Sachi had refused to reveal what she planned to say or do for the handfasting.
Mandaline felt equal parts love and terror over that.
“Well, we’re gathered here tonight because the Universe finally forced Mandaline to quit running from love,” Sachi said.
The onlookers softly tittered.
Here we go. Mandaline suspected Sachi would be her playful, snarky self.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Ellis and Brad,” Sachi continued, “I think you all will agree with me, have more than proven themselves worthy of our mighty leader. I for one am happy to have them around.” She touched her right shoulder, which while mostly healed, was still tender and sore.
More laughter and nodding heads.
“No, their relationship isn’t conventional, it isn’t normal, but it’s perfect for them. So screw anyone who thinks otherwise, because it’s not anyone else’s business.
“Join your right hands,” she told them. “Lady’s hand sandwiched in the middle.”
More giggles from the group as the three of them shuffled around, the men standing shoulder to shoulder and facing Mandaline, Brad to her left and Ellis to her right.
“You three have rings, I take it?” Sachi asked.
“Yes,” Ellis said. He pulled the small velvet box from his pocket with his left hand and handed it to Sachi.
She opened the box for him. “Ooh, nice.”
Mandaline giggled with the audience.
Sachi held the box for Mandaline. “Ready to bell these bulls, girlfriend?”
Mandaline snorted. “Yeesss.” Fortunately, the men wore the same ring size, so it didn’t matter who got which. Brad had privately told her that morning he wanted her to put Ellis’ ring on him first, which she did, then his.
“Boys?” Sachi asked, holding the box up. “Who gets the honor?”
With his left hand, Brad held up Mandaline’s left hand. Ellis plucked the ring from the box and stared into Mandaline’s eyes as he slipped it on her fingers.
This would never get old, the thrill her heart felt when she looked into his blue gaze.
“Mandaline,” Sachi said. “You have vows you wanted to say?”
She nodded and took a deep breath. She glanced out at her friends and soon-to-be family before looking back at her men. “I’d honestly written off a relationship when I met you two. You came into my life at a time when I had no idea how badly I needed both of you. I know there will be some challenges ahead from people who won’t want to accept what we have, but I know I can face that and more with you both by my side.
“You’ve helped me heal my heart, helped me learn to live again, helped me want to live again…” She choked up and had to clear her throat before continuing. “I know that I am a complete person without you, but my life and heart are whole again with both of you. I love you both and pledge to walk beside you both, regardless of how difficult the path, for the rest of our days.”
Both men wore identical smiles.
Sachi might have wiped a tear away, but Mandaline wasn’t sure because she did it so quickly. “Okay, which one of you is next?” she asked.
Brad pointed at Ellis, who shifted feet and cleared his throat. “I’ve had to accept a lot of changes in my life,” he started, “in a very short time. Rearrange my thinking. Open my heart. I wouldn’t have it any other way, because you are the most beautiful person in the world, and I don’t just mean your body. You have a beautiful soul and a beautiful heart and I think if I tried to love you any harder than I already do, that my heart might explode because it’s so full. I promise to spend the rest of our lives together loving you and walking beside you, because I’ve seen how empty my life was before you came into it. I don’t ever want to feel that lonely again.”
She sniffled back tears as he leaned in and kissed her.
“Brad?” Sachi asked.
He gave her his panty-dampening smile. “I’m not scared of Hell, because I’ve already been there and back a couple of times in my life so far. The only thing that scares me now is the thought of ever losing you, of losing the beauty and love you’ve brought into my life. The happiness. The joy. That scares me. The difference between before you came into my life and after is like black and white versus the richest color palette you can imagine. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to bring you the kind of joy that you bring me.” He leaned in and kissed her.
Mandaline hoped she could get the coven over with as early as possible to get alone time with her guys.
“Beautiful,” Sachi said, without a hint of snark. “These three,” she continued, “stand before you, their family and friends, to proclaim their love and devotion for each other. They don’t need a piece of paper to do that, they don’t need permission from any authority other than their own hearts. But they wanted all of you to witness their commitment to each other in this handfasting.”
From a colorful hobo bag slung across her shoulders, Sachi pulled out three ribbons, one green, one red, and one blue.
She looped the green one around their hands first. “I call upon Father God and Mother Goddess to bring these three prosperity, health, fertility, and happiness. So mote it be.” Sachi waved her hand at the audience, indicating for them to repeat the last part.
“So mote it be,” chanted the audience.
She looped the blue one around their hands. “I call upon the Universe to bring them protection, loyalty, wisdom, peace, and harmony. So mote it be.”
“So mote it be,” the audience repeated.
Mandaline looked up at Brad, who smiled down at her. When she looked at Ellis, she thought his blue eyes looked a little too bright, like maybe he was close to tears. The smile on his face, however, warmed her heart.
Sachi looped the red ribbon around their hands. “I call upon Astarte and Freyja to bring them love and passion. So mote it be.”
“So mote it be,” the audience repeated.
She loosely knotted all the ends together, securely enough they wouldn’t come untied, but with enough slack they could pull their hands free without untying the ribbons. Then she pulled a small, glass jewelry box from the bag. Etched on the flat, hinged lid was a triple Goddess symbol. She carefully removed the ribbons from their hands and tucked them into the box before handing it to Mandaline. “Three as one,” she continued. “May you have a life together full of joy, peace, happiness, and love. Namaste. Aho.”
“Aho,” the group repeated before breaking into applause. Everyone came up to give them hugs and congratulations before breaking up to head back to the shop.
A little after eleven, Sachi started giving people hints it was time to leave the lovebirds alone. Both sets of parents were staying at a hotel by the Interstate, and they’d all have breakfast together in the morning. Mandaline had decided she didn’t want a vacation right now. Once they had the house finished, she promised Sachi and the men that she’d take two weeks off for vacation.
By midnight, the guests had cleared out and Sachi and the crew finished cleaning up. Sachi, of course, was the last one out the door after a final walk-through and giving the three of them hugs. “Remember, tomorrow’s Sunday. You can run around nekkid all day if you want and no one will bother you,” she teased before leaving.
Ellis laughed. “We really do need to find her a guy.”
“So mote it be,” Mandaline and Brad automatically chanted together before breaking into laughter.
They ushered her upstairs to their bedroom. With Ellis in front of her, and Brad behind, and both men sporting hard bulges in their slacks, she knew it wouldn’t take them long to get her naked.