23 Years Old - From This Moment On

“Nooooo,” Devil breathed, shaking his head as he fought back a wave of panic.  Watching as his wife and her three best friends fluttered around his little girl, tugging and fluffing Devlynn’s flowing white dress, he couldn’t help hoping that this was all a dream, that soon he’d wake up and find his daughter asleep in her crib where she belonged.  There was no way Devlynn was old enough to become another man’s wife.  No damned way!

It didn’t matter that he was sixty-three.  He still felt forty, and he dared the world to prove otherwise.  And if he was forty, then by God, his baby was still his baby. Right?

Obviously not.

“I still can’t believe I’m wearing a Samantha Dixon original creation.  Thank you so much, Aunt Sami!” Devlynn sighed happily as she twirled in the center of the room, finally stopping to study her reflection in the cheval mirror in the corner of the room.    “It’s like a dream come true!”

“Oh, please,” Devlynn’s Aunt Sami scoffed as she sidestepped Devlynn’s maid of honor to reach for her flute of champagne.  “It’s the least I could do for my beautiful niece on her wedding day.  My gift to you, sweetie.”

“It’s beyond gorgeous, Samantha,” Molly praised as she adjusted her little girl’s lace veil, her thin fingers working easily.  “Don’t you think the dress is breathtaking, Devil?” she asked her husband over her shoulder.

Looking from his wife’s beautiful, expectant face to where his only offspring stood waiting for his praise, he nodded.  “Sweetheart, the dress is stunning, but the bride is the only breathtaking thing in this room,” he declared hoarsely with a wink at his daughter. 

“Thank you, Daddy,” Devlynn replied sweetly before turning to look at her Aunt Vivian when the older woman called her name. 

“I don’t know how in the world Armando did it in the middle of the worst winter Georgia’s ever experienced in the last twenty years, but he actually managed to get you the blooming pink orchids you wanted, Devlynn,” Vivian announced, passing the  flowing spray of roses, tulips and orchids to the younger woman. 

Gasping, Devlynn took the huge bunch of flowers in one hand.  “Oh, my word,” she tittered, her wide darting around the room to find Armando – a man who was both her honorary uncle and father of the groom.  “Uncle Mannie, this bouquet is a work of art!  Mom, are you seeing this?” Devlynn asked excitedly, turning so her mother could ogle the flowers, too.

“They’re perfect!  Look how the blue of the tulips matches the bridesmaids’ dresses! Devil, don’t you think they’re just perfect?” Molly asked her husband over her shoulder.

They just looked like flowers to him, but if his wife and his kid deemed them perfect, then perfect they were, Devil decided as he nodded supportively to the women. 

“I’m glad you think so, Devilkins,” Armando declared with a gleeful smile as his eyes sparked mischievously.  “Because you paid a pretty penny for them,” he added as he elbowed Devil in the ribs.  “Nothing is too good for los ninos, si?”

“Right,” Devil confirmed with a nod.  Hell, he didn’t care about the money.  He could make more money.  But he and Molly couldn’t make another Devlynn.  Was he really going to let another man take her from him?

One look at his daughter’s happy face established that he was, indeed, going to hand over his child’s care and well-being to another man.

Not just any man, his conscience reminded him.

That was true, he thought.  Nyx Santino had been raised by two of the best men he knew and two of the finest friends he had.  Armando and Nick had done a stellar job raising their adopted son, and if Devil was forced to trust Devlynn with someone else, Nyx would be his pick every single time.

None of that eased the butterflies in his stomach or the ache in his heart.

“Hey, guys, I’ll be back in a few,” Devil said, rising from the chair he’d been holding down in the corner of the room.  “I’m gonna go get some air before we take that walk down the aisle,” he informed his daughter with a smile.

“Daddy, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Devlynn asked, looking at her father with concerned eyes.

“Are you loco?  We’re getting close to show time, papi!” Armando  worried aloud, pointing a finger toward the clock hanging above the door.  

“Do you want me to come with you?” Molly murmured, extending a hand toward him as she cocked her head to the side and she stared at him with knowing eyes, her understanding gaze soothing some of the pain in his chest.  God, he loved his wife.  Every time he looked at Molly, he still saw the beautiful, vibrant woman he’d fallen in love with all those decades ago.  He still remembered every moment of their own wedding and how he’d literally carried her away from the reception.  How could they have reached this point? How? 

“I’m okay, baby,” he assured his spouse, reaching out to squeeze her hand in his.  “I wanna have a word with my future son-in-law.”

“Don’t you go terrorizing mi bebe, pendejo,” Armando warned as his dark eyes flashed.

Devil grinned as the man went from a meek, mild-tempered lamb to a mama bear ready to maul someone for the good of his young in less than three seconds.  “Sheathe your claws, Mannie.  Your kid is perfectly safe from me as long as he makes my baby happy,” Devil replied with an eye roll.  “I just wanna give him something real quick.  I meant to do it earlier, but time got away from me.”

“What?” Devlynn asked curiously, smoothing her hands over her satin skirt as she stepped toward her dad.

“Nothing you need to know about yet,” Devil replied with an impish smile as he headed for the door. 

“Daddy, I love him,” Devlynn reminded her father.  “Don’t try and scare him off, okay?”

Pausing with his hand on the brass doorknob to the room, Devil turned his head to stare into his daughter’s eyes.  “Baby girl, even if I tried, that man wouldn’t be scared off.  He loves you.  If I have to let you go, there’s no better man to watch you choose.”

Nodding once, Devlynn grinned.  “Okay, then.”

Chuckling as he slipped out of the room, Devil quickly walked to the room he knew they were using for the groom’s waiting area.  Tapping his knuckles against the door once, he didn’t bother waiting to let himself inside.  He was, after all, paying for this joint.  To his way of thinking, that entitled him to enter any room he wanted.

“Devil? We were all just about to head into the church sanctuary.  Something wrong?” Nyx’s dad, Nick, quickly asked as Devil stepped into the room. 

“Is Devlynn okay?” Nyx asked anxiously before Devil could open his mouth. 

Shaking his head, Devil nodded to the group of men waiting to go into the church, but his eyes were only concerned with one of them.  “Everything is fine, Nyx.  Relax,” he urged the nervous groom in front of him.  “Believe me, my daughter is as ready to meet up with you at the altar as you are to see her.  I actually just wanted a private word with my future son-in-law before the service gets started,” he shared easily.

“You won’t convince me to bail on my woman,” Nyx warned seriously as everyone in the room laughed.

“Yeah, I know, kid.  I’m not gonna try to bribe you into jilting the bride.  Between her mother and your other dad, I wouldn’t make it out of here with my eyeballs intact if I tried any monkey business right now.  I come in peace; I promise you that,” Devil reassured the younger man.

Nodding, Nick looked toward his dad, best man and groomsman.  “Go ahead in, guys.  I’ll be behind you in a couple of minutes.”

Nyx’s dad paused beside Devil on the way out to shake his hand.  “Can you believe our kids are really getting married?” Nick asked.

“Nope,” Devil denied.  “It seems like Devlynn shouldn’t even be out of diapers yet.  I don’t know where the time has gone.”

“Mannie and I haven’t had Nyx as long as you’ve had Devlynn, but it still feels like I just brought Nyx home,” Nick admitted.  “For the record, though, I couldn’t be more thrilled that our boy chose your girl to fall in love with, Devil.

“Same here, man.  Same here,” Devil said gratefully, smiling as Nick released his hand and left the room.  Relieved to be alone with the guy that was going to marry his daughter, Devil leaned against the door.  “So, you ready?”

“Absolutely,” Nyx confirmed as he faced Devil. 

Dressed in a black Armani tux that closely resembled the one Devil wore, the younger man looked every bit the confident, successful businessman that he’d become, and Devil was suitably impressed.  “Look, I don’t wanna hold you up, but I have something for you,” he said, reaching into the pocket of his slacks and extracting a slender gold band.  Holding it out to Nyx, he ordered, “Take it.”

Nyx eyebrows furrowed as he slowly held out his hand as Devil dropped the ring into his palm.  “I don’t understand,” Nyx murmured, confused.

“That ring,” Devil began, nodding at the band in Nyx’s hand, “belonged to Devlynn’s great-grandmother.”

“Nana,” Nyx breathed softly, closing his eyes.

“Yeah, kid.” Devil’s grandmother had been a force of nature when she’d been alive, and everyone had loved her, including Nyx.  “The Delancy diamond is still on Molly’s finger where I hope it’ll stay for a good, long while, but I thought you ought to have a little piece of Delancy history to mark this day.  That’s the gold that my grandfather put on Nana’s hand over eighty years ago.  They had a long, happy marriage so I’m pretty sure that ring has some pretty incredible luck attached to it.  I had it sized to fit Devlynn’s finger a couple of months ago, and I thought you might want to put it on your bride’s finger today,” he said, shrugging uncomfortably.

“Uncle Devil….” Nyx choked.  “I… you… this means a lot to me, sir,” he admitted emotionally.

Devil nodded.  “I know.  Just know that I’m happy for you and my daughter.  I want the world for both of you, son,” he shared, pulling Nyx into his arms for a hug.  “Be good to my little girl,” he whispered against the boy’s ear. 

“I will, sir.  I swear it,” Nyx vowed thickly.

Thirty minutes later, with his wife curled against him, Devil watched as two individuals who’d played together as children, fought together as adolescents. and loved together as adults linked their lives together in the most permanent way a man and woman could.  He could still remember in great detail the day that he had married Molly over two decades ago like it was just yesterday.  He was just s certain that he’d remember his daughter’s wedding in the same way.

Both of his girls were happy.  He had kept his promise to Molly’s daddy to always take care of them both.  He had a feeling that Miss Anne, Walter, and his own Nana were smiling from heaven at that very moment…or at least he hoped so. 

“Well, that’s the end of an era,” Molly breathed, sniffling as she used Devil’s handkerchief to wipe the tears she’d shed from her cheeks.

“No, sweetheart,” Devil denied with a smile as he watched his glowing daughter tilt her head back to receive her new husband’s kiss. “This is only the beginning.”

~*~ The End – for now ~*