SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 197

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Seven

Some animals on Earth mate for life. Some species of bird, like penguins and swans, seek out their chosen mates and stay together forever. Some reptiles do, and mammals, too. Dogs, in particular, whilst being more free in their attachments, will stay firmly in a pack or close to a partner. And, like many other animals, wolves also mated with one another for life.

Sebastian and I were no different. 

God... just thinking of it... Sparkling. Everything was sparkling.

I'd taken thirty minutes to relax, to relish in my wedding night, and it was finally sinking in that this was really happening. I'd known him for only five freaking months, and now we were married. He'd come into my life explosively, and every single moment together had been clear and sharp and dangerous. He'd had problems and issues, but I'd begun to see the truth.

Despite his genuine capacity for cruelty, he was an inherently good man.

Tonight, like wolves, we'd bonded together for good. 

I leaned back in my chair, looking up at the stars, staring at the too-bright dots of brilliance through a haze of light-headed delirium. My heart was still pounding against my ribcage, my neck was hot and my eyes watered painfully every time I thought was what this evening was. 

I was married. 

I was fucking married! 

"I'm married," I breathed, fighting for air, clutching the front of the gown. "I'm married."

It was almost frightening how happy the realization made me.

Aerin D'Agostino.

Sebastian Vanderhill.

God... I was still buzzing from the ceremony, our vows, the alcohol that had come after, and fuck, the look on Sebastian's face, that expression of joy and fierce adoration I prayed I'd remember to the end of my days. He, Woody, and Tiffany were all chatting with large groups of people nearby, within my vision range, but I'd needed a bit of time to myself so I'd taken a seat at an empty table and waved everyone off. It felt like nothing was real... I was almost bewildered.

My eyes were fixed on him.

I watched observantly when my eight-year-old nephew ran over, tugging on his suit and asking something I couldn't hear. 

Surprise flashed across his features, but then he grinned ferociously and snatched Ralphie under the arms, making him squeal with laughter before tossing him clean into the sky. Agatha screamed and Tobias jumped out of his chair, but then Sebastian crouched, and then launched off the grass like a rocket, sending a shockwave of earth flying.

He reached out, snagging my hysterical grandnephew, and then I heard him laughing.

Even from so far away, that booming laughter reached my ears, stark and handsome and--

"He's never been this full of life," someone said, and I turned to see Leo standing directly beside me, staring up at my falling husband. "I've never seen him this happy. You really did it, you know? You did what we couldn't and brought our pack together completely for the first time."

I said nothing, turning my eyes back on Sebastian just as he landed, cradling Ralphie's laughing form and holding him out as if he weighed less than a baby. The kid squealed madly, kicking his legs like a rabbit jacked up on cocaine, stopping Agatha and Tobias dead in their tracks.

"Again!" he screeched, laughing with a flushed face. "Again! Again! Again, Uncle Bashy!"

Sebastian grinned even wider, dark eyes crinkling, and with one arm, he bent and then launched the child toward the stars again, shaking with laughter of his own as the kid screeched in delight. Agatha covered her mouth with a pale face, watching in absolute horror, but Tobias kept his eyes on Sebastian as he crouched low to the ground on all fours, still beaming, eyes fixed on the kid as he dug his shoes into the dirt. His butt wiggled like a cat about to pounce.