Chapter Five
Remy
Uncle Brad spins Maria in a circle, her head thrown back in the kind of laughter that makes her throat seem a mile long. At the end of the spin, he pulls her forward, and she tucks her head into his shoulder, her smile still so big that I can see the brilliance of her straight white teeth from my spot at our table.
I tuck our daughter Carmen a little nearer to my chest as Jude streaks by, his son Hawk and my toddler Izzy tucked close, one in each arm.
Winnie and Wes dance while Lexi looks on with a smile, her baby brother Wes Jr. in her now fully capable arms.
Howard stops briefly to check in on her, and then he says something that makes Lexi laugh and nod, before grabbing my mom from the chair next to her and practically dragging her to the dance floor. A fast, smooth-jazz type of song plays, and Wendy covers her eyes with her hand as she tries to bumble along with Howard’s fast-tempo-ed lead.
Flynn and Daisy walk by on their way back from the bathroom, both Ryder’s and Roman’s tiny tuxedo pants askew from where they’ve insisted on pulling them up themselves. Daisy’s curls bounce in the strobing light from the DJ, and Flynn’s loving smile grows in time with the motion as he watches her in action.
After one more spin around the floor, Maria and Uncle Brad stop in front of Aunt Paula’s table. Maria pulls Paula up and out, practically shoving her into Uncle Brad’s arms. The little stumble from them all makes it obvious they’ve been drinking, but the sweet smiles on their faces tell me they haven’t had too much yet.
Maria, especially. Between Izzy and the new baby and her job and loving on me, she’s been superhuman. She lives on coffee and adrenaline half the time, and even with my help, I know the weight of two humans under three can be crushing for even the most brilliant of women.
She deserves this freedom, this fun, this opportunity to let go.
As for me, though, I’m content to sit here with Carmen in my arms forever. Sophie joins Jude, who still has Hawk and Izzy, and Iz’s face lights up. All three of my girls—happy.
I feel a clap on my shoulder and turn slowly to find a beaming bride and groom standing over me. Ty looks content in a way I’ve never seen him—all that wild energy is finally channeled into a healthy avenue. As the guy who changed at least fifty percent of his diapers growing up, cleaned his cut lip after many a fight, and watched him hurl into my toilet after drinking himself into oblivion more than a few times, I can hardly believe he’s turned into this man.
I know I’m just his brother, so it could sound condescending, but I’m so fucking proud of him.
“Enjoying yourself, bro?” he asks, smiling down at my daughter and then winking at me.
“Nowhere I’d rather be,” I answer honestly, tucking Carmen’s now-flopped arm across her chest. This kid likes to spread out as much as humanly possible when she sleeps, and Maria and I are constantly gathering her limbs.
Rachel gives Ty a quick kiss and then pulls away, heading over to her sister Lydia and her wife Lou. The three of them hug and laugh, and when Ty turns back from watching her, his smile is beaming.
“We did pretty good, huh?” Ty asks then, crouching down next to me and surveying our family. I’ve been doing it for the last hour, and to be honest, I haven’t been able to find a single thing I’d change—aside from, of course, being able to have Maria’s sister and mom and brother-in-law here too. I know she misses them, and so do I. The absence of family is hard, but the Winslows have done their best to fill in the gaps.
“We did fucking perfect, Ty. You and me and Jude and Flynn and Win and Mom—we did it together. We built this beautiful life. This… this ,” I say, “is how it feels when everything is right.”
Ty claps me on the shoulder again and stands, giving me a squeeze I’ll remember for the rest of my life as he does. “We have you to thank, you know,” he says quietly, his voice weighty with emotion. “If it weren’t for you, none of us would have lived to make it here.” He snorts. “Except maybe Flynn.”
Tears sting my nose, and I have to look away to prevent them from falling. I tried my hardest to be what my family needed in the absence of a father. To hear that I succeeded feels like winning the fucking lottery.
Finding Maria in the crowd again, now dancing with a giggly Izzy and Nathaniel, Rachel’s dad, I think about our lives and all the events that got us here. They were hard sometimes—brutal, really—but none of the things I love would be the same without them.
“It was an honor, Ty. One I wouldn’t change for anything.”
Ty clenches his hand on the flesh of my shoulder once more and then jumps off the raised step where my table sits to reclaim his wife. Honestly, if it weren’t for the sleeping baby in my arms, I’d probably be doing the same.
Evidently, in the end, all the Winslow brothers are suckers for their women.
Maria looks up and notices me watching her, and her eyes light up, even from this distance across the room. She speaks briefly to Nate, who nods, taking both of Izzy’s hands in his own and doing a tiny version of the twist.
Maria walks in my direction, her sexy hips swaying with every perfect step. She’s like a goddess in that satin bridesmaid dress, and tonight, when this is all over, I’m going to treat myself to the perfection I know is underneath.
Thanks to my dirty thoughts, my smile has turned salacious as Maria arrives, and she’s observant enough to notice.
“What are you thinking, mister?” she asks, leaning over the railing in front of me to wink and whisper.
I waggle my eyebrows slightly. “I promise, my love, in about two hours or so, when the party is over and the kids are asleep and I have you all alone, you’re going to find out.”
She laughs, her head rolling back as the melodic song pours out of her throat. When she meets my gaze again, there’s a naughtiness in her whole demeanor. “Is that right?”
I nod.
“I’ll be ready,” she says in a thick, low, sexy-as-fuck voice that makes me have to adjust myself in my seat. She winks, turns, and walks away, her bare back taunting me above the sway of her perfect ass.
God, I’m one lucky son of a bitch.
My phone buzzes on the table, and when I look down to grab it, there’s a mysterious Polaroid next to it. Curious, I pick up the picture first.
It’s a candid shot of the end of the ceremony, all of us piled on top of Rachel and Ty in their happiest of moments.
In the background are the smiling faces of my mom, Howard, Uncle Brad, Aunt Paula, Lexi, Lydia, Lou, Nathaniel, and all our kids spread throughout the arms of people who would protect them with their lives.
It’s a perfect angle—it’s a perfect picture, capturing my world in its entirety.
And by the position of the person behind the camera, I have a feeling I know just who the taker was.
Smiling with a shake of my head, I set the picture down on the table and pick up my phone, and it’s no less than I expect.
A single text is there, the sender and the photographer one and the same. She’s gone from the party, of this I’m sure, even though she disappeared without a word, but I doubt entirely that she’s gone from our lives.
C: Was it worth it, my darling, opening your heart?
I don’t bother pretending there’s anything to say but the truth—that Cleo was right all along. I have everything.
Everything I’ve ever wanted and then some.
Remy: It sure as fuck was, Cleo. It sure as fuck was. Thank you.
C: It was, without a doubt, my dear Remington, my greatest pleasure. Be happy. XOXO, Cleo
THE END