33. Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Three
Emily
“Look at Ava,” I whispered.
Our reception was in full swing, and Sloan was huddled up with her in a corner, showing her something on his phone. No doubt pictures of his baby. Ava was starry-eyed over what he was showing her. Sloan was starry-eyed over her.
“He’s not ready to tell the team yet.” I chewed my bottom lip. “I hope Ava can help him—”
“They’re going to be just fine,” Bash murmured, his breath hot on my ear.
“Do we get a second honeymoon?” I whispered, crawling out of my skin with all these whispers and the closeness of our first dance. I needed my guys—my husbands —and based on how many people we needed to walk around and thank, I wouldn’t get them for at least another couple of hours.
Everyone from the Evergreens had shown up—and some Instigators. It seemed like all of Vancouver was there and my heart was bursting with the love pouring out for us.
Grandma Agnes was right in the middle of a group of players, enchanting them with stories I was sure I didn’t want to hear. I pointed and shared a laugh with my husbands, silently hoping she wasn’t planning on bringing any of them home.
The cute guy from the Ice Heroes benefit took the stage and motioned to someone in the wings. My eyes followed his signal and landed on the redhead.
“Live music?” Mac raised his brows. “Impressive.”
“Preston and Emmett, right?” I asked.
“Emmett? How do you know his name? Did you look them up?” Mac smirked.
My cheeks heated, and I could only smile.
“Seriously?” Bash growled. “Two seconds ago, you were asking about another honeymoon—”
I leaned against him and laughed. “Don’t worry. They’re cute, but you’re mine. And I’m yours.”
“We can have as many honeymoons as you want, Pink.” Mac slid behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, swaying us to the music.
I reached for Bash, pulling him against us, but not before my eyes met Alicia’s. She studied Mac and me, but didn’t change her expression.
“I think we need to talk to the parents,” I whispered to Mac.
He looked over and sighed. “It’s time.”
Our parents shifted around, making space for the three of us in their little huddle. They told us congratulations and my eyes burned when it was obvious they meant it.
“We’re sorry. For everything.” My dad was the one to offer it up first, but my mom, Alicia, and Collin all nodded in agreement.
“We didn’t handle anything right—”
“But you’re here now,” I said, squeezing my dad’s hand.
He nodded, his eyes tired and soft. “Still, we could have been better to begin with.”
“I think we were just worried that one of you would be left behind and since Mac is famous, he’d be hurt the least.”
“I’d be devastated if I lost these two,” Mac said, choking halfway through.
“I see that now.” The corners of my mom’s eyes crinkled. “We thought there’d be some imbalance, but there was zero ego between the two of you as you took care of Em—”
My dad leaned in close and lowered his voice. “We’ve tried something—similar.” He cleared his throat, his eyes widening as he looked at Collin. “And the other couple and us—” He coughed. “Let’s just say there was a lot of jealousy involved.”
The three of us exchanged a look, and I felt the blood drain from my arms. We knew exactly who the other couple was. I didn’t want to know about this. Bash didn’t either.
But Mac? Mac was hanging onto their every word.
“Maybe the four of you could try again? Now that you’ve seen it work with three people—”
I grabbed his arm, certain my face was as gray as my mother’s. “Let’s let my parents deal with their own love life and we’ll handle ours, okay?”
“Agreed,” Alicia and my mom said at the same time.
“Sometimes we need some extra time to process things. We shouldn’t have, because this is your significant other.” My mother paused. “ Others .” She squeezed my hand and tears shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Emily. I adore Sebastian, and Mac really left a good impression on all of us. In time, I’ll think of them as my sons.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Savage!” a group of Evergreens yelled, beckoning my husband.
He grabbed Bash’s arm and kissed my cheek. “We’ll be right back.”
Alicia and Collin muttered some excuse and slipped away at the same time.
“When we read those articles and they painted the three of you as—” My father faltered and anger flashed in his eyes. “Well, I knew it wasn’t true. You’re my daughter. And I’ve known Sebastian since he was a kid. He and Rob were pretty much brothers.” My father stumbled over the words, but carried on. “Your mom is right. Mac left a great impression on us. You know how to pick ‘em, kid.”
“The letter he wrote really helped me see your relationship in a new light.”
I glanced at Mac as he mingled around the room. “Letter?”
My dad grinned. “He sent one to each of us. All four letters said something different, but had the same message. He’s seriously in love with the two of you and…” He exchanged a look with my mom. “Let’s just say you can’t fake how he feels. His words were more than enough to convince us all.”
“It doesn’t look like his parents came.” My mother frowned, scanning the crowd. “We tried reaching out ourselves, but they wouldn’t return our calls.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, but it didn’t stop tears from flowing out of me. My makeup would be messed up, and we still had some pictures to take, but a little smudged mascara in the photos would be a priceless reminder of the healing that happened at our wedding.
Mac and Bash were engrossed in a discussion with Lightning and Strelow, but looked up when I dabbed the corners of my eyes.
Mac’s eyes shot from me to my parents and before I could signal to him that everything was okay, he wrenched Bash away from their conversation and crossed the room in seconds. The two of them were stunning in their suits and watching them rush to me only made them hotter.
“Everything okay?” Mac asked, his eyebrows raised.
My mother put her hand on his arm and smiled. “Welcome to the family, Mac.”
He glanced at me, not sure how to react. I smiled and nodded, and his shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, Mrs. Avery.”
“Call me Rachel.”
It wasn’t mom , but it was more than I had ever let myself hope for. A fresh stream of tears flowed down my face, and Mac wiped them away.
“I’m so relieved we’re reconciling and stuff.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I want our kids to have their grandparents in their lives and two out of three sets—”
“What?” My mom’s jaw dropped almost as fast as her eyes fell to my stomach.
I covered myself with my hand and shook my head. “Not yet.” I shoved Mac. “He gets a little impatient sometimes.”
But I couldn’t hide my smile. I was impatient, too. I wanted to experience life—every facet of it—with my two husbands.
“First things first,” Bash said as the first notes of All of Me pumped through the speakers, followed by Emmett’s crooning voice. “Let’s get our wife back out to the dance floor, Savage.”