Epilogue
Enzo
The sky is bright blue, like Boston in the tourist pamphlets when we line up to go on the ferry. The sun is doing its sparkling thing, and the waves in the harbor glint like someone sprinkled sapphires there.
I shake my head. I’m being sentimental.
But sentimental is fine. Today is the day that I’m marrying Axel Knight, my own personal hero, and that means it’s the best day in the world.
My friends swarm around me as we board the boat, and I carry Luca in my arms. He stretches out his arms and flings his head back. “You’re getting married!”
Sometimes he’s so much like Gaby that it makes my heart hurt. I glance up at the sky.
I’m happy, I tell her. Luca’s happy.
We enter the boat, then go up to the second level. The deck is strung with white lights and flowers. Axel is already there. My Axel. My future husband.
Our teammates fill the seats. Coach is in the front row, looking happy and proud. Apparently, Axel gave him a very tough time about hiring me, and he feels ridiculously smug about all of our happiness. But then, Coach hasn’t stopped smiling since we won the playoffs either.
Stella runs up to Luca the moment she sees him.
“Luca! You’re the ring bearer! I was the flower girl at my dads’ wedding. Don’t drop the rings.”
“I won’t,” Luca says solemnly.
“If you drop them in the water, the wedding won’t count.”
Luca’s eyes go wide. I crouch down. “That’s not true, buddy. The wedding will count no matter what.”
Stella shrugs. She grabs Luca’s hand and pulls him toward the aisle, giving him more instructions.
Evan appears beside me. “Sorry about her. She’s been going over her ‘wedding expert’ speech all week.”
The music starts, and then the officiant is talking about love and commitment and partnership. I try to pay attention, but mostly I just look at Axel.
The boat sways gently beneath us. The Boston skyline glitters in the distance. And Axel is watching me like I’m the only thing that matters.
He’s in a navy suit and has never looked so calm and sure and confident. I smile at him happily.
“The rings?” the officiant prompts.
Luca walks forward carefully, the pillow balanced on his palms like he’s carrying something sacred. Which I guess he is.
He doesn’t drop them.
Stella gives him a thumbs up from her seat.
Axel takes my ring and slides it onto my finger. His hands are steady. Mine aren’t.
“I, Axel James Knight, take you, Enzo Bellanti, to be my husband,” he says.
His voice cracks on husband, and I see the tears in his eyes.
“I promise to love you when you’re grumpy and when you’re happy and when you’re doing that thing where you stare at the wall and I can’t tell which one it is.”
A few people laugh. I’m crying.
“I promise to be Luca’s dad with you. To build a family with you. To do Lord of the Rings marathons even when you fall asleep during the Ent scenes.”
“They’re trees,” I whisper.
“They’re important,” he whispers back.
Then he clears his throat. “I promise you’ll always know you’re loved. Each day. Always.”
I can’t speak. I try to say my vows, but my throat is too tight.
Axel just waits patiently, like he’s always been, when it mattered.
Finally, I manage, “I spent ten years loving you in silence. I don’t want to be silent anymore.”
He squeezes my hands.
“I promise to talk to you,” I say. “Even when it’s hard.”
His eyes soften.
“I promise to be Luca’s papa. To be your husband. To be yours.”
“You already are,” he says.
I slide the ring onto his finger. “And now it’s official.”
The officiant pronounces us married, and Axel kisses me like we’re not on a boat surrounded by our entire hockey team.
The cheers are deafening.
When we break apart, Luca is standing between us, tugging on both our hands.
“Can we eat?”
Axel laughs. “Uh-huh.”
Luca rushes to join Stella. They find Sofia’s kids, and my heart warms more.
We walk inside the boat where dinner is set up. I spot the centerpieces—and stop.
I glance up at Axel. “Grape arrangements?”
He giggles. “They did bring us together, honey.”
“You could just have had a picture of your bare torso.”
He blinks. “Wait! That’s what did it? That’s why you swallowed the grape?”
“Uh—”
“Oh my God! I removed my shirt. I remember! I can’t believe that’s what did it. Death by hotness.”
I open my mouth, then close it, and am just about to open it again, when Axel grins and kisses my cheek.
“You’re not going to let me live this down.”
“Nope.” He rubs his hands happily, and his eyes are definitely evil. “These next seven decades are going to be so much fun.”
I blink rapidly.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you too.”
“Good.” He pulls me closer. “I’m yours for life.”
“And I’m yours.”
Then he wraps his arms around me, tight around my waist, just like the first time, though this time we’re facing each other.
My head swirls, my legs go weak, and he lifts me off the floor, my feet dangling, and kisses me.
The room erupts in cheers.
I hope you enjoyed spending time with Axel and Enzo. Reviews are like gold for authors, and if you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review. Even a short one is so helpful.