Page 202 of Sexting My Best Friend's Brothers
“You boys take care of her,” he says, his voice gruff with emotion. “And my grandbabies.”
“We will, sir,” I promise. “With our lives.”
He nods, kisses Tessa’s cheek, and takes his seat in the front row.
Tessa steps forward. She hands her bouquet to Harper, standing as her Maid of Honor and wiping tears aggressively from her face.
Tessa stands before us. We step up to meet her.
The officiant—a friend of Harper’s who got ordained online just for this—smiles.
“We are gathered here today to celebrate a love refusing to fit in a box,” she begins. “A love breaking the rules to build something better.”
It’s a short ceremony. We didn’t want pomp and circumstance. We wanted promises.
“The grooms have written their own vows,” the officiant says.
Owen goes first.
He steps forward, separating from our line, and takes Tessa’s right hand. He brings it to his lips.
“Tessa,” Owen says, his voice thick. “Before you, I thought life was a game. I thought I just had to keep leveling up, keep moving, keep smiling so no one saw the cracks. But you… you stopped the game. You saw the cracks, and you didn’t look away. You filled them with gold. You make me laugh, you make me crazy, and you make me want to stay. I promise to be the fun one. I promise to make you laugh every single day, even whenthe twins are screaming at 3 AM. I promise to love you loudly, wildly, and forever.”
Tessa sniffles, a tear sliding down her cheek. Owen wipes it away with his thumb and steps back.
Asher goes next.
He steps forward, taking her left hand. He adjusts his glasses. He doesn’t hold a piece of paper. He memorized his vows.
“Tessa,” Asher says, his tone steady, serious. “My life has always been defined by logic. Input. Output. Cause. Effect. For thirty-five years, I operated under the assumption love was an unpredictable variable, a risk to system stability. Then you entered the dataset. You proved love isn’t chaos; it is structure. You’re the code making the system run. I promise to protect you. I promise to optimize our life for your happiness. I promise to be the logic when the world is chaotic, and the anchor when you need to drift. You’re my primary variable. You’re my constant.”
Tessa lets out a wet laugh, squeezing Asher’s hand. “I love you, you robot.”
“I love you,” Asher confirms, stepping back into place.
Then, it’s my turn.
The stillness stretches. I look at her. My strategist. My heart.
I take a step closer, towering over her, shielding her from the sun. I take both of her hands in mine.
“Tessa,” I say. My voice is rough. “You know my history. You know the ghosts I carry. You know for a long time, I thought I was broken. I thought I was destined to be a man who leaves.”
I glance at my mother in the back row. She’s watching, impassive. I look back at Tessa.
“I built walls to keep people out,” I continue. “I built a company to prove I was strong. I built a fortress to protect my brothers because I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. And then you walked into my office with a red pen and a smile, and you tore the walls down. You didn’t just save the company, Tessa. You saved me.”
I release one of her hands and place my palm flat on her stomach, over our children.
“I promise to be the man who stays,” I vow. “I promise to be the father I never had. I promise no matter how hard it gets, no matter what the world says about us, I will never run again. I am all in. Today. Tomorrow. Until the code stops running. I’m yours.”
Tessa’s crying freely now, her shoulders shaking.
“I love you,” she whispers. “I love all of you. I promise to keep your secrets, but mostly, I promise to be your truth. I promise to love this family, every part of it. The chaos, the logic, and the strength.”
“Do you, Ethan, Owen, and Asher, take Tessa to be your wife?” the officiant asks.
“We do,” we say in unison. The sound echoes off the lake.
