Page 2 of Endless Love: Novella

“We want to make this memorable,” Mom had insisted more than once. “All eyes will be on the family.” I couldn’t remember her being this anxious before my wedding, but then there was something extra special and attention worthy since two brides were now involved. I might have called it a gimmick in my more cynical days, but now I knew better. Rose had softened me in the best way.

A dozen cars were already parked in the circular courtyard. “Looks like we’re just about the last ones to get here,” Rose observed, craning her neck as she looked around. “I see Evan and Valentina’s cars. The Spectre belongs to Lucian, doesn’t it? So he and Ivy are probably here already.”

“There’s still plenty of time before dinner. We haven’t held anybody up.” Over the years, I had come to understand the ways we balanced each other out. Whenever she got a little too high-strung, too up in her head, I knew how to bring her back down to reality.

“I know, you’re right.” She laughed at herself and waved a hand, then unbuckled her belt. “Come on. I’m sure Eloise misses us.”

As usual, the mention of my daughter brought a smile to my face. She had me wrapped around her finger.

I had a spring in my step when I exited the car and took Rose’s hand, the two of us climbing the steps to the deep porch. The dull roar I could hear standing outside became something almost deafening when I opened the door. A wall of voices slammed into us, led by one of the brides. “I’m justsaying, I think it makes more sense for us to go down the aisle separately.” We rounded the entry hall, heading into the main room where Valentina gestured with the wine glass she held. “So we could both have a chance to shine.”

A trio of sofas were arranged in a U-shape, and across them were our friends and family. Aria sat with her legs stretched out across Miles’ lap, and it looked like he was deliberately holding her in place when she blurted out, “For the hundredth time, that makes no goddamn sense!”

“We can still leave before anybody notices us,” I whispered to my wife, who gave my arm a playful slap as we ventured deeper into the house.

“She has a point.” Evan, of course, took his fiancée’s side. “This way, you could both get your moment on your dad’s arm.” My sister, Sienna, sat on the other end of the sofa he was perched on, and she shot me a pleading look when I caught her eye. It screamed a single word.Help.

“We’re already both getting a moment on our father’s arm,” Aria argued. She didn’t normally go out of her way to fight for what she wanted, which told me this meant something. “How stupid would it look for him to double back out of nowhere and, like, pick up the other one and walk her down the aisle? It’s absurd.”

“You are never going to agree on this.” Sienna got up and wrapped her arms around Valentina from behind. I wouldn’t normally have called my sister a peacemaker, but then it was different when she handled a situation that didn’t involve me. She had a surprisingly level head on her shoulders when she wasn’t acting like an annoying little sister. “And just think what an absolutely stunning impression you’re going to make. Two gorgeous brides, with their handsome dad between them, with the attention of half of East Hampton on them as theywalk down this wide aisle covered in flower petals. I’m actually jealous of how exquisite it’s going to be.”

Valentina wasn’t swayed. “That sounds like a lot of your PR talk,” she scoffed, waving a hand. “This isn’t an event you’re trying to spin.”

“I think you need to let this one go.” Evan took Sienna’s place, laughing softly as he hugged his fiancée. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be a beautiful event, and people will be talking about it for years. And Aria is right,” he added with a wink in her direction. “It will be dramatic and memorable, watching the two of you float down the aisle with Magnus between you.”

“I thought my ears were burning.” My uncle Magnus entered the room, smiling benevolently, finally noticing the presence of Rose and me. “There you are. Your mother will be glad,” he told me.

When I raised an eyebrow, my sister explained, “You know Mom. She’s got this premonition that something’s going to go wrong.”

“Don’t even say that out loud,” Rose warned as we continued into the house. “We’re bringing nothing but good energy into this, everybody.”

“Where is Mom?” I asked. “Did Eloise run her ragged?”

“No, Zoe got here this afternoon to watch over the kids,” Valentina reminded me, referring to the nanny she and Evan used for their daughter, Isabel, who’d recently had her first birthday. “They’re upstairs having their baths if you want to pop in.”

“I need to kiss my baby,” Rose announced, already on her way to the stairs. I followed her, which meant the bonus of getting to stare at her ass.

One thing I often heard from married men was the thrill always died in a relationship once wedding rings were brought into the mix, especially after the addition of kids. Nothingcould’ve been further from the truth for us. I wanted her just as much this far into our relationship as I ever had, if not more. Now, I had the honor of watching her become a mother and witnessing how she nurtured our daughter. There was nothing as satisfying. It made me crave her like a drug.

All it took was hearing Eloise giggling and splashing in the bath to change my course of thought. We found her in the tub with Isabel, with the nanny kneeling on the floor and supervising their play.

“Hi, baby!” Right away, Rose slipped off the thin cardigan she wore over a sleeveless top and kicked off her heels, kneeling in front of the tub. “Zoe, take a breather,” she offered the nanny. “I can finish up here. Colton will help me.”

So much for getting a quickie before dinner, the way I had secretly hoped. I wasn’t upset, though, as I rolled up my shirt sleeves. I’d been in meetings half the day, trying to button up a few last-minute plans before taking the long weekend. “Are you having fun with your best friend?” I asked my baby girl while pulling towels from the linen closet.

“Daddy! Splash!” Rose and I had to duck and cover when water flew everywhere, but it was impossible not to laugh at the sound of Eloise’s sweet giggles, which got Isabel giggling with her until the sound filled the room.

“Good job, baby girl,” I told her. Green eyes, so like her mother’s, shone when she looked up at me, reducing me to a helpless puddle as always. Nobody ever told me it would be like this one day. If they had, I might not have been so resistant to the idea of settling down before Rose and I got together.

“It’s enough to make me wonder if we shouldn’t start trying for a little brother or sister,” I mused, watching Rose to gauge her reaction while washing Eloise’s blonde curls. It gave me the pleasure of seeing a slow smile spread across her face.

“Do you mean that?” she asked, her eyes shining with hope when they met mine. “Because I’ve been thinking about that for a while, myself.”

Watching the girls play, I said, “It looks like we’ve got this whole parenthood thing under control so far. There’s plenty of room for two. I think we should go for it.”

“I’m ready when you are,” Rose told me just as Isabel splashed her, leaving her sputtering and blinking water out of her eyes while I tried not to laugh. “Maybe not this very minute, though.”

2

---