by Piper Rayne
“You call that a kiss?” I question when he closes it.
“Oh, my little freak is back in full effect I see.” He grabs the back of my neck, tilting it to the side and slams his lips to mine, displaying how bad he wants me from the way our tongues fall in line, fighting for dominance.
When he pulls away, he reaches for my hand and starts to lead me inside.
“I can’t wait to see what pregnancy is going to do to your hormones,” he says.
Rather than smack him on the chest, I laugh because I can’t wait to see either.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“You’re actually supposed to be at table seven.”
Dean glances away from the kid’s table and over to the table full of Beckett and Skylar’s friends from skiing. People we’ve seen on commercials and who have impressive careers in the limelight.
“I’m surprised I get to sit with the cool kids.” He kisses my cheek. “Although I wish I was next to you.”
“Dean! Dean!” Molly runs over, grabbing onto his suit jacket sleeve.
“What’s up, Molly?” Dean asks, holding his hand up for a high five.
She goes to hit it and he moves it away. “I hope you can do better than that?” she asks.
“Whoa, did I just get dissed by a little kid?” he looks back at me baffled.
“I’m not little.” Molly puts on the attitude that matches her mother’s.
“Sorry, big kid.” Dean puts his hands up in front of him.
“Come on.” She pulls on his jacket.
“Where am I going?” he asks as he pretends to fight back.
“Your card says table nine,” Molly says.
Dean pretends to put an arm out to me as though he needs saving.
“What do I tell the cool kids?” I ask with a laugh.
“Tell them I found cooler kids to hang out with.” He winks. “Save me a dance.”
Then he turns around and goes with Molly, pulling out the chair for her and then takes the other. A minute later, I can see that Molly introducing him and he’s leaned over the table asking for high fives from all the kids.
“I’m still not sure, but I suppose he does seem different.” My mom comes to stand alongside me.
“Don’t be too apologetic there, Mother.”
An older image of myself stands beside me looking elegant and sophisticated. Everything she wants people to think she is. So worried about outside appearances rather than the inside. If our relationship had been different, I would’ve told her about what the doctor said after my first miscarriage. Maybe she would’ve done more research than I did at the time and we would’ve found out some people have successful pregnancies. Maybe she would’ve taught me what it was like to be a mother, rather than showing me the type of mother I don’t want to be.
“Well.” She straightens the shoulder of my dress. “It is nice to tell my friends my daughter’s boyfriend is a lawyer.”
“Even though she’s pregnant out of wedlock?”
Her face morphs into stone. “I assumed there’d be a wedding. I mean the two of you went off and got married in a rush when there was no baby. Surely my grandchild won’t be born with me not knowing which name to ask for at the hospital, his or her mother’s or father’s.”
“I don’t know, Mom, I like to keep you on your toes.” I pat her on the shoulder. “There’s no ring on this finger yet.” I hold up my left hand.
“Chelsea,” she warns.
My eyes go wide, stepping farther and farther away from her. She’ll never raise her voice.
“Have a great night, Mom.” I find my seat at the head table.
“I see I was right.” Mikey pretends to straighten his collar like he’s the shit.
“He’s here, yes.”
“All kissed and made up?”
I elbow him in the ribcage. “Yes.”
“Good to know.” His phone buzzes to life in his pocket.
“For heaven’s sake, Mikey, what the hell is going on? Who do you have to talk to so much?”
“What can I say, I’m popular.” He shrugs.
I roll my eyes. “Uh-huh.”
For the entire meal and through all the speeches, my eyes find Dean from across the room. We share a smile every time we catch one of us looking at the other. He’s the highlight of the evening at table nine based on the fact that the kids are all laughing hysterically and have the other tables giving them dirty looks.
“Seems like it’s not only you he can win over,” Mikey whispers, rising from his chair. “I’m going to the bar.”
“Wish I could join you.”
“See you in nine months.” He laughs stepping off the stage, disappearing to the bar that’s located outside the dining area.
Dean stands and places his napkin on his chair and nods for me to join him outside.
Since all my responsibilities as bridesmaid are over, I follow Mikey out the doors. More people funnel out toward the restroom or the bar, chatting with one another.
By the time I make it to where Dean should be, he’s talking with Mikey and some of his childhood buddies. The guys are all drinking hard alcohol and what I guess is a tonic water is in Dean’s hand.
“Trust me. The single life is not as great as they make it out to sound,” I hear Dean say before I poke my head in their little circle. “I was just telling them, they have no idea what they’re missing out on.” He snakes his arm around my back, pulling me to his side. “I guess you’re on my train for a while? Tonic?” he asks, holding his drink out to me.
“I think I’ll just have water.”
Dean waits for his turn at the bar to grab me a water. A second later I have a glass in my hand.
“Maybe I should put a lemon in it, so people don’t ask,” I whisper so only he can hear.
He sneaks his hand over the table and grabs a lemon, dropping it into my glass.
“What would I do without you?” I say, laying my head on his chest.
After last night I ache to have him hold me.
“Oh, you’re no princess. You’d save yourself before you’d ever need anyone.”
I kiss his strong jaw. “You know me so well.”
He smirks down at me, his lips pressing to my temple. “Excuse us boys, but I need to dance with my girlfriend.”
Mikey and his friends are already chatting about some bar they want to go to afterward and how there are no hot girls at the wedding.
“Or baby mama,” I say.
His free hand covers my stomach. “You’re no baby mama,” he murmurs. “I’ve yet to tell you how excited I am, but tonight I want it to be about us. Okay? Please know as scared as I am about being responsible for someone else’s life, I’m so happy I knocked you up.”
I push away from him, but he grips harder.
“I’m kidding.”
“Yeah, because a baby doesn’t mean you have me forever, mister.”
“Believe me, I know.” He chuckles.
We walk back into the dining room. “Sink In” by Amy Spark starts playing. Dean doesn’t skip a beat as he weaves us through the tables until our feet are on the makeshift wooden dance floor. He holds his hand out and when I accept, he pulls me into his chest.
Slowly our bodies sway, his strong hand on the small of my back making sure I’m as close as possible. My head falls to his shoulder, our joined hands tucked between our bodies.
The smell of his cologne brings me back to the few months I’ve gotten to know him again and a feeling of security envelops me. We get lost in each other as we move around the floor.
“I love you,” he whispers.
I tilt my head up, my lips landing on his neck. “I love you, too.”
When the song ends, all I want is to snatch Dean away from everyone else. I love my cousin, but I don’t want to do the bridal dance, or wait for the cake to be cut.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom are going to take the dance floor for their first dance,” the DJ announces and the dance floor clea
rs.
Beckett and Skylar step onto the floor and she spins into his arms. Dean comes up behind me, his arms around my middle, his hand running up and down my stomach. He’s always done that, but I wonder if it means something more now. Has he absorbed the fact that there really is a baby inside me? Have I?
“They make a good couple. He evens her out.”
I laugh, my head falling back against his shoulder. “Is that you saying she’s uptight?”
“You said it, not me.”
For the rest of the night, we dance and mingle. Molly and Caiden join us to become a foursome on the dance floor before I get tired and sit down, watching them instead.
Dean sneaks a look my way. “You okay?” he mouths, and I nod, certain that he’ll be just as great with our kids as he is with Molly and Caiden.
“So, it looks like it all worked out.” Skylar sits down next to me, a bottle of water in front of her.
“Looking that way.”
She stretches her arm out, her hand covering mine. “I’m glad. He’s a better man than he was before.”
“He is.”
“So maybe I’ll be coming to your wedding next?” She raises her eyebrows.
“Not for a while. I refuse to get married until after the baby is born just to piss my mom off.”
She giggles, sipping down her water. “If and when you need me, I’m there.”
“If I carry to term I’ll need you next April.”
She slides closer to me. “You will and if you don’t, I’ll be there, too. Think positive, okay? In our training, they teach us to envision the outcome we want. That’s what you need to do. I know you’ll worry so I won’t tell you not to but remember that it’s different this time. The doctors are aware of your condition and they’re going to watch you closely.”
I nod, stealing her water and taking a sip.
“Don’t contaminate my water!” she screeches.
“Oh, Beckett will have you knocked up in no time, I’m sure.”
She says nothing, and I wonder exactly how soon they plan on having a family.
“The timing has to be right.”
“I hear congratulations are in order?” Beckett comes to join us, bending down and kissing my cheek.
“Yes, they are. I was just telling Sky that she needs to hop on board the baby train.”
Beckett smiles down at his now wife and raises his eyebrows.
They’re having a conversation I’m no part of. I know with her schedule that she needs time to be pregnant, have the baby and get back into shape if she wants to compete at the next Winter Classics. Since they just finished, I’m wondering if this might be the time for them.
We talk about nothing in particular, my eyes veering to the dance floor every once in a while.
After the night draws to a close, Dean holds my hand and leads me out to the parking lot.
“I’d wanted to bring my motorcycle. It’s a great night for a ride.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“But even if I’m a great rider, I’m not risking my two most precious cargo. So, we’re going to cab it.”
He opens up a door to a cab waiting out front of the building and I slide in.
“Whose place are we going to?” My head falls to his shoulder.
“Just close your eyes and let me handle the details.”
I close my eyes and trust him to do exactly as he says.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Chelsea.” Dean’s soft voice stirs me awake.
I pick up my head, happy it wasn’t a dream—that he came to the wedding and that we’re all good again. Then I inspect our surroundings.
“I thought we were going home?”
“I love that word when you say it.” He opens up his door and holds his hand out for me.
I step out and he guides me to where I was hours earlier.
“I was just here a few hours ago. It’s so much more beautiful at night.”
The array of lights illuminating the water spouting out of the fountain with the dark sky and the skyline in the background is breath taking.
“You were?”
“Pictures.”
“Great location. Maybe we’ll have ours here, too.”
I roll my eyes. “I think we have a bigger obstacle first. Not to mention, I kind of liked Elvis in our pictures.”
He chuckles and at this late hour, there are only a few couples milling around the fountain as they head down to the lakefront.
“Why are we here?” I ask, unable to hold back a yawn.
“I wanted to come here because this is where I first felt like we had a future. It’s where you finally opened up to me about your life and let me in.”
“That’s so funny. I was thinking the same thing when I was here earlier.”
“You were?” His face lights up with a smile, his dark eyes twinkling in the night like one of the stars above us.
“Yeah, it all kind of shifted for me that night.”
He sits me on a park bench, but instead of joining me, he falls to his knee in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice laced with panic. “You don’t have to marry me. I’m perfectly okay with having a child out of wedlock. I don’t need a full-on commitment.”
“Will you please be quiet,” he says, pulling a ring out of his jacket pocket.
My ring. The first one he proposed to me with. His great-grandmother’s ring.
“I refuse to let you feel obligated.” I shake my head.
He rolls his eyes. “You’re ruining the mood.”
“Wait.” I hold my hand up. “Before you continue, tell me if you wanted to do this before you found out about the baby?”
He blows out a big breath and runs a hand through his hair.
“Chelsea, I’ve wanted this ring back on your finger from the moment you took it off. I got clean for myself, but also to be a better man for you. I sought you out and agreed to work for free for the foundation you work for just to be close to you.” He tilts his head. “And to make sure you couldn’t get rid of me. I’ve spent the last few months pushing my way back into your life and you think that I feel obligated to marry you?”
My cheeks heat. “Well, when you put it that way...”
“Now, are you going to let me continue?”
“Yes.” I smile and straighten my back, almost too antsy to sit still.
“I’ve loved you from the first time I saw you. It’s like my heart knew something my mind wasn’t ready for. I would’ve eaten a dozen of those wings for a date with you that night. If you had said no, I would’ve tracked you down anyway. I was stupid and young and a complete moron for letting you slip out of my grasp once. But I learn my lessons because you’ll never slip away again. I promise to love you more every day, although I can’t even fathom it’s possible to love you any deeper than I do now. I promise to take care of you no matter how stubborn you get. Most of all I promise that we do this together. One day at a time for the rest of our lives. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. No matter what happens.” He glances to my stomach and with a hopeful smile, he holds the ring out to me again. “Will you please be Mrs. Bennett for the second and final time?”
I hold out my left hand. “I’d love nothing more than to be your wife again.”
He slips the ring on my finger and I stand up and wrap my arms around his neck. He squeezes me and swings me around the gravel area and as if on cue the center stream of the fountain bursts out of the top. The fountain dwindles down for the night and the other spectators continue on their way.
Dean sets me on my feet and then falls down to his knees once more, his hands molding to my hips.
“I wanted to make sure we were good. Now I want to take in the fact that I’m going to be a father.” He runs his hand along my stomach. “A part of us is in there?”
I nod.
He presses his lips to my belly. “I have a promise to you too, little Bennett. I promise to keep your mom in line.”
I lightly smack the back of his head.
He chuckles.
“I promise that I’ll love you so fierce you’ll be begging to escape me by the time you’re eighteen. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure your wings are ready for you to soar. Just keep growing, because I think I can speak for your mom and I both. You’re already so loved.”
He stands to his feet, his hand never leaving my stomach. “Thank you for that, too.”
“Dean, what if—”
He shakes his head, sealing my words with a kiss. “Shh… Enjoy the beginning of our happily ever after, Chelsea.”
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
“So, let me get this right, the woman just called you out of the blue. Said she heard about your foundation and she wants to make a sizable donation?” I lean back in my chair, no longer into the pastrami sandwich I thought I was dying for when we walked in.
Hannah forks her salad and shrugs. “I can’t very well advertise her company. She has a sex toy company.”
Victoria glances around to make sure there are no small kids around since Hannah obviously hadn’t thought about that as she lays it all out in the small restaurant with the lunchtime crowd.
“She does? What’s the company name?” I ask.
“Hart something. She did the Unicorn Cock thing.”
My eyes light up and even Victoria seems more intrigued. “She did? And she knows about RISE?”
“You act like she’s your heartthrob and you’re thirteen.” Hannah slides the lettuce off the fork.
“Tell me you have a vibrator?” I ask, having the courtesy of leaning forward and lowering my voice.
“I tried one once and eh,” she shrugs.
“Eh?” Victoria asks, her mouth agape like she can’t believe it.
“Sue me if I’m an old school masturbator.”
“You’re missing out, Han.” I lean back. “And the Unicorn Cock one. Holy shit. Dean used it…”
Victoria’s eyes look over my shoulder and she shakes her head. I glance to see a kid with his mom waiting for their sandwiches in line.