We waited until Saturday to say anything to Emma. I went to my condo and got the picture she made for me and brought it with me to the house. The first thing I did when I got there was give her the picture.

“Why did you bring me this picture back?” she asked me, obviously confused. “I made it for you to keep at your house.”

“But, princess, you told me I couldn’t keep it forever so I brought it here with me.”

“You were supposed to keep it until you live with us.” She was so cute and sounded so exasperated standing there with her hands on her hips. “Remember rule number two?”

“I know, silly, and since I’m moving here to your house this weekend, I thought I should bring it with me.”

That was met by squeals and really big hugs. Along with lots of ideas about what we could do now that we were going to be together.

We spent the weekend packing up my condo and scheduled a moving truck for Tuesday. I couldn’t get off work, but Mark could so he said he would meet the movers over there. I had planned on putting the condo up for sale, but Mark convinced me it was a good investment property. Mark’s house was completely furnished and most of my furniture wasn’t special to me so we decided I would lease it out as furnished. I picked a few pieces that I wanted to take with me and we made room for them at Mark’s.

The next couple of weeks flew by. It was full of unpacking, bedtime stories, and wedding planning. It was the best two weeks of my life up to that point. It just felt right being here with Emma and Mark. Emma was spending more time at our house than usual, probably because it was so new.

We talked it over with Suzie and Tom and decided to let her spend as much time at our place as she wanted until the novelty wore off. Having them next door turned out to be more fun than I expected. Tom and I had coffee together on more than one occasion since we were both early risers. Turns out we had a lot in common—from a love of classic rock to believing baseball was superior to both hockey and football.

Some nights, Suzie and Tom would join us on the deck. We would talk and watch Emma play. We decided that instead of covering our deck and screening it, we would build a screened porch connecting the two decks. It would take up part of both decks so it could be entered from both our back doors. Part of the motivation was making sure Emma could pass between the two houses safely, but it was mostly motivated by the bugs. Those damn mosquitoes could carry off a small child.

Matt agreed to come stand up for me at the wedding, which kind of surprised me since it was on the 4^th of July. I figured he would be busy, but he said he didn’t have anything planned. Tom and Lincoln were standing up for Mark and Nathan was performing the ceremony. I had no idea he could do that, but apparently, there was some online course you could take to become ordained to perform marriages and he took the course a couple of years ago when gay marriage became legal. That boy was either brilliant or crazy, I wasn’t sure which.

He asked what we wanted him to wear for the ceremony. He actually offered to “tone it down” for the wedding pictures, and I won some brownie points with Mark when I told him we loved him just the way he was, no toning down required, and believe me, I cashed on those brownie points in a very delicious way.

The next thing I wanted to do required a phone call to Arizona. Mark had already talked to my dad about coming for the wedding and that was all set, but I wanted Jake to stand up there with me. I knew we didn’t know each other that well, but I was planning to fix that, and I wanted my brother to be a part of my wedding not just a guest. I hoped he would get the significance of me wanting him to be my best man, that this was my way of saying that even though we had been apart for years, I wanted him to know that he was still my brother and that he mattered to me.

“Hey, Justin. What’s up?”

“Not much. How about you?”

“It’s still so weird to see your name on my caller ID, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. What have you been up to this summer so far?”

“Nothing, just hanging out, letting the fact that I am going to college in a couple months sink in. It doesn’t seem real yet. I am excited though.”

“You ready for your trip out here? I know it wasn’t much notice.”

He chuckled. “We had more notice than you did. Mark told Dad who told me when you were out here weeks ago. But yeah, we are ready. I’m excited to see Austin.”

“Speaking of your trip out here, I have a favor to ask. I was wondering if you would stand up with me at the wedding and be my best man?”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Seriously. It’s not overly formal, so you don’t need a tux or anything.”

“That is awesome. I would love to do that. Does that mean I get to take you to a strip club for a bachelor party?”

“No way, dude. No strip clubs, besides I am pretty sure the kind of strip club I would like wouldn’t suit you. Plus, I don’t think they let 18-year-olds in anyway.” I laughed.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Those dreaded years between eighteen and twenty-one where you are legally an adult but everyone treats you like a kid.”

“Well, kid,” I teased, “Do you need me buy you a suit to wear?”

“Nah, Dad got me one for graduation. He said every adult needs at least one suit. Are the other guys wearing suits?”

“Yes, they are. Mark handled that part of the wedding so let me get with him and see if there is anything you need know, and I will text you. I should have found that out before I called, I guess.”

“That’s cool. Just let me know.” He hesitated and then he said, “Justin, thanks for asking me. I was hoping you would.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, brother,” I answered honestly.

* * *

I had to admit my mom had outdone herself. I never would’ve believed she could have pulled off such nice wedding in two weeks, but when we arrived at her house, she took us out back to see what she had “thrown together.” It was beautifully decorated with lights and flowers. I had always loved the fountain in their backyard, but I have to tell you, it had never looked a good as it did today. She had set up picnic tables over near the fence for food and drinks and there were chairs set up in a semi-circle around the fountain for our family. It was perfect.

We had planned to get married in the morning so we could all enjoy the rest of the holiday festivities. Justin, Matt, and Jake got ready in my parents’ room and Linc, Nathan, and I got ready upstairs in my old room, then we met downstairs in the sunroom.

My god, that man was beautiful. I was so lucky to be marrying him, and the hardest thing to believe was that I could tell by the look in his eyes that he felt the same way. We had tossed around the idea of what to wear since it was such an informal wedding, but in the end, my mom insisted we wear suits. She said that when we looked at our wedding photos twenty years from now, we would be glad we did. I could tell she was thinking about the picture that hung in our hallway from the day she married my dad. But I didn’t even need to wait twenty years to agree that she was right. Seeing Justin looking so handsome and formal in his suit made me glad we’d chosen them.

“You ready to do this?” he asked me as he reached out and took my hand.

“More than ready. How about you?”

“Oh yeah. I’m ready.”

So, hand in hand we walked out to our places by the fountain where Suzie waited with Emma. She looked so pretty in her pink princess dress. We both took one of her hands and then turned to face Nathan, and he began.

“Friends, we have come together here in this beautiful yard to see these two men become husbands. They have chosen to forgo a traditional ceremony with vows and instead opted for what they are calling a ceremony of joining their lives. The rings they have already exchanged are symbolic of this joining.”

“Justin, let’s start with you. Do you promise to love and cherish Mark, being his partner in all things, with love, and do you promise to love and care for Emma as your daughter as long as you live?”

Justin looked at me and smiled. “I do.” Then he leaned down and kissed Emma’s cheek.

“Emma, do you promise to love your daddy and Justin forever?”

“I will forever,” Emma solemnly repeated the line she had been practicing all week.

“Mark, do you promise to love and cherish Justin, being his partner in all things, with love? As long as you live?”

“I do.”

“Through the power vested to me by the State of Texas, I now pronounce you husbands and a family. Mr. and Mr. Montgomery, you may now kiss your husband.”

I turned toward him. “I love you, Mr. Montgomery,” I said as I slowly leaned in and gave him a kiss. Our family cheered, and then while the photographer came over to take a few shots of us, everyone else headed over to the table where the cake was set up.

“You didn’t tell me you were taking my last name,” I said to him.

“I wanted to surprise you. It’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course. It’s more than okay. It’s perfect.”

* * *

The photographer’s part took longer than I expected. We took shots of the two of us, shots with the groomsmen, and ones where we recreated parts of the ceremony. But the most emotional one was when they called my dad and brother over, and I got to take a picture with the two of them. I felt so lucky to get to share this with them.

Just as I leaned back in to steal a second ‘first’ kiss from my husband, Mark’s mom interrupted us.

“Boys, we need to get on with the cutting of the cake so we can all head downtown to the Wing Ding. Come on over here and let’s get this done before we miss the parade.”

“Your mom is a bit too serious about this whole 4^th of July thing. I don’t think I have ever met anyone who was quite so excited about it before,” I told him as we headed over to the cake table.

“She does love it, but I’m thinking we let everyone else head into town for the parade, and we can head into town a little later for the picnic and fireworks. What do you think?”

“Why, Mr. Montgomery!” I gasped. “What on earth would we do to pass the time here at the house all alone?”

“Hmmm, I’m sure we can think of something.”

We managed to cut the cake and take pictures in time for everyone to head into town for the parade. It was getting to be mid-afternoon by the time Mark and I joined everyone at the football field for the town picnic.

We loaded up our plates with food. I got hot dogs and potato salad and Mark got BBQ and beans. Then we headed over to the blankets our family had put down to claim our spots. It looked like Cathy’s insistence on coming here early paid off because we had a great spot near the live music. I started getting us all set up to eat, and Mark went back for funnel cake and drinks.

He returned, and as we ate our food, I looked at the blankets sitting around us. Mark’s parents and my dad were sitting on one blanket, chatting like old friends. Nathan, Rachel, Brad, Suzie, and Tom were sitting on another, watching Jake run around playing with Emma, and I knew Matt and Linc were around here somewhere but I hadn’t spotted them yet.

“You know, I can’t imagine a more perfect wedding reception.” I reached over and took Mark’s hand.

“So hot dogs, baked beans, and bluegrass do it for you, do they?” He chuckled.

“Well yeah. I mean who doesn’t love a good hot dog.” I winked. “But seriously, my friends, your friends, our family all together. It’s perfect. I don’t see how we could make it any better.”

“Neither do I,” he replied. “But you know the best part? We have the rest of forever to try.” Then he kissed me.