New Year’s Day

Rachel paced restlessly, glancing at her watch as she waited for Vlad to arrive. The Sidewinders’ flight from Minnesota had landed about an hour ago. Normally, he would be home by now, but there was still no sign of him. She was at Toli and Tessa’s, and Toli wasn’t home, either, so she, Tessa, and Ashleigh had been making last-minute plans. It had been a rough three months or so and on the one-year anniversary of the day she and Vlad had met, she had what she hoped would be an epic surprise for him.

She smoothed down the skirt of her white lace dress and slid her feet into a pair of white peep-toe pumps. She put a dab of gloss on her lips and slowly descended the stairs, starting as she bumped into Ashleigh just as she rounded the corner.

“You look gorgeous.” Ashleigh grinned.

“You look pretty nice yourself.” Rachel smiled back, resting one hand on Ashleigh’s much more prominent baby bump. “Just seven weeks to go until we meet this little guy.”

“He’s very excited to meet his Aunt Rachel, too.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have to change diapers, do I?”

They snickered together as Tessa joined them, handing Rachel a glass of wine and Ashleigh sparkling cider. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“If they don’t get home soon, I may stroke out,” Rachel moaned.

“Toli just texted me,” Tessa soothed. “They’re almost here.”

“Okay.” Rachel took a long drink of wine and began tapping her foot.

“You’re a hot mess.” Ashleigh nudged her. “Relax. It’s going to be fine.”

When they heard the garage door opening, Tessa and Ashleigh each gave her quick hugs before turning and hurrying up the stairs. Rachel took another sip of wine and then a long, calming breath. This was it. He was home. The moment she’d been waiting for had arrived. Toli opened the door, gave her a wink, and went upstairs without a word.

Vlad came in behind him, frowning, but paused when he saw Rachel.

“Hi.” She approached him and closed her eyes when he leaned in to kiss her.

“Hello, my love. You look stunning tonight.”

“Thank you.” She licked her lips nervously.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking into her eyes curiously. “Why did you have me come to Toli’s instead of our place?”

She linked her fingers through his and stared up at him for a moment, trying to still the wild beating of her heart. “Will you marry me? Today? On the one-year anniversary of the day we met?”

He cocked his head slightly, a soft smile on his lips. “I’ll marry you today, tomorrow, any day you like.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” He pulled her against him. “Why are you shaking? Did you think I’d say no?”

“I-I wasn’t sure,” she admitted in a soft whisper. “We’ve been so busy rebuilding our relationship, we haven’t talked about setting another date, but…”

“But what?”

“I want to be your wife. And today will always be our anniversary, so I came up with this crazy idea…” Her hands were shaking so hard a little wine splashed onto his shirt.

“It’s also our birthdays. Do we want this date to be the celebration of everything special to us?”

She nodded but felt a tiny prick of panic. Had she been impulsive with her big surprise? Was he not on board for this?

“Hey.” He gently took the wine glass from her and put it down before wrapping his arms around her tightly. “I love you, Rachel. We’re in this together, forever, and if you want to get married today, we can go find a chapel and—”

She shook her head, pulling away just far enough to look up at him. “Right here, right now.”

“Now?”

“Our marriage license from September is good for a year, and I have someone on call to marry us if you said yes.”

“If I said yes…” He was shaking his head. “As if there was any doubt.” He kissed her hard, pulling her tight against him.

She nodded. “So yes?”

“Of course, yes.”

“Let me call the justice of the peace and…” She tugged at his hand. “Come on.”

Vlad let her pull him into the family room and he came to a stop as he took in the scene before him; the room was decorated for a wedding. There were dozens of white candles illuminating the large spacious area and the furniture had been moved out, replaced with white folding chairs, tray tables, and a big buffet table against one wall with a beautiful wedding cake on it. The decorations were all white but for a few splashes of black and it was striking.

Glancing down at himself, he smiled at her sneaky plan; she’d packed for him for this trip and though he hadn’t noticed until now, all three suits in his suitcase had been black. Two of his three shirts had been white, and she’d made sure he wore the red one the other night by telling him she thought it would bring him luck. He’d done it without thinking because he’d thought it cute she had her own superstitions about the games; now he knew better. So here he was in a black suit with a white shirt, matching the color scheme of their impromptu wedding.

“So…we’re getting married?” he asked with a soft smile.

She nodded, biting her lower lip. “I just texted the justice of the peace.”

“What do I need to do?”

She walked over to the buffet table and retrieved a small black box, handing it to him. He opened it and smiled, recognizing the wedding rings they’d bought months ago. He’d forgotten about them and now he managed a slight nod. He watched her send a text and within seconds he heard footsteps and voices coming from the stairs.

Toli was first, a broad grin on his face, and right behind him were Sergei and Brock. Vlad had to swallow hard to keep his emotions in check. He’d never dreamed he’d have a moment like this and now it was here. He was about to marry the love of his life with his brothers, nephew, and friends in attendance. His family, he thought in surprise. He had family attending his wedding.

Not that anyone could ever know. Sergei had flown in for Christmas and the three brothers, along with Tessa and Rachel, had sat down to discuss keeping their relationship a secret. There was no reason to make it public knowledge since that wouldn’t accomplish anything but alert the KGB of Vlad’s existence. With his random last name, which had been chosen by design at birth, and the dead end he’d supposedly reached in his search for his background, they hoped to keep him off the KGB’s radar.

On a personal level, however, Toli and Sergei had welcomed him with open arms, happy to add a sibling to their family. Vlad and Toli were already close and Vlad had spent a little time getting to know Sergei better. They hoped to spend holidays and vacations together in the future, and there was a kinship he’d never experienced before. Today, however, added a whole new level to the meaning of family. He’d never had it, never understood fully what it meant, until now. Today, the plethora of emotions he was experiencing were almost overwhelming. Rachel in white. His brothers standing beside him. His friends and teammates here to support them.

He’d had no idea how many people were “hiding” upstairs, waiting for Rachel to give the signal the ceremony was happening. Now Brock, Zakk, and Cody stood beside Toli and Sergei as the women hurried around finalizing details. He watched in detached wonder, only half-listening to his friends’ teasing, his thoughts a jumble of happiness and awe.

Rachel looked beautiful. It wasn’t the custom-made full-length gown she was supposed to wear for their original wedding, but she would have looked beautiful in jeans and a T-shirt. Her hair was down, curled lightly around her shoulders, with a tranquility on her face he hadn’t seen in a long time. She caught him staring at her and turned, cocking her head ever so slightly, as if asking if he was okay. He responded with a brief nod and a wink before turning back to his friends, who were demanding his attention.

“Last chance to run,” Zakk was teasing him.

Vlad chuckled. “Not a chance in hell. You, however, have no room to talk. Your kid is about to turn a year old and you’re still not married.”

Zakk flushed. “That’s up to Tiff and she hasn’t seemed interested.”

“Perhaps it’s time for you to give her a nudge,” Toli suggested. “I think after our wedding disaster, she’s a little skittish.”

Zakk nodded. “I don’t care if we get married or not. It’s just a piece of paper, but I’ll do whatever she wants. She’ll let me know when she’s ready.”

“I’m definitely ready,” Vlad murmured, looking around.

There was a knock on the door and Toli went to open it, smiling at Jamie and Viggo. “Hey!”

Viggo joined Vlad and the others, exchanging pleasantries, but Jamie waved and went towards Rachel, lowering his head to whisper in her ear. Vlad had to force himself not to stare, wondering if he’d ever get over the faint jealousy he felt whenever he saw them together. Jamie was his friend, and he trusted both Jamie and Rachel, but as a man, it was still hard knowing how intimate they’d once been.

“You’ll get used to it,” Viggo said lightly, his voice soft so only Vlad could hear him.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

Viggo chuckled. “Was never jealous before in my life until Jamie. So yeah, there have been a few moments. Then Jamie looks at me and makes me feel like an ass because I know he loves me. End of story. Besides, he’s giving her away. I think that’s pretty symbolic, considering their history.”

“He’s giving her away?” Vlad was surprised. “She wasn’t having anyone give her away last time.”

“She only asked him last night, so I don’t know what changed, but I think it’s pretty cool.”

“So do I,” Vlad murmured.

Another knock on the door interrupted them and an austere gentleman of about sixty came in, smiling and shaking Toli’s hand; the justice of the peace had arrived.

“Is everyone ready?” Tessa called out, standing in the middle of the room.

Vlad and Rachel locked eyes and smiled.

Within minutes, everyone was seated except Brock and Ashleigh, who were standing up for them. Vlad and Brock stood in front of the fireplace, slightly off to the right, while Ashleigh stood to the left. The room grew quiet and then the first notes of Wagner’s “Here Comes the Bride” wafted through the room.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, just out of sight of the guests in the family room, Rachel squeezed Jamie’s arm.

“Why am I nervous?” she whispered.

“’Cause you’re a bride,” he whispered back.

“I feel kind of nauseous.”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Wanna talk about anal sex or the new paddle I bought to spank Viggo with?”

She snorted loudly and then clapped her hand over her mouth as she giggled into his shirt. He chuckled, too, pausing for a moment before reaching out to lift her chin so he could look into her eyes.

“You’re happy, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

“He’s everything you’ve ever wanted?”

“And much more.”

“Then let’s do this.”

She nodded and took his arm. As the wedding processional played in the background, she let him lead her out towards her future, all thoughts of the past far, far away.

Fifteen minutes later, they were married. Swaying in Vlad’s arms as they slow danced, Rachel looked up at him, hoping everything she was feeling was visible in her eyes. He leaned down to lightly touch her lips with his, his hands cradling her waist.

“How do you feel, Mrs. Kolnikov?” he asked softly.

“About as happy as any woman has a right to be.”

“I’m glad we got married today, but I’m a little disappointed there won’t be a honeymoon.”

“Oh, there’ll be a honeymoon,” she smirked. “Later tonight.”

He grinned. “That works.”

“We can go on a real honeymoon when hockey season is over.”

“Deal.”

“Are you sure this was okay?” she asked, one hand cupping his cheek. “I know I kind of threw it on you…”

“It was wonderful. It is wonderful. You’re wonderful.” He looked deep in her eyes. “I have everything I ever wanted and so much more…all because of you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she protested.

“You believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. And you loved me anyway.”

“It was destiny, remember?” she whispered.

“You’re much more than destiny… My past, my future, my everything.”

She smiled, blinking away tears of happiness. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Just wait. I promise you a lifetime of everything beautiful.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Enough, you two,” Brock called out. “Can you save that eye-gazing shit for the honeymoon?”

“This is the honeymoon,” Vlad murmured, smiling down at Rachel.

“It’s time for the toast,” Tessa added.

“And cutting the cake,” Toli said with a grin, “which is my favorite part.”

Vlad and Rachel reluctantly broke apart, but he wrapped his fingers around hers and they turned to face their wonderful friends and family.

“To the happy couple,” Brock said, handing Vlad and Rachel each a flute of champagne. He reached for his own and raised it. “My best friend, teammate, partner in crime…my brother—what can I say? I’m so happy you found a woman who can not only put up with you, but who makes you happy. No one deserves it more than the two of you. Congratulations. I’m honored to share this day with you.”

An echo of similar greetings filled the room as they toasted and laughed. Looking down at his wife, Vlad had found his way home. This was his past and his future, all rolled into one. Peace washed over him. There wasn’t a single thing he needed that he didn’t already have and the woman who’d just become his wife was the reason why.

“Thank you,” he whispered against her ear.

“For what?” She looked up curiously.

He softly found her lips. “For giving me such a beautiful future, I forgot all about my past.”