The Safest Hours

Chapter 20: Eden

The Reception

"In the sight of God and these witnesses, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now kiss!" The priest called out, smiling at us.

Now, this was the hard part. Who to kiss first? But the boys made it easy for me, obviously planning this out beforehand. Jackson stepped forward, and grabbed my face, kissing me hard. I laughed into the kiss, being giddy to an unusual level.

"Hello, wife," he said, breaking the kiss. I smiled up at him, loving how freely he was smiling at the moment.

Callum came forward next, practically bouncing on his feet. I laughed at him, grabbing him by the face for our kiss. His hands immediately latched onto my hips, sliding down to grab my ass. I squealed, pushing my handsy gentleman off.

Then Connor. My sweet Connor. He approached me slowly, his hands wrapping around my waist. He yanked me forward, so I was molded to him.

"My pretty little wife." He said, kissing me softly.

"My handsome little husband." I said, kissing him one more time.

"Oh, we both know I'm not little, baby."

"Believe me, I know." A few snickers sounded behind us, and I turned to see the entire wedding party either laughing or looking quite disturbed. I stuck my tongue out at them, before I was being swept off my feet. I screamed, being carried out the ballroom doors by Jackson.

"Please, all guests enter the dining room for dinner."

The big dining room had been set up with a dance floor in the middle so the guests could eat and dance in the same room. The ways this house could be used was astonishing to me. And I still hadn't seen their real house, where we'd live. That was exciting.

I was carried away from the noise, which made me sit up a bit. I pushed on Jackson's back to see Callum and Connor following behind us.

"Where are we going?"

"The guests have to get settled into their assigned seats. We have 5 minutes."

"5 minutes for what?" I said, as I was put down on a chair in the mystery room. I looked around, but the room was dark.

Finally, a light was turned on. I looked around and realized we were in an office. Not just any office, but Jacksons. The office where all of this started three days ago. The office where I thought my life was over, yet it was really just beginning.

"What're we doing here?" I asked, watching Jackson reach into his jacket for something. When he pulled his pocket knife out, I surprised myself by not being afraid of it, but more curious.

"Um, Jackson? What's the knife for?" His smile was slight, as he picked up my right hand, just like he did during the ceremony.

"We want to truly make you ours. Your ring is to let everyone else know whose you are, but this will truly mark you. Allow me to prick your finger, and we'll all do the same. We'll mix our blood, becoming one unit. Until death do us part." I stared at him, feeling the twins stare at me as well.

While it should've disgusted me, terrified me even, I still felt entirely safe. I looked up at Jackson, nodding my head. "You can do it. Just don't get blood on my dress."

He kissed the back of my hand. "I won't, baby. It'll only hurt for a second."

He quickly nicked my index finger, it stinging for a millisecond. Then, he nicked Callum and Connors, before doing his own. Our fingers came together, and we all conjoined them, mixing our blood. Our DNA.

"Now, you really are ours. Welcome to the family, my love." Callum said, reaching into his suit jacket with his good hand and pulling out bandaids.

I smiled at his thoughtfulness, and when he unwrapped them, I laughed to see the Hello Kitty print covering them all. We all quickly bandaged our fingers, before Connor hoisted me out of the chair.

"It's time for you to dazzle our guests some more. Are you ready to dance, mi amor?" I frowned up at him.

"You know I'm Italian, right?" He laughed, stealthily stealing a kiss. I loved that none of them were afraid of physical affection.

"Yes, I know what language you speak. I just happen to speak 4 more than you." I laughed, knowing he was right. I spoke Italian, English, French, and Swedish. Swedish came with a very specific situation. I knew Connor spoke English, Irish, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, and Tagalog. A very wide selection to choose from.

"Ok, you two can compete later. Let's go." Jackson said, pulling me from Connor's arms. We walked out the door, into the foyer, hearing the commotion from the guests in the dining room. I would dance with each man separately, plus my mother daughter dance. There was also my father daughter dance, but I knew that was practically off the table at this point.

As we neared the dining room entrance, the coordinator came rushing towards us.

"Mr. Walsh, Tobias hasn't answered any of his calls in hours. He was the only one stationed on Muraro watch outside of this house. Should we be concerned yet?" The woman asked, picking at her nail beds.

Jackson pondered for a second.

"No. He's probably lying low. If he doesn't respond by tomorrow morning, call Kyran. My schedule is full." He said, looking down at me. I couldn't even focus on their conversation, knowing I'd have to walk into a room full of people with all their eyes on me, watching me, and maybe even judging me.

"We're going in together, it'll be alright. It's just us. You don't have to focus on anyone but us." Connor said, twisting one of my curls around his finger. I nodded, grabbing his hand.

Jackson pulled the doors open, and the MC called out "Please welcome the relationship of the night: The Walsh brothers and Mrs. Walsh!" I smiled, realizing for the first time that I was now Mrs. Walsh. I was theirs. And I wasn't scared of it.

We waltzed around the room, coming to our table in the middle with the rest of the bridal party. I was seated in between Callum and Jackson, Connor sitting next to Callum. Mariah peeked down the table to look at me, totally failing at hiding her tears. I couldn't help myself, I stood, walking over to her.

She stood, and we embraced right there. "You did it, Ed. You're married! Before me! I don't know whether to laugh or cry." She said, doing both. I wiped her tears, smiling at my best friend. "Yeah, I did it." I whispered, looking behind me at my guys. Callum gave me the cutest grin, beckoning me back over.

"You're being summoned. Go, I'll talk to you later." I kissed her cheek before walking back to sit with my guys.

My butt didn't even hit the chair before Callum pulled me onto his lap, kissing my cheek.

"I still don't believe you actually married me earlier. You can't be real, angel." I laughed, turning his face towards mine. "I'm very real, I promise."

"Will the bride and her groom of choice please come to the dance floor?"

I smiled at Callum, standing and offering him my hand. "Will you do me the honors?"

"I'd love nothing more." 

A/N: I cannot rn. Like I truly cannot believe we've reached the wedding. I suggest taking a breather and grabbing a snack before the next chapter...Anyways, I just started the absolute most garbage book on my phone and it made me wonder-

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Cameron T. 💚