Page 19

Chapter 19

Lynn

I needn't have worried. Jimmy turned out to be a complete sweetie pie, enough so that my ovaries were in danger of exploding so my birth control could be overwhelmed enough for Yorix to knock me up. There hadn’t been time to find him a suit, but the guys had found him a super cute pink and turquoise Hawaiian shirt from one of the nearby shops, along with shorts and matching swim shoes.

I smoothed a hand down my dress.

“This is it,” I said to Chris, who was checking himself one last time in the mirror.

“It is,” he agreed as Israel Kamakawiwo?ole’s version of “Over the Rainbow” began to play on a ukelele and the singer Xero had arranged for began to croon the song. It was like a dream come true, though reality thus far was much, much better than anything I’d ever imagined.

Chris and I stepped out, watching as our friends and new and old members of our ohana all stood as Jimmy skipped down the aisle towards the arch, clutching his new stuffed honu, Aloha, under one arm. Daddy held out his arms and we each took one as he walked both Chris and I down the aisle. Chris had been touched when he’d offered, and accepted as he and Mama and my siblings became immediate family the moment they all met him, just as I’d known they would. Once at the arch, he stepped to the side, standing next to Jimmy, who smiled up at his new ‘Grandpa Tony’. Now our three grooms strode up the aisle, resplendent in matching tuxedos. Yorix stopped to stand beside me while across from us, Korah and Oshar flanked Chris.

The officiant smiled and everyone sat down.

“It is with extreme joy that I find myself called upon to witness the blissful union of true soul mates. We all have heard the story of how the Mylos came and Ambassador Tellan found his soulmate in Laurel. Many more have found their happily ever after since, and today we are here to celebrate with these two families as they make their vows to each other for all to witness.”

He turned to me. “Do you, Lynn, promise to always be honest and true with your mate? To give him your whole heart and celebrate all of the high points of your life together and to weather any storms as troubles may find you along the way?”

“Oh, I certainly do.” I held my hand out so Yorix could slide my ring on..

Daddy then passed me Yorix’s ring and he held his hand out in turn. “And do you, Yorix -”

“Yes,” he replied eagerly, cutting him off. “She is my everything and always will be.”

I could hear several awws and someone softly crying from among our guests. I smiled at him with what I knew had to be a goofy grin, clumsily sliding his ring onto his finger.

The officiant chuckled, turning his attention to the guys. Daddy reached around me, holding a set of rings out to Korah and Oshar.

Chris and I both stared in surprise, noticing one of the rings was child sized.

“Oshar and Korah have prepared their own vows,” the officiant said.

Both of them looked deep into Chris’s eyes with a tender look I recognized well. It was the same way Yorix looked at me, and I him, the one that said “You are my entire universe”.

“Since the day our parents knew we’d been conceived, it was always Oshar and Korah this, and Korah and Oshar that. We have been inseparable, twin souls bound in a spiritual brotherhood,” Oshar said. “And so the Universe decreed that we were to have a third, to become Oshar, Korah, and Christopher.”

“And then the stars smiled down, and saw Jimmy, knowing that he was the young of your heart. You have been more like a father to him than a brother, and so we became Korah, Oshar, Christopher, and James.”

“Jimmy!” came the indignant rebuke from the little boy and we all smothered a laugh as chuckles broke out all around us from our guests and the officiant.

Oshar cleared his throat. “I, Oshar, promise to be the mate you deserve. To be the lover who holds you close always, and the friend you can always rely on. I also vow to be the father who will cherish our young and help teach him the way of both of our peoples, not only for Jimmy, but any that destiny may bring our way.”

He slid the ring partway onto Chris’s finger as Korah spoke. “As always, Oshar and I are united in this. I won’t repeat everything he said, but know this: My hearts beat for you.”

Chris blinked back tears as Korah reached out to cover Oshar’s hand with his own and together, they slid the ring the rest of the way on. Then Tony urged a wide-eyed Jimmy forward as I blinked back my own happy tears.

“Jimmy, you have honored us by joining our ohana, embracing not only your human side but showing a willingness to become Mylos as well. You have bestowed the title of Papa to me, and so, today I am here with Oshar to give you this token to show the world that you are indeed now our son.”

Jimmy turned to look at the ring Oshar held as Korah took his hand, urging him to offer it to Oshar.

“I gets my own ring?” he whispered in awe.

“You do, because, I, Oshar, swear to love you as a father always should. To accept you always and to guide you as you navigate your way through the path the stars have laid out before you.”

“Yes! I have new daddies!” he shouted excitedly, and my vision blurred as tears ran down my cheeks unchecked now. I’d learned my lesson from before, though, and Max Factor was doing its job at being waterproof.

“I now pronounce you husbands and husband and wife, and all of you ohana!” the officiant cried out, his voice equally choked with emotion.

Chris flung his arms around his mates and Jimmy, who was now in Oshar’s arms,

“Stop it,” I sobbed, joining in on the group hug. “My mascara’s waterproof but I don’t think my blush is.”

Yorix tugged me away, pulling out a hanky to dab at my cheeks.

“It appears it is, honey,” he reassured me as Daddy stepped out between us and the crowd who watched. “And thh…thh…that’s all folks!” he ad libbed. “We’ll meet you all at Duke’s in an hour!”

I threw my head back and laughed. Trust Daddy to find a way to lighten the moment.

The ukulele started up once more and we walked back down the aisle, lined with Mylos warriors holding their ceremonial swords aloft in the perfect fairytale beginning for our happily ever after as one big, happy family.