When I walk back on stage I’m alone.

The lighting keeps me in silhouette and the crowd cheers so loudly the sound almost knocks me back. Somehow, in under five minutes, the stylist team had me showered off and spritzed, dabbed me with all kinds of shit, then had shoved me, Adam, and Hunter (equally cleaned up) into these awesome Gatsby-style tuxedos.

If I weren’t so nervous I’d say I love this outfit. All the way from my shiny shoes, to the pants (boasting a nearly imperceptible satin stripe down the sides of each leg) to the snowy white tux shirt, the long old-fashioned, very cool jacket with tails, to the solitary white rose pinned on my lapel, to my black-and-silver bow tie.

A convincing costume for a wedding, to be sure.

Without a glance at Adam and Hunter, I motion for the lights to go up, and when the spotlight hits me the crowd goes wild again.

All of the guitars, amps, drums—everything but one microphone has been stripped off stage. Now the crowd and the jumbo-screens have registered that I’m standing alone, wearing a tux and it looks as though I’m floating in a sea of ankle-deep, man-made fog the crew has been blowing into the stage space since the middle of our last song.

It’s expected after the last set, that after waiting through first minutes of screams, applause, and chanting from the fans, that Guarderobe—hell every band does this—returns for an encore. Only, what an epic encore this is going to be.

Because I’m still out of breath from running back up here, I have no clue what is going to come out of my mouth when I step up to the microphone. To buy time, I hold my hands out in front of me, waiting for the audience to quiet.

When they grow silent, I become so nervous that I only smile, really, really, wide. That was a mistake, because that’s made everyone start cheering all over again.

I use that second roar from the crowd to grip the microphone stand and pull in some full, deep breaths for courage. The spot lights are still close in, ultra-bright and only on me. My stage manager told me when I give the signal the hundreds of roses set in tall vases all around me will be lit next. Carefully, I eye exactly where the gazebo will come up behind me, and note that under the fog my feet are pressing into the thick red-carpet runner I was texted about. They’ll cut half of the fog machine blasts when the roses light up so the center of the stage will clear to reveal the red carpet just as the Gazebo holding Hunter, will raise up and somewhere during that time wedding music will play.

“Everyone. Please. Please,” I say over the endless cheering.

As the crowd quiets again, my eyes travel quickly to the edges of the stage where I’ve been told, Vere, Hunter and Sage have been all lined up and are ready to go. But instead of finding them, my eyes land on Robin’s form located off stage at the end of this damn red carpet.

It’s too dark to clearly see how they’ve dressed her up, but I can tell she’s in the white dress my grandmother promised.

Convincing costume number two.

I wish I could see her face, analyze the expression inside of her wide eyes, but I can only see how she’s nodding at me like she’s trying to encourage me not to freak out.

I bite my lower lip, discouraging yet another smile because of course Robin Love is trying to make me feel better right now, and suddenly I know exactly how to start.

“Who here believes in love at first sight?” I call out, relaxing some as everyone cheers all over again.

“Okay. Okay. Good.” I widen my arms and hold out my hands so the palms are flat and facing the audience, feeling oddly like a preacher on TV. “If you could please be quiet and let me talk, because I’ve got to explain this tux.” I make a show of fingering my lapels, and then straightening the rose. “See, we’ve got some huge announcements to make here tonight, and some fancy, formal things to do here today. With your blessings, of course.”

Knowing how to work the crowd, and knowing our fans can’t ever contain a cheer, I’m forced to pause, waiting out another round of screaming. When they quiet again, I continue. “Rather than let you all find out what those announcements are by reading them in a magazine, or by guessing at which online rumors are true or false, we’ve decided to reveal everything here, with the people we love the best and with people we trust the most.” I nod, looking slowly around the entire arena while pointing in a slow half circle. “That’s you guys. Our fans. We love you.”

The crowd blows up again. And again, I wait for the lull. “You’ve been carrying us since the beginning, and without you in our lives, we would have no reason to wake up each morning. So that’s why we want you involved here today. You, the fans are part of our family, and…” The crowd roars again and this time I go on, shouting over their noise. “And everything I’m about to tell you involves these words. Family. And Love. And hell-yes.” I grin wide again, adding, “love at first sight!”

After the next round of cheering I ask them again, “Please. Please hold the cheers and let me get through this. I’m nervous as hell.”

When the crowd settles, I go in talking fast: “First, we need to talk about Adam. My life-brother and a dude who’s been really busy keeping secrets from all of us last year. I’m going to let you in on what he’s been up to, but you all need to stay quiet, because we’ve got something amazing to show you all.” I search the dark recesses of the backstage opposite of where Adam, his wife Eve, and his little red-headed baby, Apple are waiting. “Shh. Please. People. Quiet.”

The audience, completely and thankfully on board with my requests, grows even quieter, and when I think they’re ready I wave to Adam. “Will you come out here and say what you need to say, so I can get on with my life?”

When Adam steps out clinging to Eve, who is doing her best attempt at making her face not look terrified while carrying the baby. The crowd, visibly surprised, gets quieter, like they’ve all taken a breath. Once the giant screens focus in on them—on the baby mostly—we’re all hit with wave of at least twenty thousand collective people sighing that same breath out: “Aww,” at the same time.

Luckily, someone has thought to outfit the baby with these cute little head-phone looking, noise reduction things in case the crowd can’t contain themselves. In typical, mellow, baby-Apple fashion, she’s content in her mom’s arms and blinking at her surroundings happily. The baby’s a show-stopper, because one of the genius-stylists dressed her up like a mini-flower girl in this cute gauze-and-ribbons miniature white dress, all while Eve is dressed up in a strapless silver gown that matches Vere’s.

Evie could go down in history as the only bridesmaid who’d never actually met the bride before the wedding. But she, like the rest of us in the inner circle—she knows how insane our lives are, so she will never tell that story to anyone.

“Thank you for holding quiet.” Adam speaks into the microphone in a very soft voice. He points at Evie. “I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Evie.”

The crowd gasps and some people applaud, but most of the fans are grappling with their cellphones that they’re too preoccupied to make more noise.

Adam clears his throat, flicking a nervous glance over Evie and the baby before going on, “We—Eve—Evie, is what I call her. She and I—we were married over a year ago and I didn’t tell anyone. Please. Please don’t scare the baby—let me finish.” He holds up his hands as the crowd starts to erupt in noise, then they stop. “Better, I managed to keep my life, my bride and all of the changes going on in my life and in my heart a secret. Kept them secret for a very long time.” He motions to where I’m standing. “I didn’t even tell my bandmates and my best friends here that I was in love because…first, my Evie is a really shy person. And, then I didn’t know how to tell them I was married, because—well, because of this baby, of course, because of a thousand other reasons.” He smiles. “Reasons which you all will hear about later. Just know, I loved having Evie and our relationship be a secret. Time passes fast when you’re in love, and well, I don’t have to tell you all how babies are made but that’s what went down.” He grins with that Adam-trademark-impish grin of his, while Evie’s face flushes as red as the hair on top of her head.

The crowd starts to go wild again. Adam looks worried, panicked even and quickly calls out, “Please. Please don’t scare her. Okay, guys? Please.”

I watch Evie’s face more than I watch the baby’s face, knowing full well that Adam is hoping the audience doesn’t scare his wife, not his baby—because she’s the one who’s skittish in crowds.

Terrified even.

She and her past, and the baggage she hauls around inside her head that she may never be able to unload, is the ‘thousand other reasons’ why Adam kept his relationship and marriage a secret from all of us.

It’s also the reason he almost lost her for good. I know their whole story, and watching Evie now just humbles me. I’m also so moved and relieved that she’s here with all of us today and helping us out right now. Her participation, is the biggest wedding gift anyone could ever give. I know for her to stand on stage with her baby in her arms is costing her some real shreds of her sanity and it’s hurting her to do it somewhere deep inside, which in turn hurts my best friend Adam.

Adam’s got the crowd under control again, and after a saying, “Shh. Shh, please quiet down,” once more, he adds, “I want you all to meet our beautiful daughter.”

He takes the baby out of Evie’s arms and holds her up a little so the crowd can see her. I try really hard not to be immature and imagine the opening of the Lion King movie as the spotlights hit the baby when Adam holds her up high and adds, “We’ve named her Apple.”

The cameras zoom in to catch the baby’s pudgy face on the jumbo-screens and the crowd collectively gasps and says, “Aww…” all over again.

Apple, the little champ, drools and grins her toothless grin like someone prompted her to do it, and my hoof beat-heavy-heartbeats start to calm.

The fans are eating this up so hard, and how could they not? The baby has stolen the show.

Adam tucks Apple close to his chest before speaking again. “My baby daughter has been here all week with us in Orlando while we do these last concerts. To make things work while doing these in-residence shows for the parks this summer, we had to hire a nanny. That’s because my wife had to leave town suddenly to see to her mother. A mother who was very sick and far away in Wales, located all the way in the UK. This nanny we hired saved our lives, and she turned out to be cool, and funny, and really, really nice. Bear with me, there’s a point to this story. Hold on, let me get Apple off stage.”

Adam grins, looking over at me, while he’s handing the baby back to Evie. When Evie and Apple are safely off stage Adam grins and goes on, “Royce Devlin here.” He points at me. “He fell in love with our nanny! I’m talking head over heels, out of his mind—fell in love with the nanny!”

As the crowd cheers, then cheers some more, I step up and take the microphone away from Adam.

“Hell yes I fell in love. Her name is Robin Love, and we’re going to get married, right here. Right now.” I grin, and pace the stage. “Who’s down to go to a wedding? Anyone? It’s why we’re all wearing tuxedos.”

The crowd’s lost it. The foot stomping gets so loud I worry the floors under the bleachers are going to break. Smiling at everyone wider and wider, I walk the microphone back to the stand and then move the whole contraption to the side while I’m talking. “Okay. Okay. Listen up. Let’s go back to my first question. When I asked you all,” I raise my voice so it carries high above the cheers. “Who? Who here believes in love at first sight? I was talking about myself.”

As the crowd roars louder in response I press ahead over the noise, “One week ago, I didn’t believe any of that crap. But now, I do. Oh man, I do.” I shake my head, wondering at how true my words ring inside my head. “And now that we don’t need a nanny anymore, and now that I’m in love and about to leave on a world tour, I also don’t believe in letting fate decide what’s going to happen between me and this amazing, beautiful girl.”

I nod and grin more, watching how the jumbo screens feature me out of the corner of my eyes. “I’m locking this girl I love down by putting a ring on her finger. When you know. You know, and I’ve learned from my man Adam, here, that in our business if you meet someone, and if it’s real, you need to jump in and make your move. Go for it at all costs. The press has already caught on that I was seeing someone, but they got the story all wrong. They made up lies about Robin which are not true. We think that it’s bullshit that we can’t have any privacy, and that random people are allowed to tell lies about us and then spread them all over the internet. We wanted the real story to come out here. We also want the bad stories about my bride to go away. This is why we opted for this fast wedding in front of all of you guys. Because it’s fucking real.” I’m shouting now. “Because you aren’t random people, and we want people who actually give a shit about us to spread the word about what is really happening here. We want our fans—all of you to tell the real story—because you’re the ones we trust. No one else.”

The crowd cheers again, so loudly I’m actually wishing for earplugs.

I motion to Hunter. “We know Adam’s surprise wedding is going to bum some of you out, because we know you fans hate missing details of our lives. So tonight, to make it up to all of you, my man Hunter—a dude who got himself a special minister license off of the internet today—he is going to marry me and the love of my life, Robin, right here, right now, with all of you as our witnesses. Will that make it up to you? Will it?” I’m shouting louder and louder now.

The echoing cheers are so loud I can only wave my arms and shout into the microphone, hoping someone can hear what I’m saying, “I’m guessing you’re all in, then?” I wave my arms and signal the lights to go on over the roses.

“Damn! Okay then.” The laughter that comes off my lips next surprises me as the screams nearly break my eardrums, but I know it’s a mixture of half wonder half relief that everyone is so on board. “Then how about you all light up the LED stuff we passed out? Who wants to hold up a cell phone and record this special moment along with us and post the real story online tonight? Let’s break the internet with this love story. I’m asking you to help us out, go live if you can, or post parts of what we’re doing to let the whole world be part of it.”

Through a new wave of cheers, the lights in the stadium flash bright and then go to complete black for a moment. The crowd does what I’ve asked, and back stage, on cue, has lit the entire circumference outside of the stage area with thousands and thousands of white twinkling LED lights. Better, just as many cellphone screens are now pointed at us. When the lights go back up on me, they’re dim to feature how the trap doors below-stage have opened, and the lift has already started pushing the pre-lit, covered in silk, made from twined together bleached wood branches, wedding gazebo up onto the stage. I’m shocked to realize how legit this thing looks, and when a loud recording of the traditional ‘dum-dum-da-dum’ wedding march begins firing over the stage speakers and the crowd goes from wild to insane, I have to smile and place a hand over my thundering heart because I’m caught up, just how they are in this excitement.

Roses wave. Light sticks wave and every cellphone in the house that still has charge and storage space is recording everything.

When the spotlights find me again, the fog has blown off revealing the red carpet perfectly. I work to calm my voice, forcing the crowd to also calm down or they won’t be able to hear me. “We couldn’t be happier that you’re willing to take this journey with us today. One more thing. Listen carefully please. Please. Everyone. Please. This is important stuff I want you all to know. My fiancé, Robin, has a father who’s Special Forces, ARMY. He’s been deployed and he should be here with us today, but sadly he’s missing in action. MIA for over a year. His status is part of the reason we decided to speed up our engagement all the way to a wedding, and to trust the love we feel for each other. It’s because she and her little brother needed some help. They needed a family and they needed some support, some legal help, and they needed it fast.” I frown as people start to cheer again and I say again, “Please. This is a lot. Let me tell the story.”

The stadium grows nearly silent again as the cameras zoom in on my face. “Robin’s little brother is only thirteen—he will be the one giving her away tonight. Robin, the girl I’m about to marry, had put her dreams on hold and had run away so her brother wouldn’t have to go to foster care. They were on the run when we wound up hiring her as a last-minute nanny. She was trying to create a family and a safe place for him to finish growing up with or without their dad. But because Robin is young, only eighteen today actually, the authorities think that’s too young to be a parent. They were discussing taking her little brother away from her this week. They were also making Robin go back to North Carolina to face charges of kidnapping her own brother. Can you believe this sadness?”

The audience responds with boos and roars of displeasure.

“Well it’s true.” I nod my head, agreeing with their anger. “I thought if I stepped up and married Robin who is the bravest person I’ve ever met, and that if my grandmother and uncle also stepped up, then Robin and her brother would have the instant family they needed. Robin would also get to be my wife, and considering I’d vowed to marry this girl from the very first moment we met, I think it’s a win-win, right? I get her, and she gets me, as well as a family that includes all of you guys supporting her and she and I get to protect her brother together.”

I sweep my arm out to the attentive crowd as I cry out, “She’s only done exactly what each and every one of us would have done to save our siblings, right? And I’m only doing what anyone else would do to save the girl I love.”

The crowd, again, goes insane.

“Do you all understand where I’m coming from now? It’s been only one week that I’ve known this girl, but damn-me, I’m so lost every time I see her face. I can’t breathe when she laughs because she’s lodged deep into my heart.” I put my hand over my chest. “And anyone who has felt this feeling, I know you get me…I’m in love. So in love that the thought of her leaving my side even for a day to face what she needs to face all alone?” I shake my head. “Oh, hell no. The thought of her hurting or being sad even for one minute without me by her side? It nearly kills my soul. And I guess, that’s what love is, right?” I blink at the crowd, quieting my voice. “My mom once told me I would know I was in love when I cared about someone’s happiness more than I cared about my own. And…that’s how it is between me and Robin. It’s maybe only been one week, but it’s real.”

The crowd cheers, louder and louder, and I wait all over again for them to stop.

“Guys. I—I—” I shake my head, chuckling a little to myself. “I’m nervous as hell and I’ll bet Robin is even more nervous. So…I think I’ve got nothing more to say,” is what falls out of my mouth next. “So…let’s just do this thing, okay? Let’s have a wedding!”

Turning away from the new wave of cheers, but fully aware the cameras are still on me, I run my hands over my eyes to make sure I’m not going to cry or anything weird, because talking about my mom and then feeling all weak-kneed and churning guts right now, is about as much surprise public vulnerability that I can handle.

I adjust my tie, and check the rose that has been pinned to my jacket again, and as the rest of the wedding party takes their places, I give Robin one last glance and a nod.

I’m able to force a laugh, as the wedding music comes back on and the noise of the crowd becomes so deafening it nearly lifts me off my feet. It doubles when I walk into the gazebo and take my place beside Adam, my uncle Gregory and flick a glance at Hunter who is poker facing so hard in his center position as our ‘minister’. He looks like he’s made of stone. Vere, thank-God-for-Vere—she’s the only one who’s grinning naturally. She’s lined up on the other side beside my grandmother, and Evie who’s holding the now sleeping baby—and still wearing her little headphones, looks slightly panicked, but is holding her ground.

Sage, with Robin on his arm, steps out and together they walk slowly down the red carpet runner heading in my direction. The guys who are running the cameras step up to get them onto the jumbo screens so the entire stadium all can see the brave brother and sister I’d just described. Their saucer-wide blue eyes, and their shy almost matching smiles, fill up the screens and it’s not lost on me how shy and beautiful Robin looks right now.

The entire audience cheers so loudly the stage below our feet shakes and the roof feels like it’s almost about to fall in. It’s so constant and so loud, no one at all can hear the wedding music anymore.

When Robin’s tentative, sweet smile moves off the crowd and reaches me, I lock onto it and quickly step off the stage to take her arm from her brother’s. I see my grandmother’s expression go from nervous to genuine as I help Robin up the two raised steps then lead her, hand-in-hand to stand in front of the podium while Sage, like he’s done this a million times, goes to stand next to Adam.

Suddenly the entire stadium goes quiet. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see the crowd going wild, but I can no longer feel the floor shaking beneath my feet or hear one drop of sound beyond the breaths of air Robin is taking next to me. I can only note how her hand feels perfect as it settles into mine.

In mere moments, Adam is stepping forward and handing me two gold bands. Though it’s over a loud speaker, from far away, I hear Hunter ask Robin: “Do you, Robin Love, take Royce Devlin, to love, to honor, to protect, to keep and to support, to comfort and to tend, to shelter and to hold, for all the days of your life?”

She answers with her eyes locked on mine and a shy, but clear, “I do.”

“Do you, Royce Devlin, take Robin Love, to love, to honor, to protect, to keep and to support, to comfort and to tend, to shelter and to hold, for all the days of your life?”

Unwavering in my own gaze, again, it’s so easy for me to answer, “I do.”

The cheering nearly blows the lid off this place when Hunter says: “I now pronounce you man and wife. Royce, you may kiss the bride.”

She’s trembling, nearly gasping for breath as my lips meet hers for one gentle kiss. I almost lose control and take the kiss up a notch, but I hold back, knowing there’s simply too many smart phones pointed at the jumbo screens for that.

When I pull away, her trembling seems to have doubled, so while Hunter shouts out, “May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Devlin,” I sweep her up into my arms. I’ve surprised her so much with that move she looks up into my eyes, with gratitude as she says, “Thanks. I was worried I wouldn’t make it out of here. You can’t believe how hard it is to walk in this thing.”

I smile and pull her closer, carrying her down the two steps that have kept us elevated from the rest of the wedding party. I pause to smile at the way she’s got her eyes downcast, loving how her long lashes curve and curl against her cheeks, and honestly, I don’t know how I make it to the center of the stage. Nor do I remember Hunter, Adam and Sage, Vere, Evie and the baby crowding in behind us as we left the stage to be herded into what will be our first press conference.

As we face the press, I don’t set Robin down. I’m waiting for someone to scream out fraud and to make it all stop, but when it doesn’t happen, and Robin grins up at me with a secretive twinkle in her eyes, I’m simply excited to see what’s going to happen next.