We were married. Really, truly married now. The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, and now we were down at the park where Mike had first apologized to me to get our wedding photos done. It had seemed appropriate, since it was this place as much as any of them that had started us down to the road leading to today.

River looked adorable in his little tux, but not as adorable as his father. Mike stood to one side with the baby held face-out in front of him so out little boy could see all his family gathered around. It had taken almost two whole days of intense discussion, but we’d finally settled on River Dean West for his name, I’d be changing mine to West as soon as we were back home in L.A. so we’d all be the same.

Llewellyn West. Just saying the name in my mind made a thrill run over my skin. I was so looking forward to the first time I got to sign something.

"Lew, focus!" Our photographer—Wulf, one of Mike's friends from L.A.—snapped his finger in front of me, then laughed when I jumped and blinked at him. "I don't think I've ever seen a couple so... besotted with each other."

"Besotted?"

"That's the only word for it. Now, last chance to add or delete shots and then we have to start taking the photos or we're going to be late back to the wedding supper."

Sighing, and with a glance for my new husband and our baby enjoying themselves over in the shade of a clump of trees, I took the list and glanced down it. "Looks fine." I really wished Maddie was here to be a part of this. To meet her great-grandson and play the grand dame during the reception.

"Good." He slung his camera bag over his shoulder and waved to his assistant. "Let's get you some beautiful memories."

Mike looked up as we got close. "We ready?"

I nodded and held my hands out for River.

"Nope," Mom said, swooping in to scoop him out of Mike's arms. "Wedding photos first, then family photos." She glanced back and forth between us. "In case of explosions."

"She has a point," Mike said.

"Yeah." The two families had been playing 'pass the baby' for the last two days and my arms really missed him. It was a good thing he was a social little guy, even at only four months. Also a good thing that both mine and Mike's parents had been frequent guests in our little apartment—with all the strangers around, I'd worried he'd be fussy, but if he got upset and one of us was busy, one of the grandparents would dive in and save the day.

Mike took my hand and kissed me quickly on the lips, and then we followed the photographer over toward the pond and the bridge over it. Kind of where it had all started, really—I could see the picnic tables we'd sat at that first night from our spot in the middle of the bridge.

"Smile, you just got married!" the photographer said and the camera clicked.

I glanced up at Mike, careless of the camera clicking away, and smiled broadly at him.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" he joked.

"No. Just thinking. I'm glad we got our second chance."

He laughed and cupped my jaw with his palm, ignoring the photographer's exasperation. "I'm glad you gave me one. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I kissed him then, the first in what I hoped would be a long series of happily married kisses. It had been a whirlwind year, but we'd still managed to get our happy ever after.

With pictures finished—including some with the baby—we piled back into the limo and the cars and headed off to the reception. Mike had insisted we go all out and, along with matching suits, we had a four tier wedding cake with custom figures on top, an open bar for the reception, and we were having the dinner and reception in the biggest hotel in Portland. I'd used some of my 'Maddie Money' to pay for things, Mike had used some of the money he'd gotten for his part in the Laydon action movie, and our families had also chipping in a little, though I'd put serious restrictions in place on how much they were allowed to spend.

My dream wedding.

I could hear soft music playing as we gathered for our entrance—like I said, we went all out. This was the only time I planned to do this, it was damn well going to be done right. We walked in to a swell of music and applause from everyone we'd invited. I saw Mrs. Costner sitting at a table near the kitchen, Mr. McAllister beside her.

"Mike." I elbowed him. "Mrs. Costner did make it to the wedding after all."

"Did she?" He craned his neck to look then I saw his eyes widen. "Her hand looks kinda high up on his thigh."

"You sure that's his thigh she's holding onto?" I countered and snorted a laugh when he choked. "Hey, those two are a hot item, you know." I swept him off to the front of the reception hall before his head exploded. We had a sweetheart table for three set up there, with our parents close by on either side to help with the baby.

"Oh my God, don't show me things like that anymore," Mike muttered under his breath and held my chair out for me.

I settled River on my lap and made him wave at his grandparents. "Where's the Moses basket?" I whispered to Mike.

"Tasia's bringing it," he whispered back.

I nodded and looked up to find our wedding planner standing by my side. "Everyone's here, it looks like. How much longer did you want to wait before we start the meal?"

Mike shrugged when I glanced in his direction. "We can start anytime."

"I'll go let the kitchen know," she said and disappeared.

Tasia appeared, the Moses basket in our wedding colors of blue and gold swinging from one hand. "Ugh, the traffic. You guys know there's photographers out there, right?"

"Uh, no." I elbowed Mike. "What's up?"

"It wasn't me," he muttered. "You want me to call the cops on them?"

"I don't think we can," I said. "That's going to make it hard to sneak out of here tonight."

He draped an arm over my shoulders and drawled, "Oh, I'll figure something out. I am, after all, an action hero."

Tasia rolled her eyes so hard I thought it should have hurt. "Yeah, I'll bet," she snarked. "Okay, here's the basket. Do you want me to take him for a little while?" she added hopefully.

I shook my head and cuddled River closer. "I've hardly held him at all the last couple of days. And he's staying with you guys tonight. Get your cuddles then."

"Darn," she said in mock disappointment. "I'll go find my seat, then. Your mom's heading this way with the baby bag."

"Thank heaven," I grumbled. "I was wondering where that had disappeared to."

Mike, the jerk, laughed at me again when Mom tried to take the baby from me. "No, I want to keep him for a little while. I'll let you know," I said grimly. "Damn you, stop laughing," I told my husband once I'd finally convinced my mother to go away. "It's not funny."

"It is. You're like a honey badger with that baby." He leaned in to kiss me, then the baby. "River Dean West, you have the best daddy in the world." He kissed me again. "And I'm the luckiest man in the world."

I was going to say something sappy back, but the hum of the microphone behind us started up, and we heard our wedding planner welcoming everyone and opening the stage for Mike's brother to come up and start the festivities.

"Afternoon, everyone," Colin said, grinning at the crowd. "For those who don't know, I'm Mike's older brother Colin. I'm the Best Man—unless you ask Lew, because he obviously thinks my brother is the best one."

The crowd laughed and I shook my head and shuffled around on my chair to make it easier to see him. If it also made it easy for me to lean back against Mike, well, that was a bonus.

Colin waited for the laughter to die down before he began speaking again. He did the traditional welcome to the family speech, talked about the baby and made jokes about the amount of 'intense discussion' we'd had about the name, and then ended with, "Most of you here know the story of Mike and Lew and their high school romance. And then their Hollywood style break-up." The crowd laughed and a low hum of commentary rose up above them.

I tensed—I did not want this story brought up again. Not at our wedding anyway. Mike kissed me gently behind my ear and whispered, "Relax. It's okay."

No, it wasn't, but all eyes were on us, so I pasted a smile on my face and pretended to fix River's tuxedo.

Colin grinned at me. "But gathering all that stuff up must have been an awful chore, and with a new baby and now Mike to look after—" He paused to let everyone laugh at his slight at his brother. "—I put together a little congratulatory gift for you, to save you time just in case." He turned away for a moment and Tasia walked up to him, carrying two fairly large gift bags in blue and gold, trailing ribbon and other decorations. "This one's yours," he said, handing me the blue bag. "Go ahead, open it now."

Damn. I gave him the stink-eye and glared at the bag. Not much help for it, though. Resigned, and determined to be a good sport about it, I picked apart the bows holding the top shut and pulled out... "A campfire starting kit?" I asked, incredulous. "Really?"

Colin grinned. "Look more closely."

I peered into the bag and... "Oh." I started laughing. I couldn't help it. Pictures of Mike's face, glued onto about a dozen of those big tongue-depressor sized Popsicle sticks. "Look, Mike. I can burn you in effigy." I held one up so everyone could see.

As the people around us chuckled, Colin handed the gold bag to Mike. "Just in case," he intoned darkly, then stepped out of the way and watched with a broad grin on his face.

Mike raised his eyebrows and opened the bag while I watched avidly. It had swung heavily when Colin had handed it over and I thought I had an idea what was inside it.

Mike pulled out a small fire extinguisher and held it triumphantly above his head. "Yes!" And we all laughed. Mike put the extinguisher on the table. "That's staying right there," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You, come here." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a dramatic kiss that brought out oohs and clapping from both our families.

The staff started bringing the appetizers out at that point, so I had to reluctantly hand the baby off to my mother so we could eat. He seemed happy enough to go though and I supposed it was a good thing that he was comfortable with his grandparents.

I'd only gotten two bites into me when someone started tapping their spoon against their wine glass. The ringing call to kiss was picked up by a few other people and spread across the room like a plague.

"I'm going to regret agreeing to this," I told Mike, then stood up so we could perform the obligatory kiss in front of the crowd. I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time that night and I turned out to be right. At a guess, we had to stand and kiss a dozen times during the meal, and by the time I got the opportunity to mash wedding cake into Mike’s face, I was absolutely ready for it.

“Don’t make a mess now,” he warned me, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Why would you think I’d make a mess?” I asked him innocently and then, before he could move, I squashed a big square of cake and icing over his nose and mouth, cackling with glee the whole time. Flashes exploded and I plotted to make sure at least one of those pictures made it to the tabloids.

“Your turn,” Mike said and swooped down on me. I squawked and ducked but he was fast, and moments later I was wearing a matching square of wedding cake and laughing as I scraped it off my nose and let the sweetness of the little bit that had actually gotten inside my mouth burst across my tongue. Then Mike grabbed me and kissed me, cake mess and all, and I forgave him everything.

Well, everything except the first dance.

Mike and I got cleaned up while everyone else got dessert, then I made sure I had some quiet baby and husband time in a little back room. My two favorite men in the whole wide world.

But then the DJ started the music for the reception and I had to give River back to Mike’s mother so we could go have our first dance.

Which was disco.

I’d tried to claim spousal abuse, but he argued that since I’d gotten my way on River’s middle name that this would just make things even. So I’d given way with as much grace as I could muster—which hadn’t been much, to be honest, because River Gable still sounded like a bed and breakfast to me—and had gone with Mike to dance lessons to learn to disco.

Marriage is all about compromise, right?

We stepped out onto the floor, Mike grinning so hard I worried his face would stick like that. Then the first notes of “You’re the One that I Want” from Grease bounced out of the speakers and we were on.

The crowd shouted and clapped as we spun around each other and, whatever my feelings on it in the beginning, by the end I was laughing and having the time of my life. So maybe Mike hadn’t been totally wrong about the disco.

Just before the song finished, we were joined by our families and friends and the music slowed down. I wrapped my arms around Mike’s neck and swayed against him, just enjoying our time together on the dance floor. Off to the side, I could see Tasia dancing around with River while Mike’s parents danced together on the edge of the crowd, and my brother trying to dance with both my niece and my nephew at the same time. He was going to have a crick in his back after that, I suspected, but they looked like they were having fun, which was what I’d aimed for when I’d planned this.

Bubbles floated over our heads and I watched the kids chasing them, cotton candy smeared over their faces. The smell of hot buttered popcorn and pretzels filled the air as the reception’s snack carts started up. At the far end of the room, the opening credits of one of Mike’s movies glowed from a projector and I noticed a crowd starting to gather around it.

“You did good,” Mike said, giving me a little squeeze.

“I think everyone’s having fun.” I leaned my forehead against his. “How about you?”

“Best day of my life. Aside from the one where you propositioned me and then made me buy you a ring.”

I laughed and took a moment to kiss him. “I’m glad you came back home. I just wish Maddie had been here to see it.” We put up some of her movie posters around the room with little spotlights on them, kind of like the entry to a movie theater. But it wasn’t the same as having her here in person.

“She’s always in our hearts,” he reminded me. “Oh, look. Wow, Mr. McAllister can really move.”

“It’s his new hip,” I said, peeking over my shoulder to watch as he twirled Mrs. Costner and her own recently replaced hip through a series of moves that looked way more complicated than Mike’s and my disco routine. “It’s pretty bad when the seniors are out-dancing us.”

“Some day, that’ll be us at our grandchild’s wedding.” He twirled me carefully around him, then pulled me close again. “I promise, I won’t make you do disco at that age though.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I admitted and shook my head at his crow of triumph. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“I won’t. I promise.” He stepped back, drawing me after him, and led me out of the dancing crowd to a clear spot at the edge. There, he wrapped his arms around me, my back to his front, and we spent a few quiet moments watching everyone enjoy our celebration.

Mike leaned down at the end of the song and whispered, “How’d you like to live in England for about six months next year?”

I leaned back so I could see his face and raised my eyebrows.

He grinned. “There has to be some perks to the job, right?”

I laughed. “Sure. I always wanted to see the world.”

He kissed me and his arms tightened around my body. “I’d give you the world if I could.”

“Just you and River is enough for me. But yeah, England sounds nice.” For sure, this was going to be a marriage full of adventure and not a lot of stability, but I was okay with that. Not too often you got the man of your dreams and a life like a movie script.

It might not have been easy getting here, and I didn’t doubt we’d have more challenges to face in the future, but right here, right now?

I had to say, this was way better than in the movies.