“You’re not having a boy. Boys are horrible,” Reese said, closing her eyes and smiling fondly at something only she could see.
“Boys aren’t horrible. But, I do feel fine,” Lennox said.
We all rolled our eyes. Lennox thought that everything was ‘fine.’
She loved being pregnant…most likely because her first pregnancy was a breeze, despite the complications from when she was hurt by a deranged woman.
She just had no clue how bad a pregnancy could be because she was always floating on cloud nine with the unicorns, her glowing skin, and ample energy.
She was still in the ‘I have a positive pregnancy test’ stage. The stage where she was floating on air, and loved to put on pregnancy clothes.
Clothes she didn’t need yet.
“Hey, what color are you doing?” The man between my legs asked.
“Purple and pink,” I said. “Alternating.”
He rolled his eyes.
Pietro was used to my quirks.
I’d been seeing him every two weeks for a year now.
He knew all about Michael. Knew all about my family. Knew about my love of color. My job. The new home Michael and I were building.
A home that should be done very, very soon, in fact.
“Why do you always get the muscled guy who has good hands?” Georgia asked, narrowing her eyes.
I shrugged. “I found him first.”
“Ladies, ladies. No need to fight over me. I’m just loyal to my girl here,” he teased.
“Nikki delivered his baby. That’s why he loves her so much,” Georgia informed the rest of the ladies.
I did. He was my second baby.
Him and his wife, Trudy, had been contemplating a home birth over a hospital birth for over six months before they’d finally decided to call my mentor, Annalise, in for an evaluation.
And three months later, I’d delivered my second child ever as a midwife with Pietro at my side.
Twenty minutes later, I was done and heading to get my hair and makeup done when I was called by our contractor.
“You’re officially done!” Alex crowed.
I screamed. “Yes!”
We weren’t sure if it’d be done in time, seeing as I’d been so nitpicky about everything.
I’d had to choose the tile, the paint, the stain for the wood floors in the kitchen, cabinets, counter tops.
I’d wanted to be a huge part of everything, and I was.
Which annoyed the hell out of Michael.
He was all for customization, but I didn’t think he knew what he was getting into when he offered me the huge book of paint chips.
But he knew now.
“That’s great!” I exclaimed. “What do you need from me?”
“Nothing. I just dropped it all off at your parent’s place. The keys are yours, my dear!” Alex informed me.
I smiled. “Wonderful. I’m so happy, thank you so much, Alex.”
After hanging up, I immediately called Michael.
“Guess what!” I said, bouncing up and down in excitement. “They finished!”
Michael’s smooth, deep voice sent shivers through me. “That’s good, baby. He said he’d do it.”
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the way it felt to listen to his voice.
The way joy spread through me. The way I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around him.
My fiancé and soon to be husband.
“You catching anything?” I asked after I composed myself.
“Sun. That’s about fucking it,” he growled. “But that’s the way of it, isn’t it?”
I agreed. I hated going fishing, just for the sheer fact that we never caught anything.
Or maybe we would had I any patience.
“Well, I just wanted to tell you that. Go back to catching your sun,” I said softly, as Pietro made his way into the room with his huge package of bobby pins, hair rollers, and other odds and ends to start fixing my hair.
“Okay, baby. Love you,” he murmured.
“Love you more.”
***
The moment I saw him as I walked down the aisle, a smile burst over my lips, and my hand came up to cover my mouth.
“Oh, my God,” I said, turning to Georgia with wide eyes.
Her eyes were filled with her own tears of laughter as she caught a look at my man as well.
“Jesus,” I said, shaking my head. “What the hell is wrong with that man?”
He wasn’t lying about catching sun.
He caught a whole lot of it.
Georgia snorted, and my father gave out a strangled laugh of his own.
“Let’s get you to him, honey. He’ll think you can’t handle him for better or for worse if you’re not careful.”
Georgia was the final one to leave, and I was left with my father.
“You look beautiful, baby,” he said softly.
I smiled at him, seeing the truth in his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I told him. “I’ll still see you every Sunday for lunch after mass.”
He smiled. “I know. You’re just my first little bird out of the nest,” he said, running his hand over my hair and smoothing back a stray curl that’d fallen from a pin.
“Nico was your first little bird,” I said laughingly.
He shrugged. “Nico can take care of himself. You’re my first girl. And you’ll no longer have my name. You’re the first bird I’m setting free.”
Hugging him tightly, I let him go and turned to face the now closed door.
“Alright, I’m ready,” I said with a nervous sigh.
“He’ll be good to you, baby. You’ve tamed the beast,” he said before the attendants opened the doors to the church.
I looked up at him, and I caught the first flash of a camera as it captured the moment forever in time.
“I know. But he tamed my beast, too. Let’s do this.”
With a smile, he offered me his arm, and I placed my hand delicately on his sleeve.
“I love you, papa,” I told him.
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Love you too, baby.”
I could already hear my mother crying, as well as my bridesmaids.
“Jesus,” my father said in despair. “It’s like an estrogen fest in here. It’s choking me.”
I brought my flowers up to cover my snorted cough at those words, and turned to face my future husband once again.
Man, these would be some horrible pictures.
But I’d cherish them for the rest of my life.
We finally made it to the end of the aisle, and my eyes connected with Michael’s.
I barely caught the words as the priest asked the words, “Who gives this woman to this man?”
My father’s deep voice said, “Her mother and I do,” and suddenly I was in Michael’s arms.
“Michael,” I said trying not to laugh. “Why wouldn’t you wear any sunscreen?”
He shrugged, grinning unrepentantly. “I was just worried about which fishing poles I was going to take. Not about anything like sunscreen.”
I raised a brow at him. “What exactly did you expect to happen?”
He shrugged and fell silent when the priest started to give us a blessing.
I looked shyly at the man I was seconds away from pledging my life to, and I knew this would forever be one of the best memories in the world.
“I love you, Michael,” I said soft enough so that only he could hear.
“I love you, too,” he replied back, uncaring that the pastor gave him a dirty look.
He didn’t have anyone to please except me, and the same went for me.
We no longer wanted to worry about anyone but ourselves and what it would mean to each of us.
And that’s the way we would do it from now on.
Nobody needed to know why Michael was tatted up head to toe.
Because we only lived by one motto now.
And that was to live and let live.
***
Five hours later
“Michael! I’m too big!” I yelled as Michael’s hands went around my waist as he opened my door. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
He ignored me, sweeping me up into his arms and walking steadily towards the house.
“You forgot to close the door to the truck,” I said lightly, wrapping my arms around his neck and leaning my head against his face.