Page 451 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Not only had he made it possible for us to get married, but besides our most important guest, Lexi—who’d enthusiastically dressed herself in a pink, sparkly dress with a pair of Converse—he’d also managed to invite a few other guests along. Doreen and Harry—who were still living comfortably in my house—my parents—whom he’d somehow managed to fly in from Boca Raton on short notice—his parents, my bitches, Harper and Ivy, and surprisingly, and with nothing but love and support in their eyes, Wes and Winnie.

The instant they’d stepped through City Hall’s doors, both Nick and I had been shocked to say the least, but Winnie had been the one to make things feel nothing less than normal. She’d given us her heartfelt congratulations, even telling me that she couldn’t have been happier that I would be a permanent fixture in Lex’s life.

All of the bad blood I’d thought had been between us was nonexistent.

My past with her brother Remy was just that. The past. I didn’t expect we’d receive a wedding gift from him anytime soon, but he hadn’t left any bags of burning shit on our doorstep either. As far as Nick and I were concerned, that was good enough.

And now, Nick was my future. The man I’d spend the rest of my days with, laughing, loving, and just living in our own little bubble of happiness.

I stood across from Nick, hand in hand, with the minister standing in front of us and an opened Bible in his hands. “Are you ready to start?” he asked.

“I couldn’t be readier,” my soon-to-be husband answered, and I smiled.

And then, at exactly 3:15 p.m. with the bride wearing a cute little cream dress and the groom dressed in gray dress slacks and baby blue dress shirt, and with everyone who was most important in our lives near, we said our vows and exchanged our rings.

“I promise to support you in good times and in bad, at sheriff’s auctions, and kitschy diners, and to be nothing more than a solid foundation of moral support for you and Lexi at trivia nights,” Nick had promised.

“I promise to stay with you forever, long past the short-term window of your reality show fame, well into the days where you’re not nearly as cute and are even more dense. Though, I suspect part of that will be because you’re hard of hearing,” I had vowed.

The small crowd laughed.

We promised our love.

And most importantly, we promised each other our future.

“By the power vested in me by the great state of New York,” the minister announced with a soft smile etched across his lips. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

Nick grasped both of my cheeks into his palms and whispered, “I love you,” against my lips before pressing his mouth to mine. The kiss was soft, sweet, gentle, and filled with nothing but love and adoration.

And all I could think the entire time was, He’s my husband. I’m kissing my husband!

I was officially Mrs. Charlotte Raines.

It sure has a nice ring to it, huh?

It was the best of times.

It was far from the worst of times.

And yet, Harry and Doreen were still living in Charlotte’s house.

It’d been months since our wedding day, and the place in Chinatown had officially loaded my entire wardrobe with the smell of fried wontons. The turnover on the commercial space below—what would forever be known as “Chinatown Hell”—was ever-rolling, but the roll of the dice had been in our favor until now.

Now, there was an all-hours restaurant at our feet. Convenient, maybe. But mostly fucking annoying.

Sure, my place was there, but it’d only be an option for another two weeks when my lease ran its course. We’d been rotating back and forth for the most part, one month we’d stay at my place, the next month at Charlotte’s, but we’d agreed it was time to put down real roots and grow them together. We were married now, and living apart wasn’t an option. But living in Chinatown long term wasn’t either.

I liked Chinese food as much as the next person, but it was covering up Charlotte’s lavender. And that, I couldn’t abide. We needed a plan, and we needed it now.

“What are we going to do about Harry and Doreen, Char?”

“I don’t know, husband. Why don’t you figure out what we’re going to do? I thought that was the point of having someone lawfully bound to me.”

I smirked. “And what point is that, exactly?”

“To handle all of the shitty decisions,” she clarified without shame. I laughed outright.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t we just get stuck in a devolving cycle of neither of us taking responsibility? After all, you’re lawfully bound to me. Wouldn’t that mean you’re supposed to handle the shitty decisions, too?”