“Yes,” Hazard said.

His mother and, of all people, Glenn Somerset chuckled.

“Fuck, I mean, I do,” Hazard said.

Somers leaned into him, his face wet and hot through the thin t-shirt, and then he pulled away grinning.

“I understand that we will now be exchanging vows,” Wesley said, wearing a huge grin.

“I didn’t know we were writing our own vows,” Hazard whispered to Somers.

“You shouldn’t lie to your husband,” Somers whispered back. “Sometimes you forget to lock your phone and leave the notes app open. You’ve got eighteen drafts. Pick one.”

Hazard’s jaw dropped.

“I’ll go first,” Somers said. “Emery, Ree, I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. I promise to watch documentaries with you, listen to NPR with you, read statistical analyses of zip codes with you, and just about anything else you want me to do with you, because I want to do everything together. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy, which I know includes picking up my socks and learning how to properly make brisket and, as of today, finishing the patio. I promise to love you for the rest of my life.”

“You already read these,” Hazard whispered, holding his phone.

“I didn’t read them, dummy, I just saw the titles. I’m ready for a great, big surprise.”

“The nature of surprise is that you can’t—”

Somers was making a strangled noise.

“Fine,” Hazard snapped, which was difficult in a whisper. “This is on your head.”

He scrolled through the phone screen. Draft 17 was punchy and had a great joke about Alexeev’s “Income Distribution in the USSR in the 1980s,” but Draft 9 was more tender and romantic, including the part Hazard was proudest of, the twenty-two line comparison between his love for Somers and nuclear fuel rods, the important balance of zirconium and uranium oxide. But no matter how he tried to focus, the words slid away from him. Sweat prickled under his arms; he couldn’t get enough air.

Then he pocketed the phone and looked at Somers.

“John, I’ve always tried to be a good person. I never thought I could be a great one until you loved me. Everything important in my life is tied to you: my work, my sense of family, my place in our community. I promise that I’ll learn how to be a good husband to you. I promise I’ll try every day to be better. I promise I’ll take care of you and Evie. I promise I’ll love you more and more as we move forward together, and I’ll find ways to show you that love, because you deserve to know that you’re the best, most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. I promise to show you how much you mean to me for the rest of our lives together.”

Wesley had to brush under his eyes before saying, “The couple would now like to exchange wedding rings.”

“Before you ask,” Somers said, “yes, I brought them.”