2

2Cope

Right after the pictures were taken, Cope and the others changed into brightly colored Hawaiian shirts. The altar had been moved to the side and picnic tables brought in for the barbecue. The food had been amazing. He had eaten until he was full to bursting. So had everyone else. Lizbet and Ezra had gone down for naps in the living room, and Cope wouldn't mind joining them.

After dessert had been served—individual chocolate chip cookie skillets—the other guests had started leaving. Cole and his family were the first to leave, followed by Riordan, Faulkner, and their girls.

Jude's laughter from the deck drew his attention. He was standing with Ronan and Fitz, who were no doubt ribbing him about Cope being the old ball and chain.

Not that Cope minded. He hadn't been so sure his husband actually wanted to get married the first time around, but now, he was absolutely sure Jude was where he wanted to be.

"That was a beautiful ceremony," Ten said, coming up beside him.

"We wanted it to be short and sweet. To be honest, our first wedding wasn't much longer." Cope smiled, thinking about the quickie ceremony they'd had out west. Wolfie had started crying two minutes in, and the officiant had taken that as a cue to hurry things along.

"Did you want a big wedding with pomp and circumstance?" Ten asked. He and Ronan had a big black-tie ceremony at the Hawthorne Hotel. Cope had seen the pictures of the event, and it looked lovely.

Cope shook his head. "I was never one of those guys who dreamed about a big wedding. After what happened with my ex stalking and nearly killing me, I was sure I wasn't destined for a wedding at all." He hated thinking back on his relationship with Deacon on this happiest of days, but the man had nearly killed him twice. Cope hadn't imagined he would have a future at all, never mind a husband and family.

A loud, metallic banging stopped Ten's response. "Can I have everyone's attention?" Jude called. He was holding a large pot in one hand and a spoon in the other. Both looked like they'd been borrowed from the barbecue guys.

Crossing his fingers Jude didn't say something cringe-worthy, Cope took up a place at Jude's side.

"I want to thank everyone for being here to celebrate our special day," Jude said, wrapping an arm around Cope. "I also want to thank Ten, Ronan, Jace, and Fitz for organizing this party and the food. You guys are amazing."

"I'd also like to thank Ten and Ronan for taking our kids for the night so we can have a special celebration of our own." Cope waggled his eyebrows at Jude. Everyone cheered, with the exception of Wolf.

"How come I'm not invited to the special celebration?" Wolf asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ronan barked out a laugh, which he quickly hid with a cough. "Because you're invited to the celebration at my house. We're gonna have pizza and ice cream and watch movies all night."

"Hmm," Wolf said, sounding unsure. He eyed his parents suspiciously. "What are you guys gonna do at your special celebration?" Wolf asked his parents.

"We're going to bed early," Jude said, yawning loudly. "Right, babe?" He elbowed Cope.

"Absolutely. I'm gonna make a yummy tuna noodle casserole for dinner, have a long bath, and go right to sleep," Cope said, sounding earnest.

"Yuck!" Wolf bent double and made puking noises. "I hate tuna noddle ‘asserole!" Wolf, along with the other kids, burst out laughing.

"Wolf, you shouldn't talk that way about your father's cooking," Jude said, biting his lower lip in an obvious bid not to laugh out loud.

"Don't play innocent Jude. You're the one who gave that meal its nickname in the first place." Cope would never admit it out loud, but the casserole had been awful. It hadn't tasted that bad when his mother made it for him when he was a kid growing up in New Orleans, or maybe his palate had become more sophisticated over the years. Either way, Cope wouldn't make the recipe again. The meal had been so bad that they'd had to call out for pizza, and the house smelled like spoiled tuna for days.

"We're gonna have so much fun at our house, Wolfie. Let's grab some cookies and talk about what movies you want to watch." Ten led the kids away toward the dessert table like the mythical pied piper.

"That was a close call." Jude snorted. "We didn't have a wedding night the first time around."

It was Cope's turn to laugh. After the ceremony in Arizona, they'd gone back to the hogan Running Eagle had set up for them behind his mobile home. Jude had planned a night of dirty sex, but Wolf had gotten sick. He'd spent the night throwing up and soiling his diapers. When their son had finally fallen asleep, he and Jude had been too tired to do anything more than change their clothes and fall exhausted into bed. "No we didn't. Tonight's gonna be different. I'm going to—"

"Don't say it!" Jude set, setting a hand over Cope's mouth. "You're gonna jinx us."

"We're off!" Carson announced before hugging Cope. Truman and the velociraptors were behind them. "We promised the kids we'd take them bowling and out for pizza."

"Thank you so much, Carson." Jude hugged their friend. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"You're welcome. I've got a ton more weddings coming up this summer. After I advertised this service on West Side Magick's website, we got a ton of bookings. Tourists from all over the United States are coming to see the Witch Museum and to get married. Cassie had to add two additional bakers to help out with all the cake orders."

"I think what you're doing is amazing," Cope said. He had a feeling there were going to be a lot more of these weddings to come, what with the red states passing dozens of new anti-LGBTQIA+ laws.

"I appreciate that. Okay, kids, let's roll. I'll see you on Monday!" Cope hugged Carson again and did the same with Truman and the kids. Tru yawned, looking like the last thing he wanted to do was spend the evening at a loud and crowded bowling alley.

With Carson's family gone, that left just the two of them along with Kaye, Ten, Ronan, Jace, and Fitz. Cope wondered how Ten's Baptist mother felt about him and Jude getting married. It had taken years and a lot of heart-to-heart conversations for Kaye to come to the conclusion that love truly was love, no matter the couple.

"Congratulations, Jude." Kaye wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you and Cope for including me in your special day." She pulled away from Jude and hugged Cope. "You're both amazing men and incredible fathers. I'm glad you found each other." Unshed tears glinted in Kaye's eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab a cookie before the kids eat them all."

Cope knew Kaye was running away so she wouldn't start crying. "She's one in a million." Over the years, Kaye had become a second mother to all of them. She'd loved all of the kids as if they were her own. Wolf and Lizbet were incredibly lucky to have her as their nana.

"Who's in the mood for more ribs?" Ronan called out as the barbecue team finished packing their gear and headed for the gate with a wave. There was more than ribs left over. There was a platter of pulled pork, a tray of mac and cheese, and individual servings of slaw.

"I didn't really eat that much after the ceremony." Jude headed for the table. "Plus, I'm gonna need energy for tonight."

Cope was hungry too. The entire day had been a blur. It would be nice to take a load off and have a seat.

"We've got to get one of those smokers," Ronan said after biting into a rib. His lips were smeared with sauce.

"Us too," Jace agreed. "Fitz is a grilling machine."

"I'm glad we have a moment with just us," Jude said, reaching for a plate and the tongs. "There's something Cope and I wanted to talk to you about. Kaye, come join us," Jude said, waving her over.

Ronan's eyes narrowed on Jude. "Is something wrong? You have looked a bit tired lately."

"With the kids out of school for the summer, we're all tired," Ten said on a yawn.

Cope nodded in agreement. It was a lot of fun being home with Wolf for half days twice a week, but the little boy was full of boundless energy that he had no way to counter. "Everyone is good. We want to talk to you about taking a trip."

"I want to throw coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome like Audrey Hepburn," Ten said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Let's go to Egypt and see the pyramids and mummies," Jace countered. "Wolf would love riding a camel."

Cope couldn't help but think Aurora might not be too thrilled with that idea, not to mention dealing with all that sand. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about it. "Jude and I want to take a trip to visit Running Eagle on the reservation. We also figured we'd visit the Grand Canyon. What would you think of coming with us?"

"I've never been to Arizona," Ronan said. "I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon."

"Me too," Fitz agreed. "I think Aurora would like to see the big cacti."

"We want Wolf to meet the rest of his family and to visit his parents' graves. He was really interested in visiting Eagle after he came here for Christmas. He deserves to see his heritage in person."

"I think it would do you a world of good too," Ronan said softly. "I know how hard it was for you to go back there five years ago when Wolf's parents were killed."

Jude nodded. "When we went back to Arizona for Wolf, I wasn't prepared. I was in crisis mode, needing to get to Wolf as fast as I could, but I don't think I was equipped to handle his needs, plus dealing with the bullshit my family had in store for me."

Cope remembered all too well the threatening looks sent their way when Jacob's will was read and Jude rather than Abel, Jacob's brother, got custody of Wolf. They were so scared of the repercussions that he and Jude had left Eagle's house that night and stayed in an off-reservation hotel.

"This time, you're going to have all of us with you," Ronan said.

Fitz nodded his agreement. "We have your back no matter what."

"I just requested the jet. If we're going to fly cross-country, we're going to do it in style with filet mignon and escargots." Jace grinned.

"Don't forget shrimps and lobster!" Aurora called back.

"And those mini cannoli!" Wolf added.

Fitz laughed. "We should have known those little pirates were listening. I think we created a monster with Aurora and seafood. She's gonna be pissed when we get to Arizona and she finds it's a landlocked state."

"She'll be okay," Jude said. "I think the kids are going to see all of this from an entirely different angle."

"How so?" Cope asked, interested to hear Jude's thoughts. He'd been worried about this trip since Jude brought up the idea a few weeks back. It had taken several months for Jude to bounce back from what happened with Wolf's custody situation. He wasn't sure he wanted to deal with a repeat of that.

"Wolf is going to get to meet members of his family he was too young to remember knowing before. He'll go into it thinking everyone loves him. It will be the same with the other kids. They won't see the differences between themselves and the kids who live on the reservation. They don't have a legacy of pain and mistrust like I do. They're blank slates. Plus, Everly shines a light no one can resist." Jude wore a proud look on his face.

"That's true enough." Ronan turned to watch his daughter, who was laughing at something Aurora said. "I'm just about ready to wrap up the investigation into the Marler case. Unless someone gets back to us with another lead, I'm going to have to put it back in the unsolved pile. We've got nothing."

"As much as I hate to give up on a case, I agree." Fitzgibbon wore a sour look.

"Don't be such a gloomy Gus, Cap." Jude reached for the barbecue sauce and drenched his ribs with it. "The clue we need to solve the case could be closer than we think."

Fitzgibbon got to his feet. The look on his face said that he doubted Jude's opinion that the case would be solved. "I've got to get home to pack Aurora's bags for the sleepover tonight. Breakfast tomorrow?"

Ronan nodded. "Scrambled eggs and bacon. I got the kind Aurora likes and that raisin bread too, though how you can eat a savory breakfast with a sweet bread, I'll never know."

"What do you think, Kaye?" Cope asked. "You've been awfully quiet about this trip."

Kaye's eyes were on Tennyson. "I'm looking forward to seeing Eagle again." She ducked her head to hide her obvious blush. "And, of course, the land he told me so much about," she hurried to add.

"Mom, Dad's been gone for over five years. If you want to spend time with a gentleman friend, there's no crime in that." Ten was all smiles.

Kaye nodded. "I'll see you all in the morning." She hugged the kids before hurrying off. Cope would swear he heard her humming a happy tune.

After a round of hugs, the kids headed off to Ten and Ronan's, and Cope went into the house to pack bags for Wolf and Lizbet, leaving Jude alone with the rest of the ribs and half a gallon of homemade sauce. All Cope could ask for was that Jude not put himself into a food coma with all the leftover ribs. Their first wedding night had been a bust in the sex department, and he didn't want the same thing to happen tonight.