Forever by Janie Crouch
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan
“Got any doubts, son?”
Dad and I sat in the small vestibule behind the altar of the church. It was almost time for me to go out, for me to watch as Jess walked down the aisle and became my bride.
I grinned. Dad would be standing beside me as my best man, just the way I’d wanted it. My teenage brothers were serving as ushers, and my oops-surprise! three-year-old baby sister was a flower girl.
“Not a single one since I was seven years old and a little tornado blew into my life.”
Dad chuckled. “She is a force of nature, isn’t she?”
“Just like Mom.” And Dad still looked at Charlie like the sun and the moon hung on her. He’d done that for as long as I could remember. And he’d probably continue doing it until the day he died.
It was almost time for us to go out; most of the guests had been seated in the small church. I glanced out the door’s tinted window to get a look at our friends and family filling the pews.
“Why does Uncle Gabe look like he might kill Boy Riley?”
Dad broke out into a huge grin. “Evidently, Boy Riley’s twins talked Gabe’s twins into sneaking out last weekend. Tucker and Colton are smitten with Gabe’s girls, and they have no fear, just like their dad.”
I chuckled. “In my mind, all those kids are five years old.” That’s how old both sets of twins had been when I’d left Oak Creek, close to my brother Derek’s age.
“But in reality, those kids are twelve and thirteen now. Just starting to get into trouble. Seeing Gabe lose his shit over his two daughters, since they have Jordan’s looks, makes my day on a regular occasion.”
I wondered if I should remind Dad that he had a daughter now too, and she had Charlie’s looks. He’d be losing his shit soon enough.
“And I see Lincoln is sitting back by himself, not with the other kids.”
Dad shrugged. “You know Lincoln.”
My thirteen-year-old cousin didn’t really get along with kids his own age. He’d been special since the time he was born—actually before he was born. Early tests had suggested to Uncle Baby and Aunt Quinn that Lincoln was likely to have Down syndrome.
He hadn’t. The opposite, in fact.
Lincoln was brilliant in the same way Jess was brilliant, except where Jess was also great with people and tended to be a social butterfly, Lincoln would much prefer to keep to himself.
“Has he decided whether to take the Vandercroft fellowship?”
Dad shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not yet. Lincoln isn’t like Jess. Baby and Quinn don’t feel like they can just send him to a school somewhere being so young.”
I nodded. “Jess could handle it, but she was unique, for sure. Going to a foreign country at fourteen isn’t for everyone, no matter how smart they are.”
“And besides, I think Lincoln got a hold of Neo and Kendrick’s computers and they taught him some stuff.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hacking stuff?”
Dad fought back a smile. “Is there anything else with those two? Anyway, Lincoln really liked it.”
Great. The kid had an off-the-charts IQ, but he was also almost painfully introverted. He needed guidance or he could easily slip in the wrong direction.
Dad walked over and slapped me on the shoulder at the door. “Don’t worry about Lincoln. We’re all keeping an eye on him. We’re not going to let him wander too far. It’s just a matter of helping him find his path.”
That was true. With an extended family like this, Lincoln wasn’t going to wander too far.
“Why don’t you quit worrying about everyone else,” Dad said, “and let’s get you out there and married.”
I nodded; it was time. It was beyond time.
We’d been back from Moldova exactly one month—after stopping in London to return the research and meet with the research heads there, and then Washington, DC for a debriefing.
Jess and I hadn’t wanted to wait any longer to get married. A gun at the temple of the person who meant the most to you in the world taught you very quickly not to put off your forever.
The organ started playing, and Dad and I took our place at the front of the church. I turned and watched as my younger brother Thomas walked Peyton, Jess’s mom, down the aisle and escorted her into her seat.
Then my youngest brother, Derek, walked Mom down the aisle, seating her in the opposite row. She caught my eye and stuck her tongue out at me.
This woman may not have given birth to me, but she was my mother in every other way. She’d saved my life more than once, and I loved her to distraction.
Next, Jess’s sister, Ella, walked down the aisle. She was the maid of honor. If things had not gone so horribly wrong, it would have been Alena here as the maid of honor. But Jess and I had agreed that having Ella stand beside Jess was just as special.
We’d decided to keep the wedding small, mostly because of the last-minute nature, but also because the people most important to us were the ones in this town. My SEAL team had promised they would celebrate my new nuptials at a later date. They were off on a mission, and I understood. I was on my own mission.
My sister, River, was next as the flower girl. She preened in her pretty dress and took out one flower petal at a time from her basket and placed it on the ground as she walked. Nobody dared correct her. River did things however she wanted to do them, and that was okay with everyone else. By the time she was finished, there was a straight line of petals and a church full of grinning people.
And then Jess was there, standing at the door of the church on her father’s arm. The wedding march began, and she moved confidently toward me. Jess did everything with confidence. It was one of the things I loved most about her.
My smile grew bigger with every step she took. There was no other place in the entire world I’d rather be right now than standing here waiting for her.
She reached the front and Cade pulled the veil back from her face and kissed her on the cheek. He winked at me and then placed her hand in mine without hesitation. That trust was not something I took lightly.
We turned and the preacher said words. I’m sure I was supposed to be listening to them, but I couldn’t. All I could do was feel Jess beside me, breathe in her scent. And know I was the luckiest man on the planet because I hadn’t had to look around to find what I wanted. She had been there with me the whole time.
I’d never had to kiss another woman. Never wanted to kiss another woman. Would never want to kiss another woman.
Jess would hold all my kisses her whole life.
The preacher said other stuff. And we lit a candle, and Cade sang a song he’d written just for us. And then it was time for our vows.
Dad handed me the ring, and I rested it at the tip of her ring finger. My thumb stroked her palm as I looked into her blue eyes.
The vows I’d written weren’t eloquent, but they were the truth.
“Jess, my heart married you the first day I met the little blonde four-year-old whose smile lit up my world. I’m glad the rest of me is catching up now. We have been each other’s our whole life, and we will be each other’s for the rest of our lives. I promise to love, honor, and protect you. Even when that means protecting you from yourself.”
She smiled and slid her ring onto my finger. “You are my Ethan. I have known for as long as I can remember that you were mine and I was yours. You are the kindest, most generous, sexiest man I’ve ever known.”
She broke into a grin as people snickered around us.
“No matter where my career goes, choosing you will be my greatest accomplishment in this lifetime. There is nothing I will ever be prouder of than being my Ethan’s wife.”
The preacher said some more words, but Jess and I just kept looking at each other and grinning. And finally he said the words we were both waiting to hear.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Jess threw her arms around my neck, and I wrapped mine around her waist and lifted her until she was off the ground.
And we kissed.
We’d had many firsts over the years, and we would have many more. But this was a special first, and I cherished it.
I let her go and set her back down on her feet. Ella handed her the bouquet, and we walked hand in hand down the aisle as husband and wife.
Ready for our forever.
