Gaige asked. “Go down to the courthouse and just get hitched? Or do, like, some fancy ceremony?”
“We’ve never really talked about it,” Oliver replied. He gave his youngest a sideways hug. “What sort of mating celebration did we have, Brandt?”
“It was rather small,” Brandt said. “Our parents and my brother. A few neighbors and school friends. When you were a teenager, you used to dream of a fancy celebration but we didn’t have the money.”
Twenty-three years ago, Oliver had been involved in a horrific car wreck that left his body broken, burned, and scarred, and he’d lost all memories of his life before the age of twenty-seven. He often turned to Brandt to fill in the gaps from those missing years, and Brandt eagerly offered the information. It used to make him sad sometimes, when Oliver first came back into his life. Now it was simply part of their dynamic.
“What do you think, Demir?” Oliver asked.
“I don’t know.” Demir stood so he could properly hug Oliver. They were close in height and build, and they fit together perfectly. “Honestly, I spent so much of my teen years studying and working to get into medical school, I never gave a lot of thought to getting married or what kind of ceremony I’d want. When I first got together with Brandt, I occasionally dreamed of a simple civil ceremony with my family as witnesses. But that doesn’t seem big enough for what a huge turning point this is. Not just for us, but for the entire territory.”
“It truly was a remarkable, landmark case,” Tarius said. And working for the small law firm of Cross & Danvers, Tarius was no stranger to landmark cases. Over the years the founding attorney, Ronin Cross, had argued quite a few regarding omega rights straight to the territory courts. And won. “I’m sure it will be challenged at provincial levels, but if the opinions and precedents are sound, they won’t get far in the court.”
“I’ll take your word on that.” While Demir could write an entire paper on the molecular basis of hereditary cardiomyopathy, the law made his head hurt.
“If nothing else,” Oliver said, “we should have a party to celebrate this decision. Invite all our friends. This deserves to be celebrated. This weekend.”
“Is that enough time?”
“Two days is plenty of time if we all throw our heads together. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than chips, dip, pizza and booze. It’s not about the food, it’s about the friendships and why we’re celebrating.” He reached out and Brandt joined their huddle. “It’s about us finally being a legal us. So no matter what happens in the future, we decide our fates as a triad.”
“Just in case something happens to one of us,” dripped off the end of Oliver’s statement. While Oliver and Brandt legally had each other (or, goddess forbid, Eriq if something happened to them both at once), Demir’s next of kin was his dad, Isa Higgs. Demir trusted his dad to do what was right, but he wanted his next of kin to be the two men he loved with his whole heart. And he could finally have that.
Thanks to the bravery of a triad from Orleans Province.
“I think a party sounds like fun,” Brandt said. When everyone, Demir included, stared at him, he laughed. “What? I’m not that stuffy, am I? Other than our first housewarming gathering, we’ve never done much of anything here outside of family dinners. So let’s celebrate our amazing news. Fill us to capacity with people who are happy for our good fortune.”
“You’re stuffy in certain ways,” Demir replied with a saucy grin. He pulled Brandt’s head down and whispered, “Especially when you’re stuffing certain parts of me with certain parts of you.”
Brandt growled softly.
Demir had never been happier to see Eriq and Tarius leave, or for Gaige to go to bed. Not long after, in the privacy of their bedroom, Demir got naked with his two men—and future husbands—and got very, very stuffed indeed.
Sixteen
Hyatt was still reeling from the polyamory marriage announcement more than an hour later while he and Dorian sat together watching a movie on cable. He was beyond thrilled for the Lars-Higgs family, who were Peyton’s sort-of family-in-law via Layne’s relationship with Demir. And there were probably dozens, if not hundreds, of other poly couples around the province who were breathing a sigh of relief tonight. Finally able to protect the men they loved in all the legal ways possible.