Standing around in a monkey suit never did quite feel right on him, but on this one day he’d tolerate it. His mother kept jerking at his bow tie, trying to get it to lay right.

“For crying out loud, son. You are the only mobster I know who hates to wear a suit.”

“I keep tellin’ pops that I ain’t his. I think I belong the mailman or something.”

The woman’s mouth fell open, but before she could speak Enzo’s mother cut into their conversation.

“Johnathan Edmond Carlo, I cannot believe you said that to your own mother on your wedding day.”

Jerking at his pants leg he growled. “I can’t help it. This fuckin’ thing itches. It’s driving me crazy.”

“Leave the bandage alone. Sarah has already said that if you tear those stitches open again, she’s not walking down the aisle with you today.”

“You two are making me hate you.”

His father jerked the newspaper down from his face. “They are not. You always say that. If you keep giving your mother a hard time, I’m taking you out back and puttin’ a bullet in your head.”

Johnny rolled his eyes as his mother cooed. “Thank you, Bernard.”

Sarah spoke from the doorway. “I never knew your name was Bernard. I thought it was Donald.”

“Don is just a title, child. How are you feeling?”

Smoothing her hand down her relatively flat stomach, she smiled at the older women. “Fine. I can’t wait to join your lovely family.”

Pulling at his collar, Johnny grumbled. “If you knew us better, you wouldn’t say that.”

Watching her eyes dance with mischief as she approached him in her long white dress, made him vibrate with lust. Reaching out, he grabbed her by the waist. “Let me see if I remember the rules. You haven’t put your lipstick on yet, so I can still kiss you, right?”

“That’s next on my agenda, so get to kissing.”

Sliding down to his knees, he began to lift her dress. A step back and gasp later, and she was looking at him with wide eyes. Everyone in the room had frozen in place.

“Now that ain’t in no way shape or form fair, Sweet Cheeks. You never said where I could kiss you.”

“Get your dirty lips up here and stop trying to shock your folks.”

Coming to his feet in front of her, he smiled like an innocent boy scout. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a box. Holding it out in one outstretched hand, he watched her eyes go soft.

“Not another gift, Johnny. You don’t have to keep buying me things.”

“Open it. You’re gonna like these.”

Lifting the lid, she smiled. “I only have two ears, Johnny. Why did you get me two sets of earrings?”

Peering over the top of the opened box, he looked down at the expensive jewelry. One was a huge set of pearls, dripping with diamonds. The other set consisted of pearl studs with one small diamond on top each earring. “The large pair is for you to wear today. I got the smaller pair for…well…you know.”

“I know that since you learned we were having a girl, you’ve been randomly buying pink clothing, princess dolls and white teddy bears.”

“Well, now she has her first pair of earrings.” Rolling his eyes he explained. “I’m not stupid. I know she won’t be able to wear them for a long time, but I wanted her to have a special memento of our day.”

Stepping closer to him, she circled her arms around his neck. “That is just about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Yep, that’s me. I’m real sweet when I’m not busy being a total Neanderthal.”

“Don’t throw my words back in my face.” Going by her words one might think she was angry but her voice was soft and she was smiling up at him adoringly.

Trying to keep the tinge of frustration from his voice he teased. “I just can’t wait for this whole ceremony to be over with so we can get to the ‘kissing the bride’ part of the day.”

He waited patiently as his mother slid the earrings into her ears. “They really suit you, babe. I had Miss Margaret help me pick them out.”

“I’ll treasure them always but you have to stop buying me stuff, baby. I don’t need all that to be happy with you.”

Grinning like a fool he asked pointedly. “What do ya need to be happy with me, Doll?”

Her eyes cut to the side for the briefest of seconds before she whispered. “You really want me to say that in front of your folks?”

Nodding, he didn’t dare speak.

“I just need to keep right on being the big sexy mobster that everyone always underestimates.” Tapping the side of his head slightly, she continued. “I don’t know why people think you’re not intelligent. After seeing you in action, I’d say you were a criminal mastermind. You must take after your gorgeous father in that regard.”

Johnny didn’t need to be looking at his pops to know the man was probably beaming at her characterization of them being criminal masterminds. He loved that kind of shit.

“You just keep right on being your hot, badass, totally dominant self and I’ll be well satisfied. You know, I think you’re perfect just the way you are and I wouldn’t change a damned thing.”

Johnny wasn’t totally sure how long they were kissing but the next thing he knew they were playing the wedding march and Gino was hissing at him to come to the altar. Taking a step back, he watched her bridesmaids converge on her with lipstick and flowers.

“God, you’re the most perfect woman I ever set eyes on and I want you know that I’m never gonna stop lovin’ you.”

She didn’t speak. Instead she smiled and made the go away gesture with her hand. It was a gentle reminder that he needed to get into place if they were going to get hitched today.

Honestly, the only thing better than watching her with her bride’s maids was watching her walk down the aisle on his father’s arm. For a brief moment worry crossed his mind that she might be upset that her parents were not alive for her big day. Catching a glimpse of her glowing smile through the white veil, told him she was fine.

His eyes traveled up to his father’s beaming face. For once, Johnny saw everything he ever dreamed of seeing there. There was love, pride and most of all respect. Feeling his chest tighten, he realized all his dreams were coming slowly true.

They quietly exchanged the personal vows they had written for each other and lifting her veil was a moment that seemed frozen in time. As the room and all the other people melted from his mind, he swallowed thickly.

Standing there staring into her beautiful eyes, he just knew he was supposed to do something specific and profound but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was. This was the first moment of his happily ever after, he could feel it in his bones.

He heard a shout. “You’re supposed to kiss the bride.” A ton of people laughed out loud, drawing him back to the most profound moment of his life.

Pulling her forward into his arms, he whispered. “No matter what tomorrow holds, know I’ll never forsake you for another and I’ll never let anyone fuckin’ hurt you. You can count on me to be your happily ever after, Sarah.” Glancing away, he tried to figure out why he had said all that.

Her hands came up, turning his face back to hers. “I know all that, but it’s nice to hear every now and then. I love you and I want you to know that I’ll always have your back. If the time ever comes when you don’t trust anything, trust in that.”

His lips drifted down and when they touched, it felt like sealing a bargain to love unconditionally for a lifetime. It felt like finally finding home.