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“They won’t,” I assure, bending and pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

Relief relaxes her features as we silently exchange that we’re both at peace with the place we have in each other’s lives. I don’t want Stella feeling guilty because I meant the words I spoke to my wife. I wouldn’t change a thing. I wouldn’t go back. I wouldn’t alter a minute of my life, not a fucking second.

“Now, go fetch my wife from the closet I’m sure she’s hiding in, and please do your best not to corrupt her.”

“No promises,” she quips, her grin growing as she begins to back away, beaming a smile at me before turning. I do the same as she disappears and I reclimb the steps before knocking on the door.

“Uncle Nate, you look so handsome,” Holly says with a smile, ushering me inside.

Before I get a chance to reply, I spot Natalie standing on a stepstool in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror in her wedding gown, a bouquet of pale pink roses in hand. Eyes already stinging, it’s when ours meet in the reflection, and she gasps out an elated but tearful, “Daddy,” that I’m a goner.

“Sleep Walk”

Deftones

Shaking my hands free of excess water, I grab a fresh towel and wipe them dry as the bass filters through the walls from the reception. Exiting the restroom, I retrieve Addie’s empty champagne flute where I left it. Headed towards the bar, I stop dead in my tracks as a familiar voice sounds up from the other side of a closed door.

“Oh my God . . . stop! We’re going to get busted.”

“It’s all right, baby. No one can hear us. The music is too loud.” I knowthat voice, too.

“We . . . have . . . to . . . stop. Jesus, Damon, what in the hell was in that Mexican beach water?!”

“I love you, Holly, that’s what was in the damned water, now less talking and less pant—”

I rap firmly on the doortwice. “I’m going to stop you right there and tell you that anyone, and I meananyone,who walks past this door, will be able to both hear and identify you,clearly.”

A long pause.

Holly is the first to speak up. “Uncle Nate?”

“Yes, sweetheart, it’s me.”

“Ummm, I . . . we . . . thank you for . . . this . . . see, the truth is, we really haven’t come—”

“Out of the closet?” I finish, because it can’t be helped. “That’s apparent. Tell you what, I’ll do you both andmyselfa favor and pretend like I didn’t hear anything.”

Because you’ve changed both their damned diapers.

The thought of that has me cringing as they speak up in unison. “Thank you.”

I take two steps away, hearing the click of my wingtips on the floor and their relieved sighs just before Holly whispers a scolding, “I told you!”

“And guys . . .” I speak up again, only to be met by another pregnant pause.

“Yes, Uncle Nate?” Holly asks. The squeak in her tone has my smile cracking wider.

“It’s about damned time.”

I walk away in fast strides, thankful that I didn’t exit the bathroom a minute later. I might not have survived it. Entering the reception, I walk up to the bar and hand over the empty champagne glass to the bartender requesting a fresh one.

“Hey, man.”

I turn to see Reid standing next to me, dressed in a matching tux, his hair still slicked back presentably.

“Hey,” I chuckle as he adjusts his jacket, looking uncomfortable before patting down his pockets.

“Fuck,” he closes his eyes briefly before shaking his head in irritation. “Leave it to me to quit smoking on an overseas trip where my wife assured me some witch doctor’s herbs will help curb it.”

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