In The Light

Something Special

"Alright," he said as he leaned back. "You ready to see Jack?"

Tor nodded eagerly, expanding the distance between them so she could verify that she had not rumpled Aaron's suit too much. He did the same for her, the act of confirming that no one could tell they had been kissing almost as familiar as kissing itself. His eye caught on the snowflake pendant hanging just below the hollow of her throat. He tentatively raised his hand to touch it, the warmth of his fingertips reaching the skin around the cold arrangement of diamonds.

"Vee just gave it to me," she explained as he traced the design.

Aaron nodded in approval as he lowered his hand to take hers.

"So he and your mom could both give you snow today," he surmised. Tor hummed in agreement as he squeezed her hand. "It's beautiful, angel."

"Is that a compliment to my brother?" she teased.

"We both know Jess helped him pick it out," Aaron scoffed. Tor giggled as she allowed him to shift so his arm was wrapped around her, giving her some much-needed warmth. "But I will agree that he has expensive tastes."

"Well, we both knew that," Tor replied with an eyeroll. Virgil had always had an eye for quality, but compared to Aaron's frugality, he was downright excessive. He showered Tor, Jess, and Jack with presents no one would ever dream of buying for themselves, insisting that the people he loved deserved the best. Aaron never said a word about the cost. Still, Tor caught his eyebrows raising in a momentary microexpression every time a new luxury was given with all the casualness of a gift card. For Aaron, the best gifts had far more sentimental than monetary value, which Virigil insisted was why he usually gave Aaron socks for Christmas and birthdays. Still, she had seen the watch Virgil gave Aaron as a wedding present, and she knew that it cost roughly one hundred times as much as a pack of the finest department store socks.

"By the way, if Virigl offers to sing you something, you should make up an excuse to come find me," Tor said with a rueful chuckle as she signaled Oliva to go find Jack. She laughed weakly when Aaron looked at her with a skeptically raised brow. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Dare I ask what song he has in mind?" he asked dryly.

"Just a Virgil original," Tor said as she burrowed deeper into Aaron's side to avoid his gaze to keep herself from breaking and telling him about Virigl's attempts at lyricism.

"Worst comes to worst, I'll take out my hearing aid," Aaron promised.

"I wouldn't put it past him to learn the whole thing in ASL," Tor grumbled, earning herself a chuckle from Aaron.

"It would certainly make our family dinners more entertaining if he started integrating sign language insults," Aaron agreed, carefully moving her so he could wrap his arms around her. "But so long as I'm with you, I'll have much better things to look at."

Tor glanced up to see him beaming down on her, warming her better than any brightly shining sun. She rose onto her toes, and he leaned down to meet her lips. She sighed contently, unsure how she was ever supposed to leave Aaron's side and return to the cold. She knew they would reunite in the church within two hours, but that did not feel soon enough.

Her worries about how she was supposed to last the hour between their first look and the ceremony were quickly set aside when she recognized the small figure in a grey suit bounding toward them. Jack had always born a striking resemblance to his father, but in his tailored suit with his styled hair and wide smile, the resemblance was uncanny. Oliva was walking beside him, and a giggle bubbled in Tor's chest when she realized the poor wedding planner had to maintain a firm grip on Jack's hand to keep him from sprinting to them.