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“Course you can, sweetie.” Matthew placed the baby in her arms.
Gazing down at him, she smiled. “Hello, Benjamin. You’re our little lucky charm. Did you know that?”
The third son.
His father winked at her. “Born on the third day of June, at three thirty-three.”
“That’s a lot of threes,” Kellan noted.
“You ain’t kidding.” And she kissed the top of their brother’s head.
“Are you sure you can’t come?” Arien stuck out her bottom lip, pulling the face she used to use on her mother as a child to get her way. It worked when she was eight, but it wasn’t working now.
“I’m sure.” Sitting cross-legged on the chaise end of the sectional, Jennifer nursed the baby, watching a godawful sci-fi movie on Netflix. “Benjamin’s only a week old, sweetie. Can’t take a brand-new baby to a wedding and expose him to all those germs.”
What happened to all those antibodies in breastmilk she’d been going on about? But Arien didn’t bother asking. “I’m told Brookside weddings are something else, and it’s a lovely day. Do you good to get some fresh mountain air.”
“There’s going to be a dozen more of them before summer’s over. I imagine I’ll get to at least one.” Rubbing the baby’s back, she quirked a brow. “Maybe yours?”
“What on Earth ever gave you that idea?”
“Oh, I dunno. Except I did happen to see your award letter in the wastebasket.” Her mom smirked. “So, I take it you’re not going to UC.”
“Doesn’t mean there’s going to be any wedding.” Tucking her tongue in her cheek, Arien lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “I decided to stick around for a while and help you out. You’ll be needing it with the baby and all. I can take some classes online, maybe, and work on my blog full-time.”
“Hmm…if you say so.” The smirk never left her face. “Well, I’m going to enjoy having my little man here all to myself. And after I finish watching my movie, me and Benjamin are going to have ourselves a nice, long nap. God, I’m so tired.”
“Okay, Mom.” Arien kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart. Give my best to Shiloh and Griffin.”
“I will.” Watching him suckle, she touched the downy-soft curls on her brother’s head.
Jennifer giggled. “Maybe you’ll catch the bouquet.”
Leaving the room, Arien burst out laughing and shook her head.
So, along with everyone else in Brookside, they went to the wedding without her.
The setting was beautiful. Pinterest-inspired Western chic with a Bohemian flair. As usual, Arien was seated between Tanner and Kellan, and Grams between him and her stepfather. Emily and her mom, flanked by Billy and Jake, were in the row directly in front of them, along with the rest of the Gantry family.
Taking her hand, Tanner leaned into her. “Our weddings aren’t like what you’re used to.”
“What’s so different about them?”
Besides the obvious.
“Well, for one, Griffin and Cassie are already married.”
Arien wrinkled her nose.
“She’s the elder sister.” He chuckled. “They made it legal at the courthouse this mornin’. But the trinity ceremony is the real weddin’.”
Funny, the marriage certificate the world recognized was of little significance here. It was the part those on the outside would scorn them for, the triad union, that held meaning.
Turning her face to his, Tanner softly kissed her lips. “I need for you to always remember that.”
Why?
