“I don’t really care about Mac either,” I try and joke.

“Well, other than them.” She chuckles. “Who I’m pretty sure invited themselves so they could party with us tonight. It’s us, the boys, and that’s it. Maddoc is already making this easy. No dresses, no suits, just us. Chill the fuck out and look out the window at the guy you almost lost. All you’re doing today is making sure you never do. That’s it.”

“We’re eighteen-year-olds who will have to go to summer school just to graduate now, and we’re having a fucking kid and getting married? Vee, I haven’t even got to talk to him yet. I thought I was married to his brother less than a day ago, now here we are.”

She eyes me, shaking her head. “Does any of that matter?”

“Shouldn’t it?”

“No. You said yourself, you don’t care about the word. It means nothing to you, but he means everything to you. This whole husband and wife thing that might be for the sake of some stupid contract today, but in the morning, when you wake up beside him it could mean something more.” She jumps to her feet, holding a hand out, so I slap mine into it. She yanks me up, our eyes meeting. “Tonight, he’ll officially be yours, Raven.”

“He already is,” I say, squeezing my eyes closed.

“So what’s the issue? Why are we standing here when we could be making s’mores by the fire already?”

I scoff and shove her away with a smirk. “You’re trippin’ if you think you’ll be seeing me tonight, Vee.” I take the stairs down two at a time, turning to look up at her smiling from the top. “Straight trippin’.”

She jogs down, following me into the room. “Should I tease you for wearing a dress even though he said you didn’t have to?”

“If you wanna get punched, go for it.”

She laughs, nudging me out the door.

Maddoc

“Fuck’s she taking so long for?” Royce looks at his watch then back at me.

I frown. “You good, man?”

“Are you?” His eyes widen as his brows lift. “I mean, fuck, bro. You’re about to get married and your punk ass is standing there all fuckin’ calm and shit.”

Cap chuckles beside him and the corner of my mouth lifts.

“Why you laughin’?” Royce shoves at Cap playfully. “Now you can’t run around here pretending you don’t have a Victoria-sized stick up your ass.”

Cap’s eyes narrow, but when I lift a brow at him, his features smooth and he pops a shoulder. I don’t miss the subtle tip of his lips either.

“Man, we look too good to be standing in the woods right now.” Royce runs a hand down his suit jacket. Grinning at himself.

“Won’t she be pissed when she sees you guys in suits when you told her she could wear her jeans?” Mac teases. “Every girl I know would flip if she showed up anywhere underdressed.”

The three of us grin, and Mac looks at us confused.

Royce grips his shoulders, shaking him lightly. “That’s right, my man. Any other girl would flip. Raven ain’t any other girl. She speaks Brayshaw.” Royce looks to me. “She speaks Maddoc.” He grins lightly. “She knows what he really wants.”

Chloe only shakes her head, pouting in the seat she took when she came storming from the cabin.

The reverend makes his way toward us, so Cap slips the flask we were passing around in his inside jacket pocket.

“Gentlemen.” He nods his head with a smile. “Are we ready?”

“Is she?” Royce asks, making us laugh.

The man turns to him. “She is, son.” He looks between Captain and Royce. “And she’s asking for you both.”

My brows snap together and look up the small incline, finding Victoria making her way down, her eyes on the ground.

I take a half a step forward only for the official to slide in front of me with his hands up.

“Please.” He smiles. “Stay.”

The boys jog up the hill without a word, both their eyes on Victoria as they pass her, but she doesn’t look up until she’s almost to me.

She nods, the corner of her mouth lifted as her eyes scan over me. “She was right.” She looks to me. “Nice suit.”

“Nice outfit.”

She shrugs, and steps to the side. “Not supposed to be the one in white, but it’s what the queen ordered, literally,” she jokes, running her hands over the satin top while she glares at the white skinny jeans. “How you guys got all this shit here overnight, I’ll never understand.”

“Get used to it.”

Her eyes find mine.

“It wasn’t only our lives that changed yesterday. Yours did too.”

She licks her lips, looking away in thought.

A moment later, Royce steps around the corner.

He points at me, slips his shades on, then gives me his back. Cap steps around next, pausing right beside him.

Royce holds a hand out.

It’s her fingers I see first, slipping into my brother’s. Then her wrist, but Cap slips to the left, blocking the rest of her.

I tilt my head, my eyes narrowing but it doesn’t help.

Right when I’m about to push forward, go get her my damn self, Cap moves aside, and there she fucking is.

My girl.

Black leather jacket unzipped, laying over a lacy, white dress that allows her skin tone to peep through, and cuts off at the knee. It’s tight, shaped to her hips and fucking perfect for her. Simple, easy, but damn if she doesn’t bring it to life.

Her hair is curled and down, laying all around her, a deep part in the center, and she’s got those red lips again, her black boots covering her feet.

Fucking perfect.

I force my eyes left, scanning across the three.

A solid, tight line. My brothers both hold a hand of hers, leading her right where she belongs.

Right to me.

My baby, or more, my babies.

We’re having a fucking baby.

If someone had asked me months ago if I wanted a kid, I’d have laughed in their face. My answer would have been a thoughtless, easy, never.

But now, knowing Raven has a part of me inside her, that the two of us will be linked on a deeper level, a level no one else will ever reach, no matter how hard they might try, I’m desperate for it.

Desperate for our little one.

And I’ll kill anyone who dares to threaten our future.

Our family.

My body grows warm, a calm spreading through me I haven’t felt in weeks, a purpose I’ve never known crawling up my muscles and settling into my bones.

My feet carry me to them, and the closer I get, the higher the corner of her lips rise.

I stop right in front of her, my hands landing on her hips, and I lower my forehead to hers.

Slowly, my brothers release her hands, patting my back as they walk by and Raven’s palms slide up my chest, fisting my jacket at the collar.

Her choppy breaths fan across my lips and I fight the urge to drop mine to hers.

Not yet.

“I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to go,” she whispers. “I’m pretty sure I was supposed to walk to you.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t do things the right way, baby. We do it our way.” My hands move up her ribs, under her jacket and squeeze. “And our way is how I like it.”