Tucker
EPILOGUE
I thought I’d feel nervous. Even one butterfly would be normal, right?
But as I stand next to Baylee, it just feels right with her by my side.
Yes, we jumped right into this, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel sudden.
It feels right. The minute we made the decision in that hospital room to get married, even though it wasn’t with the necessary paperwork, it simply felt like it was meant to be.
Here we are on our official wedding day at City Hall in front of her parents and my mother.
This time we’ve added her sisters, their significant others, and their children.
My mother is better today, and my brother and his wife returned to celebrate us, which is a great surprise.
Rios was invited, but isn’t here and that’s his choice.
I can see it disappointed Baylee, even though she put on a brave face when she showed up to find he was the only one not in attendance today.
I gave Baylee the option to do a big wedding, but she opted out of it. She wanted to keep expenses down and to save for a big trip this summer when she’s off for break. The holidays just ended and we’re soaking up the last few weeks before she returns for the new semester .
This next term is supposed to be her final one before she’s officially a college graduate, although, she may push a class or two into the next fall and take a little bit of the workload off her back.
She doesn’t see the point in rushing to finish all her courses this spring if she can spread a few of the classes out and finish in the fall.
She’d still walk this spring with the rest of her class. She needs to decide soon though.
Kennedy offered her a summer internship at the Gaels facility with the physical therapy department, and I told her she should take it.
Baylee doesn’t want any handouts, but I told her Kennedy wouldn’t offer if she didn’t think Baylee deserved it.
Working with a sports team is her dream, so this is exactly what she’d love to do.
I look over and catch the smile on my mom’s face and my heart swells.
Seeing her sitting there, looking better than she had months ago brings me so much joy.
What a difference a few months makes. Baylee catches me looking at my mom and her smile doubles.
She squeezes my hand, and I know she feels the same relief I do.
Before we know it, we’re declared a married couple and I kiss my bride.
I whisper to her, “I can’t believe it’s official.”
“Believe it. You’re stuck with me now.” She laughs.
“I can’t wait,” I tell her, dropping another kiss to her lips.
“Okay, lovebirds, let’s go. They need us out of here.” Eric slaps my shoulder.
We make our way through and head out into the hall. We’re about to find a spot in the building where we can take a photo, when we encounter someone we least expect holding a bouquet of flowers tied with blue ribbon.
“Danny?” Baylee says.
“Hey,” Rios says, “you look beautiful. Here, I brought you these. I thought I’d bring your something blue, even though I got here a bit late. That snowfall last night made me late. I’m sorry.” He looks genuinely apologetic .
“It’s okay, man. Thanks for coming,” I say. I do appreciate the gesture, and I know Baylee appreciates him showing up for us.
She takes the flowers and gives him a small smile.
Then she hands me the flowers and I nod.
She turns to her brother and wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him; they embrace for a long while.
I look over and see her mom wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
I can see the toll this has taken on their family.
It was never our intention for that to happen.
Rios pulls something from his pocket, revealing a small gift box.
Baylee looks hesitant at first but finally takes it from him and pulls at the bow to open it.
When she opens it, I see the tears pooling in her dark brown eyes.
I move closer, the protectiveness coming over me.
Once I’m closer, I realize the small smile that’s formed on her lips.
I look down and notice the necklace with an initial hanging off it.
She pulls it out and it’s then I see the delicate M dangling off the gold chain.
She reaches for her brother right then and those tears she was holding back finally break free.
I walk away, giving them the space they deserve.
I look over my shoulder and see them pull apart.
Rios whispers something to Baylee. Then she nods and a smile pulls on a corner of her lips.
Maybe despite all that’s happened, everything will be okay in the end.
It’ll take time, but I’m hoping we can start to rebuild what we lost recently.
“Shall we take that family picture?” My mom, the eternal optimist, says as she comes up by my side.
“Yes, let’s do that,” Ariana says.
We find a spot where someone can snap a photo and it feels like something finally clicks. That crack in our armor may have been mended today and I feel a little lighter as we walk out of City Hall.
“You didn’t think you’d get away without celebrating, did you?” River says as I open my front door.
I rub my hand down my face, preparing myself for all the people walking through my house for this celebration I didn’t ask for.
It’s the weekend after my wedding to Baylee and we’re celebrating our wedding with a friend gathering per the request of our little extended family we’ve built.
“Just so you know, they made me come and I feel like the seventh wheel,” Hunter declares as he walks in.
“I’m here against my will, if it makes you feel better,” I whisper.
“I heard that.” Abby points at me, narrowing her eyes. “You owe me this, especially after I helped you with Sixteen Candles night!”
“I knew it!” Baylee yells. “You owe me money!” She points at me with the biggest smile like she won the lottery.
“My protégé is learning,” River says from the kitchen. “Nice, Bay-Bay.”
“I don’t like that nickname.” She scrunches her nose.
“Yeah, I heard it right when it came out and have to agree.” He nods in agreement.
Ella squeals in agreement right then and I go to grab her from the carrier. “Come here, sweet girl.”
When I pick her up, I give her kisses on the cheek, which causes her to giggle and I assume it’s from the beard. She’s in a new phase of pulling on my beard, so she attaches to me, pulling on the hairs as I try to slowly pry her little fingers off my face.
Once I succeed in removing her hands from my beard, I put her on my hip and start looking at all the treats everyone brought.
They told us not to do a thing and they’d bring all the food.
Kennedy was adamant that we not lift a finger.
She said because we weren’t doing an official wedding, we had to let them do something .
“Wow, you guys went all out,” Baylee says. “This is a lot of food.” She starts lifting lids and looking at all the containers.
I’m about to lift a lid to something that looks like a cake.
“Oh, that’s a surprise.” River slaps my hand.
“Geez, Riv!” I yell. “What is it with everyone hitting me all the time? I’m a delicate person.”
“Poor baby,” Clay says, batting his lashes.
“Do you need Baylee to read you a bedtime story and put you to bed now?” River asks, pouting.
I cover one of Ella’s ears and mouth, “Fuck off.”
River flips me off with both middle fingers. Then he steals his niece. “I’ll take her. I don’t want her to, you know, grab your hair or something and hurt your delicate scalp.”
“Asshole.” I roll my eyes.
Baylee comes up to me and pats my chest. “It’s okay, baby. Not all of us are built big and strong. Some of us are just built big.”
I look down at her and she laughs.
“You’re evil. He’s rubbing off on you, you know that?” I tell her.
“I know. I sort of like it.” She has an evil gleam in her eyes.
“Okay, everyone, let’s grab plates and go eat.” Kennedy claps and starts ordering everyone around.
We make our way through, grabbing food, then sitting at our dining room table. We ended up adding some chairs so everyone can sit together.
It’s a loud bunch. Samara and Ashton couldn’t make it as the twins ended up getting a bad cold.
But they called earlier to send their well-wishes.
Marissa was going to call in, but she has a court appearance she has to prepare for.
She ended up having to text and said how crazy we are and that was her way of saying congratulations. That’s her style anyway.
Once we’re stuffed to the brim with food, everyone begins clearing our plates and we start laughing about little things here and there. I love the dynamic between all of us.
“Alright, now for dessert.” River stands up and the way he’s excited about this, I’m scared about what’s coming.
“Why do I feel like I should duck or something?” I say to the table.
“Because River and Clay were literally in charge of it and no one knows what’s coming,” Kennedy says.
“Actually, just River. I had nothing to do with it,” Clay says.
“What do you mean?” Kennedy asks.
“Yeah, he said he wanted to do the dessert,” Clay explains.
“He said the two of you were in charge of dessert because you knew what Malloy would like. That’s why I let him have that duty,” Kennedy says with panic in her tone.
“Why am I getting more concerned?” Baylee says, her eyes bouncing between Kennedy and Clay.
“Because I know River and he’s up to something,” Clay says.
“Oh, fuck.” Kennedy puts her head in her hands.
“What’s the big deal?” I ask. “Did he make the dessert or something?”
“No, it’s not that,” Kennedy starts.
“What am I missing?” Abby finally asks. “Is someone allergic to something?” She’s looking around the table and then something clicks. “Oh no .” Her eyes go wide.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask, throwing my arms up.
“He wouldn’t,” Clay says.
“You know he would,” Kennedy deadpans.
“Now you guys are scaring me,” Baylee says.
“It’s nothing to be scared of. Just promise to continue to be friends with us after this if our assumptions are correct. Okay?” Abby says.
“Ookayy,” Baylee says.
“No, seriously, you have to promise,” Kennedy says .
“Do you want me to sign something?” Baylee asks.
“That’s not a bad idea. Do we have time for a notary? Better yet, anyone here a notary?” Kennedy asks.
I look over at Hunter and he’s got a smirk on his face because this is amusing for someone that has no idea what’s going on. Not that I know what’s going on either. We probably look like absolute clowns.
Finally, River makes his way over with the dessert. It’s still covered with only the top exposed. But we’re still unable to see it, because he’s blocking it and we can’t see anything yet.
“Alright. So, before I show you what I got done for you, I just want to say that we love you both very much. Well, I should say—Baylee, we love you. Malloy, we’re just happy you found someone we love so much more than you.” There are laughs and I just nod.
“We hope you find forgiveness on those days where you disagree and find light on the days when the dark is finding ways in. But most of all, always find ways to laugh. Find ways to let love in through all corners. And always remember you have great friends to share your memories with. We love you,” he says.
What a true friend. That’s such a kind thing to say. He’s truly an amazing person and we’re lucky to have him. I don’t know what we did to find an amazing support system around us and he’s become our ringleader. Our center that has his goofy moments, but has a heart of gold.
He puts the dessert in the middle of the table and for a second we’re all smiling. Then the image sinks in.
The words written on the cake are perfectly fine: Congratulations Baylee and Malloy!
Kennedy has her face in her hands. Abby’s holding back a laugh. Clay is looking at his brother, trying not to murder him with his eyes. Baylee looks over at me, her mouth agape. Of course, River’s completely proud of himself.
Hunter looks at each of us and finally says, “I have no idea how I ended up with such a fucked up group of friends who watch reality dating shows and celebrate a wedding with a cake that’s decorated with what looks like a dick purse in the center.
But hey, who am I to judge? Congrats Baylee and Malloy. ”
The End