn't on the receiving end of it. So, I didn't care.
"I strive to be as chill as you for my wedding," Leah commented with a dry chuckle.
"Speaking of your wedding," I dragged my words out as I turned my body to face Leah fully, "Does Nikita plan on proposing any time soon?"
"I mean, we've talked about it…" I sensed a but to follow from how solemn she looked. "He's told me he plans on it… But… I mean… Would it be mean of me to be a little pushy about it?"
Absolute silence filled the area as we all took a gross interest in our drinks. We were probably the worst people to answer that question because half of us got married rather unconventionally. Luciano and I married legally after months of being with each other, and even then, it just kind of happened…?
Luciano did end up proposing to me, the whole getting down on one knee and getting sappy bit, but it was something we both saw coming. But again, legally, we've been married for all these years, so it wasn't a big ordeal of tears, screams, and 'oh my gosh' and shit.
I didn't feel the need to 'push' for marriage per se, so I really couldn't advise Leah on anything. Also, my advice probably wouldn't be any good.
Leah's younger sister and Jade wouldn't be any help either because Naomi was forced into a marriage with Sebastian, and Jade kind of fell into a similar situation as me. Neither of us pushed for anything or needed to, nor did we really think far about marriage because we didn't need to.
Thankfully, sweet Evie broke the ice for all of us. "Uhh no? I mean, if you two love each other and are sure about it all, then I don't see why not?" Evie didn't have to push for anything either because she and Aidan somewhat planned things ahead.
"I just… Nikita is still young, and I don't want to seem like a nag." Leah sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair.
Giving off an unsure hum, I awkwardly shrugged my shoulders. "A little nudge won't hurt him, and he's not that young." Nikita was in his late twenties last I checked, so he wasn't 'young' in my opinion. Compared to Leah, yeah, he was young, but she was up there with Luciano and the others.
"Just… Let Nikita take his time unless it's too long and sweet, then shove a ring into his hands and kick him to his knees." I added my final piece before sipping some more of my drink.
"Alright, come on, no more serious talk. It's supposed to be a fun night before our girlie here gets hitched tomorrow." Evie said with a few claps of her hands. "So, everyone, grab some drinks, and let's get wasted!"
And that's what we proceeded to do. Well, what the others proceeded to do. I remained stone-cold sober, along with Leah, who wanted to be responsible for looking after the others. It was probably a good thing we stayed sober, though, because the other three ended up passing out after the long night, and Leah and I had to put them to bed… And we had to help them through their hangovers the next morning.
"I hate alcohol. I'm never drinking again." Evie groaned into the toilet as she hugged it.
"Yeah, we'll see how that goes tonight at the reception," I told her in a sarcastic voice with a pat on her back. "Leah has some kind of hangover concoction for all of you in the kitchen, so go take it and drink some water. Once you are done nursing the hangovers, I'll set out all our stuff for you guys to change into."
"Nope." Leah's voice peeped up from behind me, making me turn my head back. "You don't lift a single finger for us. It's your day. You're the bride. So, you go park your ass in the makeup chair for the makeup artist and hairdresser to do you all up and pretty." I had no choice in this matter, judging by her insistent tone. Either I went willingly, or she'd drag my ass into the chair.
Opting for the less painful option, I went of my own accord. After changing into my little white robe with 'brIDE' on the back, I parked my sweet ass in the chair to let my face and hair be tortured for the next hour or so before squeezing myself into my wedding dress just as the others finished up with their hair and makeup.
Casual or not, I was rather fond of my wedding dress. It wasn't typical or traditional, being on the short side and not overly fancy, but it was me. The dress itself was an off-the-shoulder, long-sleeved, lace-embroidered dress with a sweetheart neckline that came down to just above my knees. The whole thing hugged my body like a glove and made my curvy body look really plump and sexy. Then, my favorite part of the dress was the removable train made of layers of sheer lace with gems scattered about to match the scattered gems of the dress itself.
I didn't want to have a Cinderella ballgown of a dress or some frilly princess dress. I wanted something a little more on the simple side that still had its flare to it, and I wanted something I could move and enjoy being in for a whole damn day. When Evie suggested getting a convertible dress to me, I nearly blew up with joy because I could have the fancy for the vow ceremony and then the fun and sexy for the reception without having to change dresses.
Also, I didn't have to worry about tripping either because instead of heels, I opted for a pair of fancy sandals—perfect for the sandy ground. Going barefoot did make the list for a hot minute, but the thought of having my feet naked throughout my whole wedding wasn't pleasing though.
"Alright, it's almost time." The planner announced after popping her head into the living room where we were all gathered—all of us girls didn't know where the guys were.
Neither of us has heard a peep from any of the men since they left my graduation party to drag Luciano out to his bachelor party. Luciano didn't come to bed last night, much to my displeasure, and that should have been a sign for me to call and check up on him. But that kind of slipped my mind with everyone throwing up left and right this morning. Besides, Luciano was a grown-ass man. He didn't need me to call and check up on him like that. I trusted him not to get himself into some kind of stupid trouble, knowing our wedding was literally the next morning.
"The men are all down there waiting, and the priest just arrived, so he should be ready in the next couple of minutes. The photographer suggested getting some first-look shots and scenery pictures before everything began. If you want to, that is." The planner spoke with a warm smile on her face.
"I think that would be a great idea." I beamed with an excited smile and bounced a bit on the ball of my feet. "Let's do it!"
Excitement about the possibility of Luciano's reaction to seeing me in my wedding dress for the first time surged throughout my body as I eagerly dragged everyone outside. Surprisingly, he hadn't seen my wedding dress, not because I kept it from him, but it wasn't something I shoved in his face, nor was it something he asked about. If he had asked, then I probably would have shown him. But now, I was glad none of that happened because I actually wanted to possibly surprise him right now.
I carefully watched from behind the patio door as the photographer distracted Luciano. "Mister Agosti, please, can you look that way for me real quick?" The photographer pointed to a random area behind Luciano, making him turn. "Perfect, just some shots of the groom, and just keep looking, getting the perfect shot." While pretending to shoot some pictures, the photographer waved at me to come from behind his back. "Alright, just stay there for another second. I'm going to back away for another angle."
Unable to hold back my elated delight, I let it spread wide on my ruby-red lips as I reached up and placed a hand on Luciano's shoulder. The flinch from Luciano caused my body to jump slightly in response to the surge of adrenaline kicking my body.
Spinning around, Luciano opened his mouth, probably to say something mean to someone about sneaking up on him, but his expression quickly changed to an elated one when his eyes landed on me. Opening and closing his mouth like a gasping fish, all he could do was stare at me in shock while smiling like a goof. " Amorina … You… Wow…" His soft laughter cracked as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Babe, don't, you'll make me cry." Needless to say, Luciano never got emotional like this, ever. I could count the number of times he has on one hand.
Running his hands down his face, he looked at me through his sniffling as he dropped to his knees and hugged my waist. "I'm in heaven, I swear." He forced an emotional chuckle through as he buried his face into my stomach.
"Luciano, we can't cry yet. We haven't even started the ceremony or gotten to our vows yet." I mentioned with a cracking voice of my own as I struggled to hold my own emotions back.
"I thought about cutting your dress off later, but now… I don't want to ruin it because I want to see you wear this again and again to remind me what an angel you are to my life." He joked with a laugh, making me roll my eyes and slap his shoulder.
"Yes, please don't ruin this dress." I didn't care about all my other clothes, but this was too special now to ruin.
A soft set of claps interrupted our moment and tore our attention away from each other. "Alright, alright, everyone, take your places. We have a ceremony to get underway." The priest announced with a big grin on his face.
Unhappy grumbles breathed out of Luciano as he got up and forced himself away from me to take his spot at the front once more while I journeyed to the beginning of the aisle. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the ceremony to proceed once everyone scrambled to their seats, and I was down the end of the aisle standing across from my wonderful husband (husband-to-be again?).
As things continued, the priest's voice droned on and on, and honestly, none of what he said registered in my mind because I was too busy staring at Luciano like a schoolgirl on her first date with her long-time crush. Only reason why I snapped out of my daze was because of a nudge from someone.
"Miss Juliet, your vows, if you have any?" The priest urged me with a teasing smile, probably amused at the fact I stood there like an idiot drooling over this handsome hunk of mine.
"Of course, I wouldn't think of going to my own wedding without vows." I joked with a nervous chuckle.
Reaching out to Leah, I handed her my bouquet to take Luciano's hands into mine. "I know you tell me not to say it, but I never listen to you anyway. So, I will say it now and again until you go deaf." A brief pause to chuckle with Luciano as he rolled his eyes at me and looked at me knowingly. "Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being my rock, my peace, my comfort, my everything. I really don't know where I'd be if you hadn't run into me that night." Those who knew the circumstances of our first encounter snickered a bit along with us. "And I will forever be thankful that you never gave up on me."
At a loss of words, I forced my mouth to close before stupid stutters could strain out of me. "Thank you for believing in me and giving me a new life, one where you are in it every second of every day. I will forever cherish every morning I get to wake up to your handsome face and every night that I get to be safe in your arms. I swear, for the rest of our life as husband and wife, I will always do right by you, respect you as you respect me, love and care for you in sickness and in health, and be there by your side through thick and thin, for rich or for poor, until death tries to do us part."
A blow of worry punched me in the gut from the empty feeling of air in my hands. Did he change his mind after all this time? Why else would he let go of my hands during this moment?
I was about ready to cry from the rejection until a warmth cushioned my face and forced my attention up to Luciano's tearing eyes. It was as if his amber orbs needed to sparkle and shine more than they normally did—so rude.
"Sweetheart, I only gave you all that you deserved." He told me with a growing smile. "But even then, it is not enough. I won't ever be able to give you enough, even with all the wealth and power I have, but I am going to damn well try my best to. You deserve the world, the skies, the sun and moon, the stars, and all the galaxies. You are such an amazing woman, and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I truly don't deserve you and your good heart, but I'm selfish, so I'm going to keep and guard you like the devil I am."
Waves of comfort and happiness warmed my body until it felt like I would melt like heated chocolate from his words and the feeling of his thumbs stroking my cheeks.
Afraid of falling because of my knees growing weaker and weaker with each word out of that damn kissable mouth of his, I had to reach up and grab ahold of his hands and wrists.
"I will cherish you for now and ever. If anyone should be thanking anyone, it should be me thanking you for all the good you have brought to my life. I thought I had it all until you came along and gave my life the breath of fresh air it needed. You really are the best damn thing to ever happen to me, and I swear on my life that I will love and honor you through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, and rich or poor, until death comes for us. You will forever be my little brat, my amorina ."
With a tear running down his face, he leaned in and kissed my forehead. "I love you, my Juliet." He whispered.
"I love you too, Luciano." I couldn't wipe the obscenely wide smile off my face if I wanted to.
"Alright, hold on, save the tears for after you put the rings on each other and after I pronounce you guys husband and wife." The priest chuckled softly with a pat on Luciano's shoulder.
I don't think I've seen Luciano move any faster to put something on me until now, with how he nearly shoved my finger off my hand with the force behind him putting the ring on me.
Laughing a little, I took my sweet time slipping the ring on his finger to tease him a little, which earned me a complaining groan and a flat glare.
"With the power vested in me and on behalf of God, I pronounce you husband and wife." Shutting his little black book, the priest stepped back and gestured us together. "You may kiss your bride, Luciano."
And that's when the tear work started for both of us. The moment our lips collided, it was like two missiles to our dams.
"I fucking love you so much. You really are the best thing in my life, and I swear I will always treat you right and love you until I die." He whispered hastily against my lips between kisses.
"I love you so much. Thank you."
The two of us held each other at the altar for a long, sweet moment, crying our emotions out for the world to see.
"God damn it, would you two stop." Ares interrupted our moment, earning a slap to the chest from Jade. "Gonna make me fucking cry and embarrass myself." He grumbled behind his hand while turning his tearful face away from us.
Unable to help it, Luciano and I gave out a good laugh before letting the priest wrap up the ceremony so we could move on to the reception. Which, thank fucking God, because apparently I was starving and didn't know it.
After a good while of sitting around and stuffing our faces with idle chit-chat shoved in between, we finally moved on to popping and pouring the champagne down the pyramid of glasses. "Are you sure you're okay, sweetheart? You never turn down good champagne." Luciano worried over me as we went from the glass pyramid of champagne to our cake.
"I had too much to drink last night, and I'm gonna throw up if I have a drop of alcohol in me right now." I lied smoothly through my reassuring smile as I stood beside him at our wedding cake.
Luciano opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it with a shake of his head. "I don't want to know what you girls did last night. I'm just gonna be ignorantly blissful." He mused with a chuckle before picking up the knife with me.
"To us." Luciano grinned happily at me for a second before cutting into the cake with me.
Keeping a calm smile on my face, I watched Luciano's face twist with confusion with a bated breath and a racing heart. "What the… Didn't we get white champagne for the cake flavor?" He asked in a small voice as he cut more slices into the cake and pulled them out.
Utterly confused after seeing all three tiers were blue on the inside, he looked at me for an answer. "Why the fuck is it blue?" He wasn't mad or upset, just very confused and concerned.
The calm smile on my face had unconsciously widened giddily at this point, and I couldn't help but feel like I looked crazy with how much my cheeks ached from the smile. With a nervous lick of my lips, I gently moved Luciano's face to the projector screen behind us, which had been playing a slideshow of various pictures of us. It wasn't now.
Inside of a slideshow, the screen remained frozen on one single picture of a grainy black-and-white ultrasound.
Leaning up to my stunned husband, I giggled softly into his ear and whispered, "Happy anniversary, my dear husband."
Now, as happy as I was about the news and the surprise, I couldn't help but grow concerned when he stood there in a stupor. "Luca… Uhh… Honey… Say something?" I softly tugged at his sleeve in hopes of getting his attention.
What I didn't expect was for him to whirl around with a huge grin and spin me around with a happy shout and laugh. "Is it really true? Our baby is inside of you right now?" He asked with a grin that would put The Joker to shame. "I'm going to be a dad?"
All I could manage was a happy sobbing nod of my head in response while I clung onto him for dear life.
"You guys! You see that! That's my son! I'm going to be a dad!" He shouted with glee as he continued to spin me around in his arms.
"Luciano, you're gonna make me throw up if you keep spinning me," I mentioned with a dry laugh while holding back the contents of my stomach from coming up to embarrass me on my wedding day.
Apologizing, he set me down and dropped to his knees to level his smiling face with my stomach. "Hey there, buddy." He spoke to my stomach with a gentle rub. "I already love you so much, and you're not even here yet. I swear, I will be the best dad ever to you."
"Yes, you are." I smiled lovingly down at Luciano as I ran a hand through his gelled hair. "We are going to be the best parents to our child."
Standing back up, Luciano grabbed my face and kissed me deeply. "I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I do, but… Fuck, I love you so fucking much more."
After a round of applause and congratulations from everyone, the place settled down for Luciano and me to have our first dance. And, of course, I cried like a damn baby because of the emotions, which I blamed the hormones for throwing out of whack.
The two of us took center stage as the lights dimmed and our song, Breathless by Shane Ward, played over the speakers as we wrapped our arms around each other. "Is that why you've been off the past few weeks?" Luciano asked as we swayed softly to the beat of the song.
"Yeah… It kind of took me by surprise because I was still on my birth control patches, but my boobs didn't feel right, along with my appetite. So, I made a doctor's appointment two weeks ago, which is when I found our little bean inside of me." I replied to him with a sheepish chuckle. "Two months, that's how long our little troublemaker has been inside of me."
"Isn't two months a little early to find out gender? How do you know it's a boy?" Luciano questioned with a high raise of his eyebrow. "Not that I mind or care either way, as long as it's our baby, that's all I care about. But you said son on the picture earlier."
"Blood test." I gave a small shrug of my shoulders. "I was too impatient to wait until the scan at twenty weeks, so when the doctor offered the blood test since I already had to give blood for the other lab work, I said yes."
Tightening his arms around me, he lowered his head into the crook of my neck, humming softly and inhaling deeply. "I'm so fucking happy right now I could really die. This day… Just… Fucking amazing." He mumbled into me.
Inhaling a trembling breath, I leaned my head back to look at him nervously. "Would it still be amazing if I make one request regarding our kid?" I asked with a lick of my lips.
"Nothing can dim today. You can tell me to wear a clown suit right now, and I wouldn't be offended." He assured me with a warm smile, stroking my cheeks with his fingers.
"Please don't ever do that. If you ever wear anything remotely clown-like, I will ban you from sex for a whole year." I threatened him with a serious glare before recollecting myself.
Stepping into him, I lay my head on his chest and looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
"Can we name him Gale?"