Chapter 61 THEO #2
“Alex?” I have to speak loudly over the sounds of the wind and waves and the seabirds, but even I can hear how soft my voice sounds. She pulls down the binoculars, takes one look at my face, and she starts to cry immediately, dropping her binoculars against her chest and nodding quickly.
“Yes,” she says, kissing me hard, and I laugh against her mouth.
“Do you want me to ask?” She nods, leaning into my chest and looking up at me, her face open and adoring and her smile radiant.
“Alexandria Marie She-”
“Fuck yes,” she cuts me off, and I laugh, grinning at her like an idiot and trying to figure out, just for a second, if I’m dreaming.
I kiss her softly, and she makes a sweet, content sound before pulling away and laughing a little.
“It took you long enough,” she teases, and I kiss her again quickly.
“I wanted it to be right,” I say quietly as I pull the box from my jacket pocket. Alex makes a little cooing sound when she sees the ring and beams up at me.
“Good choice,” she says as I slip the ring on.
She kisses me and leans her back against my chest as she puts the binoculars back up to her face, trying to point something out to me.
I hold her close and stare at her left hand wrapped around the binoculars, watching the emerald ring glint in the sunlight, satisfied in a way I didn’t know I could feel.
She’s right. It was a good choice.
I’m just not sure it was ever mine to make.
***
Alex slips back into the hot spring, a silicone cup of beer in hand, and she grins as she positions herself in my lap.
“We’re getting married next month,” she proclaims, and I laugh.
“You’re so impatient. Can you even plan a wedding in a month?”
She rolls her eyes. “Theo, we barely know enough people to have a wedding. Bailey’s ordained, you’ll cook, and Miles will be the ringbearer.
We’ll do it at the house in Yachats, and I’ll rent a small block of rooms at one of the hotels so everyone can stay the night.
” I raise my eyebrows at her, a little surprised.
“Wow, you’ve thought about this a lot in the last two hours.”
“No, I’ve thought about it a lot in the last year,” she says softly, kissing my shoulder. “I already invited everyone and made hotel reservations.”
“When did you have time to do all that?” I ask, trying to figure out when she’s been out of my sight long enough to make that many calls.
“Oh, I did it before you got out of prison,” she says sheepishly, and I laugh, pulling her close and kissing her in a way that makes the people around us avoid looking at us.
“So,” I ask, kissing her temple, “when are we getting married?”
A wicked smile spreads across her face. “September 21st.” I think for a second and then start laughing so hard she slips out of my lap.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
“Baby, it’s our anniversary,” she says sweetly, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek.
“That’s our anniversary?”
“It’s our real anniversary, anyway,” she mutters, and I groan, sinking further down into the steaming water and looking out over the cliffs at the ocean stretching out behind her. “I promise I won’t throw a wine glass at your head this time,” she says sweetly.
I look back at her, shooting her a heated look. “I promise I’ll make you cry,” I say quietly, and she gives me a smug smile.
“That’s the only reason I said yes.” I watch her teeth skate over her bottom lip, and I grin at her, not calling her out on the lie.
***
The wedding is small – just us, Bailey and her family, Catherine and Suzie, as well as Anna and Jessica and their plus ones.
Alex spends the night before we get married at the hotel with her friends, and the only reason I don’t freak out is because I’m ten minutes away and I trust Bailey, but I still barely sleep.
Instead, I spend all night replacing the floodlight cameras with state-of-the-art ones and keeping an eye on Alex’s location, which doesn’t move. I spend all morning making way too much food, mostly because I’m on the verge of a panic attack.
I have the distinct fear that Alex is going to walk in and tell me that none of this is real, or that I’ll wake up in that tiny, uncomfortable bed in that tiny, uncomfortable cell and find that I’m still counting the hours until I can see her again.
When Alex and the guests walk in, I freeze. She’s stunning in a loose, lacy white dress, her hair is curled in soft, golden waves, and her cheeks and lips are a gorgeous pink that matches the bouquet of flowers in her hand, but everything about her pales in comparison to the look she gives me.
It’s pure, unfettered, unconditional love, contentment and joy and excitement all wrapped into one smile. For one fleeting moment, I’m confused as to how someone so perfect exists.
I have no idea what she sees on my face, but it makes her tear up.
The ceremony is casual, and Miles ties our rings to a stuffed cat, which makes Alex cry. A moment later, she has to reassure Miles that she’s crying because she’s happy.
The words I do are barely out of Alex’s mouth before I cup her face in my hands and pull her into a deep kiss.
Her hands wrap around my wrists, and I only remember that we’re not the only ones in the room when I hear Jessica whistle.
I shoot Alex a quick, guilty smile and brush the tears off her face before letting a very amused Bailey walk me through my own vows.
We put on music and drink and eat, and Alex gets drunk with her girlfriends while Miles eats far too much cake and passes out on the couch. The longer the festivities go, the more I start glancing at the clock on the wall. I want to celebrate, but everything feels too surreal.
I got everything I ever fucking wanted, and it’s so much better than I thought it would be.
I pull Alex tightly against me as we finally shepherd everyone out of the house.
The second the door is closed and locked, I spin Alex around and press her up against the door, dropping to my knees and telling her I love her over and over again between slow, soft kisses that make her moan before I drag her downstairs and spend the rest of the night showing her exactly how her husband should treat her.
***
“Honey, no.” I grab Alex’s left hand in mine, momentarily distracted at the sight of the rings on our fingers, and she yanks her hand out of mine, shooting me a dirty look. I groan as she grabs the boxed mac and cheese and drops it into the basket.
“I’m not going to make you eat it. It’s for Miles.”
“I don’t understand why Bailey and Dylan allow him to eat that garbage, and I don’t understand how he prefers it to what I make him.”
Alex laughs at me, rolling her eyes. “You tried to feed him duck a l’orange last time.”
“So?” She snorts and grabs more mac and cheese.
“He’s six, Theo. He wants kid food. Our kids are going to eat this, too,” she says, shaking the box at me. I cross my arms and glare at her.
“Over my dead fucking body, Alexandria. It’s not even real chee-” I stop talking when I see Ben round the aisle.
Ben, who has never apologized to Alex. Ben, who still lives in the area, surprisingly. Ben, who freezes when he sees me and looks scared when I smile at him.
Before Danny, I’d have beaten the shit out of him purely on principle, but seeing him doesn’t bother me at all now. Alex follows my gaze and notices him, and I feel her hand press into my thigh, her nails digging in.
“Hi, Ben.” He turns around and walks away quickly without so much as looking at her. “Okay, rude,” she mutters before she looks up at me suspiciously. “Why are you so chill? You’ve never been chill about anything, especially not Ben.”
I shrug. “I know for a fact he’s not stupid enough to bother you.” She narrows her eyes at me, her face becoming apprehensive.
“Why? What did you do?”
“Depends on your definition of doing something.” I lean down to kiss her, but she pulls away, leveling me with a stern stare that I'm sure will terrify our kids someday.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I pull her close and tuck her hair behind her ears, smiling softly at her. She’s going to hate this, but I’m not going to apologize for it.
“Ben might have received a copy of the crime scene photos.” Her jaw drops.
“Theodore Robert Anderson, you didn’t,” she hisses.
“Technically, no, because I had someone else mail them.” I flash her a guilty smile.
“I told him once that I’d kill him if he ever touched you again, and I wanted to make that point explicitly clear while I was away.
” I study her face carefully as she frowns at me briefly before snorting out an exasperated laugh and shaking her head.
“No wonder he never showed back up to trivia,” she says quietly before she levels me with another stern look.
“Don’t threaten people like that again. Ben could file a restraining order because of those photos, and I never want to talk to another cop again in my life.
” I nod, running my hands up and down her arms.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
“I mean it, Theodore,” she says sternly.
“So do I.”
She melts against me slightly. “Promise?”
“I promise.” Alex seems satisfied, giving me a small smile and winding an arm around my waist as I wrap my arm around her shoulders and hurry her away from the aisle of processed foods before she reaches for more mac and cheese or thinks too hard about our conversation.
I promised to give her whatever she wants, and I know what Alex wants more than anything is to be safe and happy. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to threaten or hurt anyone who jeopardizes her safety or happiness, but I don't need to send those photos to anyone else.
I already sent them to Danny's family.