Epigraph #4
We decided to divvy up roles right there, and did so well into the evening.
We called for takeout because the guys texted that they were getting dinner.
I stared around the room of busy mamas, daughters, and significant others as we planned what was clearly going to be the prelude to probably the biggest wedding of the year in Maywood Heights.
And, as we planned, I thought about the future.
How this group of women would just get bigger as our sons and daughters had kids.
We’d then be planning their events, and I just got so overwhelmed.
“You okay, Cleo?” Bow asked me at one point. I was almost tearing up thinking about the future. Of course, she noticed. She was an empath, just like her brother, Thatcher, tended to be.
“Oh, I’m so happy, sweetheart,” I said, hugging her, and she grinned.
This girl was probably going to be my daughter-in-law someday, and she had no idea how happy that made me.
She was perfect for my son. Both she and Bru were.
They were a trio, and, as far as I was concerned, that only meant my son, Wells, would have more love in his life.
He may just raise his kids in this home.
This family made me so happy.
Ramses
The kids’ house was packed, but that didn’t surprise me. Between the wives and our children, they’d managed to turn a simple housewarming into the social event of the season. Even the press was here, which was wild.
Smiling, I gazed around at what they’d created. Bow, Bru, and Wells’s house was fully furnished and decorated. One would have thought an interior designer did this job, with the rustic farmhouse charm, not the wives of Maywood Heights.
I could appreciate a good design layout, being an artist myself. I grabbed my wife while she was rushing around. Brielle Mallick liked to make things perfect. I snuck a kiss to her lips in a dark corner.
“Ramses, I’m busy,” she said, giggling like a schoolgirl. The fact I had power over her like that did something for me. Maybe a little too much when I caged her in.
I pressed my hands against the wall, enjoying the light smell that wafted off her tanned skin. She smelled like peonies and heaven. I smiled. “There’s always time for this.”
I leaned in, pressing my mouth to hers and enjoying it immensely. She and the others worked really hard on this housewarming, and she should take a moment to smell the roses.
To my delight, she kissed me back. My wife wasn’t a tiny woman, but I was a big guy. I dwarfed her petite and curvy frame. My hands moved to her hips. She wore a black dress that made me absolutely wild for her.
“Ramses, the press are here,” she urged.
I was well aware of that. I was also aware of the fact that they were confined to certain areas of the house.
This particular area was off-limits. Even still, she placed a hand on my chest. She placed distance between us, and I got to enjoy the sight of the woman I got to spend the rest of my life with.
She looked like real-life royalty with her dark hair and eyes that were so hypnotic they sent me to my knees.
They literally sent me there. I had a taste between her thighs before this very event.
My queen put her arms round me. “I love you.”
I had no words for how much I loved her. I kissed her deeply before pressing a final one to her ear. “I love you too, and you did a great job today.”
She did. The kids’ house looked lovely. She and the other mothers outdid themselves, and they mostly did this in a day. They’d done the design work when all us guys went out golfing not that long ago.
“Thanks,” she said, then gazed around. “You haven’t seen Sloane, have you? I wanted to ask her what she thought of the catering.”
I knew Brielle planned to use this particular service for Sloane and Dorian’s at-home wedding and reception.
“I haven’t, but I’ll look for her,” I said, still blown away that one of my kids was married.
Another one was engaged, and this housewarming was for the third.
I had no idea when I got old, but if old was this sense of fulfillment I got every time one of my kids hit a milestone like this, I’d take it. I was so happy to see them happy.
“Hey, bud. Great place,” I said to Bru when I passed him. He was in full conversation with some of his friends, including Wells and Bow.
“Thanks, Dad,” Bru said, grinning with a beer in his hands. He looked so happy. Wells and Bow were great for him, and, even though their relationship was less than traditional, none of us parents cared about that. We just wanted our kids happy.
Bru proceeded to ask me where his mom was so he could thank her for helping with the party, and I pointed behind me.
“She’s back near the kitchen,” I said. “She actually sent me to go find your sister.”
“I think I saw Sloane out back not too long ago,” Bru stated, and I found that curious. No one from the party was really outside.
I thanked my son before giving him a hug and telling him what a great place this was again. I also hugged Bow, who was like a daughter to me, and Wells, who was like a son.
Out back, I did find Sloane, and, curiously enough, she was with Ares, her twin brother. He was actually just leaving her.
“Let me know if you need anything. Dorian and I will keep giving you space until you’re ready to come back,” he said, and my brow lifted. Neither one of them had seen me standing there, and, when Ares turned, his smile was tight.
“Hey, Pop,” he said, looking way too much like me when I was his age. Honestly, he was my clone, and Sloane was Brielle’s. Both the kids even had my curly hair. Ares’s was grown out and long, but he had it up today. He nodded. “I was just heading back inside.”
“Okay,” I said, studying his departure with my gaze. After the back door closed behind him, I faced Sloane. “Everything okay?”
They were obviously talking about something, and it was weird that they were out here. Everyone else was inside.
Sloane was sitting on a cobblestone bench that faced the yard, and beyond that was a magnificent cityscape of our town. It was lush, rolling hills and, even though Maywood Heights was small, it was mighty.
Sloane stood, my daughter so beautiful in a yellow sundress. Her hair was up. She lifted her shoulders. “Fine. Was just about to go back inside.”
So my kid wasn’t fine if Ares and Dorian, her husband, were giving her space.
Sloane didn’t go anywhere without Dorian.
I pocketed my hands. “I respect if you don’t want to talk about something, but obviously everything isn’t fine.
You’re out here isolating, and you and Ares are doing your twin thing. ”
Her dark eyebrows scrunched. “Twin thing?”
I smiled a little before gesturing for her to sit back down. She did, and I joined her.
I stared out toward the city. “Did you know, when you and Ares were born, you were holding hands?”
Her mouth parted, and I laughed.
I nodded. “Literally, the doctors had never seen such a thing. You were so small and definitely didn’t have the grip strength at that stage of life, but you were.” My eyes crinkled. “Anyway, that’s what you guys were doing just now. You may not have been physically, but it was the same thing.”
He was supporting her, and that was wild to me, too. They had a history of being separated for a while. That was very painful for our family, and, though we were all still healing from that separation, it got better each and every day. We were a family again, a strong one.
Sloane smiled a little, also staring out at the city. She shook her head. “Thank you for telling me that.”
I knew she loved stories of when the two of them were babies, and though there weren’t many, Brielle and I told her what we could. She and Ares still had that obvious bond even with their time apart, and I loved that for them. It was so special and such a blessing to witness.
Sloane sighed. “Are you really going to make me talk about what’s wrong?”
“No, but I’d like it if you did,” I said. I would respect if she wanted to deal with whatever was going on herself, but if I could help, I hope she’d let me.
She sat back. “Everyone inside keeps talking about the wedding. Not the Vegas one, but the one here at home. Mom keeps talking about it, and all the plans, and she wants my opinion on things, and…”
I stayed quiet while she pondered her next thought.
She huffed. “The Vegas wedding was so wonderful. It was just our family and friends.” She faced me. “It was perfect, Dad. It was perfect as is.”
I think I was starting to see what she was getting at now. My head tilted. “I’m getting the feeling you don’t want another wedding. Here at home, I mean?”
She nodded, then shrugged. “It’s just, why mess with something that was so perfect? I mean, you and Mom were there. You also walked me down the aisle, and those memories were just…”
“Perfect.” They were perfect, and I was so honored I got to do that.
I wasn’t sure I’d get to, since Sloane had been separated from us for a time, so, when I got to, everything felt so full circle.
It was perfect, like she said. I leaned forward.
“I can talk to your mom and the others if you’d like.
If you don’t want to have another wedding, you don’t have to, and I know your mother.
She’d understand if you tell her. She’d support you. ”
Sure, Brielle would have loved to do a huge event here. She’d want to celebrate the kids, but not at the expense of our daughter’s happiness.
Sloane gave me a hug just then, a strong one, and I felt like a superhero. I was so glad I got to be that for her.
“Come with me?” she asked, standing up, and I did, too. Her shoulders lifted. “I think I can do it if you’re there.”