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Anthony had always known that Hyacinth would grow up one day.
He just hadn’t expected that day to come so soon.
“I’ve been grown up for some time, brother,” his little sister told him from her spot in front of the mirror, eyes catching his in the glass reflection.
Anthony didn’t realize he had spoken his thoughts aloud until she responded to them. He smiled, an expression both wistful and proud. “I suppose you have, haven’t you.” He walked closer, taking in the sight of her in her beautiful wedding dress. His nose had this pesky tickle he had to rub away with his left hand. The other one he held out to her. “Are you ready?”
They were alone in a little antechamber just outside the entrance of the church. All the family members – of which there were very many by now – had seated themselves just a short time ago, including Kate and their three children who were miraculously on their best behavior today for their aunt Hyacinth’s wedding.
Well, there had been a slight incident at breakfast with the tossing of a boiled egg in Chara’s direction, but Anthony had overlooked Edmund’s naughty behavior in light of his little girl’s laugh as the white blob had landed in her porridge with a comical splash. Even Kate had laughed, so hard in fact she had rubbed tears from her eyes before leading Chara away from the table to change her porridge splattered dress.
“What are you smiling at?” Hyacinth asked him, an answering Bridgerton twinkle of mischief in her eyes. She reached to take the hand he held out to her.
“Edmund was tossing food at his sister this morning at the breakfast table.” Anthony pressed her fingers into his, hooking her hand into the crook of his elbow and leading her toward the door and her future husband.
Hyacinth laughed at his response. “Not peas I hope.”
“No,” he answered, chuckling, “it was an egg this time. Though there have been plenty of peas thrown around during past dinners. I’m sure I have Gregory’s many visits to thank for that.”
“Wait until they discover the pranks that can be played with a generous amount of calf’s foot jelly,” she teased him. She paused just before he opened the door and took a deep breath.
He paused as well until she gave him the silent signal that she was ready to go. While he waited, he cocked his head at her with a crooked smile playing on his lips. “I’ll thank you not to enlighten them in that regard.”
“Your children certainly don’t need any guidance from me when it comes to playing pranks.”
“No, they certainly do not,” he answered with a slight grimace, remembering a particularly spectacular one from Miles last summer that had ended with Edmund’s best boots covered in glue and molasses.
“I miss those days sometimes,” Hyacinth said wistfully.
She was staring at the back of the door, as if she could see the memories of her younger days projected against the smooth grains of wood. She looked back at him. There was a suspicious shimmer in her eyes that made his nose tickle again. He moved to wipe it away when he found a pesky tear working its way down his cheek.
Hyacinth reached up to smooth it away with her other hand. “I love Gareth more than anyone else in the whole world, but I loved you first, you know.” Now a tear rolled down her cheek too. Anthony let go of her hand for a moment to retrieve his handkerchief. He dabbed at his own face before handing it over to her. She swiped delicately at her wet cheeks. “Thank you.”
“You can keep it,” he said, gesturing to the handkerchief still in her hands. “I have another.”
“I didn’t mean just for this,” she laughed softly, tucking the linen into the bodice of her dress. “I meant to say thank you for raising me. I wish I could have known our father, but I know I never missed out on having one because I had you. Whenever I see you with my niece and nephews, I feel just the littlest bit lucky that I got to have that part of you first.”
It was a good thing he had another handkerchief because her words caused another tear to leak from the corner of his eye.
He thought back to the days after she was born, when their mother had been too stricken with grief to go to her in the nursery. Anthony had been nothing less than a wreck during those days, suffering from both the pain of losing his father and the panic of inheriting the position of Viscount Bridgerton before he had been ready for it.
Sneaking into the nursery to hold little Hyacinth and rock her to sleep every night had been his only escape from the cares of life pressing in on him from every direction.
He glanced down at her hands now, remembering how they looked over two decades ago in the nursery, her chubby little fingers holding his, a precious reminder of how beautiful life could still be even in the midst of such indescribable pain.
So many people in London thought Hyacinth a little hellion who terrified lesser men of society, a mini copy of her soon to be grandmother-in-law Lady Danbury that suffered no fools. And while that was all true to some extent, Anthony had always seen her as his peaceful moment in the storm, the gift fate had inexplicably given him even after it had already taken so much away.
“I’m grateful I got to love you first too.” He wanted to say more, but that tickle was back, and his throat had suddenly clogged with emotion, holding at bay all the other words he wanted to say.
Hyacinth didn’t need to hear them though. She saw the truth in her brother’s eyes, just as she always had since she was a little girl. She squeezed his hand twice. “I think I’m ready now.”
He nodded, tucking away his damp handkerchief and walking her to the chapel.
As the doors opened and he walked her down the aisle toward her waiting groom, he glanced around the room, looking for his wife and children. He found them sitting one row from the front. His heart swelled, just as it always did when he looked at them.
Miles was tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. Edmund was shifting from one foot to the other. Chara was sitting on her mother’s hip, staring at her aunt Hyacinth with a look of awe in her eyes that made Anthony wonder if she was thinking about her own future wedding day despite the fact that she was only three.
He refused to even consider that right now.
Then he looked at Kate. He would have to pass her the handkerchief when he joined her. The sunlight behind them filtered through the stained glass, shimmering in reds, oranges, and yellows across the tears on her face. He saw Chara turn from looking at Hyacinth to press her little baby kisses across her mother’s damp cheeks.
Kate laughed, distracted for a moment by their daughter’s enthusiastic kisses, but he caught her eye as he passed, and she smiled at him through her tears. He blinked rapidly, turning from her to focus on the altar where Gareth waited.
He climbed up the steps with Hyacinth on his arm and passed her hand into her future husband’s waiting one. Flashing a quick smile of encouragement to the handsome young man, he turned to press a quick kiss to Hyacinth’s cheek.
“I love you.” He whispered the words too quickly for her to answer, but he caught the silent response in her gaze before he stepped back to join his family nearby.
Once he was back by Kate’s side, Chara reached out her hands toward him with a loud “Papa” that had several heads turning in their direction. Uncaring about the attention directed their way, Anthony reached for his daughter and settled her comfortably in his lap as they had a seat with the rest of the congregation.
He glanced over at his boys to find them minding their mother as she whispered a reminder to stop fidgeting until the ceremony – which Hyacinth had specifically requested beforehand be very brief – was over. Both boys nodded their heads, and Kate tilted back in his direction, her shoulder coming to rest against his as she leaned against him.
“It’s a good thing you thought to bring two handkerchiefs today,” she whispered, snagging the leftover one from his pocket. He didn’t bother to tell her that the other was now gone as she gently pressed the cloth against the still slightly damp surface of his face before moving it to wipe away her own tears.
Before she could return it to his pocket, Chara grabbed it from her hands, pulling and twisting the silk fabric in her grip to amuse herself as the minister led Hyacinth and Gareth through their vows. She let out a delighted little giggle as the cloth slipped back and forth through her tiny fingers.
Without thinking, Anthony snatched her fingers into his, pressing a loud kiss there, a noise that caused her to giggle yet again before she went back to playing with her new toy.
He saw Hyacinth glance over quickly at them just as she started saying her vows, a quick smile gracing her features before she glanced back to Gareth, an even wider smile in place as she finished promising him her hand and heart.
As Anthony watched them, he felt Kate press a quick kiss to his cheek. Her lips lingered by his ear as she whispered so very softly. “I love being married to you, Anthony Bridgerton.”
Hyacinth and Gareth were sharing their first kiss now as a married couple, and the audience’s clapping as the newlyweds embraced covered the sound of his reply so that only Kate could hear the private words.
“Hyacinth told me today that while she loved Gareth better than anything else in the whole world, she was grateful she got to love me first.” He leaned over to press a brief kiss to Kate’s cheek. He felt another of her tears trickle down across his lips as he kept them pressed there. “I’ll always be grateful to Hyacinth too.” He pulled back, keeping his eyes on her as they stood with the rest of the audience to wish the newlyweds well as they rushed down the aisle together. “Even when my heart was so broken after my father’s death, I knew it was still capable of love because it somehow made room for her in it.” He broke off, cuddling Chara a little closer to his chest as she lunged for the rose petals that his nieces had thrown into the air as Hyacinth passed down the aisle. Once his wriggling daughter was secure again, he looked back at Kate. “And then, eventually I met you and found out how much love my heart could still hold after all.”
Kate blinked away the sheen of moisture in her eyes just as Edmund and Miles loudly asked her if they could go visit with Oliver and David several rows back. She nodded yes before turning back to him with a cheeky yet watery smile. “And you count your lucky stars every day that you did.”
Anthony smiled, gathering her and their little girl in his arms as they moved to join the rest of the family who followed the wedded couple down the aisle.
“Always, Kathani.” Her fingers laced through his as they moved through the crowd of grandparents, siblings, nieces, and nephews. "Always."