Chapter 30 #2
Ingrid hugs me tight and whispers, “I have had the most wonderful day. Welcome to our family, darling girl.”
I tear up and hug her back. “I’m so sorry I got you high.”
She just laughs and squeezes my hand. “You gave me a front-row seat to my son marrying the love of his life. That’s what I’ll remember about today.”
Gage gets pulled away by his brothers and his dad after that.
Something about whiskey and cigars and “just a quick moment.” I let him go and somehow end up at the edge of the dance floor with a glass of champagne in one hand and Marin in my ear explaining how she nearly threw hands with a cater waiter who tried to remove her cake plate before she was done.
“They tried to take it mid-bite, babes. I almost manifested their downfall on the spot,” she says.
“I didn’t survive the flop era of Twitter and three mental breakdowns over fuckbois for someone to disrespect cake like that.
” Her eyes are wide. “Tim had to intervene. I was three seconds away from a main character cancellation.”
There’s a moment of silence while I mentally try to translate every word she just said. I get “cake.” I get “Tim.” The rest? No idea. I think I’ve just been hit with a cultural drive-by. I smile and think about how language has evolved without me.
“Amelia, babe, be so fucking real right now,” Marin says as Olivia and Blair join us. “Tell me I’m not wrong.”
“No, yeah, you’re completely right,” I say, trying to channel her energy. Trying to remember words she’s used before. “That’s straight-up flop era energy. A total red slay.”
She frowns. “You mean red flag?”
“Do I?”
Blair snorts. “You can’t just mad-lib your way through Gen Z, Amelia.”
I shrug, unfazed. “I peaked ten years ago and I’m not afraid to admit it. Also, I’m in my wife era. Facts don’t apply to me anymore.”
Blair eyes me for a beat, then lifts her glass. “Carry on, unbothered queen.”
Olivia clinks her glass to mine. “You’ve officially been Blair-certified. That’s rarer than a Black brother giving up control.”
I’m distracted when I spot Gage and his brothers coming our way. Gage’s jacket is gone. His vest is still on, but his tie’s loosened, sleeves rolled, and he’s got that end-of-night feral husband energy that makes my knees forget their job.
Callan’s holding a bottle of whiskey, laughing at something Gage just said.
Ethan and Bradford are a few steps behind them, deep in conversation.
And Hayden’s next to them, tapping something into his phone—until Blair says something to me as he gets closer and his eyes flick up and zero in on her, lingering like he can’t look away.
My brain is in the middle of trying to process whatever that is when Gage comes to me and slides his hand around my waist. He leans in and murmurs, “The girls are asleep.”
I rest my head against his shoulder, breathing in that deep, woody scent that smells like Gage and power and the best kind of sex. “I need to be asleep.”
He chuckles. “I’ve been waiting for that.”
I glance up at him and smile sleepily. “That’s because you’ve been waiting to get me all to yourself.”
“Guilty as charged.” He leans down and brushes his mouth over mine. “Come on. I’ll take you to bed.”
I’m about to agree to that when Tim’s booming voice cuts in.
“YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BED JUST YET, AMELIA SINCLAIR-BLACK!”
His voice rings out loudly and I’m 99% sure he thinks he’s hosting the Met Gala afterparty and I’m the theme.
“Heavens above, it is only ten-thirty, and you are not forty yet!” he continues. “I swear to God, if you disappear now, I will stage a dramatic reenactment of this entire wedding using sock puppets and force everyone to stay another three hours.”
I stare at him. “You brought sock puppets?”
“No,” he says, very seriously. “But I will make them. Out of Colin’s socks if I have to. And nobody wants that. Least of all Colin.”
Colin groans. “I really, really don’t.”
“So, we’re all just going to take a moment,” Tim says, climbing onto a chair with the self-confidence of someone who’s both buzzed and blessed.
All our family members have joined us, and Tim glances around at them. “Hi, okay, everyone shut up—hi. It’s me. The hotter Sinclair sibling. Don’t fact-check that.”
Everyone laughs.
“Oh no,” I whisper to Gage.
“So,” Tim carries on. “If any of you doubted my sister would ever let someone marry her again, same. Turns out, she married a billionaire. Wild. Ten-year-old me thought she’d marry a barista with a poetry addiction, but here we are. Capitalism won.”
“Tim,” I hiss. “You already gave a speech, remember?”
He looks down at me, undeterred. “Okay, yes, I already gave a toast. But I’ve reflected. I’ve evolved. I’ve remembered more feelings I urgently need to share.”
He clears his throat and eyes everyone again. “Anyway, Amelia and Gage are literally couple goals but also like . . . feral soulmates. It’s giving ‘if we die, we die together.’”
I bury my face in my hands. “Oh my god.”
“No, because listen. This man built her a glass cathedral in the woods. Not a Pinterest mood board, a whole-ass architectural love letter. Like, sir? Some of us are still waiting on a text back.”
There’s more laughter, and I want to tell everyone to stop encouraging him. And good god, even Gage manages a smile.
“So, here’s my official toast.” He lifts his glass. “To Amelia and Gage: may your love stay unhinged, your trauma be compatible, and your arguments stay hot enough for foreplay.”
I shake my head. “You did not just say ‘trauma be compatible’ at my wedding.”
Tim grins as he gets down from the chair. “You’re welcome.”
Gage looks at Tim with his signature intensity. “You realize I could have security escort you out.”
“Security?” Tim gestures around the intimate gathering. “It’s literally just family here, Gage. Who’s gonna do it? Your dad?”
“No,” Edmund says firmly. “I’m not getting involved.”
Olivia laughs. “Smart man.”
Gage throws some whiskey down his throat before saying, “I noticed you left out the part where you got my mother and my wife high for hours before the ceremony.”
Tim’s smile freezes. “I was hoping we’d moved past that.”
“Moved past it?” Hayden says. “Mom spent fifteen minutes explaining to a tree why she’s proud of Gage.”
“I heard the tree was very receptive,” Ethan says with a shit-stirring grin.
Edmund just shakes his head, but I catch a slight curve of his mouth.
I close my eyes for a beat. “Can we please not relive this?”
Tim holds up a finger. “In my defense—”
“There is no defense,” Gage interrupts.
“—I labeled the container! How was I supposed to know Amelia and your mother would think they were regular cookies?”
Blair looks at me sympathetically. “How bad was it?” She didn’t arrive until just before the ceremony.
“I thought the chair and I were in a committed relationship,” I admit.
“She told me Ryan Gosling’s soul had taken over her body,” Hayden says.
“And the plants were judging her,” Callan contributes. “Can’t forget that part.”
“Meanwhile,” Bradford says, “Mom was outside conducting an orchestra that didn’t exist.”
Tim looks genuinely pained. “I apologized! Multiple times! I groveled!”
“You hid,” Gage corrects. “With the girls. Like a coward.”
“Strategic retreat,” Tim mutters.
“Hayden had to stop Gage from committing murder,” Callan says.
I look at Gage. “You were going to kill him?”
I mean, I know they’re not being literal, but I didn’t realize Gage was that angry.
“Yes.”
“Paste tense?”
“I’m still deciding.”
“Okay, but consider this,” Tim rushes to interject. “Amelia, did you not have the most relaxed pre-wedding experience of your life?”
“I was on the floor. Examining carpet fibers.”
“But were you stressing about the wedding?”
I think about it. “No.”
“EXACTLY.” Tim spreads his hands. “You’re welcome.”
“That is not how it works,” Colin says.
“I’m choosing to see it as a gift,” Tim says. “An accidental, poorly executed, nearly wedding-ruining gift.”
Gage’s jaw tightens. “Tim.”
“Right. Still processing. Got it.” Tim clamps his mouth shut.
Kristen looks at Gage. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how close did Tim come to not making this dinner?”
“Eleven.”
“Fair,” Maddie says.
I squeeze Gage’s hand. “But he’s still here.”
Callan looks at me. “Only because Hayden stepped in and wouldn’t let Gage touch Tim before the ceremony.”
Tim’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry, what?”
Ethan laughs. “Hayden told Gage he’d help him take care of you after the ceremony.”
“That’s surprisingly conditional,” Tim says.
“You got my wife stoned on her wedding day,” Gage says evenly. “Conditional survival seems generous.”
Marin raises her glass. “To Tim. Who somehow lived long enough to give a toast.”
Everyone drinks to that.
Tim’s shoulders slump. “This family is savage.”
“You’re family now too,” Bradford points out. “Welcome to it.”
I glance around at the wine glasses tipped back, laughter spilling over old stories and new friendships, the soft hum of happiness under it all. For a family that loves through chaos, this feels like peace.
Gage’s brothers are still roasting Tim.
Marin and Blair are talking about crystals, trying to get Edmund involved in their conversation. He looks as interested in the conversation as Blair does. And I’m pretty sure she’s pretending not to notice Hayden who is three feet away.
Kristen, Maddie, and Olivia are laughing at something Colin said.
Somehow, it all fits.
Because this is what family looks like—loud, wild, imperfect love.
I love that Bradford told Tim he’s family now, because it’s true.
The Blacks didn’t just let my family in.
They made space for us.
All of us.