Chapter 37
Mikey
When we reach the lobby, Mel looks ready to murder Kai.
"How dare you!" She spits out at him. Julia walks up to her and grabs her by the arm.
"Come on, fire cracker, I'm thirsty and want a Shirley Temple."
I continue to watch Julia walk away, her ass looking amazing in that dress.
"What's the plan?" Luca asks me.
"Well, now we go up to the rooftop, propose, then go get married." He looks at me like I have four heads.
"How do you know she will say yes?" He questions.
"Really? I wouldn't have dragged everyone out here if I didn't think that she would say yes." Luca huffs out his frustration as Kai chuckles beside me.
"So who's going to marry you?" Luca keeps throwing questions at me.
"Elvis or you." His eyes shoot up at us.
"We will go grab the marriage certificate, then everything will happen."
"When do you plan to get this damn licence?" Luca grumbles, already annoyed with this whole situation. He'll get over it.
"Right now, go keep the girls busy, and I'll be back," Kai says as he rushes out the door to the valet.
"You don't have to officiate if you don't want to, just thought you would prefer to do it instead of Elvis." He shrugs, then starts to walk towards the bar.
We pull up chairs, and he orders two whiskeys on the rocks.
"So I have to ask." I look up at him, waiting for him to continue, "Are you sure about all of this?"
I give him a small smile. "Yeah. I am. She is it for me." He nods. The bartender sets our drinks down, and we both grab our glasses and take a healthy gulp.
"I'm happy for you." He looks up at me, longing in his eyes.
"What's up, man?" He is like a brother to me. I know when something is wrong, just like I do with Kai.
"I am just happy to see you both in love. I will get there eventually," he chuckles and takes another drink.
"What about Mel?" I ask. I know something is there, but neither will admit it.
"What about her? She is annoying, bossy, and a brat ninety percent of the time?" He groans.
"So, it sounds to me like your soul mate." I laugh, take another sip.
"Yeah... No." He shakes his head.
We continue to have regular conversations, and then Kai comes running in. Huffing and puffing like he just ran a marathon.
"You sure you play hockey? You sound a little out of shape," Luca teases.
"How about you shut the fuck up!" Kai returns.
We all turn and look at the ladies sitting in a booth. Julia is talking about something; her hands are flying everywhere as she tells her story. When she feels our eyes on her, she turns and looks, smiling and waving us over.
"So, are these the big plans?" She asks me directly.
"No, love, it's not. Whenever you are ready, we can go." She looks to Mel, who nods at me and then grabs my hand.
We walk to the elevator, and I push the rooftop button, and then smile down at Julia. She smiles at me and then reaches for Kai's hand.
She notices the Manila envelope and raises a brow.
"You guys are hiding something, and I am not okay with it." She looks directly at Kai with daggers in her eyes, and all he did back was smile mischievously.
"Not much longer, little dove, just try to be patient with us." She rolls her eyes and looks forward, ignoring everyone in the elevator.
We exit the elevator and walk through the hallway. Right before we get to the door, I let go of Julia's hand and wrap my hands over her eyes. Mel opens the door, and Luca rushes forward, turning on all the fairy lights and the big sign in the back that says "Marry Us?"
"If I fall because I can't see, it's your fault," Julia grumbles.
"You know I will never let you fall," I whisper to her.
Mel walks over to me and takes my hand, and Kai lets go of Julia's hand. We walk over to the big sign and drop to our knees.
We hold a ring together, a 0.70 Carat G-VS2 Ideal cut radiant diamond garland sapphire and diamond engagement ring in platinum. We got the big diamond in the middle and a sapphire and a ruby on each side of the diamond to represent both Kai and me.
I give Mel a nod, and she drops her hands. Julia blinks a couple of times, and then her eyes focus on us. I smile up at her, and the emotions on her face make my stomach twist.
"We may have just met a few months ago, but you are the only person I can think about day and night. We have already been through hell and back, and now you are expanding our family. Let's make this official. Will you marry us?" My voice breaks near the end, and she smiles at me.
"You love me. You tolerate my brother. Let's stop pretending this ends any other way." Kai says, and I glare at him, then shake my head.
Julia now has tears down her face, looking between Kai and me.
"Say yes, little dove," Kai says, and Julia starts to nod her head.
"Y—Yes. Of course, yes." She runs up to us and wraps us both in a hug.
Kai and I pull back, and both slide the ring onto her finger.
"Perfect." I lift her chin and kiss her.
"Now the rule is, you can never take that off," Kai says, and Julia chuckles, wrapping us in a hug again and not letting go.
"This was such a great surprise," Julia says through the tears.
"So you don't hate them anymore?" I question.
"Oh, no. I still hate them." She laughs, pulling back from us.
"Well... we have one more," Kai says, and she looks up at him, scrunching her brows.
Luca clears his voice and straightens his tie.
"Will you marry us, now?" I ask.
She blinks at me, completely shocked. "Right now?"
"Yeah... Luca can ordain it; unfortunately, you can't legally marry both of us, but we can do the ceremony with both of us, and I will be the only one on the certificate with you.
" Kai explains, and my stomach turns. I hate the fact that Kai is the only one who gets to marry her legally.
I know that it was my idea, but fuck, this hurts worse than I thought it would.
"Wait." She holds up her hand to stop everyone. "I'm not marrying just one of you."
Her words send a sharp zap through my body, and I feel alive again. Just those words solidify everything in me. I grab her face in my hands and get her to look at me.
"Baby, you are only marrying him on paper.
We have tried to find any backdoor way for you to legally marry both of us, but it's not a thing, unfortunately.
But to the world, you are both of ours. There is no one in this world who will be able to take you from us.
I will yell it from every rooftop and mountain if I have to.
I will crawl on my knees to you in front of a crowd.
I don't care, because regardless of anything, I will show the world you are mine, just as much as you are his. "
She nods, then leans down to kiss me. "Well, stand up then. We need to get hitched." She smiles at us. Kai and I stand up instantly and grab her hands.
Luca stands in the middle of the words, holding his phone. Julia stands to his right with Mel next to her, and Kai stands to Luca's left with me next to him. He clears his throat like this is a business meeting and not a rooftop wedding in Vegas.
"We are gathered here," Luca says dryly, "because none of you listen to reason." I chuckle, Julia snorts, and Kai nudges me and smiles.
Luca continues, unfazed. "Julia agreed to marry two men who are allergic to communication. Kai agreed to feel feelings publicly... briefly. Mikey agreed to stop flirting for the duration of the ceremony."
I blink at Luca, confused, and raise my hand. "Um. No one said that."
Luca doesn't look at me, but replies, "You're doing great. Keep quiet."
The wind starts to kick up, lifting Julia's dress. Kai steps closer to her without thinking, placing a hand on her back. She looks up and smiles at him, and I follow suit, going to her other side.
"Marriage," Luca says, "is not about perfection. It's about choosing the same people over and over again, especially when they're unbearable." His eyes flick up to Kai, then go to me.
Kai snorts. Luca gestures to me. "You first. Vows."
I don't hesitate. I take both of Julia's hands and turn her to face me. The warmth of her touch steadies my racing heart.
"Julia," I start, trying to keep my voice easy, "I promise to love you loudly when you need it and quietly when you don't. I promise to choose you every day, even when you pretend you don't need to be chosen.
I promise to protect what's ours-- and to never let you forget you're wanted.
" I smile at her, then continue. "Also, I promise to keep things interesting. " Then I wink at her.
Julia's laugh breaks through the wind on the rooftop, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.
Luca nods. "Kai."
Kai looks like he might bolt, but instead, he steps in. Julia turns her whole body to him, smiling at him. Kai doesn't take her hands at first, just looking at her like he's memorizing this moment.
"I don't do speeches," he says. "You know that."
She nods, and a tear slips down her cheek. He reaches up to wipe it with the pad of his thumb and then licks it off.
"I promise to be the place you land. To choose you when things get ugly, to love you even when I don't know how to say it right." There is a beat of silence. "And I promise not to leave you. Ever. You are stuck with me."
Julia swallows hard. Luca hands her a piece of paper with generic vows on it, but she doesn't look down.
"I was supposed to be temporary, a one-night stand. I wasn't supposed to fall in love, and I did. Twice."
I can't help the grin that spreads on my face, and she squeezes my hand.
"I choose you," she says. "Both of you. The chaos, the protection, the way you see me, even when I try to hide. I promise to fight for us. To stay honest. To stay." Then she turns and looks at Kai. "You are stuck with me." Then she looks at me. "And I will keep you on your toes always."
Luca exhales. "Rings."
Julia turns and looks at me with panic in her eyes. "I don't have rings for you."
I pull out another ring box and hand it to her. When she opens it, she sees two silver bands, one with a ruby and one with a sapphire.
"When?" She looks at me.
"We ordered them all online, and then Kai went and picked them up with the Marriage certificate."
She nods and slides the sapphire ring on my finger and the Ruby ring on Kai's, then wipes away her tears. Damn, she looks beautiful even when she is crying.
Luca lifts his chin. "By the extremely questionable authority vested in me—"
"Luca," I warn.
"—I pronounce you married." He steps back. "You may do whatever it is you've been doing this whole time."
I lean down and kiss Julia first. She is all warmth and laughter. Kai follows right after; his kiss is slower and deeper. You can tell that he is sealing this forever. He always told me he would never get married, but he just did, and I have never seen my brother so happy.
Julia grabs our hands and pulls us to the edge of the rooftop, and we look out at the skyline. Vegas is screaming, the lights are flashing...
And on this rooftop, we chose Julia, and she chose us... Forever.