The music starts. Geneva and Sara head down the aisle in front of me. I count to ten, and then I step out onto the white carpet bridging my past, to my present, to my future.

The guests rise as I come into view. Almost a hundred pairs of eyes on me.

But I only care about two.

Kolya is flawless in a tuxedo, his hair dark and shining in the evening sun. My little Lili looks like a cherub in her frilly white dress and matching headband.

She spots me and flashes me a big toothless grin. One chubby hand extends towards me, but the other stays firmly fixed on Kolya’s shoulder.

She has his eyes, of course. Two sapphire gems that see so much.

From the moment Sara placed her in Kolya’s arms in that delivery room, I knew that I would be the third wheel in their love story.

Just like everything else in my life, I’ve decided to be okay with that.

When I reach the end of the aisle, Kolya steps forward and takes my hand. Then, to my surprise, he reels me into his embrace and kisses me hard, to the laughter and delight of the crowd.

I laugh and pull away from him. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Don Uvarov.”

“Fuck tradition,” he rumbles in my face, his breath a swirling mist of mint and vanilla. “I’m not waiting another goddamn second to call you mine.”

Liliana jumps into my arms and tweaks my nose before Geneva rushes forward to grab her. “Come on, little angel. Let’s give your parents this moment.”

Kolya takes my hand and leads me up onto the gazebo. “Ready?” he asks, pumping his grip on my fingers once.

I gaze up at him. His blue eyes splinter. “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my entire life.”

* * *

We lay entangled together, naked and exhausted, with the sheets pulled up to our waists and the fan circulating lazily overhead.

The balcony doors are open, allowing us a perfect view of the midnight blue sky. It’s starting to get chilly, but Kolya is a furnace. I cuddle up close to him and sigh as the last of the tension in my body ebbs away.

“So, honeymoon in Greece?” he asks, kissing the top of my head. “Or should we do Spain? France sounds good, too.”

I smile. “How about all three?”

“I like the way you think, medoviy.”

I run my fingers through the curls on his chest. “It was a perfect day,” I sigh into him.

He nods absentmindedly and strokes up and down my naked back. “It was better than that.”

I sit up a little and glance at the thoughtful expression on his face. He’s so good at hiding his inner struggles that sometimes I have to remind myself that he has just as many as I do.

“I missed her today, too, you know,” I say softly.

He nods without bothering to ask. “You know what’s funny? There was a moment when I was getting dressed… I looked out my balcony and I thought I saw her in the crowd.”