Epilogue
New Year’s Day
90 days…after.
Fake Elvis shifted his hips from left to right, striking a pose that mimicked the true king, but Xander thought he looked more like he had an itch on his arse he couldn’t scratch. If Xander were half as shitfaced as he was at his first wedding, he’d likely be on the ground in a fit of laughter. This time he was stone-cold sober. He wanted to remember every moment of this day.
“Well all right now,” Elvis said, addressing them. “Do you, Alexander James, take Sophie Caldwell-James to be your lawfully wedded wife…again?”
Gazing into Sophie’s dancing eyes, he couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment. The first time had been for a noble cause, but this time, Xander was claiming her as his wife for nothing less than love—the kind that filled him up and encompassed his soul. This was the start of the rest of his life, and he couldn’t be happier.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, emotions making his voice come out raspier than he’d like. “Today and every day forward, until I draw my last breath.”
Elvis put his hand over his heart and cocked his head dramatically. “Aw, that was beautiful, man. Really, I mean that, very touching.”
Sophie rolled her lips between her teeth to hold in her laugh, but Xan arched a brow in the man’s direction. When he didn’t immediately catch on, Kristin helped from where she and Billy sat, once again acting as their witnesses.
“Excuse me, Mr. The King or Padre Elvis, or whatever you call yourself. Can you move things along, please? We have a reception to get to.”
Elvis gave her a lip-curling grin and pointed at her with a “you got it” finger gun. Xander would bet he also needlessly winked behind his aviator sunglasses. “And do you, Sophie Caldwell-James, take, for a second time, Alexander James to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Sophie’s eyes shined bright with tears as she smiled wide at Xander and answered, “You bet your blue suede shoes, Elvis.”
A chorus of muted laughter rose up from around them but was quickly cut off when the old lady sitting at her electronic keyboard shushed them. The apathetic look on her face didn’t exactly match the scolding tone. He couldn’t imagine how many hundreds, maybe even thousands, of these ceremonies she’d witnessed. She might have even been there the first time he and Sophie got married. Likely, nothing surprised her anymore, but that didn’t mean she approved. She took this business a little too seriously, considering their officiant was wearing a white bedazzled jumpsuit and stick-on sideburns.
Moving to the side of Xander, Elvis said, “And do you, Reid Andrews, take Lucie Maris-Andrews to be your lawfully wedded wife? Again?”
Xander looked around at the men who’d become like his brothers, and the women who’d healed their souls and stolen their hearts, just as Sophie had stolen his. When they’d planned their second—and very, very sober—Vegas wedding, Sophie had the idea of asking his friends if they’d like to renew their vows with them. He’d loved the idea from the start, but it was no wonder why. They were his best mates, after all. But he’d been curious as to why Sophie would want to extend the offer. Her answer?
“Because they’re your family, which now makes them mine. I don’t know them all that well yet, but I will, and years from now, I’d like us to look back and remember this as the day we all finally came together.”
Yeah, it was safe to say he fell a little more in love with his wife in that moment, if it was even possible. He’d had to start kissing her and carry her off to bed so she wouldn’t notice his eyes getting all shiny with man-tears.
Reid smiled down at the glowing woman in front of him, due any day now with their first child. “My sweet Lucie,” he said, his voice tight with obvious emotion. Though Reid used to be a UFC fighter, he was also a damn good artist, and that poet’s soul shined through every time he gazed at his wife. “I paid a hundred grand for the chance to make you mine, but you’re worth more than a hundred times that. So yes, I definitely do.”
Elvis continued, “And do you, Lucie Maris-Andrews—”
A choked sob wracked Lucie’s petite body as the tears flowed unchecked like rivers down her cheeks.
Xander’s eyes widened.
“Yes,” she said at last, placing her husband’s large hands on her big belly. “I do. Forever and ever, I do.”
With Reid’s soft kiss to the heart-shaped freckle near the corner of her eye and some whispered words, Lucie seemed to calm down some. The man had warned them her hormones were a bit extreme, but Xan felt that was a bit of an understatement. Sophie—and he was certain every female in a ten-block radius—melted with a mewled awwwwww. Meanwhile, he and Jax had to school their looks of sheer terror. Irish had gone through it with his wife, so he wasn’t fazed in the least.
“Jackson Maris, do you take Vanessa MacGregor-Maris?”
Jax pressed their joined hands to his chest where he’d tattooed a sea star symbolizing his wife over his heart. “I do. She’s my pupule wahine. There’s no one else for me.”
Vanessa aimed a wicked grin—the kind she used in court as the ADA nicknamed Red Viper—at her Hawaiian husband. “You’re lucky this crazy woman loves you, smart-ass. I do.”
“Ooh, she’s a fiery one, like a Hunka Hunka—”
Without glancing away from Vanessa, Jax growled at the king. “I wouldn’t finish that sentence.” He might be the most playful of their group, but when it came to V, he was as territorial as they came.
“Okay, then, moving on,” Elvis said, his voice a little higher than what his character called for. “Last, but not least…Aiden O’Brien, do you take Katherine MacGregor-O’Brien etcetera, etcetera?”
Never one for flowery words—or many words in general—Irish cleared his throat and shifted his weight. The guilt and pain he’d carried for years before meeting Kat had been replaced by the intense love he had for his wife.
They all waited for his answer.
“Aiden,” Kat whispered. “This is the part where you tell the nice Elvis if you want to be married to me.”
“You know I fuckin’ do,” he said in his thick Boston Southie accent right before he blanched and palmed the head of Xander’s two-month-old godson in Kat’s arms. “I mean, I freakin’ do. Sorry, Alex.”
Kat chuckled softly. “You’ve got a couple of years before you have to worry about swearing around him, big guy.”
Jax snorted. “Yeah, but it’ll take him at least that long to clean up his filthy mouth. Don’t worry, bruh, I’ll get you some Orbitz gum.”
“Fuck off.”
“I rest my case.”
Irish tossed a rueful look over his shoulder at Jax, tacking on a middle finger for good measure. Kat cupped his jaw with her free hand to bring his attention back to her. As always, her touch was all it took to soothe Irish. Aiden had found a woman who—despite fighting demons of her own—had been strong enough to save him from himself.
“What do you say?” Irish lifted his hand and stroked a thumb over her freckled cheek, then asked her in his low, gravelly voice, “You still with me, kitten?”
“Yes. I’m still with you, Aiden.” Kat glanced down at their son, sleeping in her arms, then smiled up at him. “Always.”
As Irish and Kat got lost in each other, Xander turned his attention back to his own stunning bride. With her jewel-toned hair pinned up in large ringlets, her makeup applied softer than usual, and the sleeveless white cocktail dress that hugged her fit figure, he could barely take his eyes off her. Elvis began rattling off the last of his spiel about who gave him power to do what and pronouncing them all as newlyweds twice over, but Xan didn’t pay attention to any of it. All he wanted to do was get her home, get through their combined reception (which was a fancy way of saying they were having a party with friends), then kick everyone out so he could give his wife a wedding night to remember.
“Love your ladies tender, gentlemen.”
When all the guys looked at Elvis funny, Sophie chuckled and said, “This is what you get after too many concussions.”
Kristin piped up from behind them. “It’s the kiss, geniuses. Kiss your women!”
Xander and the boys didn’t have to be told twice. He framed Sophie’s face and took her lips in a sinful kiss that would have burned the place down had they been in a real church. When that last part of the ceremony had been thoroughly taken care of, the electronic organ struck up with vigor from their disapproving music lady, probably trying to usher them out quickly to bring the next party in.
“Let’s go, people. There’s a reception gathering at Chez James, and there’s a bottle of Patrón with my name on it.” Kristin clapped her hands together like she was rounding up a class of children and ushered each couple back up the aisle: Reid and Lucie, Jax and Vanessa, Irish and Kat, and finally, Xan and Sophie.
“Patrón?” Jax smirked down at his wife. “Hey, V, you up for a game of Bullshit Body Shots?”
“I don’t know, Maris, you planning on cheating like you did last time?”
He laughed. “If it means getting to lick—”
“Ow.” Lucie stopped mid-waddle and clutched her belly. Reid was instantly on alert, as was everyone.
“Luce, you okay? What’s—” Before he could finish, their plans for the night changed. “Oh shit,” he said, panic straining his voice. “Your water just broke!”
Lucie looked up at him with wide eyes. “My water just broke.”
Vanessa squealed in delight. “The baby’s coming, Jax! I’m going to be an auntie again! Oh my God, I’m so excited.”
Kat beamed at the soon-to-be-mother. “I’m so happy for you, Lucie!” Then to Sophie, “Don’t worry, we’ll still have your party soon, I promise.”
Sophie waved her off. “Screw my party. I’d rather have a welcome home thing for Lucie.”
“Hospital,” Reid barked. “We need to get her to the hospital.”
Chaos erupted with everyone shouting orders and plans and gently guiding the pregnant woman into the lobby of the chapel. Sophie started to follow, but Xander pulled her back. Things were about to get crazy, and he just needed a moment with her, alone.
“We’ll catch up,” he said when she looked concerned. “Was your second wedding everything you’d hoped for, Mrs. James?”
“Well, Mr. James, I’m still married to you, so I’d say it was a rousing success. I just wish Grams could’ve been a part of it.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a reassuring squeeze. They’d spent a lot of time visiting Marjorie over the last three months, and sometimes it even seemed like she recognized them on occasion, though Xander knew it was more likely their wishful thinking. He would’ve given anything for Sophie’s grandmother to know him. To know that her granddaughter was loved and cared for, and would continue to be long after Marjorie rejoined her own love in heaven.
“She knows, Soph,” he whispered against the top of her head. “Somewhere deep down, she knows you’re safe and happy. And she knows how happy you make me, because I tell her so every time we visit.”
Sophie pulled back enough to meet his gaze. “You do?”
Tucking an errant curl behind her ear, he gave her a soft smile. “I do.”
She sniffed and tried to blink the tears away, but it was no use, so he used the pads of his thumbs to help dry her petal-soft cheeks.
“I love you, Xander.”
“Never as much as I love you, sweet Sophie.”
She let out a small laugh. “Agree to disagree, then.”
“I’m happy to wrestle you for it later,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows. “But how about we go meet the new member in our family of misfits first?”
“Our family…” she repeated, her tone wistful. Smiling, she clasped his hand in hers. “Let’s go join our family.”
Twenty hours and twelve minutes later, Reid and Lucie introduced the whole clan to their brand new daughter…and she was just the start of their growing families.
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