The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,74

to hug her—for talking about a detail like that in public.

Laurie didn't care much for the traditional Wedding March, so they had decided on a piano and cello version of the song that she had danced to with each of them, in that very house, A Thousand Years.

The ceremony took place in the formal living room, where no one ever went. But she knew that they all had cherished memories of being there with their parents for special occasions. They had had all sorts of fresh greenery brought in, and the room was practically strewn with pastel pink and lavender roses, and the warm, cozy room was bathed in candlelight.

As she was escorted into the room by Nick, she saw that the three of them were lined up in front of the beautiful mantle, which had also been decorated beautifully with roses and candles, and she could literally feel their eyes settle on her as if they each had a gentle hand on her. They all covered their mouths with their hands when they saw her, and she had to look away as she blinked back tears. But she found their eyes again as soon as she could, her own shining brightly.

When they reached them, Adam hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then the brothers surrounded her, so that she was in the center of their small circle, Adam to her left.

As Adam recited his vows, so did they, and when she spoke hers, she said all of their names and made sure to look each of them in the eye as she did so. When Adam went to put the ring on her finger, she did the same thing as she'd done with the engagement ring—laying her hand over theirs as he put it on.

She'd never seen it before then—they'd wanted to surprise her—but she understood the meaning of it immediately. It was a braid, comprised of three silver strands with one smaller gold one interwoven through them.

Each of them received a ring that was one delicate strand of gold, entwined with a thicker silver strand.

And Hop added the perfect touch when all was said and done. "I now pronounce you, husbands and wife."

Adam kissed her first, then Ryan, then Jace. Tanner and Nick hugged her again, as did Lita, and even Hop, and copious pictures were taken of her crying and surrounded by walls of tuxedoed muscles.

There really wasn't a formal reception. They just had finger foods and champagne.

It was Jace—she was surprised to see—who raised his glass to her when they were all first filled, saying in that deep, rumbly voice of his, "To our wife, Laurie Rule—someone none of us expected to find, the love of our lives, who delights us every day and is the undisputed center of our universe."

"Hear, hear!" Ryan and Adam echoed.

Laurie was caught unaware, having not really thought much about a toast. "To my husbands, I can't really express how much you've each changed my life so much, for the better. I-I never expected to find one man I wanted to marry, and now I have three amazing husbands." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I love you each more than I can say. Thank you for loving me back enough to want to be who we are together."

Her husbands hugged her tightly at that, brushing away her tears, rubbing her back and cupping her cheek gently.

As a distraction, Tanner spoke up. "Isn't there supposed to be cake at this thing? I'm only here for the cake."

"We know," his brothers teased, but he lightened the mood nicely, and all four of them cut the cake together into four small pieces, and they all took a bite at the same time—each of them painting a careful streak of frosting on her face so it wouldn't mess up her dress.

She put a dab of frosting on the end of each of their noses, and Tanner got a great picture of them like that.

"This is what we're eating while you're gone, you know," Ryan teased, cutting another—larger—piece for himself.

Laurie rolled her eyes. "Please. You know there's enough food in the freezer to feed an army. I don't think you're gonna starve, any of you. And save the top tier."

All six men looked at her as if she'd asked them to birth a baby.

"What?"

"Why?"

Lita handled this for her while rolling her eyes fit for them to fall out of her head. "Because, cretins, you save the top tier in the