Chapter 27
Rory
Adalynn’s wedding was in a couple of days and I was so excited I could barely stand it. I hadn’t been feeling well lately and I tried to hide it as much as I could from Ian because he worried so much about me, especially since Stephen’s death. I hadn’t been running the past few days because I’d been so tired. With everything that had happened over the past couple of months, I thought exhaustion was finally starting to settle in. Not to mention the fact that Ian and I made love about three times a day. That man was enough to wear anyone out. And he accused me of trying to kill him.
“Are you running with me today?” he asked.
“Yes, babe, I am. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
I felt sick again like I did every morning and I went into the bathroom and threw up. I thought the excitement of Adalynn and Daniel’s wedding might have caused some of the queasiness I was feeling lately. I had to go for one last fitting on my dress. After my run, I was meeting Adalynn at the bridal shop and then we were going to lunch. I put on my running clothes and headed downstairs. Ian was down at the beach, waiting for me.
“It’s about time,” he said.
“Sorry, I couldn’t find my shoes,” I lied.
We ran and talked about the wedding. “Wait until you see how beautiful Adalynn looks in her wedding dress.”
“I can hardly wait,” Ian replied sarcastically.
I bumped his shoulder and he almost fell over. “Oops, sorry!” I laughed.
“Now you’re in trouble,” he said as he tried to grab me, but I ran way ahead of him. He was faster than I was and he caught up to me in no time. He grabbed me, picked me up, and swung me around before we went down on the sand. He hovered over me as he tried to catch his breath.
“See what happens when you push me?” He smiled.
“I like what happens when I push you. I think I might do it more often.” I smiled back.
He stared into my eyes as he pushed some stray hairs out of my face. “I love you, Rory Sinclair.”
“I love you more, Ian Braxton.”
“Not possible.” He smiled as he lowered his lips onto mine.
“We need to head back. I have to shower and meet Adalynn.”
“Ah, that’s right. You’re going to pick your dress up today.”
He got off of me and held out his hand to help me up. Instead of running back to the house, he put his arm around me and we walked back.
“I love spending my mornings like this. Just me and you, the beach, our runs. It’s perfect, Rory, and I don’t want it any other way.”
His words made me melt, but then again scared me. What did he mean by he “didn’t want it any other way”? I laid my head on his shoulder until we got back to the house. We showered together and then he left for the office. As soon as I was finished getting dressed, I drove to the bridal shop to meet Adalynn.
“Hello, darling,” she said as she gave me a hug and kiss.
“Hi.” I smiled.
The sales lady had my dress hanging in the fitting room. I stepped inside, put on the dress, and tried to zip it.
“Adalynn, can you help me?” I yelled from the dressing room.
“Sure, sweetie. What’s wrong?”
“I can’t seem to zip this up all the way,” I said in a panic.
“Hold on, let me do it. These zippers are tricky. Rory, you’re going to have to suck it in. Have you put on some weight?”
“NO!” I said. “They sewed it wrong.”
Adalynn called in the sales lady and told her that the dress was too tight. She looked at the slip that was stapled to the garment bag and then measured me.
“It looks like you put on a few pounds,” she said.
I was horrified that she said that. “I most certainly did not and with all the vomiting I’ve been doing, I’ve barely been eating.”
“Wait, hold up, Rory. What do you mean with ‘all the vomiting’?”
“I think I’m really nervous about the wedding because I’ve been throwing up every morning.”
Adalynn and the sales lady looked at each other. “Is there a way to get this fixed before my wedding? I’ll pay triple to have someone work on it all night.”
“I can do it. Don’t worry. It will be done before your wedding.”
The sales lady left and I stood there speechless. “Rory, when was your last period?” Adalynn asked.
“Oh God, I don’t know. With everything going on the past couple of months, I haven’t been keeping track. Why?”
“Are you pregnant?”
“WHAT?!” I exclaimed. “No, I’m not pregnant.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I take my pill every day.”
“Were there times when you didn’t take your pill because you forgot with everything going on?”
“Well, yes. But I just doubled up the next morning or two,” I said as I bit down on my bottom lip. “OH MY GOD, Adalynn. Do you think I could be pregnant?” I started to cry.
“Don’t cry, please. Change out of your dress and we’ll talk about it over lunch.”
Adalynn left the room and, after I finished getting dressed, I stepped out of the dressing room and handed her my dress with tears in my eyes.
“Aw, darling. Don’t cry. You don’t even know for sure if you’re pregnant.”
She handed the dress to the sales lady, who promised to have it finished by tomorrow afternoon. As we walked down the street to the café for lunch, we passed a drug store.
“Let’s go in here and get you a pregnancy test,” Adalynn said as she led me inside.
“I don’t want to know.” I started to cry.
“Rory, you have to know. If you are, then you have to get to a doctor.”
I started bawling in the middle of the store. “What if I am? It’s going to destroy mine and Ian’s relationship.”
“Aw, sweetie, no, it won’t. Ian loves you. If anything, it will bring you closer.”
I shook my head. “No, no, you don’t understand. Ian doesn’t want children. He point blank told me that he wants nothing to do with them. He won’t even hold Connor and Ellery’s daughter, Julia, when we see her. This will destroy us.”
“Stop. Let’s not get worked up until we find out for sure. Come on; let’s pay for this and we’ll grab some carry out and take it back to my house.”
As we were at the register, paying for the pregnancy test, my phone rang. It was Ian.