I didn’t tweak her about it. She’d come all this way for the wedding, and I didn’t know if she’d called Dominic or he’d called her. Right now, I wouldn’t push.
Selfishly, I was just glad she was here.
The dress was a strapless, bodice-hugging number with little lace roses embroidered or stitched into the bodice. It had just been perfect when I’d seen it. Then, trying it on for the first time felt like a “me” moment.
The skirt was made of several different layers of silk, satin, and tulle. It had lift, kind of like a ballgown but was also light enough for me to raise. As I stepped into it, Rachel helped pull it up until it hugged my bust, then she buttoned up the dozen or so fine buttons on my back.
The bodice itself contained fine boning so it would hug my frame and stay in place. As snug as it was though, it didn’t suffocate me. In fact, what I loved about it was the confidence to not worry about a nip slip.
While a fun thought for later, now was not the time. I kept a hand pressed against my stomach to keep the butterflies contained because when she finished, she leaned over my shoulder to look.
“You look like a damn fairy tale princess. Where are your shoes?”
I pointed to the bright white sneakers and Rachel laughed.
“I can’t even give you a hard time for those,” she teased. “Cause they are so you. Come here, Cinderella.” In nothing flat, she had my shoes on and laced up.
For jewelry, I kept it simple. A pearl necklace that Eddie had given me from his mother. A pair of pale blue earrings from Kelly, because she wanted something blue. The borrowed bracelet from Patience—also pearls. Must have been a generational thing. The coin was tucked into a small pocket sewn into the bodice of the dress.
“You look amazing.”
“So do you,” I told her. I really did love the golden yellow dress, and I had absolutely picked it out for the roses hidden in the lace trim. It was a perfect summer’s day dress on top of that, and Rachel looked like a million bucks. “Thank you for coming.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” she said, holding up four fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“I don’t think that’s the scouting symbol.”
“Were you ever a scout?” she challenged, and I laughed.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“All right, where’s the bouquet?”
Ten minutes later, we made our way down a back set of stairs, away from the guests and the guys. It was time for them to already be outside. When we reached the doors that would lead to the main path to the garden, Jeremy and Miss Abigail were there.
“Hey, Jere,” Rachel said. “It’s good to see you.”
“And you, Miss Rachel. You look lovely.”
“I think you look pretty snappy yourself. Are you my escort for this?”
“So it would seem. One moment.” He swapped Miss Abigail to his other side, then offered her his arm. “You look stunning, Miss Frankie. Those boys had better be good to you.”
“They already are,” I told him, grinning. “Besides, you’ll be there to whip them into shape.”
“Yes, I will.”
Then the music changed, and the pair of them, along with Miss Abigail, headed out next. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. My bouquet was a combination of roses—an exact match to all the ones Rachel had sent me as Mr. Thorns. The guys picked it out, a reminder that she had also opened their eyes with the act.
Something we’d all needed.
When the Wedding March began, I stepped out the doors as the hotel employees swung them open, and I began my walk down the aisle. Well, it was down the steps to the path, then toward the center of the garden itself.
I loved the fact I had sneakers on, because I didn’t stumble once. Although my heart had fisted at the sight of the guys walking toward me. They moved in damn near perfect sync.
I caught the smiles coming my way from Kelly and Hank. Alec and Craig were sitting with them. Becca and Louisa leaned forward in their seats. Carly sat with her date, the guy she’d been seeing for the last year and who’d won Coop’s approval.
Mostly because he made his mom happy.
Alicia, Bill, and Klara were beaming. Not far from Hank, Patience and Eugene had spots with Eddie. Leslie, the nurse, was here too. Andrea, our social media manager, had made it, and so had Lauren, our sound engineer.
So many people from here, from Texas, Standish proper, and the music business. There were even a couple of guys from the hockey team and the community center where Coop worked. KC and the girls couldn’t make it, but they’d sent huge presents and promised to see us over the summer.
Even as aware of them as I was and as delighted as I was about my best friend being there, it was the guys I couldn’t take my gaze off. Fortunately, their approach kept them in my line of sight with the barest turn of my head.
Our ordained minister waited in the shade of the gazebo as we stepped up and the five of us circled her. I’d met her during some of our research into domestic partnerships and polyamory in the state.
She agreed to perform the ceremony after meeting with all of us, and I rather liked her. Straightforward, direct, and a little biting with the wit.
“Today, we are gathered in this beautiful rose garden on this stunning summer day to celebrate the commitment of Archie, Coop, Frankie, Ian, and Jake. These five friends, and make no mistake, they are friends first and have become a family. They share their passion, their devotion, and most of all, their respect and loyalty for each other.
“Building a family is no easy feat. Often, we think of family as the group we are born into. But family is not just blood. It’s heart. It’s soul. Through the five of you, you bind all of your families into one larger one. A community. What is a community but a great family that supports the one in the center? The heart of this particular community.
“As one who understands the heart wants what the heart wants, I also know that this is no easy task to make such a devoted pledge to each other. For Frankie, who will be taking on four husbands, and for the four husbands who have cemented their brotherhood in their shared devotion for their future wife—we are all here for you. That is what it means to come together today to celebrate and witness your love.”
I swore I wouldn’t cry. I swore I wouldn’t. But out here, surrounded by the rich, vibrant scent of the roses and staring at the guys who loved me so much they’d been fighting for me from the beginning—it was damn hard not to cry.
“We decided to do our vows in the order in which we proposed,” Coop said, and a ripple of laughter went through the guests. “It may seem like such a little thing to decide what order to go in, but for us, it’s about supporting each other and not fighting over who has the most right to be at your side. We all have that right. We all want to be there.”
Coop held me transfixed with his gray-green eyes.
“Today, I’m marrying my best friend. I’m marrying the girl who was never afraid to pop life right in the nose when it dared to take her on. I’m marrying the girl who defended me on the playground and later kicked me in the ass when I needed it.”
More laughter and my grin was so wide it hurt my face.
“I’m marrying the girl I promised to marry when we were five years old, and she said yes between the swings and the slide. Frankie, you’re my best friend, my lover, my champion, and my heart. Everything I am, is yours, Beautiful. Well, except for the part that keeps these knuckleheads in touch with their deeper feelings.”