“He was overprotective before, he just made an effort to hide it then,” Everly said.
“Finally!” Bam announced loudly when Havoc finally pulled back enough for Brandt to take Havoc and Analise each by the hand and lift their arms into the air. He joined their hands above his head for all to see. “I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Havoc and Analise McCullen.”
Everyone whistled and cheered, and got to their feet applauding.
Lazarus slipped his fingers into the corners of his mouth and let off a high-pitched whistle.
Roman threw back his head and let out a victory cry.
Havoc grinned at his friends from Riley’s Pride as they celebrated his marriage to his mate. They’d seen him at his worst, and now they saw him at his best. He loved that they’d come to see him get married. He only wished Lucas, and Richie, and Scottie, along with their families could have come as well, but somebody had to stay behind to look after things.
“Congratulations, Mrs. McCullen,” Maverik called out, lifting a beer into the air as a toast.”
“And me! I get congratulations, too!” Havoc yelled.
“Boy, I still can’t believe you talked her into mating you,” Maverik teased. “But damn, it makes me want to tear up. Happy tears, I tell you. Happy tears.”
“Same,” Valerie said, as Maverik pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so happy.”
As the photographer kept snapping pictures of everybody and everything, Riley made his way through the crowd, pulling Maia with him. “Hey, I want a picture with our Pride, if that’d be okay.”
“Absolutely,” Havoc said, waving Riley and Maia, Roman and Talie, and Lazarus and Alex up into the gazebo. “Y’all come on up here.”
Riley looked around and emitted his own sharp whistle, at which point Sebastian, Cristie, Cruz, and Amanda found their way through the throngs of family hugging them as they moved past to join Riley and Maia with Havoc and Analise for a photo.
Maverik smiled as he watched. “Damn, that’s some pretty people.”
“Yeah, it is,” Riley said, grinning at Maverik over the photographer’s head. “It’s prerequisite,” he teased.
“Hey, Havoc. Darcie said to tell you she’s sorry she couldn’t be here, but she’s thinking about you. She couldn’t get off work,” Roman said.
“Yeah, and Lucas said to tell you now you have to come visit and take him out to dinner personally for having a wedding on a weekend that was his turn to stay behind and look after things,” Lazarus said.
Havoc laughed. “I just might. Me and Analise might just come visit for a while so she can meet all my second family.”
“Any time,” Riley said.
“Can I take this dress off now?” Harley demanded, her irritated voice breaking through all the shouting and congratulations.
“No!” Emmalyn, Hellen, Delilah, and Maia all shouted.
Analise smiled and posed for a few seconds while the photographer snapped a couple of photos of them with Riley’s Pride, then she turned to Harley. “Not yet. We have to take some more pictures first, then you can change.”
“I already took pictures! We did that first!”
“Well, we’re doing some more. Zip it,” Havoc said.
“Fine,” Harley grumbled. She stomped away from everyone doing their best to congratulate the newly married couple, and marched straight for the house.
“Hey! Come back here and take a picture with Uncle Riley and everybody,” Havoc called after her.
“If I gotta wear a dress, I’m gonna wear a dress with Gerald,” she said, as she headed inside to get her iguana. “I’ll be back!”
Lazarus watched Harley stomping away. “Who’s Gerald, and do I really want to know?”
“Gerald is her five pound iguana. He’s tangerine and white and he’s actually pretty cool,” Havoc said.
“No, shit! I want to meet Gerald!” he said. He pecked a kiss to Alex’s lips, then grinned at his daughter. “Amanda, want to go meet Gerald?”
