The Guard To My Sanctuary - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

I felt amazing leaving our one-month appointment for the boys who were doing outstanding and growing just right. Marco wheeled the stroller to the truck while the boys made noises to themselves. I pulled Calloway's car seat from the buggy snapping the lever releasing him and anchored him to the car seat dock while Marco who had somehow had gotten better than me at putting the boys in their seats did the same. When I was done I got in the car and smiled at Marco who by the end of the day I would be calling my Husband. I could barely reign in my excitement in as we drove down to the house from the doctor's office. We had gotten the marriage license the day after we decided to go to the courthouse and had picked a date, time, and judge.  We made it to the house and I pulled out Calloway who was sleeping from the ride.
"We're going to be late if we don't hurry," Marco said as we got into the house. We both walked up the stairs and brought the boys to the bedroom and placed them on the bed removing their onesies and changing their diapers. The looked that us with bewilderment. Ozias cried whenever I touched his brothers as if to tell me to back off.
"You guys excited about daddies getting married," Marco said to them and they looked at him confused. I laughed at their confused looks and got to work putting their pants on. Marco went to get dressed in his casual attire. We didn't want to make a big thing about it and only planned on going to the cheesecake factory for dinner. It was going to be in the lowest of keys. I dressed the boys in their little cute khaki pants and a blue linen shirt.
I was putting Maddox's last shoe on when Marco came out wearing the exact same thing as the boys. I smiled at him looking good and such.
"I know I look amazing now get dressed," he said rushing me. He hated being late which was not something I really worried about. I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on and stripped. While waiting for the water to get to an appropriate temperature I brushed my teeth and cleaned my ears. When the steam fogged up the window I took that as a sign to jump in the shower. I got in and cleaned my body and face before getting out and drying myself off then lotioning my body. I quickly pulled my briefs up and pulled my socks over my feet enveloping them in the soft cotton fabric. I then grabbed my long blue Mandarin collar linen shirt and my skinny fit khakis and pulled them on. When all my clothes were in place and my hair tousled to perfection I slipped my shoes on and walked out the restroom where Marco was waiting.
"You look amazing Honey," he said which made me blush. I walked over to him and grabbed Ozias out of his hand. They still looked almost identical but I was starting to see more and more different as they grew. Ozias was going to be naturally bulky, he looked more like my Father than I did at his age. Calloway was the smallest and was probably going to look more like us than any of our relatives. Maddox, on the other hand, was going to be tall like Marco since he was already long. I could tell they were going to be tan maybe even darker than the both of us which I was perfectly fine with after all Marco told me that his dad was quite dark. Placing Ozias in his car seat I strapped him up and followed Marco who was making his way done the stairs already. I did my best to keep up as I walked while carrying Ozias to the car where I stored his car seat. I climbed in and Marco didn't waste time pulling off. I kinda wanted to drive and test out my license but Marco was a quicker driver with a better sense of direction so I didn't complain. I checked my phone and saw that everyone was waiting on us which I knew would annoy Marco but he wouldn't say anything. Marco made it to the courthouse at record time and parked in a space near the front. We could see my family minus my Uncle who couldn't make it all wearing blue and khaki. We got the kids and quickly made it to my family where were smiling at us.
"Hey," Thalia said kissing my cheek as we got close. She had her hair out and natural revealing her tight bouncy curls that complimented denim wrap dress that she was wearing. Her look stood out against Alder and Pine who stood next to her in the same outfit that Marco and the boys were wearing. My Dad was standing with Cindy and already had Maddox's car seat in his hand. Cindy was wearing a casual off the shoulder Denim dress with her hair pulled back into a low bun and was smiling at Maddox who was awake. He loved his sleep which was a good thing. It meant that he would grow more than the others.
"Uncle Marco," Cartier said in Pine's arms. She had a cute Safari dress in a khaki color and her hair was in two buns and she was sporting a smile that showed her dimples.
"Hey baby girl," He said walking over and handing Alder his nephew Calloway. Alder smiled at Calloway and touched his cheeks with the tips of his fingers. I smiled at how gentle he was being.
"I'll take Ozias," Thalia said holding her hand out. I smiled and handed him to her.
"Oh, we aren't too late," I heard Nia said from behind me. I turned to see her and Oscar with a pink car seat in his hands. She had her baby two weeks ago and was already up and walking.
"Why are you out of bed," I asked walking over to her.
"She said she couldn't miss it," Oscar said holding Wylder. She was a living breathing cherub that had beautiful light skin and big doe eyes. I looked at Nia and hugged her then gave Oscar a half hug before Marco cleared his throat.
"We have five minutes," he said to everyone and grabbed my hand to start moving. We all rushed over the stairs and made our way to the courthouse. Marco pulled me along to a courtroom and we walked inside where an older Latino man was sitting in his robe and smiling.
"The Tafferty family correct," he asked.
"Yes sir," Marco said with a smile.
"Vows," he asked us.
"No we procrastinated and have three new kids so we didn't have time," I told the judge.
"That's fine, alright I need you two to stand facing one another," he said in a down-home kind of twang. We followed his instructions and stood facing one another
"Witnesses," he asked.
"Alder and Pine," I said to them and they walked over handing the children in their hands to Nia and Cindy who were empty-handed.
"Alright let's get started and have you to off with your lives, fast and easy as you guys specified,+" he said looking at us with a warm smile.
"Alright let's go," Marco said looking at me with a big smile. I saw the flash of a camera and looked to see Cindy trying to work my Dad's camera while he smiled at us.
"Alright, Marco Tafferty repeat after me.
"I, Marco Tafferty. Take you, Elm Euthenia, To be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; To encourage you, and be open and honest with you; To laugh with you, and cry with you; To always love and honor you; Both freed and bound by our love, For as long as we both shall live," the Judge said moving his hands as he spoke like a composer leading an orchestra. Marco smiled and looked me in my eyes, "I, Marco Tafferty, take you, Elm Euthenia, to be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; To encourage you, and be open and honest with you; To laugh with you, and cry with you; To always love and honor you; both freed and bound by our love, For as long as we both shall live."
"Perfect now it's your turn Elm," The judge said with a smile
"I, Elm Euthenia, Take you, Marco Tafferty as my husband, To be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; To encourage you, and be open and honest with you;
To laugh with you, and cry with you; To always love and honor you; Both freed and bound by our love, For as long as we both shall live."
I started crying from happiness as I prepared to repeat the judge's words, "I Elm Euthenia, Take you, Marco Tafferty as my husband, To be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; To encourage you, and be open and honest with you;
To laugh with you, and cry with you;
To always love and honor you; Both freed and bound by our love, For as long as we both shall live," I repeated.
"Do we have rings to exchange," the judge asked.
"No sir," Marco said to the judge.
"Okay well with the power invested in me by the state of California I now pronounce you Mr. And Mr.Tafferty. You can kiss your Husband," he said to us. Marco didn't waste a second in pulling him into me and kissing me deeply he lifted me up off the ground and I heard everyone whistling. I felt like it was a fairy tale moment. The knight marrying the princess or in our case the prince. It wouldn't make it to the Disney writers table but it was special to me. Marco pulled away and placed me down on the ground.
"You two are going to last, I can tell," the Judge said to us sounding genuine I'm his compliment. I smiled at him and walked to my family where my Father hugged me tightly and had tears in his eyes.
"I'm so happy for you," he said to me as he released. I looked up at him and gave him another quick hug.
"Congratulations," Nia and Oscar said at the same time. I turned and hugged them and took another moment to gawk at how pretty Wylder was.
"We got to go, she won't admit it but she's in pain," Oscar said to me laughing.
"Please go lay down somewhere," I said to her and kissed her cheek before she walked off. Thalia ran up to me and hugged me holding Ozias in her hand. I hugged her back and then took my son in my arms and kissed his forehead feeling ecstatic.
I walked with him back over to Marco who had the other two in his arms. He bent down to kiss me again and smiled.
"Up," Cartier said pulling at my pants leg. I looked down at her and crouched down turning around as I dipped. She climbed on my back and I stood up.
"So this was cute and all but when are we going to eat," Alder said to the group. He was always worried about eating.
"We can go now it's a Tuesday so the place shouldn't be crowded," Marco said.
"Alright then, come on Cartier were going to go eat," Thalia said grabbing her daughter off my back and squeezing her. I got another kiss from Marco before I walked over to place Ozias in his car seat and started following everyone to the cars. We made it to our and put the children in their spots before getting in ourselves and driving off.
"So how does it feel to be a Tafferty now," Marco asked me smiling.
"Egh not bad at all," I smiled at him.
We pulled up to a red light and he leaned over to kiss me. Like always I gave in only pulling away when the horns of cars behind us sounded off. Marco huffed and started driving all the way to the Cheesecake Factory parking in the parent's with infants spot out front and worked on getting the boys out of the car. Marco somehow grabbed all three of them from me and told me to get the diaper bag. He placed his phone on the side pocket saying he wouldn't need it and we made it to the restaurant doors seeing my family already there waiting.
"Alright that's everyone," Cindy said to the hostess that smiled at us.
"Okay follow me please," the brown skin girl said while grabbing menus for everyone. We all followed along to a long table made from two separate rectangular tables in order to make a large square. I sat down next to a car seat holder as Marco place Calloway down next to me and sat down. He had Maddox on the other side of him while my father who was opposite of me sat next to Ozias. Everyone else filled spots and we're handed menus. Since we had been here a ton of times together we already knew what we wanted and ordered.
I dug into the baby bag and grabbed three bottles of milk and handed one to Marco then passes the other extra to my father who started feeding Ozias. I popped the cap off of my bottle and grabbed Calloway out of his seat and placed the nipple to his lips. He immediately started drinking which was good since he needed all the nutrients he could get. Our waitress a young Latino man came back with our drinks. I was happy because it would be my first time having alcohol.
"I'm so glad to welcome Marco into our family, well in the eyes of the law. He has been family since the day he brought my son back to me. I can't think of anyone I'd trust more with the safety and well-being of my son or my grandson's. I can't wait to see how my son's family grows and develops over the years. There are going to be nights when you both can't stand the sight of each other but as long as you two hold on to the love that got you here everything will work itself out. To Marco and Elm," my Dad said holding up his glass of champagne. Everyone held their glasses up and then took a sip. The champagne tasted like a peach soda with ginger ale in it. It wasn't bad but I definitely wasn't going to be asking for another glass of it. The fizzy feeling made me giggle and everyone laughed at my reaction to the fruity drink. The waiter came back soon after with another guy to bring our food. I placed Calloway back in his car seat as he tried his best to suck on his cloth enclosed hands. The waiter sat my pasta in front of me that looked and smelled amazing. I unfolded my napkin and placed it on my lap before using my fork to dig into the food. I was humming at the taste of the sauce and everyone was giving me weird looks. Little did they know it was my first meal in a day.
"Ahh" I heard Calloway start to cry. I dropped my fork and looked at him to see that he spit up over himself. I got up immediately and grabbed his car seat and the diaper bag before making my way to the bathroom.
"Aww daddy's baby doesn't like being wet does he, no he doesn't," I said in a baby voice. When I got into the restroom I walked into the large stall with the changing table and pulled the thing down before placing my child on the public changing table I dug into my bag grabbed my disinfectant spray and sprayed the whole area down. When I was sure everything was clean I placed Calloway on it and started taking his clothes off. The smell wants pleasant but after changing around thirty diapers a day I was becoming immune to the 'gross' stuff. I reached for the pack of baby wipes in the side pocket when I felt Marco's phone vibrate. I pulled it out and saw it was from an unknown number. I hit the volume button to stop it from vibrating and went to wipe down my baby when the phone vibrated again. I looked at his phone and saw he had a whole bunch of messages from the same number. Feeling curious I answered the phone.
"Hello," I said answering.
"Umm, hello," a voice that was somewhat deep while also maintaining a raspy quality responded.
"I'm looking for a Marco Tafferty ma'am, I found this number on a website and was wondering if you know a man by that name," the person asked assuming I was a woman.
"Wait for what website," I asked getting excited but also not hyping myself up too much.
"Lost connections. It's for siblings and parents," he started.
"To connect when communication is cut off through adoption," I answered for him.
"Marco," the voice asked.
"No, I'm assuming this is Tyler this is his...Friend Elm I have his phone. Give me a few moments and I'll give it to him," I said starting to rush through putting a new diaper and clothes on Calloway who was staring at me and trusting to bite at his hands. When I finally got a onesie on him I started packing everything. I didn't know how he would react to his brother being gay so I kept it to myself.
"You still there," I asked Tyler as I started walking to the table.
"Yes I am," he responded sounding nervous. I made it to the table and Marco smiled at me then looked at me curiously. I put Calloway down then pulled the phone from my ear.
"Who is it, I told people from work to not bother me," he responded.
"No it's Tyler, your brother," I said handing him the phone as he looked at it in shock.
"What's going on," Thalia whispered to me.
"I'll tell you later," I said back.
"Umm hello, Tyler," Marco asked into the phone sounding nervous. The look on his face was almost scared which I wasn't used to seeing but I knew in his heart he had to be happy this was potentially the best day of both of our lives.