reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day.”
“You look so beautiful, Lauren. Like a gorgeous doll.” He offered a crooked smile then stroked the side of her face with his thumb.
“Thank you. So do you. I mean, you look handsome.” Her face heated, and they both laughed. And then, he did what he often did when either teasing her or letting her know he understood something: he winked.
“Lauren and Aries, through their words today, have joined together in holy wedlock,” the minister continued. “Since they have exchanged their vows before God and these witnesses, have pledged their commitment to each other, and have declared the same by joining hands and exchanging rings, I now pronounce that they are husband and wife. Those who God hath joined together, let no one put asunder. You may now kiss the bride!”
Without hesitation, Aries drew near and crushed her lips in a kiss. She closed her eyes, hearing the thunderous clapping and whistling from their guests. When she opened them, she saw that her lipstick had stained his lips. Reaching up to wipe it away, he instead took her fingers and kissed them, each one, as he stared deeply at her. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. Needing to feel him near her.
We did it!
“All right, y’all married now. Whoop dee whoop. Yippee ka yay. Let’s eat! ’Bout to starve to death up in here,” Huggie blurted out.
“I’ve about had enough of you tonight, boy. You’re shaped like a barrel of ale and standing here talking about starving. It would take an entire winter season of no eating to come and go before you starve, Huggie, wit’ cha bare-necessities-built hibernating grizzly in the forest ass!” Aunt Gina, his wife, retorted.
Lauren ignored crazy Uncle Huggie, and basked a bit longer in the moment.
“I love you, Aiden!” She released her husband, grabbed her stepson, and showered him with hugs and kisses. He hugged her back, squeezing just as hard. The young teenager smelled like Axe cologne and aftershave. How endearing.
“I love you too, Lauren. Thank you for making my dad a better man…”
Aries left out of the attorney’s office, a new set of papers in his folder. He headed to his truck, jumped in, and made a beeline home. When he arrived, Lauren and Aiden were sitting on the couch sharing a pizza, barely acknowledging his existence.
“Hello, you two bums,” he teased as he slapped the folder on the kitchen counter, now covered in boxes and wrapping paper.
“Hey,” they said in unison, their mouths stuffed with crust and pepperoni.
“Lauren, I need to talk to you for a minute.” The boy craned his neck in his direction, while Lauren stood up, stretched, and put their Netflix movie on pause. The two peas in the pod both had an affinity for mystery movies.
“Okay.”
Aiden yawned and picked up his phone from the coffee table to play some game. The two went upstairs to their bedroom and Aries closed the door behind them.
Lauren turned to him, dressed in her night attire, a fluffy white robe.
“What do you have on under there?” he asked, feeling a bit horny and amorous.
“Under what? This robe?”
“Yeah.”
“My nightgown.”
“Let me see it.” She cocked her head to the side and let it drop to her ankles.
He cleared his throat. Her white nightgown was sheer and sexy, and he especially liked the way it draped her body, leaving part of her back exposed. I’m definitely going to have to have a slice of my baby’s between-the-thighs pie tonight. He opened the bedroom balcony and stepped out to light a cigarette. She joined him and they stood there, side by side. Like the team that they were. Suddenly, he heard thunder and they both looked at the sky, which was darkening by the second.
“Well, baby, everything is settled,” he said. “Right after I left closed down for the day and left my shop, I got the lump sum check. I presented a copy of my father’s letter to the attorney. He read it and we must’ve just stared at each other without saying a damn word for like an hour. Just crazy.”
She shook her head and sighed.
“No one knew he’d planned his death, Aries. I’m sure it was shocking. He just didn’t seem to be the type.”
“Interestingly enough, I mentioned to the lawyer, just kinda casually, that I’d never heard my father’s voice. He said he actually had a video of his second wedding. He played it for me. We sound just alike.”