Page 531 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection

I flex my jaw and close my mouth. He’s right. I was so floored by Cynnie in her wedding gown that I was staring at her with my mouth open.

“If you’re going to faint, give me some warning,” he murmurs.

“I’m not going to faint,” I grumble at him.

Except that my head is swimming, spinning. How many Daddies get to marry their little queen bees? I know, objectively, people get married all over the world, every day. I’ve been to two weddings already this year and it’s only the end of January. But standing here, looking at Cynnie, I can’t imagine anyone else in the world feeling like I am right now. My chest and throat are tight. My eyes prickle. Everything else—the cold, the creaking deck, the murmuring crowd—everything fades away. The entire universe narrows down to the woman standing fifty feet away, giving me a tiny wave as she waits.

The back door beside her opens again and finally, Ty and Dakota appear. Dakota’s eyes are red and puffy. Her mother, coming out of the door behind her, looks as upset as her daughter.

But Ty is beaming a wide, white grin. His chin’s up; his shoulders are back. He’s got his girl on his arm and he’s the second proudest man alive right now.

I lift my chin. I put my shoulders back. His feelings about his girl don’t hold a candle to mine.

Dakota’s mother peels her daughter’s coat off before she hustles to her seat, revealing the deep pink and black polka-dot, floor-length gown Dakota picked out at the kawaii shop Cynnie took her to. It should clash with Ty’s traffic-cone orange suit, but somehow just adds to the blaze of color around Cynnie. My bumble baby should be married in a cloud of color and light. The same color and light she brings to the lives of everyone around her.

Ty hands Dakota a small pouch before guiding her arm through his. His grin offsets his sedate walk as he leads her down the aisle. She tosses handfuls of bird seed to either side, careful not to hit the seated guests.

When Ty and Dakota reach us, Dakota turns her puffy-eyed face up to me. “Mister Max, I’m so sorry?—”

I hug her. “Nothing to be sorry for. I’m just glad you made it. Today wouldn’t be half as much fun without my wingmen.”

When I step back, I hold out my fist. A smile breaks through her distress. She bumps my knuckles with hers and lets Ty lead her to stand beside Logan.

I look down the aisle again. Mac smiles back at me. Cynnie waves again, then they start walking toward us. The lump in my throat grows too thick to breathe around. I swallow so loudly that Logan chuckles.

“Go ahead and faint. I’ll catch you,” he whispers.

I shake my head at him, unable to take my eyes off Cynnie. As she comes out of the shadow of the lodge, I can see her face through the veil. She’s beaming, crying, and laughing all at once. My bumble baby.

I completely lose my mind seeing her tears. I stride away from Ginger, Logan, Ty, and Dakota, thunder down the short aisle, and sweep Cynnie up in my arms.

She tosses her bumble to Mac and throws her arms around my neck. “Oppa, I do!”

“I do, too, baby.”

Mac tugs gently on my elbow. “I think Ginger has a few things to say first.”

“I do,” Ginger says behind us, her voice full of laughter, which ripples out into the watching crowd.

“You okay, baby? Good tears?” I ask, still holding her off the ground, against my chest, where I can feel the heat and certainty of her.

“Good tears. Just so many feels, Oppa. Should we get married? I think Miss Ginger’s waiting to marry us.”

“Yeah, I think she is.” I gently lower Cynnie to her feet. Mac holds out his elbow. Cynnie puts her hand through his arm but continues holding on to me with her other hand. Together, we all walk down the aisle, squeezing together since it’s not really wide enough for the three of us.

I don’t care about the squeeze, or the laughter, or that Ty’s shaking his head at me. I just care about the woman on my arm.

When we reach Ginger, Mac lifts the veil and arranges it down her back. Cynnie turns her face up to me, wet-eyed, grinning, and beautiful.

“Hey, bumble baby.” I brush a kiss over the tip of her nose.

“Hi, Oppa. Fancy meeting you’z here.”

I chuckle and pull her to me. I can’t stand not having her in my arms. She presses up against me and winds her arms around my neck again. I tip my head to look at Ginger over the brim of Cynnie’s top hat. “Go ahead. I can’t let her go.”

Ginger smiles tolerantly. “Welcome, everyone. We’ve gathered to recognize the union of Cynnie and Max. Today, we celebrate the next chapter of their relationship and their lives together, affirming their bond formally and publicly. In celebrating their love, we celebrate the love between each and every one of us. Without the love of friends, of the family Max and Cynnie have created, today would be far less joyous. Max, do you take Cynnie to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in heath, in good times and in bad, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?”

I look down into those fathomless eyes, lit with acceptance and love, smiling back at me the way I want them to smile back at me every day for the rest of our lives.