Page 67 of Consummation (The Josh & Kat Trilogy #3)

Forty-Three

Josh

“When Josh asked me to be his best man,” Jonas says, speaking into the microphone in his hand, “the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, shit.’”

Everyone seated in the reception room laughs.

“Because I immediately realized I’d have to give this fucking speech—excuse my language—and anyone who knows me will tell you I absolutely hate giving speeches, almost as much as I hate hip-hop and One Direction and talking about my fucking feelings—excuse my language again.

” He grins at Sarah and she beams an adorable smile at him.

“ So I’m gonna try to keep this short and sweet.

” Jonas raises his champagne flute and everyone follows suit.

“Aristotle says love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. Well, Josh and Kat, when I look at you two together, and the way you fit together like two halves of a divinely designed puzzle, I know in my bones Aristotle’s words remain true to this very day.

My wish for you both is that you find eternal light outside the cave together.

Welcome to the Faraday family, Kat—and thank you for taking my constantly emoting brother off my hands.

” Jonas raises his glass. “To Josh and Kat. Hear, hear.”

“Hear, hear,” everyone says, taking a sip of champagne.

“Damn, we Faradays rock,” Kat whispers into my ear.

Jonas lurches over to Kat and me and hugs us fervently, and then hands the microphone to his adorable wife.

“Kitty Kat,” Sarah begins, smiling. “My best friend and now my sister— oh, I just gave myself goose bumps saying that.” She giggles and everyone joins her.

“Anyone can see how beautiful you are on the outside—it’s actually quite unfair how truly gorgeous you are, Kat— but the amazing thing about you, the unexpected thing, is that you’re as beautiful on the inside , too.

” Sarah’s voice wobbles. “Most people can only dream of having a best friend like you, Kitty Kat—and I’m the lucky bitch who actually does. ”

Everyone in the reception room laughs.

“I love you so much, Kat , ” Sarah says.

“I love you, too,” Kat mouths, her hand on her heart.

Sarah looks at me, seated next to Kat at the end of our table. “Joshy Woshy. You’re quite a beast of a man, you know that?”

Everyone in the reception chuckles and cheers in agreement with that statement.

“Josh, I marvel at your sheer amazingness every day,” Sarah continues. “I’m so lucky to be your sister. Thank you for embracing me as part of your family. I love you with all my heart.”

“I love you, too,” I mouth.

“And to Josh and Kat together—the Playboy and The Party Girl with a Hyphen—the unstoppable duo. The poet Kahlil Gibran said, ‘Marriage is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glance and whose ending is Eternity.’ It’s been thrilling to watch your first glance at Jonas’ house turn into the beautiful eternity of today. ”

Kat rests her cheek on my shoulder and I squeeze her hand.

“But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit you two scare the bajeezus out of me,” Sarah continues, and everyone in the room chuckles. “Seriously, every time I’m in an enclosed space with you two, I find myself immediately scanning for emergency exits and fire extinguishers.”

Everyone laughs again.

Sarah raises her glass. “To Josh and Kat. May you always inspire everyone around you to scan for emergency exits and fire extinguishers. Hear, hear.”

“Aw,” Kat says next to me, raising her sparkling apple cider.

“Hear, hear,” everyone in the room says.

I get up and kiss Sarah’s cheek and take the microphone from her.

“Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Jonas. We love you guys so much. We Faradays are pretty effing cool, I gotta say . ” I turn toward the smiling faces in the room.

“I want to thank you all for joining us, not just for today’s celebration, but for this whole past week in paradise.

I know you all have busy lives so we thank you for taking so much time to celebrate and party with us this whole week. It’s been incredible, hasn’t it?”

Everyone claps and cheers.

I glance at Kat and the sight of her makes me completely forget what I was about to say. “Hello, Mrs. Faraday,” I say softly, not into the microphone.

Kat blushes. “Hello, Mr. Faraday.”

We stare at each other for a beat.

“Better give your speech, honey,” she prompts. “People are waiting.”

I chuckle and put the microphone to my lips again. “Thank you, dear.”

Everyone laughs.

“First off, I’d like to say my first ever toast to Mrs. Katherine Faraday. You rock my world, baby. My greatest joy in this life is the honor and privilege of calling you my wife.”

Kat blushes and bats her eyelashes.

“To you, babe. The Party Girl with the Heart of Gold.”

Everyone in the room toasts and drinks.

“Oh!” Kat suddenly blurts, her hand on her belly. “Wowza. That was a biggie!”

I lurch toward Kat and she grabs my hand and places it on the side of her belly, and, instantly, I feel someone throwing an upper cut against my hand.

“Whoa!” I shout. This isn’t the first time I’m feeling my baby kick, of course—I finally managed to give Little G her first-ever high-five a few weeks ago—but this is by far the strongest movement I’ve felt.

“So cool,” I say when Gracie punches me forcefully again.

I give Gracie a high-five with my fingertip and she kicks the crap out of my finger, right on cue.

I put the microphone to my mouth again. “Sorry about that, folks. Gracie wanted to join the toast to her mommy, I guess. I think she’s inside her mommy’s belly shouting, ‘Hear, hear!’”

Kat pulls the microphone in my hand to her mouth. “We’re starting her young,” she says, and everyone laughs. Kat hands the microphone back to me. “Come on, babe. These people wanna dance. Wrap it up.” She makes a swirling motion with her index finger .

“Okay, just a few more words,” I say. “The missus says I gotta wrap it up. I’d like to say a special thanks to my great friend Reed for that incredible surprise earlier. Wasn’t that amazing?”

Everyone claps and cheers wildly.

“When Reed asked me what song Kat and I wanted for our first dance, I thought he was gonna arrange for the cover band to play it for us. I truly had no idea he was gonna fly James Bay to Maui.” I laugh heartily, thinking about how shocked Kat and I were when James Bay himself waltzed into our reception hall two hours ago and started serenading us on acoustic guitar.

I raise my champagne flute to Reed. “Thank you, bro. We’ll never forget that moment as long as we live. ”

Reed points his glass at me and winks.

I guide Kat out of her chair, snake my arm around her ever-growing waist, and pull her to me as I address the room again.

“And one last thing. With my beautiful wife by my side, I wanna say a few words of thanks to my new family, The Morgans. There’s been a lot of talk about Kat becoming a Faraday today, but, trust me, I got the better end of the bargain.

You know that expression ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’?

Well, that’s especially true when it comes to Kat.

” I raise my glass to Kat’s immediate family at their nearby table, and they all return the gesture.

“To Tom Tom Club, Momma Lou, Cheese, Captain, Peen, and Baby Brother—and all the Morgans I’ve met this past week, too—” I raise my glass to the various Morgans seated at tables in the large room.

“Thank you for your part in making Kat the incredible woman she is today and for letting me be part of your hilarious and fucking awesome family. Hear, hear. ”

“Hear, hear,” everyone in the room says in unison.

Kat throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tightly.

“You wanna say a few words?” I whisper to her.

Kat shakes her head. “Hell no. I just wanna dance .”

“So, okay,” I say into the microphone as Kat squeezes the life out of me. “Mrs. Faraday says enough talking about our fucking feelings—it’s time to dance .”