44. Thea
44
Thea
T he bed was empty when I woke up. I rubbed my eyes and lay there for a moment, wondering why at least one of my boyfriends and fiancées hadn’t stuck around. So selfish. They knew how horny being pregnant made me.
Grumbling about asshole men, I shuffled into the bathroom and showered. Just as I was drying off, the door flew open and Eden stood there, grinning like a loon.
“Happy wedding day!”
I stared at her, wondering if this was a lucid dream. Did she say wedding? Surely not.
“Wedding?”
“Yes. Wedding. Now get your ass back in the bedroom. We need to sort that…” She waved a hand in the general direction of my face and hair, grimacing. “Mess out.”
“Excuse me?” Giorgio, hair stylist to the celebs, had chopped and sliced my hair yesterday. He assured me it would be easy to maintain ‘the look’, even with zero effort. Which was good because zero effort was all I had time for.
“ Mùirneach , you know I love you dearly, yes?”
“No.”
Eden huffed loudly. “I do love you. You’re my bestest friend.”
“Only friend,” I sniped, rubbing my damp hair and eying the plate of breakfast rolls on the table. “Soon to be ex friend for not warning me the guys were up to something!”
She had the grace to look sheepish. “They forced me to sign an NDA.”
“Like that would have stopped you from spilling the tea!” She grinned, happy I still used her favorite catchphrase.
“OK, so maybe I should have warned you, but we all wanted it to be a surprise.” I scowled at her.
“You knew I’d do a runner, didn’t you?” While I wasn’t completely against getting married, I still wasn’t comfortable marrying one and not the others. It felt unfair. My feelings were equally strong for all my guys and I hated having to choose one over another.
“Perhaps.” Eden shrugged dismissively. “Anyway, we don’t have time to argue. There are 500 of your closest friends and family waiting for you to get your shit together.”
I swallowed hard, feeling rather faint all of a sudden. “500?”
“OK, maybe a slight exaggeration…” She winked. “Cassian’s mom is here, my lot, Lan’s mom and sister, her kids, and some cute Russian dudes.”
“No Michael?” Her smile faded.
“No. That’s a story for another day. I refuse to discuss my relationship woes on your wedding day. Now eat something while I sort your hair out.”
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Eden had highlighted my cheekbones with bronzer and made my eyes pop with some subtle shading. She’d curled my hair and then pinned it up, leaving a few curls to frame my face.
“Perfect,” she announced after adding a final coat of pink lipstick. “Now let’s get you downstairs before the guys and Jasper lose their shit.”
“Jasper?” Who the fuck was Jasper?
“Jasper’s the wedding planner. Cassian paid him a shit-load of money to pull this off. FYI he has a massive crush on Landon. Thinks he’s Jamie Fraser from Outlander.” She snorted. “Keeps asking if he’s wearing a kilt to the ceremony.”
“Lan doesn’t look like Jamie Fraser,” I pointed out. Eden had forced me to watch season one of Outlander last time she visited. I’d enjoyed it more than I let on. Mostly because of Jamie Fraser.
“No, but Landon has the accent, and apparently that’s enough to make poor, smitten Jasper swoon the moment he opens his mouth.”
“He better not try touching my man.” Lan didn’t need anyone fawning over him. He’d endured enough of that shit in the past, thanks to his fucking awful father. God rest his soul, may he not rest in peace.
Stuart Rothmore had sadly passed away a week after Lucian’s tragic demise. An unexpected heart attack killed the scion of the Rothmore Brewery while he relaxed in his wife’s hot house. It was all very tragic.
Lan admitted to me some weeks after his father’s unexpected death that Isobel’s knowledge of deadly plants had been Stuart’s undoing. She’d taken revenge after finding out how her husband had abused their children. I’d said nothing to Isobel, but we’d shared a hug when she visited.
“Don’t worry,” Eden chirruped as she led me downstairs, holding my hand to ensure I didn’t fall over. Looking like a beached whale had seriously fucked up my center of balance.
Verity met us in the hall. Like Eden, she wore a simple rose-pink dress that landed mid-calf, paired with sparkly sandals. My dress was more decorative, but not massively so. The silky fabric draped over my breasts, toga-style, and flared out over my bump. It was elegant and tasteful, but also sexy.
Instead of heels, I wore strappy gladiator sandals encrusted with sparkling gems.
“Flowers, sis,” she said, handing me a bunch of pink flowers with green foliage, wrapped in a pale pink ribbon. “Since Daddy can’t be here, I’m walking you down the aisle.”
“We don’t mention the D word,” Eden admonished. “Not today.”
“But I heard Thea calling for Daddy last night?” Eden tried her hardest not to choke with laughter as Verity looked confused. Meanwhile, my cheeks burned with the heat of a thousand suns as I recalled my little role-play activity with Cassian and Kyril. Ahem.
“I may have had, um , a nightmare.” I coughed and turned around, ostensibly to look outside. Fuck . We needed better sound-proofing in my bedroom.
“One day, when you are older, I will explain some things to you, my sweet summer child,” Eden said to Verity.
Verity rolled her eyes. “If it’s sex stuff, don’t bother. Aoife told me everything.”
I bristled with annoyance. “She better not have shown you inappropriate videos!”
“Eww, no.”
Eden gritted her teeth. “Fuck, we’re late. Jasper is going to come looking for us if we don’t make an appearance.” She pulled her phone out and fired off a message. “Verity, take her arm and I’ll walk behind, like we practiced last night.”
Wow. They’d all done an amazing job of keeping this from me. I’d not noticed anything amiss. It proved how many brain cells this pregnancy had destroyed. My IQ was probably lower than a slug at this point.
Someone, presumably the wedding planner and his team, had transformed our garden into a wedding-themed paradise. Garlands of flowers festooned the terrace. Friends and family all stood as we walked down a petal-strewn pathway over the lawn.
I tried not to catch anyone’s eye in case I burst into tears. As much as I liked to blame pregnancy for my chaotic emotions, it wasn’t entirely true. Since meeting the guys, my walls had come down, freeing the emotions I’d locked away for most of my life.
These days, I cried at the stupidest things: a cat refusing to let me pet it. A pretty butterfly landing on a nearby flower. A sad moment in Selling Sunset, my latest reality TV obsession.
Landon often cried with me. He was very much in touch with his emotions. The rest of them remained stoical, keen to maintain their manly visages.
I swore I could see a tear in Kyril’s eye when I approached the raised dais where all five of my guys stood. Kyril wore his customary black shirt with tailored pants. Cassian had chosen a blue suit - Tom Ford, I suspected. Dario looked delicious in a white shirt and charcoal gray pants. Milo had picked a pale blue shirt and cream chinos, while Landon wore…
Fuck . My blood heated as he smirked at me.
A kilt.
A motherfucking kilt.
Hot damn. I fully got why Jasper the wedding planner had the hots for my man. He rocked a kilt, and I planned to explore whether he had gone commando the moment the ceremony ended.
The wedding celebrant, a woman with salt and pepper hair and a kind smile indicated where I needed to stand.
“You look beautiful, Malyshka ,” Kyril murmured as the others all agreed. I blushed and dipped my head, conscious that all eyes were on us.
Verity smiled at me, her eyes full of love. “You rock, Sis,” she said before stepping back and joining Eden, Ronan, Conal, and Declan on the front row to the left of the dais.
"We gather here not because it is tradition, but because six hearts have chosen to write their own story. Thea, Cassian, Dario, Kyril, Landon, and Milo are here today to make promises to each other, to declare their truth, their version of love, in their own authentic way.”
A few people sighed, and at least one person, likely Eden, sobbed loudly.
“This celebration breaks traditional societal expectations. This union between these six people grew from adversity and the simple choice to be together, no matter what life threw at them.”
I wondered who penned these vows because adversity was bang on the money. I hadn’t expected to survive January, let alone be here, on a lawn overlooking the ocean, marrying the men of my dreams.
“Today isn't about 'til death do us part.' It's about choosing each other, again and again, in a world where choices are infinite. It's about six people who looked at the vast universe of possibilities and said to each other, 'You. You're my one and only.'"
Tears slid down my cheeks, and I thanked Eden for insisting I wore waterproof mascara. The internet had already seen my ‘O’ face. It didn’t need to see me with panda eyes as well.
By the time the ceremony ended, I was legally married to Kyril and near as dammit married to the other four, even if those ties were not legal in the eyes of the law. It was the best way of declaring to the world we were in a committed relationship.
“May your love continue to rebel against convention, may your partnerships defy expectations, and may your journey forward be as unique as the six of you. Now, let's celebrate!”
Everyone rose as one and whooped loudly. There was not a dry eye in the house. Even Jasper, a man who’d probably witnessed hundreds of weddings, sobbed like a baby. Although he continued to stare at Landon’s kilt with a wistful gleam in his eye.
It was only when I sent a murderous look his way that he scurried off.
Once we’d accepted everyone’s good wishes, I sat down on a chair under a flower arbor. Carrying a baby around was hard work. After the baby was born, I planned on abdicating all child-rearing responsibilities. I’d go back to the gym, choose a career that didn’t involve violence, and maybe take up a relaxing hobby like crochet.
“My wife looks tired,” Kyril said when he caught up with me.
“That’s because my asshole husband knocked me up.”
He lifted me like I weighed no more than a feather and placed me on his lap.
“Maybe my wife should have a nap before the evening party starts.” He nibbled the soft skin below my ear and I shivered, even though it was already 70 degrees.
“A nap would be good,” I conceded.
“Hey, she’s my wife too, so don’t be stealing her away!” Landon hustled over, having escaped his admirer.
“Is it too soon to file for divorce?” I muttered.
“Yeah. Not happening,” Kyril grunted. “Go round up the husbands. Our wife is tired,” he instructed. Landon nodded and smirked, probably concluding sleep wouldn’t be on the menu.
Well it sucked to be him because I definitely needed a nap. I could barely keep my eyes open after talking to what felt like ten million people and smiling so hard my jaw ached. Socializing drained me. I was an introvert at heart. A bit like Milo, who stood a few feet away under a tree, watching me.
I threw him a smile, and he smiled back.
Verity scampered over, a glass of OJ in her hand. “Hey, sis, can I go back to the hotel with Saoirse and Aoife tonight? We’re going to have a Twilight movie marathon.”
“Sure, as long as Declan’s guys are with you.” Knowing she’d heard me being intimate with the guys gave me the ick. I’d be happier if she wasn’t around this evening. At least half of the guests, notably the Irish and Russian contingent, would be wasted by sundown.
Verity didn’t need to see a bunch of drunk Irishmen and Russians challenging each other to duals or playing Russian roulette with loaded guns. Conal and Ronan were idiots at the best of times, even with Declan curbing their worst excesses.
“Ronan said he’d come back with us.” From the hearts in her eyes, my sister had a crush on the handsome Irishman. Thank God she was much too young for him. By the time she hit 16, he’d be well out of her orbit.
“Good. Make sure you don’t leave the hotel room unless Ronan is with you, OK?”
She kissed me on the cheek and ran off to find her friends.