_OceanofPDF

The anniversary party wasn’t a tenth the size of the housewarming
where Ella and I had announced our marriage. No paparazzi. No faces I
knew but didn’t quite know.
“Darling!” Bianca cried when she saw us. “It’s magnificent!”
She was talking about Ella’s dress.
“So is the woman wearing it,” I said after greeting my mother-in-law
with a kiss.
Ella nudged me in modesty, and I kissed her humility away.
All the Crowne sibs were there, except Dante, who was known to go off
the grid every once in a while. Colton wore one of his better suits and a
backward cap. Liam’s son, Matt, was old enough to run around with second
cousins and leave his dad to mingle. Lyric was in a corner with her friends,
faces lit by their phones. Byron had Garrett on his shoulders, looking over
the patio at the sunset, naming all the colors.
We went to the bar as the band played gentle versions of songs popular
the year my parents were married.
“Mr. and Mrs. Crowne,” the bartender said, placing square napkins with
the number thirty-six printed in gold foil in front of us.
I left it up to Ella to decide whether or not to correct her name, but she
didn’t.
“I don’t know.” She scanned the bottles lined up behind the server.
“Gin?” I asked her. “Or a Shirley Temple, for old time’s sake?”
“How about…” She bit her lip, clearly thinking. I admired how—down
to the smallest things—she didn’t get caught in a rut. “Something old
school.”
“How about a gin rickey?” the bartender suggested.
“Great! I’m in.”
“Sounds fun,” I said. “I’ll have one too.”
“Who are you?” Ella said when the bartender turned away. “And what
have you done with my husband?”
“Keeping you on your toes.”
“I’m not sure I like it. There’s something nice about a man who knows
what he likes.”
“I can also be a man who finds new things to like.”
“True.” She put her back to the bar. “Look at them. They’re so perfect.”