Matt and Rachel started it off by renewing their vows. It seemed unnecessary to me, since they hadn’t been married all that long, but after talking to each of them, I got the feeling they were doing it just so Anna and I could see the ceremony. That moved me, and I didn’t even give him crap about the fact that his tuxedo had tails. Who the hell wears tails anymore? Jackass. I made a mental note to get him a cane and a monocle for Christmas. I might not tease him on his “special day,” but the other 364 were fair game.
Matt and Rachel had the ceremony at the restaurant inside the Space Needle, which was pretty awesome. They bought out the entire place for the night, and after their brief vows—both whispered to each other with bright red, embarrassed cheeks—we spent the night eating, drinking, and watching the city below us slowly revolve into view.
It was a great night, and as I slow danced with Anna, I asked her if she’d like to do something similar. “Do you think we should renew our vows and shit? We never really had a party.” No, we’d pretty much taken the leap, then continued on with life: had a baby and finished up the D-Bags tour.
Anna bit her lip while she thought. “I don’t really need the ceremony part, but we could have a barbeque to celebrate? Cook some burgers, drink some beer. That would be great!”
I wrapped both arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze. “I fucking love you.”
She laughed as she squeezed me back. “I fucking love you too.”
While we made plans for our shindig, Evan and Jenny finally took the plunge. They got married at their house—the old auto body shop with the loft on top. They did it a week before Christmas…and they let Abby decorate. Her outlandish design put every Santa’s Village to shame; it gave new meaning to the words “Winter Wonderland.” Shimmering snowflakes were hanging from the ceiling, fake snow lined every flat space in sight, and bright red roses were mixed with holly and mistletoe to create one-of-a-kind flower arrangements that had everybody kissing. Once the dorkiness of it wore off…I kind of dug it.
Kellan was Evan’s best man, while Matt, Liam, and I were his groomsmen. Jenny had Kiera as her maid of honor, with Anna, Rachel, and Kate as her bridesmaids. Matt was spacey the morning of the event, like he was hungover or something. I had to snap my fingers in front of his face three times to get his attention. “Dude, what’s up with you? You look like you’re gonna hurl.”
Matt ran a hand down his face. “I think I might.” Face grim, he looked between Evan, Kellan, Liam, and me. “Rachel’s pregnant…she just told me before we came out here. I’m gonna have a kid. I’m completely freaking out.” His skin paled so much, I was sure he was about to pass out.
Reaching inside my jacket, I handed him a flask of whiskey. He took a long draw off it, not even questioning the fact that I was carrying it. Kellan slapped him on his back once he swallowed. “That’s awesome, man! Congratulations!”
“Awesome…?” Matt whispered, taking another swig.
“Yeah,” Liam said. “Kids are…cool.” His expression was as awkward as his words. Aside from visiting numerous nieces and nephews, he had zero experience with kids. I smacked him across the chest.
“Kids are awesome, and you’ll do great, cuz, just don’t overthink it.” Matt raised his eyebrows and I understood. He overthought everything. I smiled and shrugged. Kids were a just-go-with-it kind of deal, and I excelled at that. Matt…not so much.
Evan laughed when Matt took another drink. “Don’t worry about it, Matt. We’ll figure parenting out together.”
All of us swung our heads Evan’s way. “Jenny’s…pregnant?” Kellan asked.
Evan shrugged, like Kellan had asked him if she’d gotten a pedicure. “Yeah, we just found out last night.” He didn’t look worried at all, but that didn’t surprise me. It took a lot to ruffle Evan.
Matt offered him the flask. “Want a swig?”
Grinning, Evan shook his head. “Keep it. I think you need it more than I do.”
Matt raised the flask in a toast, then took another drink.
He seemed calmer during the ceremony, but that was probably because he was half-lit. By the reception, he was full-on blitzed and feeling no pain. And he finally seemed to be excited about his upcoming child. From the middle of the dance floor, he shouted above the music, “I’m gonna be a dad!”
Naturally, everyone started cheering. I booed, just to be an ass to Matt. He didn’t hear me though, he was too busy sucking Rachel’s face. Anna thwacked my chest, then asked me if I knew about Evan and Jenny’s good news. “Yeah, he spilled the beans right before the ceremony.”
Anna nodded, not surprised. She had her hair pinned up, away from her neck, and all I wanted to do was suck on her exposed skin. And because I could, I did. Anna purred when my tongue brushed against the vein in her neck. Her voice a little throaty, she murmured, “Did Evan happen to mention that twins run in Jenny’s family?”
I pulled back to stare at her; her green eyes were lusty and amused. Grinning, I turned to look at Evan and Jenny slow dancing near the center of the room. “Well, that might finally ruffle him.” I started laughing, and just because I was having such a damn good day, I couldn’t stop.
By the time Anna and I threw our reproclamation celebration the next May, the results were in—Jenny was preggers with twins. Matt had been damn near constipated while he’d waited to see if he was sharing Evan’s fate, but, unfortunately, no, he wasn’t. Rachel was only having one. Damn shame if you asked me. I would have given anything to see Matt fumbling with two screaming babies. God…that would have been awesome.