Then, finally, Silas declares them husband and wife, and they kiss. The whole audience erupts into cheering, and when they walk back down the aisle, Levi is grinning and laughing like I’ve never seen before.
Now Charlie’s crying. Violet hands her a tissue.
“Right?” she says, and Charlie nods.
Violet and I walk down a brick walkway, between some flowers, and into a small clearing with a single statue of a cherub in it.
“I don’t think this is the Eagle’s Nest Garden,” she says suspiciously. “Shit.”
“No eagles and no nests,” I agree, and we both pull out our phones to look at the itinerary June sent us.
“Is this the north side of the lodge or the south side?” she asks, flipping her phone around.
I just look at her, and she starts laughing.
“I have no idea,” I say, also laughing. “Do you have a compass? Where does the sun set?”
“Of course Levi would have us orienteering to get to the photo session,” she says.
The garden finds us before we find it, in the form of Eli leaning past a tangle of trees and shouting Violet’s name.
“Did you get lost?” he asks.
“No,” she says, laughing.
“You got lost.”
“I chose to find you in a different way,” she says, stands on her tiptoes, and gives him a kiss.
“Did you get lost?” Seth asks, and I turn.
He’s still shined up like a penny, so I spend a moment checking him out as is my right.
“Not technically,” I say, and adjust his corsage by a fraction of an inch.
He catches my hand and pulls me in for a kiss. It’s chaste, family-appropriate, but longer than just a hello kiss.
“You did great,” I tell him.
“I did nothing,” he points out.
“You looked good doing it?”
He grins.
“Go on.”
There are shouts, and we turn to see several people waving at us.
“Groomsmen again!” Caleb shouts, and Seth sighs.
“At least we haven’t had to jump yet,” he says.
I wander over to Thalia and watch it unfold. Being a wedding photographer looks like herding cats who don’t know how to smile properly.
Then they want a shot of the whole family, so Violet and Charlie head into the chaos, along with the kids. Over in girlfriends’ corner, Thalia and I look at each other but don’t move.
“You two!” Clara shouts. “Come on!”
I’m happy to plunge myself into the chaos.
I shut the glass door behind me and walk out onto the patio overlooking the forest. It’s dark, and Seth turns as I walk up to him, a whiskey glass in one hand. I lean on the railing next to him.
“Cooling off for a minute,” he says. “I didn’t expect Levi to have this much of a party.”
“Well, June’s also involved,” I point out.
“True,” he says, and then he turns around, his back to the railing. He grabs my hand and pulls me over to him. “You having a good time, Bird?”
“I’m having a great time,” I tell him.
“Good,” he says, and kisses me.
It’s the long, slow kiss I didn’t get earlier, the one I wanted right after the ceremony was over. The one I couldn’t give him in front of his entire family and half the Forest Service.
When it ends, he’s still got a hand on my waist, my arms around his neck, and he sips from his glass over one.
“You want to know something?” he asks, giving me that slightly off-kilter smile I love.
“Sure,” I say.
“You looked hot with a baby,” he says, fingers stroking my back.
“Seth, that’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I say, laughing.
“It’s not that weird,” he says. “Also, I’m kind of drunk, and you were hot with a baby. I’m not saying the baby was hot. The baby was cute. You were hot. I think you’d also be a hot pregnant lady. And a hot bride. Really, you’re just hot.”
I’m still laughing, leaning against him, and I’m glad it’s dark because now I’m blushing. It’s been three months since the Varmint Palace, and while on the one hand it seems like that’s too soon to be telling me I’d be hot while pregnant, it’s… not.
It’s Seth. For us, time is a little blurred: has it been fifteen years, or since Ava’s wedding?
“I hear babies are bad for your sex life,” I tease, and he laughs.
“I’m not saying now,” he says. “One, you’re still babyproofed,” — that’s what he calls my IUD — “and two, I am not done enjoying our two-of-us time.”
He finishes off his drink, sets the glass down, puts his hands back on my waist. The dancing is in full swing inside, and he’s got his jacket off, his sleeves rolled up, his tie loosened.
Have I mentioned how fuckable he is like this?
Fuck. A. Ble.
“I think they’re doing the cake soon,” I say, sliding my arms around him.
“Good, I like cake,” he says, and slides his arms down my back.
Then he grabs my ass. He squeezes. He cups, caresses.
“You’re grabbing my ass in public,” I point out.
“Yeah. It’s great, right?” he asks, and I laugh.
He’s slightly drunker than I thought, and he leans down, cups my face in his hand, suddenly serious as he looks into my eyes, thumb on my cheekbone.
“I want this for us,” he finally says. “All of this. I want the wedding and the babies and the cake and all that stuff, but I want… this. I want love and joy and family and celebrations like this and I want it with you.”
“Seth, you have it,” I tell him. “This is yours, too. You get to share it. It’s your family, your celebration, your joy.”
“And the love of my life.”
I stand on my toes, bring his forehead down to mine.
“And the love of my life,” I whisper.
We kiss. It feels like the stars wheel through the sky overhead, like trees sway and sigh, like the clouds part and the moon shines through. It feels like birds fly and fairies get their wings.
Then, the door opens. Small feet thump out, and we turn to see Rusty, now in a vest and shirtsleeves, run up to us.
“Uncle Seth! Delilah!” she says. “CAKE!”
Then she’s gone, and we’re both laughing.
“All right, you heard her,” Seth says, and stands up straight, takes my hand.
Then he looks over at me, his face naked, vulnerable.
“I love you,” he says.
I kiss his hand, held in mine.
“I love you too,” I tell him.
Together, we go back to the celebration.
Epilogue
Delilah
Two Years Later
“There’s no way it hurt this much the first time,” he says, still staring at a spot on the ceiling.
“Probably because you talked less,” I say, dabbing at his skin again.
“You have no idea how much I talked,” he says.