Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Leo
T he answer was thirty three days.
Through a few strokes of immense good luck and some serious elbow grease, we got there. We managed to give notice at the registrar’s office the very next day, after which point Sadie and I then swooped into action while everyone rallied around us. Em cancelled and rebooked appointments like it was her life’s purpose. Eli gave me a list of everything I needed to think of and check off as I went, which was worth its weight in gold. And Dean designed invitations with quirky yet elegant flowing calligraphy in record time.
Before Sadie and I got together, I always envisioned a massive fuck-off wedding with everyone I’d ever met as a guest, getting to watch me marry the best person in the world. A Michelin starred chef taking care of the catering. Sadie in a dress that cost thousands. The works.
But Sadie snorted derisively when I told her, and said she’d have run away screaming from a wedding like that, and didn’t I learn anything from our first proper date, where we hated the posh flouncy place and had a better time with fish and chips on the beach.
She was right. We didn’t need a huge, flouncy ceremony.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to make it special for us anyways, and throw money at things to make them happen.
I bought flights for Mom, Theda and May, Tippi, and Auntie Woowoo and Uncle Kit. On the family Facetime call, Mom told me it was about goddamn time, and told me she’d pay for our honeymoon, for whenever and wherever we wanted. I get my generous impulses from her. And Auntie Woowoo nearly burst my eardrum squealing across the video. She’s stayed in regular touch with Sadie since she decided to keep the baby, offering advice and support both before her mother stepped up and afterwards.
Mondays are an unusual day to get married, but the local registry office managed to book us in on the day we wanted without me needing to charm anyone or reach into my wallet.
That was just to make our marriage legal, though. And that was family only.
The wedding took place by Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Angus’s bench overlooking the sea about a half hour after that. I paid through the ass for a rose arch and chairs and cordoning the whole thing off so we could enjoy the moment uninterrupted. And it was worth every single penny.
The last time I watched her walk down an aisle towards me, she was giving Emily away, and I worried that it would be the only time I’d ever see her do that.
But as she walked towards me on her mother’s arm, in a pink dress with a dramatic tulle skirt and a denim jacket, a huge bouquet of flowers held in front of her stomach…the punk elegance of the outfit so very Sadie…and with her already my wife… I felt an overwhelming sense of rightness. Of inevitability. She made me wait for it…and I’d do it all over again, a thousand times back to back, to get to the moment when her mother placed her hand in mine.
A wonderful, warm woman named Brittany did our ceremony, and I wasn’t in the least surprised when she and Sadie got on so well that she has an appointment for her first tattoo with Sades for next week.
It went past in a flash, and I wanted time to slow down just for a little while so I could take it all in. The words Brittany was saying that Sadie and I repeated back to each other. Click hopping down the aisle in the same tux he wore for Em and Eli’s wedding, our rings lightly stitched onto a pillow strapped to his back. Kissing my bride, dimly aware of the raucous cheers and catcalls from our nearest and dearest.
But at the same time, each moment was better than the last, so I couldn’t bring myself to be too sorry for the fast pace.
The more seconds I racked up as Sadie’s husband, the happier I would be.
We ate at one of Sadie’s favourite restaurants afterwards. I managed to book the place out entirely for us, and the buffet they laid on was fantastic. I think I ate at least one of everything, too excited to eat and too excited not to at the same time.
Now that we’re indoors, Gary can be a part of things safely. As soon as we let him out of the cage at the restaurant, he takes up his position on Sadie’s shoulder and stays there like an ornament, swearing only a little here and there. I think this might be Gary on his best behaviour, and it’s touching that the little dude is trying.
But not quite as touching as when Eli, Dean, Emily, and Liaden all show us their ankles, where they have matching tattoos. An infinity symbol with my name and Sadie’s, and today’s date. I look at their faces, the warmth, the glad smiles, and truly, I am the luckiest man in the world to have such a lot of love from these folks. Your blood relatives are such a crapshoot in life, I rolled all sixes with my cousins. Their partners are just as dear to me.
I’m not in the least surprised when Sadie wipes happy tears from under her eyes when she sees their new ink.
But I am surprised when she manages not to shed any until the very end of her toast speech. I have no such luck.
Liaden helpfully taps her glass with her fork for silence, and Sadie stands, using my hand for leverage; at this stage, she tends to stand one side at a time.
“I know it’s not usually the bride giving a speech first, or at all, but you all know me: gotta be heard.” There’s a fond laugh for her throughout the room, and her mother nods heartily. “But I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for coming, and for being a part of things, and for - ”
“Fuck, yeah,” Gary chooses to pipe up at that moment.
“Fuck, yeah,” Sadie agrees, giving his head a little tickle as we all crack up. “It’s definitely been a ‘fuck yeah’ kind of day. And I wanted to give enormous thanks to my mother, and my sisters, Emily and Liaden, for helping me sort everything I needed to in order to be all brided up for the day.” She gestures down at her dress. “Dress shopping while you’ve got a watermelon strapped to your stomach that you can’t take off is never a fun prospect, but we got there, and you were all so kind and patient and supportive. Like you always are. And,” she says, lifting her glass of mango juice towards my cousins, “thank you to the lads for all your help as well. I know you’ve done a lot to keep Leo on the straight and narrow over the past month or so, and kept him from going all Liberace on us.” I make a mock indignant face, as if I would , and she smirks.
“No mean feat,” Eli rumbles, and I flip him off as I laugh.
“No idea how I got this reputation,” I grumble playfully, and relish how everyone gasps at my audacity.
“Moving swiftly on, largely because there are so many examples of you being over the top that I can’t pick just one…” She grins and winks at me before turning back to the guests. “Thank you to the American contingent for hopping over the pond on such short notice.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Auntie Woowoo says happily.
“Damn straight; about goddamn time someone made an honest man of my boy. I’m just glad it’s you!” Mom lifts her glass to me with a pointed look, telling me without words that she’s happy for my good fortune. I’m told I look nothing like her; she’s about a foot shorter than me, with salt and pepper hair in a highly modern precision cut, pristine clothes, and more angular features like her brothers, Kit and Joe, but I’d say the lion’s share of my personality comes from her. We have the same sense of humour and gregarious, extroverted nature. People are drawn to her wherever we go, and it's been wonderful to see her and Wendy together again, lighting up the room with their happy reunion chatter. They’ve always been close, and they’re casting their friendship net over Cathy, too, including her in gift plans. Mom squad goals.
“Happy to have done so, and thanks also for the warm welcome,” Sadie says to my mother. They’ve only met a couple of times before now, but Mom always said she was a keeper, and that I should pull out all the stops to win her over. She always knew I was gone for Sadie, and applauded my taste, and fiercely hoped it would happen in the end. The two of them have hit it off outrageously ever since Mom landed, on instant hugging terms and fondly taking the piss out of me together, while I sit back and love every minute.
Mom always told me when I was a boy that I’d need a wife who could keep up with me, and preferably even run rings around me. From her approving grin, she seems confident that I’ve done it.
“And, finally,” Sadie says, pointing at her stomach, “thank you to this little nugget, who forced my hand and made me see what had been right in front of me all along.” She gives me a soft look, and I can see the telltale watery shine in her eyes. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, babe, and I think this little one was the universe’s way of finally getting it through my thick skull. I’m sorry I needed it spelled out for me by mother nature, but I’ll spend my life making it up to you and making up for all that time I wasted being blind. I’ve seen the light, and…it’s you . So I’ll love you with everything in me, day in and day out, through everything that gets thrown at you…the way you’ve always loved me.” She reaches for my hand, and I take it, kissing her knuckles as I maintain eye contact, my own vision swimming.
“Woman,” I say quietly, just loud enough for her to hear, “you were worth every second.”
Sadie
Today has been perfect.
I’ve always been a bit eye roll-y about weddings. Lots of fuss and frills for a single day, and it always seemed ego-driven to me. Look at us, we’re in love, and so stylishly , too, blah blah blah. But I get it now.
Yes, I like the dress I’m wearing, but I’d marry Leo in my maternity jeans and one of his old t-shirts, in any venue he’d care to choose, without flowers or jewellery or anything. Just as long I got to be pronounced his wife by the end of the day.
And besides, he deserves whatever kind of day he wants. I’ve taken part in the arrangements, sure, but I told Leo at the start that our wedding day was about him getting the huge display of love and commitment that he so deserved. And seeing him smile, reach for my hand when I was still a few feet away from him along the aisle, and the way he kissed me soundly, heedless of our whistling audience, has shown me I was wrong about all of it. Marriage. Weddings. Him .
And I don’t want anyone else making the same mistakes I made, wasting time when they could be happy now .
So, instead of tossing the bouquet, I quietly handed it to Nat. I know Tim like I know myself, and no matter how firmly he shuts down whenever the subject of Nat is raised, I know my twin has never stopped loving her for a second since they were fifteen. In spite of all the well-intentioned nonsense our parents put in place that he and Nat still keep up, he’s just quietly continued to love the mother of his daughter without even thinking of having anything in return. And I don’t believe for a second that it’s one sided. She looks at me in surprise, and when I hug her, I whisper in her ear.
“Sort things out with Tim. Seriously, it’s time. And it’s not too late.”
Her eyes are huge as she looks at me, full of history and confusion and longing, but I smile at her encouragingly. Tim gives me his ‘what are you up to’ smile-frown, but I say nothing more.
I also swing by where Wendy and Kit are having a cuddle as they talk to Dean and Liaden, and take Wendy to one side so I can give her a thank-you hug. “Thanks for everything,” I murmur to her.
She returns my hug. “For what, honey?”
I rock us from side to side exaggeratedly, making her laugh. “When I called you, you gave me advice from the heart, and you didn’t try to pressure me into keeping your great-niece or nephew. You put me first, and…that’s actually pretty incredible. Not a lot of people would have been that way. So, thank you.”
She gives me a squeeze as we step back. “You were family even before today,” she says, her voice soft with sincerity.
Kit puts his arms around her waist and stoops low to rest his chin on her shoulder. “Darlin’, you’re radiant,” he tells me, full of the Gastright charm. “And if you and Leo get to be half as happy as me and my Titsy-Woo -” He coughs as Wendy elbows him in the ribs.
“Titsy-Woo?” I crack up as she goes pink, smile-pouting and hittting his arm a few times.
“Er… Nickname,” he says, not as sheepish as he should be, grinning unrepentantly. I think he must be a little wasted to have let that slip. We say our goodbyes, and honestly, I’m ready to go home and fuck my husband.
And then an arm is slung around my shoulder, just like at Emily’s wedding. But this time, I’m not startled. Even when Gary caws from Leo’s other shoulder, content as can be.
“Reckon I can come up with a better nickname for you?” he asks me, his breath tickling my ear before he gives my earlobe a light nip.
I rest my head against him. “You’ve got the rest of our lives to top it. Do your worst.”
“You got it, Sizzlebutt.” He dips his head and kisses my neck, and I shiver a little as I feel the covert tickle of his tongue on my skin. Just like that time at the bench, just after he told me how he really felt. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah.” Absolutely, now that his body is warming my back, and his aftershave is filling my senses. I wonder if making love will feel different, now that he’s wifed me up, or the same?
Making love? Inwardly, I tut and roll my eyes at myself. Thank fuck I married him, since I’m a sap now.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I tell him firmly at the door of our home.
“It’s tradition.” He continues to manhandle me, and I wriggle half-heartedly in protest I don’t really mean.
“Since when are you traditional?”
“Since I married you with mere days to spare before you had my baby, I guess,” he teases.
“Eww, patriarchy.” I gasp as he lifts me with shocking ease, carrying me like a damsel in distress over the threshold. “If you end up throwing your back out and can’t bone me on our wedding night, I’ll cocking well kill you.”
He snorts. “Baby, I could bench press two of you in my sleep. And besides, holding my wife and my baby together? Best thing I’ll ever do.”
I melt, and for once, I decide not to hide it. He’s my husband . I think it’s fair to say I can let down my barriers and relax my tough exterior with this guy.
I sigh as I think that this will be one of our last chances to be together, just the two of us. Gary’s at Liaden and Dean’s, probably being spoiled and taught Swedish swear words and chattered to within an inch of his life. The time between now and when I give birth can now be measured in days rather than months. A part of me wishes we could have just been Leo and Sadie for a longer time before we embarked on parenthood. Having said that, though, I already adore this little sweetie, and I can’t wait to be able to give him or her a proper cuddle.
But I’m still going to make the most of tonight.
“OK, you can put me down, now,” I say, trying to shift my feet to the floor.
“Don’t be in such a hurry.” He grins down at me, and my younger self high fives me in my head for having such a sexy husband. My piratical dynamo of charisma, so handsome and kind and hilarious. I’d originally intended to marry Matthew Lillard, but Leo Mills will do, I guess.
God, I love him.
“I love you,” I tell him, seeing no reason not to.
“I love you, too.” He carries me into our bedroom, setting me down with a mischievous look, like a surprise is now revealed. I turn, and smile. The huge floor to ceiling windows are framed with flowers and fairy lights, and the bed is covered in rose petals in all shades of red and pink. He must have spent ages getting this ready while I was at Mum’s for the night before the wedding. “Traditional,” I observe.
“See? Nothing wrong with a bit of old school.” He picks up a small remote control from the entertainment unit close to the door, and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac starts playing quietly in the background as he takes me in his arms, slow dancing me towards the windows with all the love he’s ever felt for me in his eyes. “You’re so pretty, Mrs Mills.”
I open my mouth to tell him I’m still going to be Sadie Stewart, on principle, but I pause. Sadie Mills sounds better to me in my head. And why would I want to keep a surname I share with my stuck up shithead of a father when I could share a name with the best person I know? In a split second, I change my mind, drop the intention of a lifetime, and decide I will be changing my name after all. It’s still my choice, after all. “You’re not half bad yourself, Mr Mills.”
His smile is slow, but complete, taking over his face slowly and entirely. Bending his neck, he takes my lips in the gentlest kiss, and it makes my brain spin like I’m a bit drunk. He’s in no hurry; it’s as though something in him has relaxed, no longer needing to greedily soak up our time together just while it lasts, and he takes his time as Stevie Nicks starts serenading us with Dreams .
Urging me to turn, he helps me out of my clothes, out of the dress that made me feel gorgeous and not just gorgeous-for-a-heavily-pregnant-bride, and lays me down on the rose petals once I’m naked. I watch, enjoying the view as he takes off his shirt and trousers, the same clothes he wore at Em and Eli’s wedding when I impulsively kissed him and set us on the journey to where we are now. I noticed the moment I saw him at the registry office; it was a nice touch.
Once he’s naked, too, he lays behind me, spooning me, both of us sprawled across the width of the bed. There’s no urgency in him as he runs his hands over my body, tracing the lines and curves of my tattoo as well as my flesh; just appreciation and enjoyment. By the time he finally parts my thighs, I’m on fire for more.
And he tortures me still more in the best way as he slowly slides into me from behind, making me feel and appreciate every last inch of him on the way in and on the way out. It makes me want to beg, but I also don’t want it to end because every cell in my body is alive with it all. I can only take it, and it feels like the pleasure is so close, and yet nowhere within reach until Leo allows it to happen.
And I trust him to time it perfectly.
He keeps at it, only picking up the speed a tiny bit, and just lets it unfold as it will. No teasing, just an unspoken insistence on not rushing anything. And he was right: the reward is the most incredible orgasm that seems to have no end and no beginning, dancing along my flesh and making me gasp. I can feel myself smiling throughout, not questioning anything, no impulse to tease or torment him in retribution. No need to be on my guard, or give as good as I get. I’ve never felt so free and so peaceful.
Because he loves me. And that love, built on the foundation of the friendship that was so precious to me and that I was so petrified of losing, is the new bedrock of my life.
His climax seems to be as intense as mine, condensed into a shorter flash of time; he shouts, he pants, he clutches me tightly, and afterwards he takes ages to catch his breath.
“Goddamn, Wifey,” he chuckles, unable to lift his head off the duvet.
“Now there’s a nickname,” I joke, but I don’t want to talk any further.
Instead I just lace my fingers with his, hold our linked hands against where our baby sleeps, and sigh with contentment as my husband and I drift off.