Page 60 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

Mom pointed to the invitations. “Talk and work.”

“Yes’m.”

We made an assembly line. I put stamp on card, passed it to Mom. Mom stuffed invitation in envelope. Donovan put mailing label and stamp on envelope. Done ones went into box. With three adults working on the task, it went by pretty quickly.

While we worked, Alani asked questions about what we wanted to wear, what we wanted the decorations to be like, dessert table, etcetera. She suggested getting plain white cakes from a good bakery and then using fresh flowers to decorate. It’d turn out pretty and wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’d seen this before at a friend’s wedding and agreed right away.

The more we spoke about ideas, the more excited I got. I never thought I’d get married, honestly. Still kind of felt like I wasdreaming some days. Especially since I’d get to be married tohim. Who wouldn’t want to be husband to Donovan Havili?

“Now we get to the tricky question.”

I paused in my stamping to look up at Alani, who seemed very hesitant. Almost nervous? I couldn’t imagine why, but it was somehow connected to me.

Whatever it was, I didn’t do it. I had no idea where the body was buried, either.

“Name change?” Alani asked slowly, her eyes weighing every nuance of my expression. “Donovan said he doesn’t want to change his.”

I knew his preference. We had discussed names before.

Before I could get my mouth open, Mom quickly said, “Don’t feel like you need to stay a Bane. Your father actually regrets not taking on Neil’s name.”

What I was about to say got completely sidetracked, and I snapped around to look at her. “Wait, what?”

She grimaced. “I called him last night to talk about this. I didn’t want any pressure put on you to do something to please him. He told me up front the only reason why he didn’t change his name was because he felt obligated not to. But he regrets it now, especially since he has such little connection with the Bane family.”

Well, shit. I hadn’t known that. Seemed like I needed to call my father later today.

“So I don’t want you to think you have to keep yours.”

I held up a hand to stall her. “Mom. I know.”

She blew out a relieved breath, hand over her heart. “Oh good. Then what do you want to do?”

“I want to change it to Havili.”

Donovan still wore that proud smile, like he had when I’d first told him my decision. To me, it had been a no-brainer.

Mom looked relieved as well, and Alani wore the same proud smile as her son, so I knew they were fine with it.

Not wanting Mom to leap to any conclusions, I filled her in. “I’m like Dad. I don’t have any connection with the Banes. Why should I continue to carry their name? Besides, who doesn’t want to be a Havili?”

“People in straitjackets,” Mom agreed bluntly.

Alani and Donovan laughed outright, tickled at our opinions. Well, it was the truth. I refused to be apologetic about it. I wasn’t even inviting anyone from the Bane family to my wedding, aside from Dad, because I hadn’t seen them in decades. I didn’t even know how to get in touch with most of them.

Alani reached over the counter, grabbing me by the shoulder so she could haul me in and kiss my forehead. Which really made me happy.

“Welcome to the family, then. I’ll make sure you have the paperwork to do that.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I grinned back. I knew I was loved, but it was still nice to hear.

“Jonathan Havili,” my actual birth mother murmured aloud, like she was trying it out. “It does have a nice sound to it. It will mean changing everything. Social security card, driver’s license, all of that.”

I smiled at Donovan because the paperwork was his job.

He just shook his head, already resigned. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”

See? This marriage thing was working out in my favor already.

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