Page 74 of Tessa

It only made Beau grin harder.

“Tessa Marie Stevens and Daxton Michael Bell, I want you to know I love you both, and I want you both to always be secure in your place in this relationship and with me. I’m so sorry I didn’t notice the problems that were piling up in front of us, but I want you to know that if you ever bring me a problem that has to do with us and what we have, I will always put my whole self into fixing it.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “I hope I showed you today with my actions, but just in case I want to back it up with my words.”

By now, Dax too had scooted to the edge of the bed for a better view and like Tessa, he was hanging on Beau’s every word. Beau reached for his hand and hers.

“You are both important to me. I want to be your Daddy. I want to nurture and love and take care of every part of you. I want you to wake up every day beside me, never having a doubt about how true my feelings are. Unfortunately, three people cannot get legally married, even here in the city of sin in the great state of Nevada. But I want to make sure you have everything you could ever want and never doubt my love for you, so I’m making a commitment here and now to be here for you, and to be your Daddy for as long as I am breathing. And so, I have to ask you both: Will you be mine?”

Tessa couldn’t help herself. She launched herself at him, jumping off the bed into his arms. “Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”

“Oh… um… is that a yes?” Beau teased, pressing a kiss to her lips. It was only when he pulled away that she realized Dax was still on the bed, and he hadn’t said a word.

Pulling herself out of Beau’s embrace she nudged him and pointed at Dax who was sitting frozen in shock. Lifting her onto the bed on one side of Dax, Beau sat down on the other side, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Hellooo, babyboy… earth to Dax.” He waved a hand in front of Dax’s face and Dax blinked, but nothing else happened.

“Daxton!” Beau snapped his fingers. “Daddy asked you a question, and not answering is very rude.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Um… what was the question?” Dax licked his lips nervously, his gaze darting around the room as he spoke.

Beau took his hand. “I asked you to be mine. Will you?”

Slowly, as if he had been frozen and was just starting to thaw out, a huge grin spread across Dax’s face. “Of course I will.” He leaned to plant a kiss on Beau’s lips before turning and offering one to Tessa.

She gratefully took it, sealing the deal with both of them as her Daddies and Dax as her special, occasional partner in crime.

“It kinda sucks we can’t have a wedding, though,” he mused as he sat between them, staring at his hands.

Tessa stuck out her tongue. “Yeah! It does, doesn’t it! That’s …” She racked her brain for an appropriate descriptor that wouldn’t get her in trouble. “That’s extra poopy!”

“I mean….” Beau stammered, looking as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was about to say. “We can… it just won’t be legal.”

Legality was a detail Tessa didn’t care about. To her a wedding wasn’t about the piece of paper you got at the end. It was about the realization of her hopes and dreams, celebrating with the people she loved and making a commitment in front of all their family and friends that she was theirs and they were hers. Forever.

“Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!” she chanted.

“Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!” Dax joined her.

“All right, all right, all right. We can have a wedding!” Beau chuckled. “I do have just one condition though.”

“What’s that?” Dax asked, before Tessa could.

“We have to do it as soon as possible. Apparently, I have a habit of moving far too slow.”

“That’s right!” Tessa giggled, shaking her finger in the air in front of them. “Don’t let it happen again!”

“I promise I won’t,” Beau vowed solemnly. “When should we do it? And where? Sometimes it can be hard to book a good venue. We might need to move fast.”

Tessa shook her head. She didn’t care about a good venue. She didn’t even want one.

“We should get married here. Right before Utopia opens to the public.”

“Here?” Beau sputtered.

Tessa hid a smirk. She knew Beau didn’t like it when his plans shifted. She didn’t care. This was too important.

“Here,” she repeated, looking to Dax for help.

He nodded. “It does make perfect sense. Utopia is where our relationship shifted. It’s where we met Tessa. It’s where our friends are. And it’s where you made the grandest gesture ever. Utopia is really the perfect venue.”

Beau blinked, and heaved a sigh that Tessa knew was fake because he couldn’t hide the smirk. “All right,” he finally agreed. “A Utopia Wedding it is!”

THE END