“I got my kiss, and now we’re leaving,” Owen tells us.
“Yeah, we need to get home too.” Grant stands.
We all murmur our agreement that we need to get going because, unlike the Riggins brothers from a few years ago, we all have little ones now who will be up early. We’re parents, and our kids are our priority.
Carefully, I lift my daughter from her Pack ’n Play. Yes, I called her my daughter. In my heart, she’s mine. I’ll love her every single day as if it’s my blood coursing through her veins. I couldn’t love her anymore if that were the case. “I got you, baby girl,” I whisper, snuggling her to my chest.
“I’ll take her.” Wren appears beside me. I nod and carefully hand her over to her mother while I pack up and gather the diaper bag. I hit the remote start button for the SUV and then pass out hugs and say our goodbyes before loading my girls up and taking them home.
“What kind of wedding do you want?” I ask Wren the next morning over breakfast. I’m sitting at the table next to Madeline, who is shoving eggs into her mouth from the tray of her high chair. I’m happy to say she now has a pink princess plate to eat off.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought much about it.”
“Did you have a big wedding the first time?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It was just Travis and me, and Carrie was there with a date. Some Todd guy, I think his name was.”
“Did you want a big wedding?”
“No.” She gives me another shake of her head. “Not without my parents,” she whispers.
“Okay, so small wedding. Got it. Now, do you know what season? Winter perhaps?” I suggest helpfully.
She smiles, and I feel it deep in my soul. “Sure, November or December would be fine,” she says casually.
“Think more, January or February.”
“Hmm, that would give us more time. Are you sure you’re willing to wait until next year?” She’s biting on her cheek to keep from laughing.
“Hell no,” I say, then grimace, looking over at Madeline. I usually catch myself with my potty mouth when she’s around. “This year. This January or February,” I correct her.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Am I sure that I love you more than life itself? Am I sure that I want you to take my last name and be upgraded from fiancée to wife? Am I sure that I want to be this little girl's daddy?” I reach over and cover Madeline’s ears with my hands. “Hell fucking yes, I’m sure,” I say, releasing her ears and giving her a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. She giggles, and the sound warms my heart. She also offers me a bite of soggy egg, and I can’t tell my little girl no, so I take it and quickly swallow, washing it down with some coffee.
“Okay, so… soon.” She nods as if she’s letting the idea sink in. “Nothing big, no wait. This is your first wedding. Do you want something big?”
“This is my only wedding,” I say adamantly. “Honestly, I don’t care. I want you to be happy. I want it to be the wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Big, small, Vegas, the beach, I don’t care as long as at the end of the day you’re Wren Riggins.”
She’s quiet for a few minutes while she processes what I’ve just said. “I really like the idea that Conrad and Aspen had. To just surprise everyone. Come as you are kind of thing.”
“We can do that. Here? Mom and Dad’s?”
A soft smile pulls at her lips. “Here. In our home. Seems fitting, I think.”
“Come as you are, and here in our home,” I repeat, the idea already cemented with me. “When?”
She shrugs, and I’m ready for her to blow me off. “I’m ready when you are. I love you, Marshall. When I agreed to be your wife, I was ready then.”
“You should have told me. That was forever ago. We could have already been married and working on getting Maddie a sibling.” Reaching over, I tap Madeline on the nose, and she giggles.
“You never asked.”
“Woman! I was trying to give you time. I didn’t want to overwhelm you with all the changes.”
“There were a lot of changes going on,” she agrees. “But none of them would have stopped me from marrying you.”
“Next weekend. My dad can marry us like he did Conrad and Aspen. We can go this week to get our marriage license.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
She smiles. “More eggs?”
“No. I don’t want more eggs. I want your sexy ass to get over here and kiss me.”
“Oh, is that all?” she asks with a smile. She places her plate in the sink and slowly makes her way to where I’m sitting. I scoot back from the table and pat my lap. She doesn’t hesitate to take a seat.