This Nostalgia In My Bones

"Do newlyweds even consummate their marriage on their wedding night? I hear so often that a lot of them don't because of how tired they are by the end of the night," Joe shrugged. It was a genuine question, and one he at least heard a lot about from his friends who'd gotten married recently. "She's not even a month old yet, I think you'll be okay."

"It's a very traditional thing, I think when it was still a big, negative thing to have sex before marriage. And, technically, we already have, if you count our actual legal marriage in October. So it shouldn't be any issue to do it again." Madelyn grinned, before her smile faded. "I feel like I missed so much of Bri's changes when I was in Charleston, I don't want to do the same thing for Charlie."

Oh my God, who texted first? Was it you? Or did he have your number too? Who knew it would be such a love story in the making.

I did, but again, I thought my cousin had somehow stashed his number in my phone. Usually when she did this it was guys she met while she was on a night out, so I sent out a text to apologize on her behalf, cause the last time I didn't do that apparently the dude was married. And now here we are, where technically the dude is married now.

"You really think I'm gonna be having any energy to do that shit later? Save it for the honeymoon," Joe laughed once more, turning his attention back to Madelyn. "You're not going to miss out on anything, we won't be gone that long."

"Wow, so you don't wanna spend your wedding night with your wife absolutely railing her?" Madelyn kept her voice low, but she rolled her eyes playfully. "She's an infant, she changes every day, I don't wanna miss anything."

"Oh, that's what I thought you meant," Joe laughed, followed by a shake of his own head in amusement. "Tomorrow morning. And the kids are going with the grandparents early tonight, so we get the whole night to ourselves after the reception is over."

"I just wanted to know what time I have to wake up, that's all. God knows we'll be busy later." She grinned, looking at their children fondly before her lips fell into a pout. "I'll miss them. Charlotte's still so little, I don't wanna miss out on spending time with her."

"I am not, it's the truth! Plus, it also helps that your dress is just as beautiful. It's like the most perfect type of romantic wedding dress I've ever seen. That's obviously not okay with me, you gotta go get a burger from the In 'N Out truck or something. Which, I still can't believe you got one all the way out here in the south."

"It really is a testament to how amazing Joe is. There was one at the Vanity Fair after party and I fell in love with the idea, so he got it all taken care of. But it's genuinely all I've been thinking about, but then I think about the fact that like...every time I get up I get stopped by someone else. It took me 45 minutes to pee earlier."

I need all of this lore, please and thank you.

So JD is friends with someone on Joe's team, and apparently before we met they conspired to get us to meet by putting his number in my phone, but for like a solid few months I thought it was my cousin, since she likes to do that.

I will take that gift and rmember it with pride. But I'm also gonna need it in writing so that I can frame it.

Joe shook his head, "It wasn't a work trip. If it was, I don't think I would've enjoyed it." He followed Madelyn's line of sight, instantly landing on Brielle and Charlotte being given all the love by their wedding guests. He was lowkey glad that they had a moment to breathe and not have to worry about tending to either of them. Then, her question caught him off guard, not having really thought about it before. It was their own wedding, so he figured they could leave whenever they wanted to. "Whenever you want to. Are you getting tired?"

"Don't you normally go to those for like, brand things?" She shrugged. She had only been to two, both in Florida, and both situations had been vastly different. At his question, Madelyn shook her head. "No, not here. I mean yeah, I'm tired, but I don't wanna go anywhere yet. I mean for the trip. What time are we leaving?"

Yes, very. Thank you for crying for me.

Joe looked over at Madelyn, his face contorting in confusion upon her correcting him. In his defense, he'd had a bit to drink, so he wasn't exactly in his right mind. "Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant." When she leaned her head on his shoulder, he took the opportunity to turn his own head to the side and kiss her temple. "That's because it is. Can't even count France, either, because you didn't get to come."

"Uh huh." Madelyn giggled. "Can't really count Florida, either, since that was more or less a work trip for you. Even if we did get Charlotte out of the deal." Her eyes scanned the dance floor, finding their daughters rightfully being fawned over by a small group of their family. Charlotte was sleeping, but still. "When are we leaving?"

"That's it? You gotta catch up, babe. You need at least twenty more to get to what I did on my wedding day."

"Hey, I've had two weddings now, cut me some slack here."

It's absolutely true, you just blinked when they asked who was giving him away to you and missed it.

That's absolutely not how that happens, but like I said, whatever helps you sleep at night.

"I don't get all sentimental and in my feelings much, but I'm real damn happy for you. Mostly I'm just thankful Joey found you, my boy deserved this for a long time. Thank you for taking care of him for me." @madsxclinesx

"I could say the same to you. He's obviously the best thing to ever happen to me, but I know how close you are and I know how important your relationship is and how important you are to him. So it means the world that you're such an integral part of our life now and you accept me as part of yours."