“They’re gorgeous!” I said as I took one from the waiter and passed it to Tristan. Turning toward him, I said with a smile, “And if you try to push that cupcake into my face, we’re going to have our first married fight, Mr. Stone.”
“And ruin a piece of art like this? Never,” he said with a chuckle.
“Gorgeous and intelligent. I love that in a husband.”
Jordan stood and cleared her throat as the waiter poured champagne into everyone’s glasses. When we all had ours, she began her wedding toast.
“Congratulations to Tristan and Nina on their marriage. This day has been a long time coming. I’ve known Nina for years and always told her that good things happen to good people. I believe that. These two people are the perfect example of that. So now, after all they’ve been through, this good thing has happened to these good people. Tristan and Nina, here’s to great things in your future. You deserve them.”
We all raised our glasses, and Tristan clanked ours together as we and our guests said in unison, “To great things!”
I slid my hand over Tristan’s and weaved my fingers through his. He turned his head and looked at me with an expression that told me he wished we were alone. I knew how he felt. I did too.
“I think they’re going to expect a dance from us at least before they let us sneak off to begin our honeymoon,” I said quietly as music began playing behind us.
“Then let’s give them what they want,” he said with a sexy grin.
He lead me to the center of the garden as the harpist played a love song, and there, for the first time, we danced as husband and wife. Later, after all the guests had gone and we were alone in the house, he took my hand and led me to the sitting room where we’d sat together that first night. As I stood in the middle of the room, he turned on the music and we danced to our song as he whispered the words to Nothing Compares To U by Sinead O’Connor just like he had that summer night a year before.
The music ended and cradling my face in his hands, Tristan whispered, “I love you, Nina. You make happier than I likely deserve.”
“You deserve everything good. Remember, good things happen to good people, and you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met, Tristan Stone. So no more talk about not deserving things.”
He kissed me and whispered in my ear, “Then let’s get this honeymoon started.”
Epilogue
Tristan
“Daddy, tell us the story about when you became a pirate!” Tressa squeals as she jumps onto the bed. “Dee wants to hear the princess story, but I want the pirate one.”
Diana, her twin sister, struggles to lift her leg to pull herself up onto the bed, so I reach over and take her into my arms. My reward is one of her adorable smiles, a better payment than anything I could ask for.
With a pout, she says in her tiny voice, “Daddy, Tressa pushed me out of the way. I want to hear the princess story. Tell the princess story, pleeeeeeease.”
Two pairs of brown eyes stare up at me, begging for their favorite stories and making the word no an impossibility. Both girls bounce on their knees as they wait for my decision on which story would be the one for the night.
“Diana! Tressa! Where are you?” Nina calls from the hall. “Are you bothering your father? He just got home from work.”
She appears in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest and her best “Mom” face on to let the girls know she isn’t happy they’ve done exactly what she told them not to. I’m more to blame than they are, though, since they know I love to see them after a long day away.
“Girls, your father’s tired and it’s time for you to go to bed.”
Diana turns to face her and quickly answers, “Daddy said he’d tell us a story. He’s going to tell us about the princess.”
Her sister isn’t going to be beaten on this, though. “No, he’s going to tell us about when he became a pirate. That’s my favorite story ever.”
“It’s okay, Nina. I like this part of my day best, so I think I’ll tell both stories tonight.”
In unison, my daughters throw their arms up in the air and yell, “Yay!” They take their seats next to me and wait for me to begin. Which story to choose, though? I prefer the princess story, to be honest.
Nina walks over to the bed and sits down on the edge, taking Tressa’s long brown hair in her hands to braid it. “You know what story I like.”
I smile at her playful jab. She prefers the pirate story, like Tressa, so now we have a standoff. After pretending to consider my choices, I announce my verdict. “I think the pirate story is the one I’ll tell first.”
Diana’s mouth turns down into an adorable pout much like the one her mother puts on when she’s disappointed, so I pull her onto my lap and whisper near her cheek, “But I promise to tell the princess story just for you, honey.”
Her pout turns into another of her gentle smiles, and she wraps her little arms around my neck. Kissing me on the cheek, she whispers, “Okay, Daddy.”
“One night, your mother and I were at the hotel in the city and she told me that she wished I was a pirate. I told her that I didn’t think saying ‘Aarrgh’ all day during meetings would work, but she insisted that she’d love me even more if I were a pirate.”
Tressa reaches out and points at the patch covering my left eye. “And that’s why you got an eye patch—because Mommy wanted you to be a pirate.”
“Exactly. So now, Mommy gets to say she’s married to a pirate.”
“Daddy, do the pirate voice!” Tressa squeals. “Please?”
In my deepest voice, I do my best pirate imitation. “Aarrgh, matey! Shiver me timbers!”
The ‘shiver me timbers’ part always makes her giggle, and she bounces on the bed again, excited her story has been the first one told. Nina just smiles, like she always does when I tell the story to explain why I wear an eyepatch. It’s far more interesting and less traumatic than saying I got beaten to a pulp when Karl tried to kill us. Five year old girls demand a far more romantic story than that.
“And that’s why you have your pictures on your arms,” Tressa says, motioning on her own body where my tattoos are.
“Yes,” I say with a smile, amused by the way she refers to them.
Diana touches just above my heart and says, “The snakes are for you and your brother, right?”
I nod. “My brother and I were twins like you and Tressa, so I got the snake tattoo to show we were forever together, no matter what, just like you two.”