Chapter Three
Flynn
Remy and I stand back behind everyone in the wedding procession, our three toddlers held tight in our arms, as the music begins.
Although we will eventually be standing beside our brother Ty during the ceremony, our current task is to keep an eye on Roman, Ryder, and Izzy before Lexi wheels the two ring bearers—who luckily don’t actually have the rings—and the little flower girl down the aisle in a wagon that’s decorated with all sorts of wedding shit like flowers and lace.
The music begins, and one by one, the bridesmaids and groomsmen line up in preparation to walk down the aisle.
First to go will be Sophie and Jude.
Second will be Wes and Winnie.
And last but never least in my eyes will be Maria and my beautiful wife, Daisy, who will be escorting each other since Rem and I are on toddler duty.
Once Roman and Ryder appear calm, I set them in the wagon and quietly tell them, “Stay here.”
Rem does the same with Iz.
When Maria and Daisy are the last to go, I’m more than amused when Daisy glances over her shoulder at me, just before she begins to head down the aisle.
I flash a wink at her, and then I don’t hesitate to watch the way her perfect ass sashays away from me and toward the front of the venue. Fuck me. She’s sexy.
“Shit, Flynn,” Remy mutters, and I realize I’ve been watching my wife’s ass a little too much because when I look down in the wagon, I see Ryder is missing from the toddler crew and is currently behind me, testing his strength by picking up as many music books as he can find from a table.
Quickly, I close the distance, grab them from his hands, but not before he flashes a big old grin at me. “Loves you, Dada.”
That’s his thing these days. Anytime he knows he’s about to get in trouble, he tells Daisy and me he loves us. I’m concerned for our mental sanity when he’s a teenager because if he’s that good at manipulation now, I don’t know what will be in store for us when he’s sixteen and full of hormones.
“No, Ry,” I whisper into his ear. “It’s not time to play, buddy. It’s Uncle Ty and Aunt Rachel’s wedding day.”
“Uncie Ty! An Rach!”
“Yep.” I nod. “It’s their wedding day, and we all have to be on our best behavior.” I point to where Izzy and Roman are currently sitting in the wagon that Ryder left. “You need to sit right here with Ro and Iz.”
“O-tay, Dada! Loves you, Dada!”
“Love you too, buddy.”
I put him back in the wagon just as the music shifts to the song that’s Rem’s and my cue.
We nod toward each other, ready to make sure this thing goes off with a bang, and give Lex the encouragement we hope she needs by patting her on the shoulders.
“You got this, Lex,” Rem tells her, and she just rolls her eyes.
“They’re not going to stay in the wagon.”
“They’ll stay. They’re ready,” I say. “Right, guys?” But when I look down at the three of them, I see that Roman is chewing on his little tie, Ryder has removed one of his shoes, and Izzy has already started tossing out some of the rose petals.
“Wheeee!” she squeals, and Remy scrambles to pick all the petals back up.
“Not yet, Iz. Not yet,” he tells her and shoves the petals back into her basket.
Izzy’s bottom lip starts to quiver, her whole world apparently shattered in an instant.
“It’s okay, Iz,” Lexi tries to reassure her. “I’ll tell you when to throw the petals.”
“Throws?” Iz asks and holds up her basket.
“Soon, Iz,” Rem chimes in. “Soon.”
The moment has more than arrived, and the wedding planner gestures with wild hands for Lexi to start pulling the toddlers down the aisle.
And I hold my breath as she starts to go.
“Is it just me, or does it feel like trouble is brewing?” Rem whispers toward me, and I nod.
“Trouble has been brewing since Ty and Rachel thought putting our three kids in a goddamn wagon would turn out well.”
Rem sighs. I watch and wait.
And Lexi is on the move with our three kids in tow.
But when she reaches halfway, Izzy decides it’s a good idea to start tossing the petals into Ryder’s face. He laughs like a fucking maniac and picks them up and starts shoving them in Roman’s face.
And the proverbial wheels start falling off from there.
All three toddlers are losing their shit inside the wagon, and eventually, Ryder decides he’s done with it all. Out of the wagon and before Lexi can stop him, he’s running down the aisle with his hands in the air.
“Go! Go! Go!” he shouts, and Izzy and Roman take that as their signal to do the same, climbing out of the wagon and making a run for it.
“Go! Go! We go!” Roman yells.
“Wheeeeee! Go, Ro! Go, Ry-Ry!” Izzy exclaims and throws her basket in the face of an unsuspecting guest.
“Shit,” Rem mutters.
And when Ryder stops in the aisle and starts ripping some of the flower displays off the pews and my beautiful wife Daisy meets my eyes from her spot at the front with a look that says, “Get the fucking kids!” that’s exactly what Rem and I do.
In an instant, we jog down the aisle and try to get control of the situation.
Rem grabs Izzy, and I grab Roman and Ryder, cradling them under each of my arms like footballs.
“Wheeeeeeee!” Izzy squeals in delight.
“Whoaaaaaaaa, Dada! Funnnnnn!” Ryder shouts.
And Roman starts fucking bawling his eyes out.
Rem and I just look at each other, sweat now dotting both of our brows, and do our best to take all three toddlers with us as we move to stand behind our brother while he watches the doors open and his beautiful bride begin to walk down the aisle.
Luckily, the little lunatics settle down just enough, and when Izzy sees Rachel start to walk toward Ty, she squeals and claps her hands. “Rachie! Rachie!”
Roman and Ryder join in, but thankfully, the music is loud enough to drown out their chants.
And when I steal a glance at Ty, I see he doesn’t even notice the toddler peanut gallery behind him. He’s too busy watching the woman he loves walk toward him.
I can understand, though, because the next person I look for is Daisy.
She grins at me, her face scrunched up with hilarity as she watches me try to keep Roman and Ryder under control.
And she looks so goddamn beautiful it makes me smile.
Fucking hell, that woman. She’s my whole world.