Page 47 of Forever King

We can start on our honeymoon tomorrow. It’s okay. We have the rest of our lives together.

MATTHIAS AND AVA

17

Ava

All those wholove us fill my living room and wait for me to speak since I just cleared my throat after announcing I had something to say. It’s actually we have something to say, but Matthias seems to be feeling particularly cranky today. He says work has been getting on his nerves, but I wonder if it’s something else.

“What’s going on?” Eden asks.

She’s the only one I wouldn’t give a hard time to for rushing me, so I fake a grimace and hold up my forefinger. “One moment, please.”

My best friend knows I’m being playful, so she stands up and looks around at everyone. “Ava needs a moment before she tells us all what her good news is. Anyone want to bet it’s baby news?”

Her husband whips out a hundred dollar bill and sets it on the coffee table in front of him. “Oh, I’m good for that bet.”

Kellen standing next to him laughs and sets his hundred on top of his older brother’s. “Me too. It’s always a safe bet with those two.”

Why he says that is beyond me. It’s not like we have a clown car full of kids already. We just had a baby too, so how could they think that’s what this is about?

I turn to look at Matthias standing next to me, but he’s still as grumpy as he’s been all day, so he’s no help. Ronan notices how unhappy he looks too, and of course, has to make a comment.

“No way, guys. Look at how miserable Matthias looks. It’s not a baby she’s about to announce. It’s got to be something else.”

“Honey, could you try to look happy?” I whisper to my husband. “We are announcing something good here tonight.”

All that gets me is a nod. Not even an attempt at a smile. Work must be really terrible lately because I haven’t seen Matthias this way since Theo and I were dating years ago.

I take his hand and bring it to my lips for a kiss. “You ready?”

Finally, he forces himself to smile. I can tell whenever he doesn’t really mean it because the smile doesn’t go all the way up to his eyes. When it’s genuine, his dark brown eyes light up too, but I see nothing but the same irritation in them now.

“Sure.”

That’s also a sure sign the man I love isn’t happy. He becomes reticent, and his answers are invariably monosyllabic.

“Come on, already!” Marius calls out. “What’s the news?”

I give Matthias’s hand a gentle squeeze and finally tell everyone our plans. “After one delay, three kids, and more years knowing one another than we want to count, Matthias and I are getting married two weekends from now.”

Everyone looks around oddly, but no one seems thrilled or even congratulates us. Do they all have the same affliction my husband has lately?

Eden looks at her husband and then back at me. “That’s great, but I think we’re confused. Aren’t you guys already married?”

“No. Don’t you remember that we couldn’t get married when we planned over the holidays a few years ago because of Ronan’s accident?” I explain, hoping to clear up any confusion our family might have about this.

It doesn’t work, though.

Kellen shrugs and says, “We all thought you guys ended up going to city hall or something. I’ve been calling you my sister-in-law forever, it seems.”

Then Eden says, “Yeah, that’s what we thought too. You even said we were sisters-in-law when it came out that Marius and I had been married in secret when we got together in Las Vegas.”

“No, well, yes. I mean, yes I did say that, but it was sort of just my way of saying we were with brothers all that time and didn’t get to take advantage of that fact. Matthias, I think I’m losing the crowd here. Can you explain things to them?”

I look over at him with everyone else to see an expression of almost disinterest. This is our actual wedding we’re announcing, and he acts like I’m telling everyone we decided to have the sidewalks redone.

“We didn’t get married when we wanted to, so now we’re getting married two weekends from now. Ava has all the details. I’m a little fuzzy on the time, so she’ll let you know.”