Page 66 of Consummation (The Josh & Kat Trilogy #3)

Forty-Two

Josh

The girl walking toward me on her father’s arm is literally the most spectacularly beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on in my entire life, without exception.

She’s the precise sum of parts I’d order at the Build-a-Wife store if there were such a thing.

Her dress is simple and white—the bottom half of the dress cascading over her round belly and floating like a soft cloud down to the sand.

She’s glowing from the inside-out, shining brighter than any diamond—which maybe explains why, despite all the ice I’ve recently showered her with, she’s opted to wear only two items of jewelry for her once-in-a-lifetime walk down the aisle: the ring I slipped onto her finger when I asked her to be my wife and the fucking amazing tear-drop sapphire-and-diamond earrings Uncle William gifted her from his late wife’s jaw-dropping collection.

“Something old and something blue,” Uncle William said to Kat when he gave them to her last week.

“But definitely not something borrowed—they’re all yours, sweetheart. Welcome to the Faraday family.”

She’s gliding down the aisle with her father, floating like a glorious feather, smiling at people in the audience, and beaming at her father.

And then she locks eyes with me—and every bit of nerves I’ve been feeling vanishes.

Why? Because my future wife is looking at me the exact way Sarah did when she walked down the aisle toward Jonas—the exact way I’ve longed for someone to look at me my whole fucking life, not even realizing it’s what I yearned for most.

Thomas and Kat reach me on the sand, and after kissing Kat’s cheek, Thomas gently guides his daughter toward me.

“Make her happy,” Thomas whispers to me, shaking my hand .

“Forever,” I murmur, taking Kat’s slender hand.

I kiss Kat’s cheek and whisper to her: “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

“I love you,” she replies.

“I love you, too.”

The officiant—a large Hawaiian guy in a white linen suit, sunglasses, and a lei—welcomes everyone and leads us through our very simple marriage ceremony.

Or, at least, that’s what I presume he’s doing—I’m only half-listening.

Because, seriously, what mortal man could possibly concentrate on what a Hawaiian dude in a white suit is saying while looking straight into the face of God’s most heavenly creation?

“And now, Josh and Kat have prepared vows for each other,” the officiant prompts—grabbing my full attention. “Kat?”

Kat takes a deep breath and squeezes my hand. “Josh,” she begins. “ Joshua . You once asked me if I believe in fate—and I said, no, that I believe in kicking ass.”

I laugh and so does everyone in the audience.

“But now I know I was wrong about that. You’re my fate, my love—my destiny.

I truly believe that every minute of my life up ’til now was engineered by a greater power to bring me to this moment—to you —so that I could become your devoted wife.

” She smiles and her eyes twinkle. “One of the things I love about you most is how you take care of everyone you love. As your wife, I vow to be the one who takes care of you, Josh . I promise to love you forever, always making sure your needs and greatest desires are satisfied beyond your wildest dreams. Every single day, I vow to make sure you wake up thinking, ‘Damn, I’m a lucky bastard,’ and every single night fall asleep thinking, ‘I can’t wait for tomorrow. ’”

We share a huge smile.

“I’ll love you forever, Joshua William Faraday,” Kat continues. “I promise to love and honor you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, all the days of my life and never, ever leave your side as long as I’m drawing breath into my body.”

“I love you,” I whisper to her. “Thank you.”

“I love you forever and ever, my love,” Kat whispers. “I promise.”

Kat looks at the officiant, signaling she’s all done speaking .

“Josh?” the officiant prompts.

Those nerves I felt before the ceremony slam into me again. I take a deep breath and take Kat’s beautiful face in my palms. “My beloved Kat.” I take another deep breath. “Good God, you’re evil .”

She laughs in obvious surprise.

I take her hands in mine. “And not just evil. Stubborn as hell, too.” I flash her a huge smile.

“But you’re also hilarious. Compassionate.

Honest. Passionate . Baby, you’re hell on wheels.

And, most of all, you’re loving and kind and beautiful.

” I stroke her golden hair. “ And I love it all — every single thing about you .”

The bottoms of her eyes fill with tears.

“When I first laid eyes on you at Jonas’ house, you waltzed into the living room and marched straight up to me like I’d ordered you out of a catalog—and right then, I knew I was totally screwed.”

Kat laughs along with everyone else.

“But a man has never been so happy or lucky to be totally screwed in the history of time.”

Kat’s face contorts with pure joy.

I take a deep breath. “Katherine Ulla Morgan, you’ve single-handedly taught me how to love—how to be a man in every sense of the word.

You’re the answer to a prayer I didn’t even know I had.

And I vow to you, in front of God and all these witnesses, to cherish you every single day—all parts of you, even the heinously diabolical parts— especially the heinously diabolical parts—to make your happiness my mission in this life.

If someone hurts you, I’ll kick their ass, baby.

If you’re sad, then I’ll make you laugh—unless, of course (for some reason only women can possibly understand), you don’t want to laugh, in which case I’ll simply hold you and let you cry on my shoulder. ”

She sniffles and laughs.

“Kat, I vow to love you and take care of you and our precious baby.” I touch her belly gently. “ All our babies, in fact, because now that I’ve become a part of your awesome family, I’m hoping God will gift us with an entire minivan full of them.”

Kat’s eyes pop out of her head and plop into the sand.

Oh, shit. I don’t know where that came from. I haven’t mentioned my recently discovered desire for a big family to Kat before this moment. Perhaps during our wedding ceremony wasn’t the optimal time for me to lay that idea on her for the first time? Oh, well, fuck it. I am what I am.

I clear my throat and barrel ahead.

“And, most of all, my beloved Kat, I vow to you, right here and now, in front of God and all the people we love, which includes Keane, by the way, just to be clear—”

Every Morgan in attendance bursts out laughing along with Kat and me.

When the Morgans have finally quieted down, I continue speaking again, holding her hands in mine.

“Like I was saying, I solemnly vow to you, in front of God and all the people we love, that when I’m eighty, I won’t have a baby with a trampy twenty-six-year-old gold digger, even though she’ll be at optimal child-bearing age. ”

Kat hoots with laughter and so do I—and so does everyone watching us, even though, surely, no one but Kat and me fully understands the joke.

I cup Kat’s jawline in my palm. “YOLO, Kat,” I whisper.

“Damn, I’m a lucky bastard that I get to live my one and only life with you.

” I touch the cleft in her chin. “I. Will. Always. Love. You.” I reach into my pocket, pull out a poker chip, and covertly place it into Kat’s palm.

“I promise to make every day of our life together better than any fantasy, baby. Forever .”