Another Life (Book 3)

Chapter 13

"It wasn't that bad after all."

"Told you. Want to try, Steph?"

"I'll pass. A regular kiss would be fine."

"As you wish, Wife." She blushes, but it's short-lived as I capture her lips. She melts into me, her fingers lacing with mine. I pull away, nibbling her lips before taking them again. She gives me just the faintest sound of a moan. Satisfied, I pull back and watch her, dazed. I smirk. "Was that good?" She hums.

Then my mom steals our attention, tapping her glass gently. She clears her throat as she takes the mic and brings it to her lips. "Good evening, everyone. I have a toast for the brides. I'm Amelia Chapelle... there's another Amelia so I just want to make that clear. I'm the mother of a bride. Which one? The brutish one up there. I'm just happy that we pulled this off. I can't tell you how many times I thought we wouldn't have a wedding today. Emilie—God Emilie," she groaned my name and everyone laughs because I guess they share the same sentiment? I lower my fork and tap the sides of my mouth with a napkin. "You are my daughter and I love you, but, my good God!"

"What did I do?"

She ignores my question. "If you know Emilie, you'll know exactly why I'm stressed. She hasn't at all been the easiest bride to deal with. Her audacity is unmatched..."

"Oh God, Mother!" She's about to start. I cover my face with my hands, hiding away from the impending embarrassment.

"...a tremendous pain in my ass,"

"Ours too!" I hear my wives say in unison. Making me glare at them. Love you, baby. Sierra whispers. Grace just smirks at me, her hand finding my thigh under the table. Sloane grips my hand on top of the table, lifting it to her lips for a kiss.

"But despite all of that," my mom continues. "Emilie is one of the sweetest people to exist in this world. She cares about everything and everyone, no matter how seemingly small or unimportant they are. She's not a friendly person, but when she likes you, she likes you. I never imagine her falling in love, moreover, three different times. It just never made sense with the type of person she is. Then comes our first bride Sierra, and I'm like, Yeah, okay. This makes sense, you make sense for her. You're sociable, you're rational. A mediator and that's exactly what my daughter needs. Then comes Grace. (Don't judge her character before she has her coffee. That's a different person.) Grace is such a sweetheart. She's so empathetic, selfless and intuitive. She's tough, she's strong-willed and she won't take bullshit from anyone. She's usually the person, when my daughter shows her ass, to spank it. Then Sierra scolds them both for their behaviour."

"Mother!" I don't get why everyone is laughing. This is embarrassing! My face is burning red and my palm isn't adequately hiding me. I turn to Sloane and bury my face in her neck.

"Sloane is the shy one. The calm one. Less dramatic, most logical, most inquisitive. She asks questions. Like she just will not shut up. But it's good for them because when no one else can, she can get Emilie and Grace to talk and open up. It's truly amazing. Their relationship is, unusual. It's strange to most but it's love and it works so congratulations!"

I lift my head to watch her come over, ignoring the claps going up around us. She kisses Sloane's cheek before she comes to me. I embrace her. She moves on to Grace and then Sierra before she goes to sit down again.

Shane goes up to talk, embarrassing Sierra from their childhood days coming up and revealing secrets from when we just started dating that I didn't know. Like how the coffees she usually brings me, which she said she picks up on her way to work, she had to drive to the other side of town for then drive all the way back. And she did that every morning.