"You first," she whispered back, grinning.
Father O'Malley, the same priest who had baptized half the town and once accidentally set fire to the altar candles during a christening, began the ceremony.
There were minor hiccups.
Paddy dropped the ring.
A kid released a flock of doves too early.
But none of it mattered.
When she looked into Ronan’s eyes and said, "I do," the rest of the world simply fell away. Nothing mattered but this man.
At the reception, which was more pub crawl than formal affair, the real chaos began.
Paddy tapped a keg labeled "For Medicinal Purposes Only."
The teenagers abandoned their kazoos in favor of trying to climb the castle turret.
Someone started a brawl over who had the better clan history, the O’Byrnes or the Gallaghers.
They ended up arm-wrestling for it.
Séamus had loved every second of the fight and would have joined if his male nurse had not interfered.
Bríd gave a heartfelt speech that made everyone cry, and then promptly started a drinking game using the phrase “love conquers all.”
By the time Ronan pulled Aisling onto the dance floor, she was half-drunk on whiskey, half-drunk on happiness.
"You realize," he murmured as he spun her, "we technically own two properties now."
"Separate titles, Gallagher," she warned.
He grinned, pulling her tight against him. “Aye, but they share one bed.”
She laughed and kissed him in front of the entire town.
Someone wolf-whistled. Someone else yelled, "Get a room!"
They had one.
A castle.
A future.
A life that was messy, loud, imperfect... and absolutely perfect.
Together.
CHAPTER37
Two Years Later.
The castle courtyard looked like a scene from a medieval battle—if medieval battles involved one rogue toddler, two escaped goats, and one frantic husband waving a half-eaten scone as bait.
"Aisling!" Ronan hollered across the courtyard, hair disheveled, shirt half-untucked. "Your daughter is leading a rebellion!"
"Ourdaughter?" Aisling called back from the kitchen doorway, cradling a cup of tea. "Funny. She only claims me when she's being adorable!"
