The caterers were late, the wine hadn’t arrived, and our guests were due any minute for the housewarming party we were throwing. We’d been in our new house exactly two weeks and were finally unpacked. Renovations had taken all summer and most of the autumn, but that had ended up being a good thing, as we were both so busy. Between wrapping up my art show, staging and selling Amelia’s house, getting Amelia’s new branch of Art for the People up and running downtown, and starting my new job, we hadn’t had time to move before then anyway. The extra months had also allowed us to spend time together as a new couple before living together, which was a very good thing. We moved into the house exactly a year to the day after we’d gotten together the first time. It seemed like a good omen.
We were strictly designers on the renovations, and I’d found the experience quite interesting. Amelia had a little familiarity with house renovations, as she’d worked with her dad in high school and early college doing just that, but it was all new to me. We wanted to keep the house as authentic to its original time period as possible, which meant going all over the state to look for antique tile, wood, and fixtures. We agreed on two contemporary updates: central heating and air-conditioning and a new kitchen, but the rest of the house was as close as we could get to the original as possible.
We had the outside painted in the bright reds and yellows I remembered from before, and Amelia’s gardeners completely renovated the yard. They transplanted some of her rose bushes from her old place, and I think that tiny nod to her past life was enough to help her ease into the more modest home. Amelia had made enough money during her years running Winters Corporation to live comfortably in her Garden District mansion the rest of her life, but she’d wanted to make the change for me—for us, really. She knew I would never be comfortable in her old house, and our new place meant that we could meet somewhere in the middle. It was a larger house than any I’d grown up in, but it wasn’t ostentatious. The first day we walked through the front door, each of us carrying a box, we already felt like we belonged here.
Everyone and everything arrived all at once, of course. The caterers from Teddy’s came in directly behind Aunt Kate and Jim, and Meghan and Zach walked in with the wine sellers. To avoid the awkwardness it would cause, Amelia’s mother had agreed to come over later in the week for a smaller, one-on-one dinner with us. The rest of Amelia’s family, however, was shortly in attendance. Emma and her now-fiancé Billy showed up a few minutes after Aunt Kate, and by the time Amelia’s dad, brothers, nieces, and nephews showed up, chaos reigned. At one point, while the children played a lively game of tag around the new furniture, and while Aunt Kate and Amelia’s dad had a loud debate about college football, I looked over at Amelia and saw her elation. We’d had dinners and cookouts with everyone fairly often over the summer, and it appeared that our efforts had paid off. Despite marked differences, our families were finally comfortable with each other. Instead of two separate entities, they already seemed like one.
This was, of course, exactly why we finally felt comfortable enough to share our news with them. We’d already had our private conversation about it two days ago, but we’d waited to make an announcement until everyone was here together. Amelia let the chaos continue a while longer, and then she knocked a knife against her champagne glass. Emma was passing out glasses of bubbly to all the adults, and Amelia’s brother Bobby had poured some sparkling juice for the kids. Once everyone was holding a glass, they turned to us, waiting expectantly. Amelia and I clasped hands, and I let her begin.
“Welcome, everyone, to our new home.”
The room echoed with cheers and shouts, and Amelia let them go on for a while before continuing.
“As you know, this year has been one of big changes for both Chloé and me, and no more than in the last few months. Now that the two of us have moved in and are starting new jobs, we both decided that we wanted to take the next step in our lives together.”
The room was silent for a moment, everyone waiting, and I hesitated as long as I could to build up tension.
Finally, I held up my left hand to show off the ring. “We’re getting married!”
The room erupted into a cacophonous melody of joy and jubilation, and I was instantly pulled into a series of hugs and kisses from our closest friends and family members. By the time I finally made it around the room to my aunt, she was crying freely, her face stuck in a permanent smile. Her hug was fierce, and when we drew apart, she didn’t seem to want to let go. She clasped my shoulders and stood there, gazing into my eyes. She didn’t say anything and neither did I. We didn’t need to. She knew how happy I was, and she shared my happiness.
Amelia joined us a moment later, and Kate gave her a similar hug. When she let Amelia go, Amelia turned toward me, and I saw little tears sparkling the ends of her eyelashes. She and I took a couple of steps away from Kate to the front of the room, our hands clasped, unable to stop touching.
I could never get enough of looking at Amelia. It didn’t matter who or what was in the room. She was always the loveliest thing there. Even after all these months, months we’d spent almost sutured together every moment of the day, I could barely stand to look at anything or anyone else. She was my heart, my love, and my happiness, and she would be until the day I died.
When we kissed a moment later, I barely registered the cheers and cries of happiness from our friends and family. There in her arms, I was in the only place I wanted to be.
I was home.