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They walked side by side a little ways ahead of me, trying to weave between the throng of people that seemed toliveoutside the courthouse.

“You asked me to be here, remember?” Alex shot back, a sly grin curling her red lips.

Reid groaned. “I asked you to witness,” she clarified, her short blonde curls falling into her eyes. “Which you’ve already done. So why are you hereagain?”

A small flicker of amusement warmed my gut.

Out of all her friends, Reid had always been particularly close to Alex, who seemed to relish being just a few months older. They bickered at every given opportunity, but I’d seen on more than one occasion just how far they’d go for one another. It was something I’d always been a little jealous of. I’d never had someone who would go to the ends of the Earth for me.

“To make sure I don’t have to put my autograph on anything else, obviously.”

Reid shook her head but didn’t argue, and we climbed the well-worn steps to the court.

Reid had been that person for me in a lot of ways, I thought, realizing what it must have meant for her to get married again after what happened in her last marriage.

She’d been the one I’d gone to whenever I needed help settling in. She’d been the one to offer me a new life here; a life where I could support my family better. A little flutter of affection and respect rushed through me, leaving me breathless for a moment.

Like before, we were escorted to a room where an official waited, their stamp hanging limp in their fingers.

“Voss?” he asked, a different man this time though no different from the last.

“Yes, sir,” I said, stepping forward as I had the first time. This time, however, Reid stood by my side.

It settled me more than I realized.

“All right.” He sighed, eyeing both of us with a hint of disapproval. Whether he disapproved of our marriage or the color of my skin, I had no idea, and I had no desire to stick around and find out.

We each signed the official certificate and he was quick to usher us out, though Alex wouldn’t go silently.

“Jesus, you’d swear no one here has seen a bunch of lesbians before,” she huffed loudly, earning a chuckle from Reid.

I only ducked my head a little more, hoping no one would say anything.

But that wasn’t what Alex had in mind. She stopped in the middle of the entrance lobby, her hands fisted on her hips.

“You know what?” she asked no one in particular. “This just won’t do.”

She turned to face Reid with a mischievous smirk.

“What are you thinking?” Reid asked hesitantly.

Alex grabbed Reid’s wrist before reaching forward to grab mine, and linked our hands.

Color climbed into my cheeks and I kept my eyes on Alex.

“We’re doing this right,” she announced. “Or at least, as right as we can.”

“Meaning?” There was a hint of panic in Reid’s question that made me feel a little better; at least she was freaking out about this whole situation too.

“Do you, Reid Voss, take Mia Caetano to be your lawfully wedded wife?” she said, slipping into a serious tone that would have made me laugh.

If we were anywhere else just then.

“Alex,” Reid warned. But her warning went unheard.

“To have and to hold, to cherish and love, as long as you both shall live?” Alex continued, and Reid must have seen the fierce determination in her eyes because she sighed in defeat.

“I do,” she grumbled, her annoyance as plain as day. It made me smile.