We hadn’t even poured coffee yet when Richard VanRyan, Van, Halton, and Reid showed up. A few moments later, Jordan, or Pops as we called him, strolled in, dragging the Callaghan boys, Theo, Thomas, and Reed.
My tribe was all here. We had way more adopted “cousins” than we could fit into a wedding party, but they would all be in attendance and all had a job. We needed ushers, drivers for guests, various errands run for the wedding party—and the group all happily volunteered, and we considered them as much a part of our day as the ones standing beside us at the altar.
We hadn’t wanted stag or doe parties, so the younger members of the group hosted a party for us here last night. We laughed, drank, ate, and danced, no parents or grandparents allowed. We sent them all out to dinner at their favorite place in Toronto, and they hosted some of the out-of-town guests. They enjoyed themselves, we cut loose, and everyone was happy. Hardly traditional, but Addi and I were anything but.
A wedding days before Christmas, pictures outside, a two-night honeymoon in our own home, followed by a full-blown BAM Christmas? Most women would have refused, but the entire thing was my Addi’s idea.
Which was why she was perfect for me.
A hand on my shoulder broke my thoughts. My dad’s warm blue gaze met mine. “Quit daydreaming, son. You’ll be at the altar soon enough. We’ve got breakfast, some basketball, and a bunch of work to do.”
I grinned. “I’m looking forward to the altar the most.”
He chuckled. “I know. I felt the same way the day I married your mother.”
“We all felt that way,” Bentley said, adding a couple of scones to his plate. Everything else had been catered, but the scones came from Emmy. He wouldn’t eat any others.
Bentley clapped my arm as he went by. “Knowing my Addi, she’s as anxious as you. Emmy said she was enjoying her girl time, so you need to enjoy us.”
I snorted. “They sit around, have their nails done, drink, and discuss us.” I grinned widely. “They conspire together on how to keep us in line. All we do is work and let you old-timers beat us at basketball on occasion.”
“Hey, who you calling old?” Aiden protested, flexing his muscles. “I can beat you—all of you—with one hand tied behind my back.”
I smirked. Aiden was still huge. Tall, his posture ramrod straight. He worked out daily and could tire me out most of the time. His hair was completely gray now, with silver woven into the strands, and his scruff matched. But he was strong and agile, and he made sure we all were as well.
Like a single unit, Ronan, Paul, and Jeremy all stopped shoveling food into their mouths and looked up. Aiden’s triplets weren’t identical, but they were similar, all taking after Aiden in their size and looks. Dark-haired with green eyes, they were large and liked to work out and do most things together.
“You’re on, old man,” Ronan teased, always the spokesman for the group. The boys all high-fived one another, tilting their chins toward their father in a threatening way that made me laugh. Aiden narrowed his eyes.
“You’re going down, son.”
“Which one?” They spoke in unison.
“All of you.” He jerked his head toward Bentley and Maddox. “I got my boys.”
“Hey,” Richard interjected. “I’ll get in on that.”
Ronan chuckled. “The three of us will take on all of you—except Pops. He’s ours.”
Everyone laughed as Jordan rolled his shoulders. “You heard them, gents. I’m the ace in the hole.”
“That you are, Pops,” hooted Reed.
The rest of the meal was filled with taunts and general ribbing. The breakfast disappeared as if none of them had seen food in months, leaving Bentley shaking his head. “I ordered double what I thought we needed.” But he didn’t look surprised.
After breakfast, we divided into teams and hit the court in the basement. There was a lot of trash-talking, unnecessary roughhousing, and taunts. Aiden took on his triplets, his eldest son, Liam, adding himself to his dad’s team, and they held their own, although they had to admit defeat. The triplets were like a well-oiled machine, knowing one another’s moves before they happened. You could never win if they weren’t on your team. Still, it was fun to watch.
My dad got my attention. “We need to get you ready. Our tuxes are at your place. Everyone will get ready at their own homes and meet back here. The cars will drive us over.”
“Jen with the girls?”
He smirked. “His favorite place to be. I think he arrived with the flowers and was making sure everything was perfect. We’ll have to pass his inspection before he lets us in the building.”
I laughed. The quirky male wedding coordinator was part of every celebration we ever had, as well as many family functions. He was outrageous, droll, and his eccentricity had only become more so as he aged. He walked with a cane now and only worked on select, personal weddings. He had been a huge help for ours.