Epilogue
. . .
Al
My head is pounding, my stomach is in knots, and I have the strangest urge to hyperventilate. Why am I so nervous? We’re already married.
Tony hands me a bottle of water. “Drink this,” he says, leaving no room to argue.
My hand shakes as I try to unscrew the cap. The crinkle of the plastic in my fist sounds like a shotgun echoing.
“I don’t know, man,” Chuck says, his voice too loud in the cramped room. “I don’t think water is going to cut it.”
“Fine.” Tony holds his hand out, and I blink as Chuck hands him a flask. My brother pours a shot of clear liquid into an empty Styrofoam cup and then pushes it into my hand. “Drink this,” he repeats.
The putrid scent of tequila makes my stomach roil. “I’m not getting wasted before my wedding.”
We had a few beers last night, sitting around a bonfire in the backyard, and even though I only had a few, the idea of drinking again so soon makes me want to hurl. Wait, that might be the nerves. Maybe both.
“One shot won’t get you wasted,” Chuck says. “If it does, I feel sorry for your tolerance levels.”
Grumbling under my breath, I take the cup and down the shot in one gulp, shuddering at the taste. “Fuck.”
“Why are you so nervous?” Tony asks.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “What if she changes her mind?”
He rolls his eyes. “She won’t.”
“But she might.”
I could hardly sleep last night, holding her in my arms and dreading this. My ring on her finger isn’t enough. She has to want this. Want me.
I think she does. After all, she agreed to go through with this. But now that it’s the eleventh hour, all my doubts keep rushing in.
“Except she won’t,” Chuck says. “You’re already married. This is just for show. A giant party with all of your friends.” He glances around the tiny, barren “groom’s room” that is essentially a storage closet with chairs. “Are… are we your only friends?”
“Mitchell’s running late. And we didn’t want a huge wedding party.” Riley is slowly expanding her social circle, making friends with the other players’ partners and also at the Grizzlies Foundation where she volunteers, and she’s still close with Vanessa, Audrey, and Bex.
Six months ago, I never would have expected Mitchell and Bex to be in our bridal party, much less civil enough to walk down the aisle together.
But now, with everything that’s gone down since his injury, and with the way he’s stood by my side from his first day in the dressing room, I know there’s nobody else I trust more to have my back.
After Tony and Chuck, of course. The bonehead still thinks we’re brothers-in-law, and I don’t have the heart to correct him anymore. If he wants to be my family, I certainly don’t want to push him away. He’s a good guy at heart, just a little… Chuck.
Family is the people we choose to keep in our lives. Blood relatives, friends who become family… We get to pick who we keep close to us. Who’s important to us.
Cari is in the wedding party, too—she’ll be escorting our flower girl down the aisle. Riley invited her to be the maid of honor, but someone has to make sure our little girl is safe, sound, and hopefully calm during the ceremony, and my sister volunteered for the gig.
She also insisted on wearing a flower crown on her head. Riley and I didn’t care either way; as long as Emmy is there, Cari can wear a bikini and we’d be fine with it. The priest, on the other hand, might not be.
A knock raps on the door, and my dad sticks his head inside without waiting for us to answer.
“They’re ready for you.”
Sweat beads along my palms, and I rub them on my pants.
“It’s going to be fine,” Tony says. “All you have to do is walk a hundred yards without falling on your face. Can you do that?”
“Fuck off,” I mutter. “I can walk just fine.”
“The way you skate, sometimes I don’t know.”
I shove him, and he shoves me back, and then we’re tussling like we’re little kids again. I get him in a headlock, and he struggles against me, but his strength is no match for my sheer force of will.
“Boys,” my dad snaps with a warning tone.
A third hand lands on my back, giving me a firm yank, and Chuck grins at me. “I want in on the fun, too.”
“You’re the worst.” But I can’t help grinning. “Come on. It’s time to get married.”
We troop out of the groom’s closet and through the church to the sanctuary doors. I reach for the handle, but something stops me. The wedding coordinator looks at me with concern.
“Are you ready?” she asks.
“Last chance to back out,” Tony mutters.
“Back out? Are you kidding?”
He holds up his hands. “Just offering.”
My parents are waiting with my abuela, and Cari has Emmy on her hip, my girl all smiles at the sight of her favorite uncle. I drop a kiss on her forehead and she giggles, grabbing at me.
“Dada! Dada!”
My heart warms, as it always does when she calls me that. She’s sixteen months, just starting to walk, and talking up a storm. Most of it is unintelligible to me, but Riley swears she can understand her. Her favorite words are mama, dada, and no.
I give my daughter a cuddle, then deposit her back into my sister’s arms.
I can do this. I can marry my wife.
With one last deep exhale, I nod to the wedding coordinator and pull open the doors to the church.
The music changes smoothly into the start of the processional, and I throw my shoulders back. Focusing on slow, steady steps, I almost forget to be nervous until I’m all the way at the front of the altar next to Father Jimenez. He gives me a nod, and I turn to face the back of the sanctuary.
A hundred and fifty pairs of eyes are on me, and I give an awkward grimace. What I’d give to be in my full pads and helmet right now, my stick at the ready to ward anyone off.
But these are my friends and my family, not my rivals, and we’re in a church, not a hockey rink, so I guess the tuxedo will have to do.
My parents escort Abuela down the aisle, and she gives me such a happy smile, my heart twists. This isn’t important to me, but it’s important to her.
I know the religious part of this makes Riley uncomfortable.
She offered to convert, since she has no official religious affiliation, but the priest made sure she knew it wasn’t required.
It’s not like I’m an avid churchgoer myself, attending only for weddings, baptisms, and funerals.
Being married in the church isn’t important to me. Being married to Riley is.
The music changes, and Tony walks Vanessa down the aisle. Her light purple dress highlights her swollen baby bump. Audrey and Chuck are next, her dress a different style but no less gorgeous. Mitchell and Bex follow behind them, her gown flattering her full figure.
And then I see Cari in a deep purple dress, my princess in her arms. Emmy still hates clothes, but we’ve learned she tolerates bows, so she has a giant, fluffy headband with a bow to match her sparkly purple dress.
My sister sets Emmy down, handing her the basket of flowers, and she immediately dumps it onto the floor.
The church erupts into chuckles as Emmy toddles down the aisle. She gets about halfway down before she trips, and Cari scoops her up into a hug before she can start crying.
“Down!” my daughter demands, and so down she goes.
Then she’s breaking free, running down the aisle.
“Dada! Dada!”
I swear my heart melts. Lifting her into my arms, I hold her close.
“Are you ready to see Mommy?” I ask her.
She nods, clapping happily.
The music swells, and the guests all rise as the sanctuary doors open once more.
My jaw drops.
Riley is a vision in a cream-colored gown, her hair pulled back and topped with a sparkling tiara. Lace covers the princess-like dress, delicate, but just as strong and resilient as she is.
In the hollow of her throat sits the amethyst necklace I bought her for our first charity gala. It feels like so long ago. The bracelet my mother wore in her wedding circles her wrist, and my abuela’s diamond teardrop earrings glitter brightly.
My family adores her and has adorned her in their jewels. They fully accept her in my life as my wife and the mother of my child.
As she inches down the aisle with slow, steady steps, my heart threatens to burst out of my chest. Riley. Emmy. Happy. That’s all I want. That’s all I need.
“Mama!” Emmy’s little voice echoes, and she lunges for her, nearly tipping out of my arms. Luckily, I’ve had a lot of practice.
“Settle, mija,” I whisper.
With every step, my anticipation balloons more and more, until I think I’m about to float away.
But there she is—my bride, resplendent in white.
“Mama!” Emmy shrieks, and with a laugh, Riley passes her bouquet to Vanessa and takes Emmy from my arms.
Father Jimenez clears his throat. Cari is standing nearby, but I shake my head at her. I guess Emmy is going to be part of the ceremony.
After all, she’s the reason we started this. She’s the reason we’re here.
“We are gathered here today…” Father Jimenez starts his speech.
I wish I could say I pay attention, but I can’t focus. Not when Riley is standing beside me, looking as perfect as she does.
Throughout the twenty-minute ceremony, we pass Emmy back and forth between us as she gets bored, and when it comes time for our vows, I do hand her over to Cari.
Taking Riley’s hands in mine, I promise to love her and cherish her, to honor her and devote myself to her. I promise these things freely. Because I love her, and I love our life, and I love everything there is to come.
I think of the sonogram tucked into my wallet. Six weeks. We weren’t trying, but we weren’t not trying, either. Our plan was to wait until after the wedding and honeymoon, but fate had other plans for us. And I couldn’t be happier.
Riley. Emmy. Our future children.
She recites her vows to me, and that’s what finally breaks me. Tears well in my eyes, and I think I’m being subtle in wiping them away, but then Tony taps on my shoulder with a hanky, and I allow myself to fall apart.
“I love you,” she says, her eyes damp as well.
Father Jimenez clears his throat and launches into the rest of the formalities. It all goes in one ear and out the other, until:
“You may kiss your bride.”
And when I pull Riley into my arms, kissing her to seal the deal, all is right in the world.
It didn’t look the way I expected it to, but I’ve finally gotten my happily ever after.