“Come on, Mary. It’s time to go meet up with Papa and see Aunty Jane get married,” Darcy cajoled his daughter.

She babbled something that almost sounded like a word, drooled and smiled at him. Darcy felt his heart constrict as it did every time she looked at him. She held out her arms and he picked her up, giving her a small hug before resuming the effort to dress her for the wedding.

Changing her diaper was still his biggest challenge, one he knew Eliot had more than mastered. “Stupid tabs,” he muttered, pulling the broken one off and starting all over with a fresh diaper. “They keep ripping off instead of coming open. How does your Papa manage them so easily?” Mary kicked her legs in the air and squealed.

The bell to the apartment rang, causing more frustration. In the moment he looked away, she peed all over herself and her changing table. With a sigh, Darcy lifted Mary and held her away from him as he walked to the door.

Gina took one look at the pair of them and burst out laughing. “Diaper tabs again?”

Darcy glared at his sister and took his bare butt daughter back to the changing station in her room. “It’s not my fault they don’t open easily.”

Gina walked behind her big brother, marveling again at the transformation of his sleek, utilitarian apartment into a baby store. And a pink one at that!

“Here. I’ll help,” she said, fingering the tabs of the diaper open. “How are you sweetie? Are you ready for your big entrance?”

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Darcy said as he secured the diaper. “Hold her for a second.” He walked over to the closet and picked up the hanger.

Gina saw him. “No! Wait until you get there.”

Darcy looked doubtfully down at the dress, bloomers, and little satin shoes with flowers and bows. “You think?”

Gina picked up Mary. “I know. It’ll get all wrinkled in the car seat.”

Darcy shrugged. “Works for me. Let’s go.” He glanced back at his sister. “I assume you want to ride together.”

Gina rolled her eyes. “No, I just came here to sit by myself while you went out and had adventures with my niece.”

Darcy grinned as he turned away, slinging the diaper bag to his shoulder. “Hey, you have strange tastes, but I don't judge.”

The three of them rode the elevator down to the parking garage, Darcy grateful for the help Gina offered, even if it was only to hold Mary.

They rode in the car out to the marina, parking in the lot reserved for the wedding. Elegantly hand-lettered signs pointed the way to the Lee-Bennett wedding.

Gina bounced Mary. “Uncle Bing is so excited to marry your Aunty Jane. Isn’t he? Isn’t he?”

“That’s an understatement.”

“So when are you going to tie the knot, big brother?”

Darcy clicked the button on his key to lock the car. “When everyone stops asking me.”

“That sounds suspiciously like a never.”

“It is for now,” Darcy said. “Whether or not Eliot and I get married is between the two of us, but everyone else seems to have an opinion.”

“I’m not trying to pressure you, Darcy. You know I support you both no matter what. It’s just, do you think Eliot will be okay with never getting married? That doesn’t seem like him.”

Darcy adjusted the diaper bag. “I agree with your assessment. But I don’t want to be rushed. Even considering marriage is a big step for me.”

“Aw, look at my big brother, all growed up,” Gina teased as the reached the gangplank to the yacht.

Eliot spotted them before Darcy could respond, calling and waving to his daughter. Mary squealed and stretched to reach him.

Eliot took her from Gina’s arms and nuzzled his nose against her face, prompting a chortling giggle from her before he planted a kiss on Darcy’s lips. “Uh-hm, there’s my best man,” Eliot whispered.

Darcy smiled despite cheeks stained a slight pink. “Nice to see you too.”

“Was she difficult?” Eliot turned and shifted Mary to his hip. “Were you rough on your Daddy?”

“She was fine. It’s the stupid diapers,” Darcy muttered.

Eliot laughed. “I keep telling you, it takes a gentle touch with those tabs.”

They ducked out of the hot sun on the deck into the air conditioned interior, directly into the banquet room, which was filled with rows of white chairs, the entire room transformed into a dream of pink and white.

Mrs. Bennett danced around, adding neon pink spiders into every flower arrangement. Thankfully, they almost perfectly matched the roses, and for once, Eliot and Jane had given her free reign. She was humming the wedding march as she worked. Liam followed behind her, box of spiders in hand.

“It’s time for you to get to the groom’s room,” Eliot told Darcy, pointing him in the right direction. “I’ll be in the bride’s room. Pictures are in an hour. Are you still good to watch Mary, Gina?”

“Of course. Do I just come with you, or do you want me to take her somewhere else, out of trouble?”

“Oh, I miss my little muffin. Why don’t you stay with us until she gets bored?” Eliot kissed Darcy on the cheek. I’ll see you in a while.”

Darcy grabbed Eliot’s hand and spun him back into Darcy’s arms, capturing his lips in a long embrace. “What if I can’t wait that long?”

Eliot blinked several times, recovering from the intensity of the kiss. “Maybe if you’re good, it’ll be sooner.”

“I’ll endeavor to be very good, then.”

Darcy slipped quietly into the groom’s room. Bing was already dressed, but he stood at the mirror, fiddling with his bow tie. “Darcy,” he said with relief. “I’m a nervous wreck.”

Darcy stepped forward and straightened Bing’s bow tie. “I don’t think you have to worry about her leaving you at the altar. If she tries, you can always order the captain to cast off.”

“Don’t even joke about something like that!” Bing said, paling.

Darcy patted Bing reassuringly on the arm. “She adores you. Whether you get married or not, that won’t change. This is just a symbol.”

“But it’s such an important symbol,” Bing said, beginning to pace. “What if I mess up our vows? What if I forget them? What if I faint?”

Darcy found his suit hanging in the closet and began undressing. “You’ve never been the fainting type.”

“Now would be a hell of a time to start,” Bing muttered.

“Honestly, Bing, even if everything goes wrong, would that really matter? This, it’s just a ceremony. It’s not a relationship.”

Bing threw his hands up in the air. “Why did I have to pick the most unromantic man in the world for a best friend? Technically, you’re right, Darcy. Our relationship is not dependent on this wedding. But it’s an important moment. It’s a ceremony of dedication. Maybe it doesn’t have any intrinsic worth or meaning, but it does have meaning that we give it. It’s important to me that I commit myself to Jane, with all the beauty and respect she deserves. How I treat this wedding is a promise to Jane about how I will treat her in the future.”

Bing’s words rang like a bell in Darcy’s mind, and there was an almost audible snap as the pieces fell into place. He hurriedly buttoned his pants and tucked in his shirt. “I just realized—I’ll be right back. I need to ask Eliot something.”

Darcy hurried from the room, leaving a flabbergasted Bing behind him. Several wrong directions later, Darcy knocked on the bride’s room. Eliot poked his head out. “Darcy? Is something wrong?”

“Can I have a minute of your time?” Darcy was breathless, lightheaded with what he was about to do. “Privately?”

Eliot slid out of the room and took Darcy’s hands with a worried frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Eliot Bennett, will you marry me?”

Eliot’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he jumped into Darcy’s arm with a delighted yell. “Of course! Oh, you horrible man. Your timing is terrible, and this shouldn’t be romantic at all.”

“I couldn’t wait,” Darcy said. “You know how I’ve felt about weddings. About marriage. But I’ve realized that was all about me. Not about us.”

“Wait, this isn’t just wedding-fever, is it? You’re not going to change your mind in two weeks, are you?”

Darcy shook his head, pressing his forehead against Eliot’s. “Do you really think I’m the kind of man to be swayed by wedding fever?”

The door opened behind them. “Can we stop pretending we’re not listening and offer you congratulations?” Gina asked.

Darcy smiled, the grin stretching from ear to ear. “Eliot has agreed to be my husband!”

It had taken him quite a few steps to go from confirmed bachelor to affianced father, but he didn’t regret any step of the way. Life had brought him the perfect partner, a beautiful daughter, and he was surrounded by friends and family. What more could he ask for?

As Darcy stood beside Bing, watching Eliot walk down the aisle with a sleeping flower girl curled up in her little red wagon, he started to imagine what their own wedding might look like. He couldn’t imagine Eliot wanting a large ceremony, but if he did, Darcy would give it to him.

Eliot scooped Mary up and handed her to Gina before taking his place on Jane’s side of the altar, opposite Darcy, quietly mouthing, “I love you.”

Darcy returned the words, and Bing nudged his side. “Dang lovebirds. It’s my wedding. You already tried to upstage it with your proposal.” Bing’s smile betrayed his grumpy words.

“Just watch me upstage you on the dance floor later tonight,” Darcy murmured.

“You’re much feistier since falling in love,” Bing said.

Then the first note of the wedding march rang out. Bing turned, his face lighting with joy to see Jane coming down the aisle on the arm of Mr. Bennettt. The crowd rose and faced the bride. The looks on her and Bing’s faces confirmed Darcy’s decision to ask Eliot to marry him. Maybe a wedding was only what you made it, but he was certain he and Eliot would create a deeply meaningful one, one that reflected their deep devotion and understanding of each other as humans, as partners, as parents.

Hours later, Bing and Jane ensconced in their suite on the yacht, the guests departed, and the wedding over. Darcy laid a sleeping Mary in her crib in their own suite. He patted her back, helping her drift back to sleep.

Walking back into the main room, he grabbed a squeaky toy off the floor and chucked it toward her bag before joining Eliot by the large window that looked over the bay. “The city looks beautiful tonight,” Eliot said.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Darcy said, pressing kisses down Eliot’s neck.

Eliot turned in Darcy’s arms. “I just want you to know, if you were bit by wedding fever, and you come to regret it, I won’t hold it against you. I know how you feel about weddings, and I don’t want you to feel pressured. If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for us, and—

Darcy stopped him with a kiss. “It’s because of us that I want to marry you. You’re already buried so deeply in my soul that to tear you out of my life would kill me. Compared to that? A wedding seems like such a minor thing.”

Eliot laughed. “Even when you’re romantic, you somehow manage to be insulting.”

Darcy frowned. “I didn’t—”

This time it was Eliot’s turn to silence him. “It’s you. I like it.”

They watched the flashing glints of the moon on the water, wrapped in each other’s arms.

“What kind of wedding do you want?” Darcy asked.

“Something small,” Eliot said immediately.

“You’re not just saying that for my sake, are you?”

Eliot shook his head. “Do you remember that little glade? The first time we went out on Bing’s boat?”

“That was the first time I realized how beautiful your eyes were,” Darcy said. “I could never forget.”

“I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I think I’d like to get married there. Something small. Just us, Jane and Bing, maybe Gina.”

“No parents?”

Eliot tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know. I like the idea of making it something wholly ours. Both of our mothers would try to take over. It might be easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”

“Whatever you wish, my love.” Darcy dipped his head, pressing his cheek to Eliot’s. The moonlight coming through the window drifted away behind the clouds as the two men’s shadows became one.