We were all standing at the back of the church waiting for this shindig to get started. I think everyone had been a little surprised that Cora wanted to go such a traditional route with her wedding, but according to Rome, his little pixie had always wanted the fairy tale and he was more than willing to give it to her.
At first I had been stunned when he asked me to stand up with him. Of course Cora wanted Royal as a bridesmaid, so it made sense that I would be the one to walk her down the aisle. Rome had given me one of his somber looks and informed me that I belonged up there next to him just as much as Rule, Jet, Nash, and Rowdy did, and how could I argue with that?
Shaw and Ayden were trying to keep RJ entertained so that she didn’t shove fistfuls of flower petals into her mouth while she waited for her very important duties as flower girl to start. The adorable, blond toddler was far more interested in making a mess with the rose petals than she was in whatever the women were doing to distract her. She kept looking up at Rome with a big toothy grin and asking him if it was time to get married. The big man just smiled back at his precious little girl and told her, “Almost.”
Cora and Rome had welcomed a healthy baby boy only a few months prior. They had also broken the trend and skipped not only the letter R for the first name but also the C. Baby Zowen was sleeping soundly with Rome’s mom and dad while his cousin watched over him carefully. Shaw and Rule’s baby boy was just a little over a year old and he was fascinated by his infant cousin. Shaw insisted that the older the little boy got, the more and more his personality was making itself known. He wasn’t wild and rebellious like Rule, nor was he mellow and introspective like her. She swore that each day that passed he reminded her more and more of Uncle Remy, and I think everyone in the Archer clan liked that assessment just fine. The baby was sweet, always had a smile or a giggle ready, and seemed content just to bask in his parents’ love, and it made Shaw laugh every time she mentioned how much of a daddy’s boy he was. Ry and Rule were the best of friends, and even now Rule was sticking his shaved head out of the back of the church to where all the guests were congregated to see how his son was doing.
Ayden groaned as she righted herself back up and walked over to me. My sister was always beautiful, but there was something about her being pregnant that made her out-of-this-world stunning. There was a softness about her that had never been present before and it looked really good on her. She walked over and looped her arm through mine. She just grinned at me when I put a hand on her protruding belly.
“Are you ready to do this?”
I lifted an eyebrow at her because she was looking at Royal where she had her head bent close to Saint’s as the two of them chatted about something quietly. “Do you mean today or am I ready to do this with her?”
She put her free hand on top of mine on her belly and looked up at me. “Both.”
I was walking her down the aisle as well as Royal since Jet was singing Madness’s “It Must Be Love” while Cora walked to the altar.
“I’m ready for both.”
She smiled at me and it made happiness bloom inside of me. For two kids from the wrong side of the tracks we really had managed to luck out and end up on the other side of things in a spectacular fashion.
“Is everyone ready?” Brite was officiating at the ceremony, so when he asked the question everyone snapped to attention like a bunch of good little soldiers as he and Rome headed to the front of the church.
When the music started up, Rule and Shaw clasped hands and started down the aisle toward his brother. No one was shocked when they only made it halfway down before he stopped and pulled his pretty blond wife in for a kiss. It made everyone sigh. Nash and Saint went next, the rock on her finger gleaming almost as bright as the smile on her face when she gazed up into those purple eyes, and the two of them glided elegantly down the aisle. Rowdy and Salem went next, both of them looking far too cool for the traditional black tuxes we wore and the simple off-the-shoulder black bridesmaid dresses Cora had picked out. Salem just laughed when, instead of holding her hand and walking down the aisle side by side, Rowdy pulled her in front of him, put his hands across her still-flat stomach, and walked her down the decorated church that way instead.
Royal appeared at my other side and hooked her arm through my free one. She winked at Ayden, then lifted up on her toes so that she could kiss me on the cheek.
“Our turn.”
And here it was. This moment. A moment that would seem so simple, so insignificant and irrelevant to some, and yet it was everything to me. This moment was my life coming full circle, and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I would’ve missed it and all the wonderful things that it was full of. Friends. Family. Love. Togetherness.