Our Favorite Days

  “Are you ready?” Mom asked and I nodded.

  My bridesmaids and maid of honor gave me hugs and air kisses before they left. Mom was last.

  “I am so proud to call you my daughter. I’m so excited for this life you’re building for yourself. I love you, Kid.” I wiped my eyes and she gave me a huge hug before letting my dad in. I had hesitated for about five seconds when I thought about him walking me down the aisle, but I couldn’t imagine telling him that he couldn’t, or that I didn’t want him to. Sure, we were still working on fixing what was broken in the past, but we were getting there.

  “You ready, Kid?” he said, after gushing about my dress.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Of course we were getting married in the gazebo. Susan was still working here and either she didn’t remember us, or Taylor had fed her a story about how we had postponed the wedding. Or maybe she’d just paid her. I almost didn’t want to know.

  The money aspect was something I was going to take up with her later, but right now? I was getting married.

  The wait for Taylor took forever. The only guests at our wedding were all in the wedding party, so we hadn’t even needed chairs.

  I waited alone with Susan as bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the grass toward the gazebo, led by John, Hope and Harper. She had a little basket and was throwing out petals like she was having the time of her life. I got a little choked up when she came up the ramp and beamed at me.

  “Good job, Seven,” I said, giving her a high five as she went by me. Renee and Paul were next, followed by Jos and Dusty, Mase and Darah and then Tawny and Taylor’s mom.

  Finally.

  Finally.

  The music changed, thanks to Jos (our unofficial DJ). I expected the traditional wedding march, but my girl wasn’t having it.

  “Wedding Dress” by Matt Nathanson started to play as she and her dad walked down the hill. I fucking lost it. There was just so much going on inside me and I couldn’t handle it. Mase nudged me and handed me a tissue he’d pulled from his pocket. I thanked him as the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen walked toward me on her father’s arm. Walking toward me to claim me as hers.

  I hadn’t meant to start crying the minute I saw him in the gazebo, but I couldn’t help it. He was crying too, so the two of us were just a wreck. But at least we were a wreck together.

  I had a death grip on Dad’s arm and Spawns were doing summersaults inside me. They knew. They knew that something exciting was happening.

  The walk toward Hunter took forever and no time at all. One minute I was yards away from him and the next I was hugging my dad, handing off my bouquet and taking Hunter’s hand.

  “You looks so beautiful,” he whispered as the song faded.

  Susan gave me a wink. I’d called her a few months ago and had laid out the whole story. Fortunately, she was a romantic at heart and told me there was a cancellation on the weekend of May 7th. I’d known it was fate.

  My hands shook a little as I clasped both of Hunter’s. Spawns had gone still, as if they were waiting and listening too.

  “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the love of this man and this woman, and the love they share together as they build their family.” I told Susan I didn’t care a whole lot about what she said, as long as we got to say our own vows and there was nothing about “obey” in them. I definitely drew the line there.

  “These two people have come together and asked you to witness their love. Although, one of you didn’t know you were doing this until a few hours ago.” We all laughed and Hunter wiped his eyes again.

  “But love doesn’t run on a schedule. It has its own timetable and sometimes hits you when you least expect it.” I smiled at Hunter and he smiled back. If that wasn’t the perfect way to describe our relationship, I didn’t know what was.

  “The couple has chosen to write their own vows and will now read them to each other.” Hunter’s eyes went wide in panic. I started laughing.

  “It’s okay, Hunter. You always know the right words.” I squeezed his hands and he cleared his throat.

  “Love isn’t a mistake. I don’t know if it was God or a computer glitch that threw you into my life, but I am so grateful for it. I am grateful for each and every moment with you. Even when we’re fighting, or you’re mad at me. I would not take one of them back. You are my girl, my wife, the mother of my children. I loved you yesterday, I love you today and I’ll love you tomorrow. More than the stars.”

  Yeah, he always knew the right words. I wiped my eyes and pulled the piece of notebook paper out of my bra to some snickering.

  The words blurred before my eyes and it took me a second to collect myself.

  “Hunter. When we first met, I thought you were going to be a girl. But you weren’t. You were a boy with tattoos and an attitude and you drove me crazy. I actively tried to get you out of my life, but you just wouldn’t go. I couldn’t get rid of you. And then I didn’t want you. You jerk.” More laughter.

  “And now, here we are, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world with anyone else. You are there for me when I need you, you support me when I need you. You’re everything that I need. And I wanted to bring you here today and plan all this to show you that I love you and I will never stop. More than the stars.” I had to resist kissing him with every bone in my body. It wasn’t time.

  “Now we have the rings,” and Hunter looked terrified again, but Mase nudged him and dropped the ring I’d had custom-made to fit around my engagement ring into his hand. Harper handed me the ring for Hunter. It was a plain dark silver band with engraving on the inside.

  “Repeat after me, I Hunter, take you Taylor,” Susan said.

  “I, Hunter, take you Taylor.”

  “To be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for now and always.” I hadn’t wanted to put the death part in because it seemed so morbid, so Susan had made that change.

  Hunter repeated the words and then slid the ring on my finger.

  “With this ring, I thee wed.”

  Then it was my turn and I almost dropped the ring, but managed to get it on his finger.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your beautiful bride.” Hunter grabbed me and kissed me hard. I kissed him back and one of us shoved our tongue in the other’s mouth and then we were making out to the cheers of everyone in the gazebo.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Mase said with a chuckle and we finally parted.

  “I’ve been wanting to do that for hours and it’s been driving me crazy,” Hunter said. “I love you, Missy Girl.”

  “I love you.”

  He leaned down and placed two kisses on my belly before taking my hand and leading me out of the gazebo.

  My husband.

  After the ceremony, Taylor and I took pictures, along with the rest of our family and I finally got a chance to ask her how she’d pulled this off.

  “Well, it wasn’t easy, but you were pretty oblivious so that helped.” I growled at her and she laughed. The photographer just kept snapping pictures.

  “I just hope you like everything, because I couldn’t get your input.” It didn’t matter.

  “I would have married you in a parking lot in our pajamas. But everything so far has been perfect. Who knew you had skills as a wedding planner?”

  She beamed.

  “I’m a woman of many talents.”

  I hadn’t even thought about the reception until she said that it was time.

  We all moved over to the tent and I was absolutely amazed by how gorgeous it was. The peacock theme continued with streamers, bows on the chairs and centerpieces, all in the peacock colors with feathers everywhere.

  Jos was our DJ here too, apparently, because she was the one who introduced us as we walked in together. Our small group cheered and then we sat down to dinner. Taylor had picked steak and lobster as the main entrée, with vegetarian pasta for her.

  “I didn’t want to
make everyone eat pasta,” she said when I asked her about it.

  Champagne was passed out, with a bottle of sparkling cider for Taylor, which I also drank in solidarity. Mase was getting a kick out of banging his knife against his glass to get us to kiss.

  As maid of honor and best man Tawny and Mase both got up and made speeches about Taylor and me while we ate. We laughed and cried some more and our family did their best to embarrass us as much as possible. There were many jokes about this being a shotgun wedding and it being good that Taylor’s dress wasn’t purely white, which we just laughed off.

  “I have one more surprise for you,” Taylor said as I helped her to her feet for our first official dance as man and wife. I expected her to just play a song, but then, from the back of the tent, the UMaine Steiners appeared, all dressed in their best. Dusty joined them and they all clapped and gave me congratulations as they arranged themselves around several mikes.

  “Shall we?” Taylor said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

  “We shall,” I said and the boys started to sing. “Dance Me to the End of Love.” So perfect.

  Taylor and I swayed, her bump between us, but not keeping us apart. I couldn’t resist sliding one of my hands down to rest there, feeling the twins.

  “They’re dancing too,” I said and she smiled.

  “They’ve been excited all day. I told them I was marrying their daddy and I think they approve.” She smiled up at me through tears and I kissed her softly.

  My wife. My Missy.

  Since Taylor couldn’t dance as much these days (except for the traditional dances with me and then with her Dad), we ended up sitting a lot and watching our dorky friends and family try to shake it. Well, except for Mase, who was literally dancing circles around everyone as Darah clapped and watched, a glowing smile on her face.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if they got married soon,” Taylor said, resting her chin on my shoulder.

  “I know. I’m not supposed to say this, but Mase has a ring. He showed it to me and it’s massive. She’s going to die when she sees it. He’s just planning the perfect way to propose. I told him he couldn’t outdo me and I think he’s taken that as a challenge.” Taylor giggled.

  “Let him have it. Your proposal will always be the best to me. Isn’t that what matters?” I turned and kissed her cheek.

  “You’re right.”

  She yawned and I asked her if she wanted to go to our room. She’d secured the one with the library for us, which was no surprise.

  “No, I want to stay a little longer. They’re all having a good time.” Harper was grooving with Tawny, Mase was doing circles around Darah, making her laugh, Paul and Renee were dancing close, as well as John and Hope while Jos and Dusty fought over which song to play next. Joe chatted with Taylor’s mom and her dad was standing off to the side, but he didn’t seem sad. Just watching. Like me.

  “They are. I don’t know how you did it, but I know I couldn’t have done anything better. I couldn’t have wanted anything other than this.”

  She sighed.

  “Good. Then it was worth it.”

  “Definitely.” I rubbed her belly and was rewarded with a few little bumps against my hand.

  “Now no one can say that Spawns were born in sin.” Taylor rolled her eyes at me.

  “I will throat punch anyone who says anything like that. Seriously. Becoming a mom is making me lose my chill again.” She flexed her fingers.

  “Maybe you should get back into kickboxing.”

  “That’s probably a good idea. I’m going to be so glad when I can move without difficulty that I think I’m going to want to go nuts. Of course, I’ll be chasing after them.” She smiled when she said it, though.

  “And I’ll be right behind you, baby.”

  She kissed my nose.

  “Only so you can check out my ass.”

  “Well, it is a great ass. Have you seen it?”

  “No, I haven’t seen any part of myself for a long time.”

  We both laughed and I pulled my wife close.

  “I love you, Mrs. Zaccadelli.”

  “I love you, Mr. Zaccadelli.”

  “No one is going to criticize your name,” I said to Lucky Taylor Zaccadelli, my son.

  “They wouldn’t dare,” Hunter said as he held Lucy Seven Zaccadelli.

  Lucky opened his eyes and looked up at me.

  “Hey, little man. Welcome to the world.”

  I had never been so exhausted or so happy in my life. I’d gone into labor early, but had been able to deliver both babies without a C-section. They were a little small, but not dangerously so, and they were both healthy. A complete miracle after Hunter and I had been doing so much worrying for so many months.

  “Switch?” Hunter said and I passed him Lucky as he gave me Lucy. She looked so much like Hunter and Lucky was definitely more me. I hoped they got the best of both parts of us.

  Lucy yawned and it was so cute I started to cry. I had the feeling I was going to be doing a lot of crying now that they were here.

  Hunter scooted onto the bed next to me and I looked down at our two little spawns.

  “Now would probably be a bad time to ask how many children you think we should have.” I turned to give him a withering look, but he just winked.

  “Kidding, Missy. Kidding. I’m happy as we are right now. With these two.” He softly kissed Lucy’s head and that made me tear up again.

  “Stop making me cry, dammit,” I said, reaching for another tissue.

  “I can’t make any promises. But I’ll do my best, Mrs. Zaccadelli.” It was official now. A week after we’d had our ceremony at Norumbega, we’d gotten a marriage license and then signed the paperwork at the courthouse with Mase and Darah as witnesses. Quick and easy.

  “Can we come in?” Darah said, knocking softly at the door and poking her head in.

  “Yeah, come on,” I said, smiling. She and Mase came in with balloons and two little teddy bears from the gift shop.

  “Oh, they’re just as cute as they were an hour ago. Maybe cuter,” Darah said. Our friends and family had been coming and going all day. This had been one of the first times Hunter and I had been alone.

  “Can I?” Darah asked after washing her hands, her enormous engagement ring sparkling as she dried them off.

  “Of course,” I said, passing Lucy to her as Hunter handed off Lucky.

  “So, what do you think, Dare? You want a pair of these someday?” Mase said.

  “Someday, John. Not right now.” She and Mase would be moving into their apartment in Portland next week. We were going to have a going away party for them when I got home from the hospital with the babies and I was already feeling their absence like a dull ache.

  We were still going to see them all the time, but it wasn’t the same. Renee and Paul were staying, as well as Jos and Dusty, who were moving upstairs into the room Dara and Mase had vacated.

  Hunter and I had talked about renting out the basement and Jos’ friend Hannah had expressed interest, but hadn’t committed yet.

  Renee, Jos, Dusty and Paul showed up a few minutes later, along with Hope and John. We weren’t supposed to have so many people in the room at once, but I didn’t care. I’d rather have the room too full than have it empty.

  Mom and Tawny couldn’t squeeze their way through, so most of our friends said they were going to get something to eat and they’d be back to see us tomorrow.

  “So, I’m thinking that I don’t want to be called Grandma,” Mom said, rocking Lucy as Lucky slept in Hunter’s arms. The nurses said we could put them down, but we didn’t want to.

  “Okay, what do you want to be called?” I asked, reaching for a cup of water.

  “I was thinking Gigi. It sounds much nicer and doesn’t make me feel old.” I laughed.

  “Okay, if that’s what you want to be called, I’ll do my best. But I can’t promise anything. The two of them might come up with something that you don’t really like, and you’re gonna be s
tuck with it.” She just smiled down at Lucy.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Oh, she was smitten. It was hard not to be. Hunter and I made adorable babies, and I wasn’t being biased. I would fight anyone who said they weren’t the cutest babies on the planet. As soon as I could move from this hospital bed.

  I’d come to terms with not going back to school next semester and now that the babies were here, I couldn’t imagine wanting to leave them to even go to the bathroom, let alone for the whole day. Hunter still had to get his Master’s and then do his student teaching, so the two of us had a while to go yet before we’d be settled in careers. Things were in flux. Life was busy and chaotic and unexpected.

  As if to illustrate my point, Lucky let out a noise somewhere in the region of his diaper and Hunter made a face.

  “I grew them, you change them,” I said, but he was already heading over to the little changing station. Lucky certainly didn’t like having Dad messing with his clothes.

  Mom shook her head and handed Lucy back to me to go help Hunter.

  “Men, you are so completely helpless sometimes,” she said and helped Hunter get the finicky and screaming Lucky out of his dirty diaper and into a clean one.

  “Oh, buddy, it’s okay,” Hunter said, gently bouncing Lucky until he quieted.

  “Not bad, Dad,” I said, giving him a thumbs up.

  “How can something so small be so terrifying?” he said.

  “Because you’re responsible for them,” Mom said.

  “Oh, right, that,” I said. “You mean we have to actually feed and take care of them? They won’t just do it themselves?” Mom gave me a look.

  “Hey, I just pushed out two humans. I’m allowed my sarcasm.”

  Lucy made a little noise as if to agree with me.

  “See?”

  “Oh, just you wait,” Mom said with a smirk on her face. “Just you wait.”