Colby & Kai: The Wedding & The Reception

These extra scenes are from A Touch of Christmas Magic. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out in ebook, audio, and paperback on Amazon.

The Wedding (Colby Burke)
Elsie Mae played patty-cake with my cheeks as the late afternoon sun filtered through the Wintergreen County courthouse windows. The building had been built before my parents were born. It smelled old. Papers, book glue, old wood all combined to create a musty scent I thought I’d likely recognize anywhere. 

In addition to smelling old, the courthouse looked old with its marble floors and columns, like something that would have easily fit into an old black and white holiday movie.

But with the autumn leaves flashing red, gold, and orange on the soft breeze blowing outside the judge’s window, this particular old, musty courthouse was setting up to be the location of one of my very favorite memories ever.

Today was the day.

I’d loved Kai in one way or another since we were just kids. I’d inched closer and closer to falling for him with each step we took toward the precipice of adulthood all those years ago. For years, he’d stood by me while I fought my demons—patient, supportive, the other half to my whole. 

And then he’d blown my damn mind by stepping up for Elsie and me when I found myself floundering as a brand new single father.

All the years between our bumbling teen years and Kai coming to California to rescue me had shown me that my best friend was loyal, caring, and dedicated to what we had—even when what we had was just friendship.

Kai was my forever whether we were just friends or more.

Thank god we’d figured out we wanted to be more.

And today I got to officially call my best friend my husband.

Didn’t matter that neither of us really cared for the fact the government had to be involved with our vows to love each other forever.

Didn’t matter that it had taken a ridiculous teenage bet called in when we were thirty and single to get to this point.

Didn’t matter that we’d opted for a small wedding at the county courthouse on a beautiful Friday afternoon in the fall with our family and friends.

Hell, it didn’t actually even matter if Kai and I skipped the whole marriage license and hyphenating our last names.

We’d loved each other our entire lives. No piece of paper, no officiant, and no hyphen were going to change that. Kai and I had been joined at the hip—each of us the floundering half to our whole—for what seemed like eternity.

If other lifetimes existed, I had no doubt Kai and I were soulmates who would travel through as many lives as we were given if it meant finding each other time and time again.

Today, I was marrying the man I loved, my best friend, and the father of my baby girl.

“You ready?” Dad asked as Allison took Elsie Mae from me. My baby girl was dressed in the sweetest little red, yellow, and orange sweater dress with adorable brown suede boots.

Straightening my olive green bomber jacket over the cream henley, I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands on the thighs of my stylishly ripped black jeans. We hadn’t seen each other’s outfits yet, but I knew Kai wouldn’t be surprised by my favorite black boots. 

“I am,” I said, my words confident and strong. 

Dad pulled me into a hug and slapped me on the back. “Glad I get to be here for this. You two deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“Thank you.” The words caught in my throat. “Back then, I never dreamed any of us would make it to this point, but there’s no place I’d rathe be.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Dad, don’t. It’s in the past. We’re so much better than good now.”

He cleared his throat. “Just want you to know how damn proud I am of you and the man you’ve become. I’m damn lucky to have you and Kai as my sons, and maybe I’m biased, but I have the best granddaughter in the whole world.”

Emotions threatened to spill over, so I just hugged my dad again. “She is pretty great.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Kai’s dad peeked his head around. “There’s my favorite son-in-law.” I chuckled as my future father-in-law winked. Eric’s dad jokes were one of the things I loved about the man. Would Kai eventually be a middle-aged dad telling jokes? Yeah. No question, he definitely would. “You ready to do this?”

I nodded.

Eric threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. “Glad you two have always had each other. Thanks to your friendship, we’ve got one big happy family. You’re good for him in ways I don’t know he even realizes.”

Clearing my throat, I slapped him on the back. “He’s the one who’s good for me. He’s kept me going during times I didn’t think I was going to make it through.”

“Like I said, glad you’ve got each other.” Eric ended the embrace, shook my dad’s hand—which ended up in a good ol’ fashioned back slapping bro hug. 

They left the little room a few minutes later, and I stood alone by the window for a silent moment. The sun on my face, the fall leaves swirling in the wind, and two rings promising forever clinking in my pocket.

My messed up past—from the shit with my mom, the absence of my dad, and two majorly failed relationships—didn’t stand a chance today. Kai had saved me when I needed him the most. He’d always been there, but he’d been my lifeline when Elsie was born. And I wanted to remember the day I got to make him mine forever and always.

Taking a deep breath, I checked my pocket again for the rings we’d picked out together, and walked toward the judge’s chambers.

Because we wanted something simple and quick, we’d only invited our friends and family. But we’d also wanted to write our own vows and not see each other until the moment we both entered the chambers.

Tears of happiness mixed with disbelief when I saw everyone crowded into the small space. Dad, Allison, Eric, Lacy—who was holding a giggling Elsie Mae—Ivy and Emory, Trevor and Blake, the judge and her clerk. How was I so lucky to have this many people loving and supporting me? Helping me raise my daughter. Standing behind Kai and me through thick and thin. 

Aside from my own father—who’d left me wondering at times if he’d ever really and truly be able to be what we both needed him to be—all of these people were my family by choice. Even Dad, to some extent, because I chose to work things through with him and give him a second chance.

I didn’t have to love Allison and Lacy like the mothers I never really had. 

Eric’s friendship had been a guiding light for both me and my dad over the years, and I appreciated the man’s steady place in our lives.

Ivy, Emory, Trevor, and Blake. Four men I never would have met had Kai not convinced me to return to Peppermint Hollow. The thought of life without them in it wasn’t one I could even fathom. They were my friends, my brothers, my safe space. They were a bunch of knuckle heads. They could be loud, obnoxious, and raunchy as hell—okay, that was mostly Ivy, but still. They were also a sounding board, a shoulder to lean on, and a listening ear.

If anyone ever said found family wasn’t real, I’d show them the family I’d surrounded myself with. These people who’d shown up for me, loved me without trying to change me, and wanted nothing but the best for me. They were my family. Period.

As I walked toward the front of the room, Elsie caught sight of me and shrieked. Lunging from Lacy’s arms, she almost took the petite woman down. Laughing, I grabbed my baby and whirled her into a hug. 

“Hey, Els, you ready to see your daddies get married?” I peppered kisses over her cheeks while she giggled hysterically.

The door to the right opened just as the judge moved to stand front and center before her bench. Kai, dressed in a casual sweater of rust and cream, brown jeans, and soft brown loafers, popped his head around the doorway with a grin. “This the right place?”

Elsie giggled and babbled, “Dada!”

I turned to hand our daughter back to Lacy, but Elsie started to cry. Kai made a beeline toward me and took her in his arms. “Let’s do this, Elsie Mae.” He grabbed my hand and hauled me toward the judge. “We’re ready.”

I snorted.

Kai bumped me with his elbow before leaning in to whisper, “You look gorgeous. Love you.” The kiss he feathered over my cheek warmed me from head to toe. 

“Love you,” I said back, squeezing his hand.

The judge smiled. “Well, gentlemen, this is definitely the best part of my job. Let’s get this baby’s daddies married.”

Most of the short and sweet ceremony was likely lost to me forever no matter how badly I wanted to lock every word into my memory and savor it for years to come.

But our vows?

Our vows would stick with me forever.

Partly because each word Kai spoke to me felt as if it were being etched into the very fabric of my soul.

Also because Allison and Lacy had already promised to get our vows printed and framed.

And thank goodness for video.

With Elsie propped on his hip, Kai kept hold of my hand as he faced me. He took a deep breath and huffed out a laugh. “These are on a card in my pocket, but Miss Priss is blocking my access. Let’s see if I can wing it.”

Tears threatened, and he hadn’t even said a single sappy word. I was toast.

Kai cleared his throat. “Colby…” He swallowed, and the tears sparkling in his eyes caught me right in the heart. He breathed in deeply through his nose and gave me that heart-melting grin I’d come to love so much. Shaking away the emotion, he continued, “You’ve been my best friend from the very beginning. We’ve been through a lot, but the one thing that never changed was that we loved each other and supported each other through it all.”

I squeezed his hand, a lump forming in my throat watching him get choked up. This man—the love of my life before I even knew what love truly was—holding our daughter as he fought off tears and pledged to spend the rest of his life with me was all too much.

Kai chuckled when we both wiped away tears.

“All I ever wanted was to see you happy,” he went on. “But selfishly, I also never wanted you happy with anyone but me. I’m the worst.” Another tear fell, and I reached to thumb it from his cheek.

By this time, Elsie was watching us intently, focused on whether or not she should be concerned at the way her daddies were acting.

“I promised myself I’d be okay with us just being friends,” he said with a snort. “We’d made it this long, I could make it work.” Kai pressed a kiss to Elsie’s head. “And then my entire world shifted because you loved me right back. Not just like we’d always loved each other, but the way I’d dreamed of you loving me since I was a kid.” 

I handed him the ring from my pocket. Tears streamed down Kai’s face as he slipped the thin metal band onto my finger. 

“Colby Burke, you are my dream come true. I vow to love you forever and always, to raise our daughter with you, and to cherish our friendship.” He pulled my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “CoJack forever,” he whispered.

The only sounds in the courtroom were sniffs and throats clearing, and I chuckled. “I knew I should have gone first.”

That got a couple laughs, but Elsie startled and started to cry. Judge Watson hurried to hush her, and Elsie let the older woman take her from Kai’s arms. Our baby was immediately intrigued with the sparkly chain attached to the judge’s glasses, and for a moment, her attention was focused elsewhere.

“Kai,” I started, but stopped when the words didn’t want to come out. Closing my eyes, I took a cleansing breath, and then locked gazes with the man who held my soul. “There was never a question of me loving you. I just took an extra long journey to reach the point where I could recognize what we had.”

“To BFE and back. Twice,” Kai mumbled with a grin.

Laughter bubbled from me, and I wiped away the tears. “Yeah, well, no one ever accused me of doing things the easy way.” I shook my head as our guests laughed. “You’ve been my rock, my everything, for as long as I could remember. When I think about the times in my life when I was the most lost, it’s always when I wasn’t with you.”

Kai blinked rapidly and pressed his lips together.

“One of the worst periods in my life led me to the two most absolutely perfect moments—when our daughter was born, and when I heard you tell her you were in love with me.” I pulled the ring from my pocket and slid it onto Kai’s finger. “I vow to love you for eternity, in this lifetime and the next. I vow to support you, I vow to let you decorate the Christmas tree however you want.” The laughter I heard was definitely from Ivy and Emory. “And I vow to stand by your side through anything and everything this life wants to throw at us.” Pulling his hand to my mouth, I feathered kisses over his knuckles. “CoJack forever.”

The Reception (Kai Jackson-Burke)
“Thank you for being here,” I said to the crowd. “Enjoy the food and drinks while we do some pictures and cut the cake.”

The Peppermint Hollow community center contained several rooms for gathering large groups of people, and the one we’d rented for the day after our wedding was full of friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and folks from around town who knew me and Colby or our parents.

We’d dressed a bit more casually than we had for the ceremony in jeans, sweaters, and fashion sneakers. We’d opted for a navy blue, gray, and gold color scheme to blend with the fall decor, but we hadn’t wanted to get too dressy. Colby and I were the most comfortable with each other in our favorite clothes, so it didn’t make sense to us to get all glammed up just because we were taking pictures.

Elsie Mae looked absolutely ridiculously cute in her navy blue, gray, and gold flannel shirt dress, navy tights, soft gold boots, and bows of navy and gold in her hair.

While our guests mingled, made up plates of food–which we’d had catered from local businesses—and got drinks at the open bar, Colby and I let the photographer position us in about a million locations for pictures. Some of us alone, most with Elsie Mae while she was cooperating, and many with our parents and friends.

“Let’s get photos of you guys cutting the cake,” the photographer said. “Then I’ll just spend the rest of my time taking candids.”

Our cake was a chocolate-vanilla marble layer cake with rich, creamy chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream separating the layers. The fondant was a dark chocolate decorated with navy blue, gray, and gold swirls, and accented with colorful fall fondant leaves. We’d skipped the traditional topper because we couldn’t find one we loved and opted to replace it with a miniature bouquet of navy blue, gray, and gold flowers, leaves, and ribbons.

By the time we’d done the cake cutting pictures—and cleaned the frosting from our faces because of course we had to smash cake into each other’s mouth—the DJ had started the music.

“I’m fucking starving,” Colby said as he took my hand and led me toward the food. “We have to eat before we do anything else.”

He got absolutely no argument from me.

We loaded our plates and moved to sit at the little table reserved for us as Elsie ran in circles shrieking on the dance floor.

When we’d filled our bellies sufficiently enough to make it through the rest of the party, I noticed Emory talking to the DJ.

“What’s he up to?” 

Colby’s eyes followed my gaze. “No telling with Em.”

Ivy joined Emory, said a few words, and then the two of them moved toward the middle of the dance floor with a microphone.

Trevor and Blake joined them.

Ivy tapped on the microphone. “Testing, testing. This thing on?”

His words stopped Elsie in her tracks and she made a beeline for him. Ivy didn’t even blink these days when his miniature best friend came running for him. He handed the mic to Emory, gathered Elsie up in his arms, and then took the mic back.

“So, Colby and Kai didn’t ask us to be best men or make speeches or anything,” he started in that wry Ivy way.

“Rude,” Emory, Trevor, and Blake chorused.

Colby put his hand on my leg as we both prepared for whatever our best friends had schemed up.

“Instead of making speeches summing up all the great—”

“And not so great,” Emory chimed in with a grin.

Ivy smiled. “And not so great things about Mr. and Mr. Jackson-Burke…” He paused for the applause, and then he had to wait for Elsie to stop clapping and blowing raspberries right in his face. “Thanks, Els,” he said with a huff, but the love and adoration he had for our little girl was evident in Ivy’s every move. “Instead of the usual speeches, we decided we’d do some karaoke. We’ve put together a list of songs we think represent Colby and Kai’s love story pretty well. Performers can choose from our list, or pick one of their own.”

With that, Dad and Tom rolled in a huge karaoke machine as our guests cheered. Who knew Peppermint Hollow was so eager for some karaoke action?

It was likely the free booze pouring.

“Glad we decided to shut down the bar a couple hours before the party ends,” Colby whispered as the crowd split to get drinks or pick their song.

“Yeah, and it’s good most everyone walked here.” I watched in fascination as a mixed group of people poured over the song sheet the guys had put together or flipped through the binder of pre-programmed songs that came with the machine. “I can’t believe this many people want to sing. Did the guys pay them?”

Colby snorted and shrugged. “Must be something missing in our little town. All the talk of Christmas magic, but who knew what the good folk really wanted was a karaoke night.”

The evening played out in front of us like a dream we didn’t even know we needed. Friends, family, and people we’d know since we were kids took turns singing a variety of songs—some emotional and sentimental, some silly and fun, and everything in between.

People sang, we all danced, and it was the perfect celebration of what Colby and I had found in each other.

Ivy, Emory, Trevor, and Blake shocked the shit out of us when they did a surprisingly good rendition of Home by Phillip Phillips before launching into a hilarious and only slightly raunchy version of Troublemaker by Olly Murs and Flo Rida.

Mom and Allison blew us away with their performance of I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons.

But the highlight of the evening was when Dad and Tom took the stage. “This song was popular when we were teens,” Dad explained. 

“We think it fits what you two are for each other,” Tom added.

And then they proceeded to kill it on the song I’ll Be Your Everything by Tommy Page. Granted, I didn’t know the song, and I had to look it up, but our dads absolutely slayed.

But then Ivy, who had been dancing Elsie around the whole time, handed her off to Emory. “Now comes the time of our party for the new husbands to share a dance. I think they have a song picked out.”

At least this part we’d planned for.

Colby stood and took my hand. He walked us to Ivy and took the mic. Just when I thought he’d tell the DJ to play our song, he squeezed my hand and put the mic to his mouth.

“Back in high school, this song played at our Winter Ball. Twice. A lot of our history is private just for me and Kai, but we both listened to this song about five billion times over the years. There are so many things in these lyrics that fit us perfectly. We took our sweet time getting to this point, but it wasn’t wasted because we’ve always had each other.” He nodded toward the DJ, and music flowed from the speakers. “If you know it, sing along while I dance with my husband and best friend.”

The guests clapped. Ivy took the mic. My eyes stung. And Colby wrapped me in his arms as I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz filled the air.

“You are soooo getting laid tonight,” I whispered at Colby’s ear before pressing a kiss to his temple.

Colby chuckled. “Good to know since I was thinking the same thing.”

“Guess we’re lucky Elsie’s with my parents tonight.”

We swayed to the music, our bodies perfectly slotted together, as visions of what we might get up to with a whole child-free night sent heat straight to my balls.

“Mmhm,” Colby hummed, his hand pressed against my lower back.  “Are we dumb for not taking a honeymoon?”

“Nope.” I kissed him as our friends and family sang around us. “We know what we want. Next summer, when Elsie can appreciate the beach, the characters, and the rides, we’ll head to the happiest place on earth with our friends and family.”

The song started again, and our tipsy guests sang with much more gusto, but they also paired off or formed small groups to dance around us.

“I love you so damn much.” Colby’s strangled whisper and the way he fisted my sweater heated my blood and had me wanting to skip the rest of the reception. “Thank you for being patient and never giving up on me.”

“I love you,” I murmured at his ear. “I’m the luckiest man alive to call you my husband and my best friend.”

“CoJack,” Colby mouthed at my temple, the single word sending shivers through me.

“Forever,” we whispered in unison.

And then Elsie shrieked and ran toward us. Colby picked up our little girl, and the three of us danced around like fools with our friends and family.

Not everyone got to live the life of their dreams with the person they loved, and I wasn’t going to waste a single second of it.

* * *

Have you read Colby and Kai’s full-length story titled A Touch of Christmas Magic by A.D. Ellis? It’s available in ebook, audio, and paperback on Amazon.

Also, if you haven’t yet read Ivy and Emory’s story in Once Upon a Christmas House, you can grab that HERE.