more to himself. “I should probably burn it, just to be safe.”
And then they had reached Wesley, who was still smiling at them.
“John-Henry, it’s good to see you.”
“Hi, Wesley.”
“Emery, hi.”
“Hello.”
“I understand no one is being given away.”
Somers looked like he was about to answer, but Hazard decided to field this one. “Of course not. Giving away the bride reinforces patriarchy, and, of course, neither of us is a bride, and we’re also both grown-ass adults who are perfectly capable of making our own decisions based on love, mutual respect, and flowcharts. I don’t need anyone to give me away like a piece of chattel, as part of a pact to strengthen a family alliance, or—” He had to pause to take a breath here; his brain had slipped a gear, and he was having a hard time stopping.
Somers rested a hand lightly on his back, and Hazard managed to swallow the rest.
“That was very sweet, bunny,” Hazard’s mother said.
Blood rushed into Hazard’s face, and he very deliberately did not meet Somers’s eyes.
“Lacking any chattel,” Wesley said, “we can move on to the good stuff. We’re here today to join these two men in holy matrimony.”
Hazard narrowed his eyes at the word holy.
“Uh,” Wesley said, working a finger along his collar, “marriage always takes place as part of a community. We’re grateful for the support and love of the people who are here today, and we’d like to ask if anyone has a legitimate reason why these two men should not be wed, that they speak now or forever hold their peace.”
When no one spoke, some of the tension in Hazard’s shoulders eased.
“John-Henry, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer I do.”
“I do,” Somers said, glancing up at Hazard, his eyes full of tears again.
“Emery, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer I do.”
“Yes,” Hazard said.
His mother and, of all people, Glenn Somerset chuckled.
“Fuck, I mean, I do,” Hazard said.
Somers leaned into him, his face wet and hot through the thin t-shirt, and then he pulled away grinning.
“I understand that we will now be exchanging vows,” Wesley said, wearing a huge grin.
“I didn’t know we were writing our own vows,” Hazard whispered to Somers.
“You shouldn’t lie to your husband,” Somers whispered back. “Sometimes you forget to lock your phone and leave the notes app open. You’ve got eighteen drafts. Pick one.”
Hazard’s jaw dropped.
“I’ll go first,” Somers said. “Emery, Ree, I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. I promise to watch documentaries with you, listen to NPR with you, read statistical analyses of zip codes with you, and just about anything else you want me to do with you, because I want to do everything together. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy, which I know includes picking up my socks and learning how to properly make brisket and, as of today, finishing the patio. I promise to love you for the rest of my life.”
“You already read these,” Hazard whispered, holding his phone.
“I didn’t read them, dummy, I just saw the titles. I’m ready for a great, big surprise.”
“The nature of surprise is that you can’t—”
Somers was making a strangled noise.
“Fine,” Hazard snapped, which was difficult in a whisper. “This is on your head.”
He scrolled through the phone screen. Draft 17 was punchy and had a great joke about Alexeev’s “Income Distribution in the USSR in the 1980s,” but Draft 9 was more tender and romantic, including the part Hazard was proudest of, the twenty-two line comparison between his love for Somers and nuclear fuel rods, the important balance of zirconium and uranium oxide. But no matter how he tried to focus, the words slid away from him. Sweat prickled under his arms; he couldn’t get enough air.
Then he pocketed the phone and looked at Somers.
“John, I’ve always tried to be a good person. I never thought I could be a great one until you loved me. Everything important in my life is tied to you: my work, my sense of family, my place in our