Page 74 of Requiem for Love

The cheers rose.

They barely noticed.

When they finally ended the kiss, he stared at her face, hoping she saw that it would be him, her, and the boys until the end of time. They were all he needed, everything he needed.

The officiant gestured to them. “I’d like to announce, officially and for the first time, Mr. Joel Lattimore and his wife, Mrs. Ayesha Savea-Lattimore.”

As they left, they received hugs and well wishes from complete strangers, wished them the same, and then raced back to the hotel to change. He finished first, so he headed to Ayesha’s room.

Just as he stepped across the threshold, his phone went off. Brows narrowed, he raised the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Syd. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. How’s it going?”

“Things are,” he watched as Ayesha slipped into a skirt that hit her mid-thigh, “amazing. Are you sure everything’s okay? You sound weird.”

“Yeah, I was just calling to let you know that the jet’s at the tarmac.”

“What jet?”

“Dmitri’s. The guys said you and Ayesha needed it for your trip to Malmö.”

He lowered the phone and stared blankly at the screen before returning it to his ear. “They said that?”

“Yeah. Something wrong?”

“Do they know why me and Eesh are going to Malmö?”

“They said they’re not sure, but they think it’s probably,” he heard the smile in her voice, “honeymoon-related. It was just a guess, though. Did you and Eesh get married?”

It felt weird denying it to Sydney, as though denying it to feed his and Ayesha’s weird kink would morph into hiding it because Sydney was his ex-wife.

“Yeah, we did. Today.”

She went silent.

Then he heard a sniffle.

“I really mucked things up if she doesn’t even want me at her wedding.”

“Syd, it’s not like that. We did the courthouse thing. It’s just me and her. She would want you there.”

The sniffles slowed. “Oh.”

Ayesha nodded at him to confirm, grabbed a small zippered bag, and disappeared inside the bathroom.

“Man, exactly how pregnant are you?” he teased. “Those tears came pretty fast.”

“You know?”

“Syd, come on.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She paused. “It’s twins.”

“Congratulations. Are you nervous?”

“Nervous but excited. It’s like…it’s like I can’t wait to meet them, you know? I even dream about their little faces. We don’t know yet, but I think it’ll be two boys, so I might need to come to you and Eesh for advice.”

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