Adrian drops the camera. “I don’t have my magnifying glass on the camera. You idiot. Put it away,” he replies dryly.
Cameron shrugs. “Like you would need to zoom to see this lizard. It’s a beast.” He grabs his crotch again and shakes it.
I roll my eyes as Adrian screws up his face in disgust. “God, you’re an animal. Who calls their dick a Lizard beast?”
Cameron shrugs again. “If the shoe fits.”
“You’re a tool,” Ben mutters under his breath, shaking his head.
Cameron rearranges his tie in the mirror next to me while I pull up my pants.
“You need to hurry,” Adrian snaps. He has been ready for over an hour. We are in the second house and Natasha and the girls are in the main house.
I do up my fly and the pants fall straight down over my hips, causing Adrian’s face falls in horror. He holds his hands up in a stop sign. “Oh my fucking God! Tell me those pants fit you?”
“Shit.” I pull them up again and they fall straight back down. I’ve lost a lot of weight.
Adrian puts both of his hands on his cheeks in horror as his eyes widen. “Do we have a fucking belt?”
I turn and walk into Adrian’s wardrobe and look around.
“I don’t have one!” Adrian shrieks as his eyes flicker around to the boys. “Do you have one? Cameron, Ben, does anyone have a belt?”
I shrug. “Maybe in my wardrobe in the other house, I don’t know. I’m usually in board shorts the whole time I’m here. I’ve never needed one before.”
Adrian runs his hands through his hair in a panic before he looks at his watch. “This is a disaster. Ben, can you go next door and find us a belt, please?” He looks like he’s about to hyperventilate and Ben disappears out of the room.
Dad walks into the room with Wilson and Scott, handing us all a beer.
“A toast.” He smiles.
My heart rate instantly rises and I’m so grateful that I have him here with me today.
“To the unbreakable Stantons,” he announces proudly.
Four words are all it takes to bring a lump to my throat. Four small words that mean more to me than he will ever know. I recited them repeatedly to myself in prison on the day Natasha and I were originally supposed to get married.
They saved my life.
“To the unbreakable Stantons,” we echo as we clink our bottles together.
I smile as he wraps his arms around me and gives me a strong hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m proud of you, son.”
I nod and smile as emotion steals my words.
Ben re-enters the room and shakes his head.
Adrian’s eyes widen in horror. “What?” he snaps.
“No belt.”
“This is my worst nightmare,” he whispers.
I smile at the floor and raise a brow. Give me a break. Not having a belt is far from my nightmares.
My eyes glance up to the stone staircase for the hundredth time as my heart hammers in my chest.
“She changed her mind,” Cameron whispers. “Smart woman. She’s currently on her way to Ibiza.”
I throw him a glare and Adrian chuckles.
Eight years and it all comes down to this – this moment in time where we become one.
A united family.