We got married at Doug’s barn. Jane’s catered, and Alexis ordered me a groom’s cake from Nadia Cakes that looked like a raccoon to commemorate how we met.
Alexis’s brother and his famous wife came, so we had to get three hundred and fifty NDAs signed.
I really liked Derek and Nikki. They flew in from Cambodia and stayed with us at the house for two weeks.
Alexis’s dad didn’t come to the wedding.
We knew he wouldn’t. But her mom did, and we both appreciated that she had made the effort. We knew it wasn’t easy for her to go against her husband. But she wasn’t willing to lose her kids because of him. Alexis said her mom had been to therapy too, which my wife was really happy about.
Dr. Jennifer Montgomery was a nice woman. And I think she liked her daughter-in-law, Nikki, too. They had quite a bit in common, being the philanthropists that they are.
Alexis’s mom stayed with us for a week. And when she left, she gifted us with a month-long honeymoon. It was a thoughtful present on many levels. But mostly because it was meant for me. Alexis told her mom I’d never been anywhere. So she sent us to Italy, Paris, Greece, London, and Ireland. It was all first-class and five-star hotels. A trip of a lifetime. We’d had a blast.
Alexis always gave me the window seat on the plane, since I’d never flown before. We ate at some of the best restaurants in the world. I’d learned which fork to use and I mastered Uber and those key card thingies that open hotel room doors. We saw ancient ruins and castles and spent days on white sand beaches. I came back even more in love with my wife than I was when we left, which was hard to imagine.
We were happy to be home though—and so was Doug, because he’d watched Hunter while we were away, and our stupid dog kept bringing live rodents into the house.
Alexis closed the distance between us, and I slipped a hand around her waist. “Ready to go?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m feeling a little ick,” she said quietly.
“Okay.” I looked up at the guys. “Hey, we’re heading out.”
“See ya,” Brian said, still smiling at his girlfriend.
Doug nodded at my wife. “So when’s Briana coming down again? She still single?” He bounced his eyebrows.
Alexis laughed. “Doug, if she knew where you lived, she’d burn your house down.”
“What?” He looked back and forth between us. “She was totally into me!”
Everyone started cracking up.
Doug had followed Briana around with his guitar at our wedding. She’d found a spray bottle full of water and used it for the rest of the night to squirt him when he got too close. At least Nikki showed him how to tune the guitar while she was here…
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, still chuckling. I took my jacket off the back of the barstool and put it around my wife’s shoulders and walked her out.
We pushed into the brisk April night air.
We’d walked here for the exercise, so we were walking home. I took her hand, and she hugged my arm and put her head on my shoulder.
“How you feeling?” I asked.
“I’m just tired.”
“I think you should party less.”
She laughed. “Ha. I had that vaccine clinic today. I must have done two hundred shots. And not the fun kind.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I’ll run you a bath when we get home.”
Then I’d get the fireplace going in the bedroom while she soaked. When she got out, we’d curl up in bed with a book. In the morning I’d get up before she did and make her breakfast before she went into the clinic and I went to the garage to work on my latest commission.
At lunch I’d come meet her at Jane’s or bring her something if she was too busy to take a break. Then for dinner we’d cook together, maybe watch a movie.
The house seemed so happy that we were in it. It sighed around us. And Wakan was happy too. And healthy. For the first time in the town’s history, we had a real doctor. We didn’t have to drive to Rochester. She did house calls for Pops. Alexis was able to monitor Doug’s depression meds, so he got back on them and was doing better than ever. Lily had just come in for her one-year checkup. And the clinic helped with the tourists too. They didn’t like having to drive forty-five minutes to get treatment either.
The clinic was so busy it was hard to imagine that we’d managed to not have one for the last hundred and twenty-five years. And all in exchange for us attending a few fund-raisers once in a while. A luncheon at a golf course, the gala that we’d do once a year, a private dinner now and then with big donors. I always went with her. They were fun. I got to meet Melinda Gates last month.