Since it was important to my alpha that we be legally wed before our son was born, although I honestly didn’t care one way or the other, I found myself standing in the closet sized changing room right off the vestibule of the small chapel that we’d rented for the day.

Tom and Liam had wanted to push for more exotic locations that might have meaning for us as a couple, but I’d wanted a traditional type wedding for my small-town alpha. Now that I knew him fully, I was amazed that I’d even been able to pick him up that night in Vegas. One night stands really weren’t his thing. He was every bit as traditional, provincial and altogether small town as I’d once accused him of being—and I adored it.

If I searched the world over, I’d never find as true-blue an alpha as I’d found in Kent. And when he wasn’t being pissed off by pushy business competitors, he was remarkably steady and slow to anger. The patience he showed me whenever I got snippy, or gave my son when he was whiny or melting down, never failed to amaze me.

Kent was just everything that I’d always been afraid to hope for in an alpha—and so much more. My thoughts were interrupted as Tom came bursting in, waving a plastic box over his head.

“I found it! The dumbass florist had it in the fridge at the reception hall with the cake! Luckily the caterers have half a brain and let me know.” While he was excitedly talking, Tom had already deftly removed the yellow rosebud that would serve as my boutonniere, and was now carefully pinning it to my lapel.

He stood back and studied me with a trained eye, reaching out to tug on the vest that didn’t do all that much to disguise my huge baby bump. At eight months pregnant, there wasn’t much to be done about it. Tom walked in a full circle around me, straightening and tugging at my charcoal gray tux as he went.

Once he’d deemed me ready to go, Tom gave a sharp nod and led me to the door. “Kent and Christian are already waiting at the front. As your best man, I’ll be escorting you down the aisle as we discussed at the rehearsal last night.”

He stopped and peered at me closely. “Now that Tom thinks about it, Pierre is pretty pregnant. Do you need to pee before we start? I know I had to pee a lot when I was pregnant. Isn’t it awful? Like you just get your pants up, and it’s time to pee again. You know? Gosh, I hated that shit.”

I did know. All too well. Just like I knew that he was right. “Tom?” He stopped chattering and looked at me expectantly.

“Can we stop talking about pissing and find me a place to actually do it? I really need to go, now that you’ve been incessantly talking about it.”

Tom beamed and helpfully showed me where the bathrooms were. Once I’d emptied my bladder and washed my hands, I was ready to face my future. It was time to get married.

The wedding was beautiful, just as I’d expected it to be with Tom and Liam as my wedding planners. Yellow and Navy Blue were the colors, and they’d done a marvelous job of incorporating them everywhere. But from the moment that we opened the doors when the organ started to play, until the moment I said my vows, everything went by in a blur.

Tom reached out while I was lost in thought and pinched me on the ass, bringing my attention back to the proceedings instead of woolgathering as I stared at Kent’s gorgeous face. That’s when I realized that Reverend Ray was looking at me expectantly.

When I blushed, the Reverend seemed to intuitively understand that I’d missed whatever he just said. With a kind smile, he repeated himself.

“Pierre, will you take Kent to be your husband and your alpha? Will you promise to love, respect, and care for his well-being for as long as you both shall live?”

I looked into those familiar eyes, which unsurprisingly were filled with unshed tears of joy. My small-town alpha was a sensitive guy, just another one of his many attributes.

Without bothering to look back at Reverend Ray, I nodded happily at Kent and answered, “I will.” As soon as I’d said my vow, I held out my hand to let Kent slide my shiny new wedding ring into place.

Reverend Ray turned his attention to Kent then, and my eyes held his as we listened to the Reverend ask him the same question that he’d just asked me.

“Kent, will you take Pierre to be your husband and your omega? Will you promise to love, respect, and care for his well-being for as long as you both shall live?”

“I will,” Kent said emphatically in a loud voice, causing his brother to chuckle from where he stood behind Kent in his role as best man. I ignored the muffled laughter from our guests as I slid Kent’s ring onto his finger.

“Kent and Pierre, for as much as you’ve given these vows today in front of these many witnesses, it is my pleasure to pronounce you husbands. May you both live long and happy lives together, never forgetting to cherish and respect each other as you travel together through life’s twisted path.”

We both looked at Rev. Ray expectantly, waiting for the part we’d been waiting to hear. As soon as he said those magic words—“You may now kiss your groom”—I sprang forward and wrapped my arms around Kent’s neck. His hands came up to my waist possessively as he pulled me against him and we shared our first kiss as a married couple.

After we finally broke from our overlong kiss, everybody cheered and clapped. Kent and I turned to face our guests, with my hand tucked around his elbow while Reverend Ray introduced us as Mr. and Mr. Hawkins.

Yes, Julian and I would both be taking Kent’s name now. I wanted for my entire family to share the same surname, and Kent needed to give us the security that he felt carrying his name would provide.

As we made our exit down the aisle, I noticed Amor sitting at the far end of the back right-hand pew. His cherubic face was beaming with a happy smile as he strummed his harp while everybody else clapped.

I didn’t see him again during the reception. The buffet style meal was a hit, and after we’d all eaten our fill, the dance floor did not stand empty. My feet were swollen and my back hurt from the long day, and I was pretty much ready to get to the cake cutting, when I heard a harp being strummed behind me.

Kent and I looked up to see Amor standing there, with that infectious smile of his. He wore the same ragged hippie tie-dyed shirt and cutoff jeans that I always saw him in, but honestly, his clothing was unimportant when the only thing that really stood out about this short, chubby man with that head full of riotous curls was his beatific smile. He had on the infectious sort of smile that inexplicably made my heart happy.

Kent’s eyes bugged out, and I’m pretty sure that my jaw dropped, when Amor began to serenade us with a surprisingly beautiful tenor.

When he stopped singing, Amor tucked his harp back into the crook of his elbow and smiled proudly at us. It was almost as though he felt like he’d personally had a hand in us getting together, although I had no idea where he would’ve gotten that idea. If anything, his innocent idiocy had almost kept us apart.

He’d put my flyer on Kent’s car window, although to be fair, he probably didn’t know it was Kent’s car. Even if it did have a Sweet Ballz bumper sticker... but maybe he’d missed seeing that? But sitting on my premises and passing out Kent’s samples, that was a definite point against him. As much as it pained me to admit it, and I never had to anyone but Kent. And I certainly would never say that to him especially; the poor guy reminded me of a puppy, and nobody wants to hurt a puppy.

“Amor, my friend. Thank you for coming today,” Kent said genially. “I haven’t seen you around much lately, I’ve missed you. You should feel free to pop in for coffee one of these mornings. Just not this week, Kent and I are going away for a short honeymoon.”

Amor smiled sweetly and spoke in a tone laced with regret. “As much as I dearly wish I could take you up on that kindly meant offer—both for the coffee and those delicious Ballz of yours, I’m afraid that my business here in Hollydale has been completed for this year. I’m off to a town far away, where my next assignment awaits. And I have a feeling that it might be a bit more difficult than my task was here in Hollydale.”

Kent and I shared a confused glance. I mean, I liked this dude and everything, but what possible business could he have had in Hollydale, and what assignment would be taking him away? From all appearances, he was a homeless hippie that moved whichever way the wind blew him.

I struggled to my feet, waving Kent off when he reached out a hand as though to help me up. I leaned in and first gave Amor a big hug, before finally giving into the urge to reach up and ruffle those adorable curls.

“I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling that I’m not allowed to ask about your next assignment, but can I at least ask about this mysterious small town that you’re heading to?” I asked curiously.

Amor looked up and off to the side for a moment, as though deciding whether or not he should share. Finally, he gave a nod to himself, and turned back to me.

“I’ll be in a small Midwestern town for the next undetermined length of time. From all accounts, it’s a pleasant little place. It’s named MacIntosh Meadows, and really isn’t more than a dot on any map.”

The name of the town meant nothing to me, but then I really wasn’t all that familiar with the Midwest. I looked over when Liam and Tom began wheeling out our large multi-tiered wedding cake that Liam had helped me to bake. I’d insisted that no other baker was touching my wedding cake.

Remembering my manners, I looked back to thank our strange friend again for coming, only to discover that Amor had slipped away into the crowd. I glanced over at Kent to ask him if he’d seen Amor leave, but when I saw him bent over and occupied with fixing something on Julian’s shoe, I didn’t even bother.

I quickly put my mysterious friend out of my mind as Kent stood and held out a hand to me. It was time to cut our cake, and celebrate this new chapter in our lives. Our lives as a couple, and a family— I realized when I noticed that with his other hand, Kent was holding Julian’s.

Something caught my eye as I turned, and I looked back to see another one of those confounded arrows sitting on the table between mine and Kent’s place settings. I pulled at Kent’s hand to point it out, and he looked back at it with a bemused smile.

I got Ian’s attention, and asked him if he’d make sure that the arrow was put in a safe place. I didn’t bother to explain where it had come from. I was pretty sure that was a story that would be impossible to tell… and even harder to believe, if what I was beginning to suspect was true.