“Glad you approve.” He grins his sexy grin as I look back up at him. His hair is pulled back in one of his messy buns, which makes his beard look longer, and my knees weak. “I’m trying not to look at you, darlin’, but from what I can see, you’re taking my breath away.” I smile at his ability to always say the right thing. We both know I’m a hot mess right now. I mean, he just pulled me up from the floor of my old room in the clubhouse.
“Seriously, did I just ruin our wedding?” I dab under my eyes with the pad of my finger.
“I don’t know why you would say that? I think it’s normal for the groom to come back and talk the bride down from having a panic attack.”
“Don’t joke right now.” I shift a little in his lap, my dress less restricting now I’m not in the middle of a full-blown freak out.
“What happened?” His voice lowers with his question and I know we’re being serious now.
“I just panicked. I don’t know.” He rests his forehead to mine and lets me try to gather my thoughts.
“You wanna get out of here?”
“What? No!” I pull back, almost shocked he even suggested leaving. Not only do we have forty people waiting outside for us to be married, I want this.
“Then talk to me. What’s happening?”
“I’m pregnant.” I blurt the news out without even thinking about the consequences. His body tenses underneath mine while he processes my words.
“Darlin’.” His hands come up and cup my face. “Are you fucking with me?” I shake my head. “You have my baby inside of you?”
I nod.
“I just found out. Like ten minutes ago. I took a test.”
“This why you panicked?”
I nod again.
“This is what you want, right? Why you stopped taking the pill?”
“It is, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon.” I only stopped taking the pill last month, thinking we would have some time to enjoy married life before I would be peeing on sticks.
“You having second thoughts?” His brows dip low as he tries to figure me out. It’s not like we haven’t discussed it. As soon as he put his ring on my finger, he’s talked about starting a family. I just wasn’t expecting to find out right here, on my wedding day.
“No. Never. I want this so much. I just think with everything happening I’m a little overwhelmed. You know?”
“I know, darlin’. Things have been hectic, but that’s all gonna change. Life is settling down now. Missy’s place has found its pace, and you have my baby inside of you.” He pulls me tighter against his chest, and wraps his arms around me in a tight embrace. “I’ve got ya, darlin’, whenever you need me. Even minutes before you’re meant to be marrying me.” He chuckles when I groan. I’m never going to live this down. I just know it.
“I love you, Beau.”
“And I love you, darlin’.” He holds me for a little while before pulling back, “So, you still wanna marry me?” The corner of his mouth rises, waiting for my reply, and I smile back at his playfulness.
“Yeah.” I nod, letting him kiss me briefly.
“Come on. I’ll walk you down the aisle.” He stands, taking me with him.
“You can’t do that.” I wasn’t planning on having anyone walk me down, but now he’s offered, the thought actually sounds appealing.
“I can do what I want. My wedding.” He moves to the door, opens it, and almost has to catch Holly and Kadence as they fall forward.
“Sorry.” They fight to hold their laughter in as they look from me to Beau. Bell hangs back, holding her own laugher.
“We’re ready. We’re walking down together, so go take a seat,” Beau tells them, unimpressed they were eavesdropping, but he doesn’t call them out.
“Does she need to be fixed up?” Holly peaks past Beau for a better look. “Yeah, she needs me.” She pushes past him and comes to me.
“Rule one, no crying before the ceremony.” She shakes her head and sets about making me pretty again. It only takes a few minutes, before I’m back to being presentable. Holly and Kadence leave, but not before Beau warns them to keep their mouths shut about anything they heard. They both act like they have no clue what he’s talking about. That is until they both give up their act and embrace us with congratulations and hugs.
Something tells me our news will be public before the night ends.
“You ready?” Beau asks when we’re left alone.
“Never been more ready.” I take his hand, letting him guide me out of the room, down the hall, and through the empty clubhouse. The soft hum of Hunter’s guitar grows louder as we exit the clubhouse and walk toward one of the large marquees Beau rented. It’s just gone dusk, and the fairy lights hanging from the marquee glow against the warm sky, setting the mood,
Everyone comes to a stand as we walk hand in hand down a small aisle covered in white rose petals.
I know it’s not traditional with Beau walking me down the aisle and with no bridesmaids, but it couldn’t be more perfect. Just the two of us, doing this together.
We come to a stop and face each other in front of Brie, our social worker and friend who works with us at Missy’s, who also happens to be qualified to officiate weddings. Our wedding.
Over the last four months, Brie and I have grown close. When she found out I was looking for someone to marry us, she offered herself.