Page 94 of Amor Prohibido

Gasps rippled through the guests when I emerged. Equally, the sight tookmybreath away.

Fairy lights were strung throughout the tree and white lanterns swung therapeutically in the breeze. The flowers in Kath’s garden were equally as stunning.

At the makeshift altar, my husband-to-be stood proudly with my brother and Marc at his side, all dressed in the adult version of Rom’s attire.

The moment Jace turned, my eyes locked with his. My pulse galloped and skipped a series of beats. The air stilled in my lungs from his heated gaze alone and refused to release as I handed my flowers to Emmie.

After straightening and giving Papi another hug, I then drew in one last deep inhale before taking the final step to arrive in front of Jace.

He grinned and lifted his eyebrows. “Glad you finally joined me up here, sweetheart. I was about to sweat bullets.”

I giggled—consumed with excited jitters, my newly discovered secret, and overwhelming love for him. “Good things take time.”

His eyes burned while he leaned back and ran his gaze up and down my body again. “You’re breathtaking.”

“So are you.”

“You nervous?”

“God yes!” I admitted with a rushed exhale.

His low laugh was cut short by Henry—our celebrant—starting the ceremony, and we were soon at the part of saying our vows. Having decided to speak from the heart instead of prepared vows, Jace clasped my hands and squeezed them.

“Jacquelyn,” he started with a smug grin that had me growling low in my throat.

“Okay, okay,Jax,”he corrected through a chuckle, then gave me a smouldering wink. “You’re no longer wrinkly and puffy like you were when I first held you in my arms as a newborn, and I never thought I would be in awe like that again until you gave me two beautiful children of our own. I still get the same feeling when I hold you in my arms every single day, and I thank fate for bringing us together. Or should I say, in the way alcohol brought us together, because, when I saw you after three years in that two-piece dress, I was like daaang- Oww!”

I startled him from the recount with a playful backhand to his chest. He turned to our guests, laughing, and thumbed at me. “So much sass for someone so small, right?”

Laughter rang out amongst the guests, then settled when Jace turned back to me, this time with complete sincerity.

“What I’m trying to say is, you owned my heart and soul the day you were born, and you will own them for eternity.”

Emotion welled in his eyes and pushed mine to the surface. I bit down hard to try to stop the welling tears.

Jace sniffed and blinked rapidly. “The end,” he concluded to help re-lighten the mood.

I giggled and dabbed at my eyes. “How am I meant to followthat?”I asked and laughed again, not knowing where to start.

“Jason—” I stopped when he landed a soft retaliation backhand on my bicep. I raised my brows and addressed our guests. “Someone is recording this right?”

Seeing a couple of people nod, I pouted and pointed at my arm to emphasise where the playful tap had landed.

“Jace,” I started again. “Ever since I can remember, you picked on me and defaced my toys.” Jace snickered and ran a hand over his shit-eating grin. “But no matter how hard we fought, or how angry we made each other, I always knew there was a part of you that loved me for who I was and would never want me to change. For that, I’m incredibly grateful.

“Sometimes, we don’t know what we want until something unexpected happens. As much as I hated Darren at the time, I’m thankful that he blackmailed me into going to the bar that night…” More sniggers were heard, mostly from Darren, so I ignored the crap out of him. “…because, if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here with you today with our beautiful children. I love you more with each passing day, and I’m looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together.”

Dammit tears!

I cursed the little traitor that slid down my cheek. Jace reached out and caught it on the tip of his finger and wiped it on his pants.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured. The adoring smile on his lips melted me even more.

“The rings please, Romeo,” the celebrant announced.

With some gentle coaxing from Mama, then Jace bending down to wave at our little man, Rom got over his stage fright and ran over with the ring box. He stayed locked onto Jace’s leg during our ring exchange.

“Jason and Jacquelyn.”

---