1

1Jude

June, present day…

Jude stood in front of his bathroom mirror, admiring himself. Something he did every day, but today was different. He wasn’t going into the office to work a case or out in the field to interview a witness. It being Saturday, those things wouldn’t ordinarily be on his agenda. The weekend was for sleeping late, coaching T-ball games, food shopping, and naps. Long, uninterrupted, heavenly naps, but he wouldn’t be doing any of those things on this particular day either. Nope, Jude was getting married.

After the fall of Roe v. Wade,Cope had suggested that the next Supreme Court decision to fall could very well be the one that made marriage equality the law of the land. Since Jude and Cope had been married in Arizona, where same-sex marriage would be banned if the federal law fell, they’d decided they needed to get married again in Massachusetts, where their union would be legal if the decision was overturned.

Today was the big day at long last. Jude wore black dress pants along with a blue button-down shirt, which he knew would be soaked in sweat the second he stepped out of the air-conditioned house into their humid backyard.

Ten and Ronan had organized the ceremony and invitations, while Fitzgibbon and Jace had been in charge of the food. Jude had seen the barbecue wagon pull up in front of the house several hours ago and could smell the meat smoking. He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into saucy ribs and pork belly.

“Wolf?” Jude called out after tying his tie. He hated wearing them, but Cope wanted to have a few pictures of them dressed up on their second special day. When they’d gotten married in Arizona, it had been a hurried affair with both grooms dressed in jeans and T-shirts. “Are you dressed yet?” The last time he’d seen the little boy, he’d been in the backyard with the barbeque guru, asking a million questions about the food.

“Nope!” Wolf shouted, running into the bedroom in just his underpants. He climbed up on the bed and started jumping.

“You need to put on your outfit. We’ve got ten minutes until the wedding starts.” Jude didn’t blame his son for not wanting to get dressed. He wasn’t thrilled about his monkey suit either.

Wolf frowned. “Why do you have to get married again? Is it so Lizbet can be there?”

It would have been easy enough for Jude to have agreed with his son and left the boy in ignorant bliss, but Wolf deserved the truth. “There are people in this world who don’t think two men should get married.” Jude took a seat on the bed and patted the spot next to him.

“That’s stupid.” Wolf dropped down next to Jude.

“I know it is, but not every place allows a family to have two daddies, so we need to get married here, too, so that we can always be together.” Jude didn’t want to go into the whys and hows of the politics but hoped Wolf understood what he was trying to say.

“I love our family.” Wolf wrapped his arms around Jude. “It’s worth it to wear my good pants and a tie.” He hopped off the bed and headed out of the room.

Wolf was right. The wedding was worth getting dressed up for. It wouldn’t be for long. After the ceremony, everyone was going to change into Hawaiian shirts and shorts. With the temperatures in the eighties, no one would last long in dress pants and long-sleeved shirts.

Ten minutes later, after wrangling with Wolf’s tie, Jude headed downstairs, where Lizbet waited at the baby gate in her pink flowing dress.

“Da! Da!” she cheered when Jude scooped up his tiny princess.

“Look how beautiful you are!” Jude pressed a kiss to her head before setting his daughter down. She toddled over to the sliding glass door and pounded on the glass with her hands. All the guests had arrived and were milling around outside, waiting for the ceremony to start. All they needed now was the other groom.

“How do I look?” Cope asked, walking into the kitchen. He wore an identical shirt and pants to Jude. The only difference between them, besides their height, was the color of their ties. Blue for Jude and pink for Cope. His tie was made from the same material as Lizbet’s dress.

“Like a million bucks!” Jude set his hand on the sides of Cope’s face. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

Cope blushed and kissed Jude. “So are you.” He leaned in for another kiss when there was a knock on the sliding glass door.

Jude turned to see Carson tapping his watch. He flashed a thumbs-up. “Okay, is everyone ready?”

“I’m ready!” Wolf reached for Jude’s hand.

“Meeeeee!” Lizbet chirped from the door.

“I’m ready to go too!” Cope was all smiles.

A wave of emotion burst over Jude. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to cry. He hadn’t been certain Cope wanted to marry him the first time. It blew Jude’s mind that he wanted to say “I do” for the second time. “You sure you want to do this again?”

“I’d marry you a hundred times, Jude Byrne.” Cope looked as if he could burst into tears at any moment.

“Nope!” Wolf crowed. “I’m not wearing this crap again.” He jerked his tie with a scowl on his face.

Jude laughed. Wolf always did know how to break up a room. “Good point. I don’t want to wear a tie again either. Well, not until you get married.”

“Get real, Dad. I’m never getting married. Girls are gross.” Wolf rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Your two best friends are girls,” Cope said.

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna marry Everly and Aurora.” Wolf tugged Jude toward the door. “Let’s do it!”

Jude allowed himself to be led across the room. Cope was behind him and picked Lizbet up. Their little family was ready to go. “To forever!” Jude pressed a kiss to Cope’s cheek and pulled open the sliding glass door.

The guests applauded the grooms as they walked down the aisle created by their friends to a makeshift altar, where Carson waited to marry them. He and his brother, Cole, both had gotten their officiant licenses last summer, knowing that in the current political climate, there might be a need for more weddings like Jude’s.

When they reached Carson, who stood under a pergola draped in pink flowers, Wolf ran off to sit beside Everly. Lizbet stayed with Cope, setting a hand on the side of his face.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen,” Carson began with gusto. “Wait, that’s the wrong speech.”

Jude laughed, which settled his stomach. He didn’t understand why he was so anxious about the ceremony. He and Cope had been together for six and married for five years and brought two kids into their family. It wasn’t like Cope was going to say, “I don’t,” and run off to tend olive groves in Greece. All through his life, Jude felt like he didn’t belong. That feeling started to subside when he met and started working with Ten and Ronan, who sat in the front row beaming at him. Neither of them had been at the wedding in Arizona. It had just been Jude, Cope, baby Wolf, and Running Eagle.

“We’re all here today to celebrate the marriage of Jude and Cope.” Carson glanced down at his notes before continuing. “And the family they have created with Wolf and Lizbet.”

Jude felt himself tear up. Christ, if this kept up, his shirt would be soaked in tears rather than sweat. He’d never been an emotional man until he met Cope. That trend continued with Wolf and Lizbet. Nothing could bring him to his knees faster than one of them being in pain.

“Cope, do you take Jude to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love when he’s sick and to cherish when he’s annoying as hell?”

Cope snorted. “Well, when you put it that way…” He shrugged, making their friends laugh harder. “I always have and I always will say I do.”

Tears streaked down Jude’s cheeks. His husband had been by his side for everything life had thrown at them over the last six years. Jude hadn’t known that kind of love was possible until that day years ago when Cope rang the doorbell and fainted in his arms.

“Jude, do you take Cope to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love, honor, and cherish, even when he’s annoying as hell?”

Jude laughed. He swiped at his tears and nodded. “I do, a million times over.”

“With the power vested in me by the internet and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I declare you married!” Carson offered a cheer for the grooms.

“Now I can take this damn tie off!” Wolf reached for the knot.

“Hold on there, pal. We’ve got to take pictures first. Then we’re gonna talk about your language.” Jude scooped Wolf into his arms and stood next to Carson. Cope and Lizbet were on the other side. Jace started snapping pictures and ordering different people to join the photos. The last picture taken was of the entire group. His family. Now and forever.