33. Epilogue

Four days later…

“How do I look?” Xion smoothed his hands over his tie and turned away from the mirror. He’d tied it all wrong.

I came over to fix it for him. “I told you that you didn’t have to wear one if you didn’t want.”

He sighed and tilted his head back. “I only get one chance to do this, and I want to do it right. I don’t want the judge to think I’m some sort of riffraff.”

“We are the riffraff, Pup.”

He smiled and winked. “I know, but he doesn’t have to know that.”

I stepped back and smiled. At least he hadn’t taken the collar off. I told him he didn’t have to wear that either, but Xion almost never took the damn thing off. It was part of him now, just like I was, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The door to the little waiting room opened and Xander poked his head in. “What are you doing in here, Boone?” he shrieked and rushed in only to start shoving me out. “It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding ceremony!”

“Hey, now, wait a second. Just wait a damn minute!” I shoved his hands away and righted my shirt. “I don’t know how many times I’ve got to tell you before you get it, but Xion’s not a bride, dammit. He’s gonna be my husband. Besides, that kind of superstition is reserved for churches, not courthouse weddings.”

“It’s still a wedding,” Xander mumbled, brushing invisible dirt from Xion’s shirt. “Even if you two decided to elope.”

“We ain’t eloping. Eloping means doing it in secret, but apparently keeping secrets from you Laskins is impossible.”

Not that I objected. I might’ve even encouraged Xion to leak the date and time of our appointment with the magistrate too. They all knew we were getting married, but I think they expected us to have a big wedding with all the bells and whistles like River and War were planning, but that wasn’t us.

This was us. Simple. Quiet. Throwing two middle fingers up at tradition. My gran would be rolling in her grave if she knew I wasn’t getting married in a church.

Sorry, Gran, I thought, folding my arms and waiting for Xander to finish all his fussing. I’ve got to be who I am.

Xander stepped back, his hands resting on Xion’s shoulders as he looked him over one more time. “How do you feel?”

“Annoyed,” Xion answered. “Ready to get this over with.”

“That’s not what you’re supposed to say on your wedding day.” Xander elbowed him. “You’re supposed to say it’s the happiest day of your life.”

“The happiest day so far,” Xion corrected. “Now quit messing with stuff before you screw something up.”

“Hmm. You’re missing something.” Xander took another step back, rubbing his chin. Then he snapped his fingers. “I know! You need some flowers.”

I didn’t know what to expect when Xander rushed over to the waiting room door and held it open, but I certainly wasn’t expecting Trixie and Morticia to trot through it. They’d been all gussied up for the wedding too, with some plastic flowers threaded through their collars. Trixie ran up to Xion with a bouquet of roses in her mouth and spat it at his feet.

Xion laughed and bent over to scratch her ears. “Just what I want on my wedding bouquet. Doggie slobber.”

I didn’t think I’d ever seen Trixie look prouder than she did in that moment.

“I’m sure it’s good luck in some culture somewhere,” Xander said.

The door opened as the two of them started arguing about how to get the plastic wrapping off the bouquet. This time, it was one of my two witnesses barging in.

Church knocked on the inside wall as if we weren’t all staring at him. “Magistrate’s ready when you are, boss.”

I nodded. “We’ll be along shortly.”

Xander finally got the plastic wrap off and fussed over how Xion should hold the bouquet before hugging him tightly and crushing the damn roses anyway. “I’m proud of you, Xion,” he said. “But also, could you throw those my way when you’re done with them? I have a date with Daddy Valentine later and I’d hate to show up empty handed.”

Xion snorted. “Does Ash know you have a date?”

“Not yet, but he’s smart. He’ll probably figure it out before I have to kidnap him and stuff him in the trunk.” He winked and backed off before turning to me, his smile falling. For once, Xander wore a serious expression as he faced me, and it didn’t look quite right on him. “I know this goes without saying, Boone, but take care of my big brother.”

“Always have,” I said, extending my hand to Xion. “Always will.”

Xander nodded and lingered another moment before letting out a happy sigh. “Well, I suppose I’ll give you two a minute and make sure everything’s doggie proof in the courtroom.”

When he was gone, I squeezed Xion’s hand. “Last chance to back out.”

“You first,” he said with a smirk.

“Why does this suddenly feel like a game of gay chicken gone horribly wrong?”

“Or right, depending on how you look at it.” He turned his head, looking at the closed door. “Listen, Boone. Before we go in there in front of everyone, I just want to say…” He trailed off, his throat bobbing as he looked down at where our hands were joined. “Well, I don’t really know what to say. It doesn’t feel like I know enough words to say what I should say.”

I cupped his cheek. “I know the feeling. It’s a good thing we’ve got forever to figure it out, ain’t it?”

His smile was soft and real, and it was the only thing in the world that mattered to me. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have a man like him. He’d been through so much that sometimes all I wanted to do was wrap him in bubble wrap and hide him away where the rest of the world couldn’t hurt him. But that sort of protection could be a prison too, as I’d come to learn. Loving someone meant letting them be free to make their own choices, right or wrong. And when things went FUBAR, I’d be there to help him put everything back together again.

“I love you, Boone,” he said, resting his forehead against mine.

“And I love you, Xion.” I planted a kiss on the top of his head and adjusted how he was holding the roses. “Now let’s show the rest of these idiots and go get married.”

We pushed open the courtroom doors with Trixie and Morticia trotting alongside us. Xander, Xavier, Church, and Leo were already there waiting in the front. I hadn’t planned on having both Church and Leo, but since Xion had two witnesses and Xavier and Leo seemed to have hit it off, I figured why not.

But I was surprised to see Wattson, Ragnar, and Bowie had shown up too. Apparently, it was also impossible to keep a secret from the Junkyard Dogs.

The gray-haired old judge furrowed his brow and frowned. “I’m sorry but there are no dogs allowed in the courthouse.”

“They’re emotional support dogs,” Wattson volunteered, adjusting his glasses. “I’ll fax over the paperwork once we’re done here.”

The judge looked down at the two panting mutts on either side of us, who were very much not certified emotional support dogs. “This is… highly irregular.”

“So are we,” I said and linked my arm through Xion’s.

The poor judge didn’t seem to know what to do, looking from us to the dogs twice before giving up with a sigh. “Very well. Since they’re being such good girls, they can stay. Just this once.”

Trixie and Morticia thumped their tails against the floor so hard it echoed through the courtroom.

As the judge started reading from his prepared papers something he must’ve read a dozen times a month, I turned to face Xion and took his hands in mine. Four days ago, when we left Louisville, he’d said that day would be the first day of the rest of his life. I didn’t fully understand what he meant at the time. It’d seemed like a silly thing to say. Every day was always the first day of the rest of your life.

Now that we were legally binding our lives together though, it finally clicked. We’d both started over so many damn times, reinventing ourselves to fit inside other people’s boxes all our lives. I always wanted to be a good son, a good grandson, a good soldier, and a good leader. If you’d asked me a few months ago to introduce myself, that’s exactly how I would’ve done it, too, with a series of titles and achievements like that’s all I was.

It took meeting Xion and then nearly losing him for me to realize I wasn’t any of those things. They were roles I could put on when I needed to, but deep down, I was just a lonely man looking for a way to fill up an empty heart. I’d turned to drink for it, worked myself into the ground, filled myself up every which way but the right way. I thought that by giving away my heart, I’d just be emptier, but that wasn’t the case at all. No matter how much of myself I gave to Xion, I always had more to give because he was giving right back.

Didn’t mean it was going to be easy, especially considering all the baggage we were bringing with us. Maybe we’d never get it totally right, but I was willing to wake up every day and love him where he was, as he was, and he promised before God and the laws of man to do the same for me.

I could love him for a thousand years and never run out of love to give, but I didn’t have to. All I had to do was love him one day at a time. The rest would work itself out, plain and simple.

Just like us.

THE END