Sixty

ANDY—FATHER ANDREW—INVITED US to be married in the chapel we had decorated. Kate and I agreed that the chapel would only take away from the focus of our vows. It was a gallery—nothing more. With Melody’s banners welcoming us to the Unitarian church, it was like home.

As I watched Kate approach on Oke’s arm, I was filled with awe at the way events turned out. Next to Kate stood Wendy. Melody and Lissa were on my right. Beyond Wendy on the left were Rainbow and Sunday. Willow stood next to Lissa. We were quite the wedding party. Melody held my hand through the whole service until I turned to profess my love for my Kitten.

Allison and Beth sang a duet and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I couldn’t recite a single word from the ceremony. When I looked to my right, I saw Melody, gripping my hand and Lissa bearing my child. On my left Kate’s smile had never wavered and lit up the room. Wendy looked so happy she was bouncing.

“Katarina Mirela Holsinger, I love you. You make our family complete and whole. I will always love you, always care for you, always support you. You bring light to my life.”

“Tony Harmon Ames, I love you. You are my rock and my anchor. With you I will build my home. Your happiness will be my happiness, your family mine. You are the light of my life.”

“In as much as Tony and Kate have expressed their love to each other and have accepted each other as their legal spouse, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister said. I brushed my lips across Kate’s feeling the first tentative kiss of my new wife. She gasped a little and I remembered what Melody had said about her probably coming during the ceremony. We turned to face the congregation.

“Friends and family, before we release Tony and Kate to the celebration, there is more. This is a wedding ceremony because we simply don’t have rituals that are big enough to encompass the truth of what you see in front of you. In case you are new to this family,” the minister said, “Kate has chosen to add Ames to her name and will be known as Katarina Mirela Holsinger Ames, just as Melody and Lissa added Ames as their last name when they were married last year. But this is also an important time for another member of their family who we bless this day.” Kate and I guided Wendy to the center. We moved close to her on one side as Lissa and Melody moved close on the other. When we were in position the minister continued. “Wendy Martin is here to show her love and join this family as well. We’re breaking new ground here as there is no official marriage ceremony for five people. Melody, Lissa, Tony, and Kate, do you accept and welcome Wendy as equal in your partnership, marriage, and family and promise to cherish and trust her from this moment forward?”

“We do.”

“And Wendy, do you accept Melody, Lissa, Kate, and Tony as your family, as an equal in partnership and marriage, and promise to cherish and trust each member of this family from this moment forward?”

“Now and forever,” Wendy answered.

“Inasmuch as you have all expressed your intent and it has been witnessed by this congregation of friends and family, I am happy to announce that Wendy will also be changing her last name to Ames today. That means I can now introduce you to the entire Ames family—Tony, Kate, Wendy, Melody, and Lissa. You may kiss your spouses.”

Chaos ensued as we each tried to kiss each of our partners in every combination possible as the congregation laughed and applauded. The piano started playing and we turned for the recessional when we heard a gasp and looked over to see Lissa falling to the floor supported by Willow and Melody.

“Oh, my God! She’s here!” Lissa gasped. A wet puddle spread across the floor beneath her. Of course, little peapod. Choose the climax of our wedding to be born. I scooped up Lissa in my arms and carried her down the aisle with Kate, Melody, and Wendy running behind and beside me. Our limo was waiting as we all five piled in. The driver was prepared with the coordinates of the birth center already in the GPS.

Having interrupted everything, and making us leave the entire wedding celebration in the church, Lissa still had seven hours of labor to endure before a little head pushed out between the lips that I loved to fuck. The midwife nurse brought the little girl up to lie on Lissa’s tummy as we all oohed and aahed over her.

“I told you she was a girl,” I said proudly.

“Ohhh!” Lissa moaned. “You said twins!”

The second head was crowning and in a few seconds our daughter’s little brother lay beside his sister on Lissa’s tummy.

“Oh, my god! We have twins! How long have you known?”

“About three months,” Melody laughed. “It was so hard not to tell.”

“I love you little girl. I love you little boy,” I said as I kissed each of them on the head. “I’m a daddy ... and a husband ... on the same day!”

“And a master,” a voice whispered in my ear. We’d just gone from a family of seven to a family of nine.

“Clara Danielle Ames, I love you,” I said, kissing my daughter on the head while she slept against my bare chest. “Sean David Ames, I love you,” I repeated to my son lying beside his sister. They didn’t answer. They scarcely stirred in their sleep. But I was so flooded and overwhelmed by the absolute love and trust my children had in me that my eyes kept tearing up in spite of myself. I was afraid I’d wake them up with the noise of my beating heart.

Lissa, of course, had had both children at her breast as soon as the umbilical cords stopped pulsing and were cut. Melody was naked in bed beside our wife cuddling her children as they nursed on Lissa. As soon as the vitals had been checked and approved, the nurse midwife left with strict instructions that we were to have half an hour alone with our children. As the door closed, all our shirts came off and we hugged Melody and Lissa. We just had to have skin-to-skin contact. When the babies had nursed, they both cuddled against Melody’s bosom and giggled before having their first burp. Well, I thought it was a giggle. What do I know? Before they were completely asleep, the two naked babies were cradled against my chest as I held them and cooed them to sleep. In a moment—all too soon—my beautiful babies would be nestled between the bare breasts of Kate and Wendy.