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“Sam!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Trinity! What are you doing here?”
Eddie’s brother and his partner materialized out of the shadows. Sam was dressed well, as always, although his attire was definitely unsuitable to boating; Trinity looked graceful and lovely in a breezy taupe dress unlike anything Margot had ever seen her wear before. She had only ever known Trinity to dress conservatively for the office, or slightly more expensively for work functions.
“My brother Sam is newly ordained,” Eddie explained.
“We set it up online, but it still counts. I ran it past Legal.” Sam spoke stiffly, and Margot realized he looked like the most nervous one present. “But if the two of you are ready to get started, shall we?”
“I’m here as a witness,” Trinity confided. She took Margot’s arm affectionately in her own and squeezed. “We promised Eddie we’d jump ship as soon as the two of you are husband and wife.”
“I can’t believe it.” Margot was almost too choked for words as she looked between the three of them, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off Eddie for long, even if she tried. “I don’t think you understand. I’ve dreamed about this for so long. Is this really happening?”
Eddie held his hand out for her, his smile beaming from ear to ear. "What do you say, Margot? Want to get hitched? Want to have your dream wedding right here, right now?"
Margot stepped forward. She placed her hand in Eddie’s own, enjoying the last time she would ever come into contact with her fiancé. "I do."
She couldn’t wait until the hand she held was her husband’s.
Epilogue
Margot entered the kitchen of the Classic Six at seven A.M. Sunday morning. She crossed, bleary-eyed, to the espresso machine, completely ignoring anything else. She was a woman on a mission.
Eddie was already seated at the table, holding their baby girl in his arms.
“Good morning, Margie,” he greeted amicably. Margot grunted something that might have been assent, or it might have been profanity – Eddie wasn’t completely versed in her pre-coffee dialect – and punched the button on the machine. She had done it enough times without loading up the coffee first that Eddie had taken to getting ahead of her schedule: he always kept the shots preloaded now. It had taken discovering her sipping a cup of hot water, too tired to notice the lack of caffeine, for him to realize an intervention might be in order.
Margot didn’t like to be reminded of that episode.
She’d been up three times already that night tending to the baby. Eddie could tell she was feeling the weariness down to her bones, but she still somehow managed to look completely radiant. No makeup, no hair product, no cutting-edge designer dress. It was just Margot, his wife, standing in a shaft of sunlight in the apartment they shared, naturally luminous – and tantalizingly curvaceous – in the sheer nightgown he had bought for her. She glanced sidelong and caught him looking, but Eddie didn’t avert his eyes. No matter what exhausted mood she might be in, he wanted her to know that he couldn’t help looking when she entered the room. When he smiled, she smiled back.
But she didn’t hold his undivided attention for long. Their daughter gave a small, gasping choke, and stretched her limbs. Eddie’s eyes dropped, and he rocked her in his arms, murmuring nonsense words until she quieted and fell back asleep. When he looked to Margot again, he saw his wife’s eyes shimmering.
“How’s our Annabella?” she asked.
“Great. Beautiful. Extraordinary. Like her mother.” Eddie rocked the tiny bundle in his arms. “Why do you ask?”
“Because she hasn’t made a peep since you picked her up and brought her out here,” Margot said in a tone of fond exasperation.
“What can I say? She’s Daddy’s girl already.” He grinned.
“Is that a bet you’re willing to take?” Margot asked. “Because I’d say it’s game on, Daddy. I’m going to buy her absolutely everything her little heart desires when your back is turned.”
“We’re going to spoil her like hell,” Eddie noted.
“You better believe it.” Margot turned away momentarily to doctor her espresso. Eddie watched the elegant movement of her wrist as she stirred in the cream; he observed the minute way her body swayed in place. Meeting his daughter had only made him love the woman who gave birth to her all the more. He had never imagined he would find such utter euphoric happiness, especially not at seven in the morning after sharing another sleepless night with the two members of his new family.
He was going to get emotional if he kept thinking this way. He had better turn his attention to something else.
“Hey, so what’s this package about?” Eddie nodded to the unopened box on the table. “Did you order something?” It nagged at him a little to think he hadn’t anticipated something Margot might need, but he was more curious than anything.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Margot’s eyes were evasive. Suspiciously evasive. “Why don’t you open it?”
“I’ll see if I can manage,” Eddie chuckled. “But if I wake our daughter, it’s on you.”
“Deal,” Margot said. She turned back to doctor her coffee as Eddie dragged the package toward him.
“So what is it?”
“I took a page out of your book. I hope you don’t mind.” Margot alighted on the kitchen chair across from him, mug in hand. Her eyes, beautiful above the temporary lines of exhaustion that creased her face, were focused intently on him. He knew something was up, but he was willing to string the game along for a few moments longer.
