Page 25 of Independence Bae

#1 Dad the frame read.Inside the frame was a sonogram, labeling Baby Tucker A and Baby Tucker B.She was having twins.

“It’s time.”Penn rapped on the door, pulling me out of my reverie. Twins. Two babies. I still remained pretty worried about this whole dad thing, but knowing it was Marley and me against the world made tackling those fears less paralyzing.

Penn had really done us a solid finding this resort at the last minute, and I honestly don’t believe North Pole could have been even a third as beautiful as this setting. There were twinkle lights in all of the trees, a scattering of gold backed chairs lining the aisle, and I stood at the end beneath the flower arch waiting for Raven and Marley to appear. Ivy, Hillary, Bert and who I assumed was Ivy’s husband Cain sat towards the back, but waived when they caught my eye.

For being the queen of the night with her mostly black wardrobe, Raven looked absolutely stunning in her sage colored bridesmaid dress with her hair adorned with flowers. Based on the expletive quietly whispered from Penn who stood next to me, he clearly agreed.

“I can’t wait for us to have this position in the reverse,” he told me as Raven was just about to meet us under the arch.

I couldn’t even respond. Not only because the moment was too crystalline, and I was petrified that even speaking a single phrase would break the shimmering magic that surrounded us. The music changed to something lilting and jubilant—not “Here Comes the Bride”—Marley had very few opinions when it came to the wedding but was adamant, she did not want to walk down the aisle to that.

It didn’t matter because as soon as she turned the corner, and her foot crossed the threshold of our secret forest, all sound stopped. I’m pretty sure everything stopped. Time froze. The world stopped spinning on its axis during that span of her walking the fifteen or so steps to where I stood.

She was a goddess. I didn’t take any of those fancy fucking literature classes where they read Shakespeare but whichever goddess was in aMidsummer Night’s Dream—which apparently was Penn’s inspiration for the wedding day—Marley was her personified. She looked up from her bouquet and our eyes met and I swear my knees went weak at the same time that I felt invincible. Marley was my everything.

“Hi,” she whispered when she arrived in front of me.

“You look incredible,” I whispered back. “Only a few more minutes and I get to call you my wife—forever.”

The most adorable flush crept across her face. My hands itched with desperation to cradle her face in my hands and kiss her. But apparently there were rules about when such things could happen in the middle of a ceremony, so I’d wait.

Most of the ceremony passed in a blur. There were jokes about how we met. More jokes about how our relationship was fodder for the air waves. Hardy har-get a fucking move on to vows and man and wife.

“Ted, who knew that on a day that I was cold and upset and missing my Mom so bad I cried the whole way to work telling her how badly I needed her, that instead she would bring me you. You are my shelter, my support, my comfort, and my pride. I will always be your biggest fan and most ardent cheerleader. You will always be the song my heart sings on never ending repeat. Our home will be built with walls of love, and I can’t wait to start building it. I am so honored to be the woman that gets to tell you I do, I will, forever and always.”

I should have gone first. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get through my vows after she just took my heart and squeezed it with everything she had. Her sweet hands holding mine, her huge blue eyes staring earnestly into mine, and a smile that beamed so bright it was forever imprinted on my heart. And yet now I needed to be articulate and not stumble through the most important forty-five seconds of my life.

“Marley, my love. I never would have imagined that out of all the people in this world, I would find someone as special as you. You are my best friend and my one true love. I cannot believe I am the lucky man who gets to marry you today. I promise I will never forget this privilege, no matter how many years of our lives go by. I will always listen to you for as long as you need to feel heard. To stand with you, up for you, and next to you, against anything that troubles you. I promise to not only listen but hear, to not only be honest but to trust and to love you and let you love me. I love you more than any metaphor could ever express Marley, and I will spend every day making sure the world we build is a dream come true for both of us.”

Marley smiled up at me, trying valiantly to blink away her tears. In that moment, her smile, Raven just off to the side, her arm linked through Penn’s, leaning on his shoulder, while they witnessed us get married, so many realizations flew at me at once. They were my people. The four of us would be forever linked. Not just professionally or personally, but every time I thought of this moment, I reflected on the overflowing happiness that I felt—I would also always see Raven and Penn in their dress and tux, drinking from that same fountain of bliss that we did. Our best friends. The two people who when the world told us to jump, affixed their parachutes, grabbed their luggage and said, “Let’s roll!”

“You have made me the happiest man in the world, Marley Jacobs.”

“I believe in three more words from the Reverend, I will be Marley Tucker,” she whispered back to me.

The moment the words “man and wife,” came out of his mouth, it was on. Based on the shocked looked on Marley’s face, she certainly wasn’t expecting me to come in hot.

“I can’t believe you’re having twins,” I told her—just before I dove in and attacked her mouth with vigor, pouring every emotion I felt into that kiss.

There had been many times over the years when I’d been invited to acquaintances weddings that I always quietly judged the near pornographic displays on the altar. Except now, I got it. My mouth was on Marley’s, and I didn’t want to let go. Ceasing that kiss would mean breaking that magical bubble that surrounded us while we stood up there. The one that held us together and made us drunk on the love and loyalty we professed for one another.

“Ted,” she gasped when we finally came up for air, “I hope they didn’t hear you! Otherwise you just spilled the beans to everyone!”

Chapter Nineteen

Perfection.It was the only word that accurately described the day. Ted’s gift, Marley’s dress, the vows, the food, the local band that presently had almost every single person out on the makeshift dance floor doing the two step. It was magic made real.

“Twins, huh?” Ivy slid onto the stool next to me at the bar, tossing her hair over her shoulder before ordering the most complicated drink I’d ever heard.

“Apparently. Ted Tucker has always been a go big or go home kind of guy. That he’s having twins doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

I downed the champagne the bartender had poured me in a single gulp, taking another flute from the tray.

“Congratulations I hear are in order for you as well.” Ivy ran her finger gently across my engagement ring, causing a smile to surface.

“Thank you. Lots of changes for all of us, apparently.”

We both quietly watched as Marley and Ted slow danced to a country cover of Firehouse’s “When I Look Into Your Eyes.” I’ve never been a country fan—but they were killing the cover.

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