CHAPTER 39 - CAPPUCCINO CREMA
cappuccino crema
CHAPTER thirty-nine
The crisp, golden air of Monza breathed life into David’s excitement as he stood on the track. He’d watched tons of races here on TV, but the real place was so much bigger than he imagined it to be. Autumn leaves colored the trees all around the track, creating an orange and red backdrop that Noah insisted would make their wedding pictures look even better than vibrant green.
Tissue paper confetti was still stuck to the asphalt from weeks ago, when the Formula 1 race was held here. David and Noah had spent that weekend schmoozing motorsport folks and watched the race from one of the team garages, and no one from the media bothered them. He and Noah were barely blips on the radar in the European motorsports scene—to the fans, at least.
Getting married at Monza was only possible because they had friends in high places. Well, Noah did. David was still working on accepting new people into his life, but therapy was helping. David no longer feared his father appearing in the shadows; he’d accepted his mother’s inability to accept Noah and made peace with the fact that his sister couldn’t risk upending her life to support him. He had a new family now—unconventional, but good.
Caroline, Finlay, Lucy, and Nadia stood at the pit lane entry, waiting for him. They were all dressed up in designer, accompanied by the wedding photographer, who clearly had no idea what he was walking into today.
“Where’s Noah?” David asked as he approached. He held his arms out for Pierre, who had grown into his fat rolls and chubby cheeks over the past three months.
“He went to grab the rings,” Lucy said. “He’ll be back in a second.”
David glanced at his hand, where a little indent from his wedding band remained. He and Noah officially married a month ago in Bavaria, but today was the wedding ceremony they both wanted. Only their closest family members had been invited.
Pierre giggled at the sight of David, pinwheeling his arms in excitement. Caroline shifted Pierre into his arms and picked bits of leaves from the back of his little suit.
“Hi there,” David said, kissing all over Pierre’s round face. “Are we all recovered from this morning’s tantrum?”
Pierre belly-laughed in response, his eyes sparkling. David loved taking care of him, tantrums included. He didn’t understand the stereotypes of men who left their wives to do all the baby stuff. He didn’t even mind changing diapers or cleaning formula from behind Pierre’s ears. He treasured every moment he spent with his son, no matter how small.
Caroline grinned at something over his shoulder. “Close your eyes,” she murmured.
David cocked a brow at her but closed his eyes a moment later. Pierre made little grunts in his arms, and David carefully turned around to face who he presumed was Noah.
“If you’re about to ruin my tux, I will not be happy,” David said with his eyes still closed.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Noah said from a few steps away. David heard the sound of camera shutters and froze. He sensed Noah’s body heat when he stepped closer.
“Why is the photographer taking pictures?” David asked, lowering his voice.
“To get your surprised face, of course,” Noah said right before his lips brushed David’s. “I love you, and I know how important this day is for you.”
David made a face. “It’s our wedding day; of course it’s important to me. This is about to be the best day of my life.”
Pierre shrieked for emphasis. Pierre loved Noah and always tried to grab his face whenever he was close.
Noah moved behind him, pressing his weight into David’s back. “Okay, open your eyes.”
David hefted Pierre a little higher on his chest and blinked his eyes open. Kristin stood in a pastel blue dress, holding Ulli on her hip. She smiled at David, then burst into tears.
“Kristin!” David blurted out. He rushed to her, startling both Ulli and Pierre.
Kristin was the hardest part of his family to accept being gone. She’d done nothing wrong in any of this and still had to deal with their mother and father and all the shit that had come their way since Klaus’s arrest. He couldn’t get that image of her in the doorway out of his head, the silent ‘I love you’ as their mother dragged her away.
He hadn’t dared to dream that she would come to his wedding. He’d only told Noah once that he wished she could be there, after a particularly hard therapy session. Every therapy session was difficult for him, but he was trying—for Noah.
“Is this P-Pierre?” Kristin blubbered, wiping her eyes with her free hand. Mascara streaked all over her cheek as she did so, and Lucy, Nadia, and Caroline all dove into their purses at the same time to grab wipes for her.
“Yeah,” David whispered as tears spilled over in his own eyes. “This is my son. Ulli, this is your cousin.”
Ulli gave Pierre a wary look and scrunched up his face at Kristin when she reached out and touched Pierre’s wispy hair.
“You came,” David choked out. “I can’t believe you came.”
“Noah called me,” Kristin explained, wiping her eyes. “He worked it all out so that we could be here. Mom doesn’t know, but that’s okay. I know, and Ulli knows. And that’s what matters.”
Noah rejoined him, putting a supportive hand on his back. “I had to make all your dreams come true on the best day of your life. Otherwise, what kind of husband would I be?”
Nadia punched Finlay’s arm as she wiped her eyes. “Where was my wedding day surprise?”
“Hug your sister; I’ll take Little Man,” Noah said, gently prying Pierre from David’s arms.
“I was thinking that Ulli and Pierre could play together when they’re a bit older,” Kristin said in German, still sniffling. “I can find a way to come to Italy until Dad’s trial is done. Then maybe we can talk about Mom. She’s, um. You know, she’s going through a lot.”
David wrapped his arms around her and Ulli, hugging them tight. Ulli rested his head against David’s chest, and it felt like a mythological creature had blessed him with acceptance.
“I love you both,” David whispered in German.
“You’re a father,” Kristin sobbed into his shoulder. “My little brother has a baby now.”
“Yeah,” David said around the lump in his throat. “You’ll love him. He’s such a perfect baby—and maybe you can help me when he starts teething. I’m scared he’s going to be upset all the time.”
“Bah!” Pierre shouted. David lifted his head but kept an arm around his sister as he turned to look at Noah, who was bouncing Pierre in his arms. Caroline was leaning over him, adjusting the buttons on Pierre’s suit. Pierre kept trying to kick her, as usual.
Lucy handed Kristin a makeup wipe, then helped direct her to get the mascara off her face. David stuck to his sister’s side as he introduced her to everyone, including Caroline’s parents and Noah’s, who arrived shortly after.
Finlay eventually held up a leather binder. “Okay, folks, let’s get this show on the road. Literally!”
Nadia rolled her eyes and followed her husband out of the pit lane and onto the track. David kissed Pierre’s cheek one last time and rushed over to Noah, excitement bubbling in his blood.
“Good surprise?” Noah asked as he took David into his arms.
“The best surprise,” David replied. He gave Noah a deep kiss, savoring the taste of him. “I love you so much.”
Noah pulled back a fraction and cleared his throat. “Ich liebe dich.”
His German pronunciation was absolutely terrible, but David’s heart still did a somersault in his chest at the words. When he first moved to America, he’d been stunned by the way Americans threw the word ‘love’ around. They loved ice cream, and they loved their spouses. They loved sports teams, and they loved their children. In German, Ich liebe dich was a rare phrase reserved for only the deepest love connections. David never expected to hear it out of Noah’s mouth.
Noah cringed. “Was it that bad? I was trying to say—”
“Ich liebe dich auch,” David breathed, interrupting him. He yanked Noah to him for a kiss full of all the love he could muster. A thousand memories flashed through him—their first kiss in the motorhome, brushing knees under the table during race debriefs, stealing kisses in the shadows of the pit lane.
Better memories too—holding hands in the car as they yelled out lyrics to pop songs as they drove up the PCH, tasting cappuccino crema on Noah’s lips after a kiss as they wandered Milan, and the more recent memory of waking up to Pierre’s screaming in the middle of the night during his first sleepover with Caroline next door and out of earshot.
Noah had been there through his worst moments, supporting him and abandoning his own driving career to do so. David had done his best to return the favor, though he was taking longer to do so.
“I have a surprise too,” David whispered, watching as their guests assembled in the grass by Monza’s infamous Turn 1 chicane. They’d chosen that spot because it was one of the hardest braking zones in motorsport, followed by a flat-out right-hander—a symbol of their journey as a couple.
“Don’t tell me I have a secret sister,” Noah teased, his eyes fond.
David melted under the warmth of Noah’s affection, the way he always hoped to for the rest of his life.
“I weighed myself this morning,” David said. “I’m back to where I was before the eating disorder. Today’s the first day I hit my goal weight.”
It still made him anxious to consider gaining weight an accomplishment, but he’d been working through it in every therapy session for this exact moment.
Love burst like fireworks in Noah’s dark eyes. “You’re right, that’s way better than a secret sister,” he said, then pulled David in for another kiss.
They were probably supposed to be starting the ceremony right now, but David didn’t care as he nested his fingers in Noah’s hair. Marriage had always seemed like it would be a chore when he thought about it growing up, but now he couldn’t wait to find out how being married would strengthen them even further.
David had shed the doubt, anxiety, and jealousy he’d thought were just part of being with someone as handsome as Noah. Now, he was as utterly devoted to his husband as Noah was to him, and nothing would change that. No one would ever understand what it had taken for them to get to this moment except the two of them.
“We should probably get over there and get married,” Noah whispered, a breath away from his lips. “Definitely coming back to this later, though.”
David laughed. “I guess so, yeah.” He fussed with Noah’s hair, settling his curls back into place. “Are you nervous?”
Noah snorted. “What would I be nervous for? Legally, we’re already married. The scary scenario where you leave me at the altar is impossible now.” He hooked his thumbs into David’s belt, tugging him closer. “We’re legally bound, Davey Jones. I’m yours forever.”
David rocked back on his heels. “Let’s see, we did the bad breakup, the getting back together, the accidental baby, several hospital visits where we almost died, and you had to deal with the in-laws from hell. Did I forget anything?”
Noah pretended to think. “Does a rushed wedding count?”
David smiled. “Nah. Wasn’t rushed—it’s our speed.”
Noah gave him one last kiss on the cheek, and David took his hand to walk out onto the track together. David didn’t really care about the ceremony of it all, but he knew Noah did. Noah had hidden his sexuality for most of his life.
David took in the trees, the warm asphalt at their feet, and the brightly colored curbs lining the track. None of it compared to the way it felt to hold Noah’s hand, their fingers tangled together, finally secure in the life they’d forged.
Finlay took his appointed spot, script in hand, ready to unofficially-but-officially marry them. On his chest, a little makeshift pin shimmered in the sunlight—Robbie’s good luck coin, lovingly hot-glued to a pin by Noah himself.
“I told you about my dream life before, remember?” David asked in a low voice as they approached their families.
“I remember,” Noah replied with a nod.
David squeezed his hand. “Well, this is way better.”
Noah blinked tears from his eyes. “Yeah,” he said, his voice wobbling with emotion. “I reckon it’s way better than I imagined, too.”
They stopped in their spot in front of Finlay, their hands still linked. Noah had the rings in his pocket that they’d already been wearing for a month, but this little gathering would make them mean even more.
Finlay beamed at Noah. David saw decades of friendship in the way they looked at each other—the good and bad of it all. David glanced over Noah’s shoulder at Caroline, who wiggled Pierre’s little arm to wave at him. Maybe he and Caroline didn’t have decades of friendship between them yet, but they had a son and support for each other that rivaled Noah and Finlay’s.
“So,” Finlay said, poking Noah with the binder. “Are you guys ready to get married?”
David and Noah met eyes. No one loved him like Noah did, and David knew without a doubt that Noah could say the same about him. Their future together was definite, come what may.
David took in Noah’s face one more time and smiled through the butterflies fluttering in his stomach that always appeared whenever Noah looked at him with that much love in his eyes.
“Ready,” David said.
“More than ready,” Noah added.
Finlay patted his lapel pin and cleared his throat. “Everyone, welcome to the wedding of the century. I hope you like racing puns, because I put a lot of them in here. Otherwise, I’ll start crying, and nobody wants that. Anyway, let’s do this.”
Noah thumbed the side of David’s palm as Finlay launched into a long-winded introduction to what would surely be a wedding ceremony twice the length of a normal one. David didn’t care. He had his family, and that was all that mattered now.
He watched Noah’s face as Finlay spoke, smiling, laughing, and tearing up when Finlay brought up Robbie’s presence here. David loved Noah more every second, and he knew that wouldn’t change.
And when Finlay finally finished his speech, and the rings had been put back on their fingers, David kissed Noah for all he was worth, and that feeling was a hell of a lot better than winning any championship.
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