by Cee, DW
Chapter 3 - Noah
I’m Moving On ~Rascal Flatts
“Isn’t the south of France gorgeous, Noah?”
“It sure is. I feel guilty indulging on a yacht.”
“It’s our honeymoon, Baby. You know how much Daddy loves to spoil me. I asked for this yacht as a wedding present. You don’t need to worry about getting a large bill when this is all over.”
“Siena, you do know we’ll be hit with a large wedding bill when we get home?”
“Our parents paid for most of it and what’s left, we’ll pay off little by little. It’s not like we have rent to pay since we’re living in my parents’ apartment. We’ll be fine splurging on this honeymoon, Noah. Don’t worry so much.”
“Just don’t get it in your head that we can live like this all the time. I’m only a low-ranking officer. Even at our fathers’ rank, it’s not enough money to indulge all the time.”
“You worry too much, Noah. We’ll be fine. If we don’t have money, we’ll tag-along with my parents who travel all over the world. We can also mooch off your father, mother, and Carson. You’re an only child and I’m almost an only child. Our parents will love having us around.”
“I’m not sure I agree with what you’re saying, but we’ll discuss that another day. For now, let’s enjoy this incredible luxury.”
“Yes, let’s!”
“What has you so deep in thought, Noah?”
“Sorry, Jackie. I was thinking about honeymoons. Where should Marni and I go?”
“How about back to Italy, where you first fell in love?”
“I thought about that but didn’t want to approach Marni with the idea since Siena and I got married there. I don’t want her to think our wedding is in any way a repeat of my first marriage.”
“What the hell possessed you to let my girl go in the first place? You were so in love with my daughter back in college.”
“The only answer I can give you is that I needed to grow up. Obviously, I wasn’t mature enough for Marni at age twenty-two. I know now I will never hurt Marni again.”
“As long as you love my daughter and treat her well, there’s not much else I can ask for in a son-in-law.”
“No doubt, I will love your daughter!”
Jackie and I were headed to LA so we could finalize wedding details. In retrospect, we probably should have pushed back the wedding even a month or two since there was so much to do. Back in New York, I didn’t realize all the decisions that needed to be made for two people to get married and merge homes.
“You’ll take Marni out today and I’ll go out with her tomorrow?”
“That’s the plan, unless you want to join us today, Jackie.”
Jackie shook her head. “Nope. I’m going to spend the rest of today with that little girl who’s stolen my heart. I haven’t seen her in weeks. I miss her.”
“What will you do when Marni and I move up here?”
“I thought about selling my house and moving up here, too. I want to be near my grandchildren. You will have kids right away?” That was more a demand than a question.
“Uh…I think you should ask your daughter. I’ve no idea what her timetable is for kids. I’d be happy to procreate at any point in this relationship.” Jackie and I laughed. “How about if Marni and I look for a home with a guesthouse and you can live there? Then we’d have a built-in babysitter.”
“I love that idea! Then I can be near all my grandchildren.”
With an enjoyable ride up to LA, it was time to face the music with the man I did not like. Jackie sensed my mood immediately. “Play nice, Noah. You got the girl. She’ll be yours forever in less than two weeks.”
I chuckled. “If it wasn’t for that cute little girl in his arms, I’d cut him out of the family.”
Jackie held back her laughter and jumped out of the car even before it stopped completely.
“Ali!” With her arms splayed, she practically flew to a very happy baby. Ali was jumping and screaming herself. “I’ve missed you!” Jackie pulled her from Ben’s arms and spun her around. No sooner had the two greeted each other, than the two went inside to get reacquainted.
I supposed it was time to “play nice” as Jackie suggested. “Hi Ben.”
“Uh, hey.” The asshole turned away before he even finished shaking my hand. “I’ll see you later,” he spoke to Marni and patted her shoulder before walking into the house.
Marni understood my annoyance. “Think nothing of it, Noah. That’s just the way Ben can be at times. It’s the artist in him that makes him moody.”
“How’d you date someone so mercurial? You’re as even-keeled as they come.”
“Opposites attract, or so they say,” Marni leaned over and kissed me. “Where shall we go first?”
“I have just the place.”
Off we went to plan our life together. It was already midday and there was a hell of a lot to do.
“Should we eat, first? You and Mom didn’t stop for lunch, did you?”
“No, we didn’t. Lunch can come after this first appointment.”
After much research, I found a store that carried exactly what I was looking for.
“A jewelry store?” Marni asked, surprised, when we arrived. “But I have a ring.” She showed me the sparkler on her finger.
“Don’t you think I need a ring so I can let all the women know I’m taken?”
She laughed. “I don’t think anyone else is interested.”
I pretended to sound offended. “I’ll have you know, women make passes at me all the time! You are one lucky woman, Marni Montgomery.”
“Don’t I know it!” she agreed with me.
We picked out wedding bands, had lunch, and highlighted a few apartments to see before the sun went down. According to my fiancée, we couldn’t buy furniture, kitchen and bathroom items, and general house supplies until we found a home. How would we know how big the bed should be until we know how big the bedroom will be? Stupid me, I just thought I could bring our old hodge-podge furniture up from San Diego.
“Are you sure you’re all right with Mom planning our wedding?” I wanted to make sure my bride got everything she wanted. “Although at this point, I don’t know if you can wrestle the wedding away from her. She’s having a ball, according to Carson.”
Marni smiled sweetly. “I honestly don’t care about any of the planning. I just want to get married to you.”
“That was the perfect answer, Marni soon-to-be-Bergstrom. Just for that, I’ll not have an opinion on our future home.”
“Yeah?” she was right to be skeptical.
An hour later, I had nixed all four apartments we toured. Each one had an issue—or at least that’s what I believed.
“Let’s look at this house I found.” I showed her my phone. “It’s great for the family we will eventually have, and it has a guest house for your mom. She can come live with us full time or even part of the time.”
“It’s only for sale, Noah. If I choose to stop working once we have a baby, it’ll be too big of a burden on you. There’s no need to buy something that big and nice. I’m perfectly content in a one-bedroom apartment until we have enough money saved for a small home when the baby comes.”
I loved this woman. It was always about placing my needs above her own. I should have married her ten years ago.
“Have I never shown you my bank account?” Marni stayed quiet. “I believe I told you I had close to a decade of living on the ship or in places provided by the government? I have lots of money saved since I had no life after the divorce.”
“I didn’t know. I mean, we never discussed it, I guess. You don’t have to use your savings for a house just yet. Put that away for a rainy day. We’ll save up more money in the next few years and buy a house together.”
Even when we lived together in San Diego, Marni had always insisted on paying her share of the bills. She never allowed me to take care of her. I was stupid enough to treat her no differently than a roommate. Those days were done.
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“Let’s go check out this house and if we both like it, we’ll consider buying it. If we don’t, we’ll keep looking.”
I caught a brief glimpse of opposition that faded away as quickly as it showed. “All right. If we can’t find anything by the end of this weekend, then what? We can’t exactly live in Ben’s house until we find a place.”
“Shit. Not that!” I muttered. “I hate to tell you this, but my work won’t be done in San Diego until the end of the month. As much as I don’t like this, we’ll be separated for a couple of weeks unless you want to come down to San Diego after we’re married?”
Once again, that hesitation returned. “How about if we stay the way we are—separated during the weekdays, together on weekends—until work is done. In the meanwhile, I’ll have Mom and Ben’s parents cover me so we can go on a honeymoon. Would that work?”
My Marni—the diplomat, the problem solver. “That works, Fiancée. Let’s go see our future home.”
I took my skeptical bride to the house of her dreams. Even before we laid eyes on the home, I knew she’d love it. It was your typical Southern California all-American home with a picket fence in the front yard, and a beach in the back yard. The house was small, the price exorbitant, and a guest house spacious enough for our future babysitter. I couldn’t have built a more perfect home for us
“Oh my gosh, Noah,” she whispered with each room. “Where did you, how did you, I can’t believe you found this house.”
“I thought you might like it.”
“But how can we afford this? The price is crazy inflated.”
“Welcome to real estate in Southern California.”
“Can we do this?” She sounded hopeful and doubtful.
“I think it’s within our realm. The best part is the guest house. When your mom visits, we’ll have someone to watch the baby.”
Marni smiled. “I think she’ll love it.”
“Shall we place an offer and see if this house will be ours?”
“Let’s do the math first.” Always the cautious one, Marni took one more look at all that the house had to offer before we headed out for our next errand.
This setting-up house business was more fun than expected.
Chapter 3 - Marni
I’m Moving On ~Rascal Flatts
“Marni!”
“Noah…”
“Hi! How have you been? What are you doing in New York?”
“I live and work here.”
“So do I. Where do you live and work?”
“I work at a PR firm a few blocks from here, and I don’t live far from work.”
“You look wonderful, Marni. Have you been well? How’s your mother?”
“Thank you. Mom and I are well. How are your parents and Carson?”
“Status quo. Eli and Carson are still madly in love with Cece and Cecily.”
“Your mom is a lucky woman. It was nice seeing you again, Noah. Please give my regards to your family.”
“Wait! Are you…can you…can we sit and have a cup of coffee? I know I don’t deserve anything from you with the way we parted, but I’d like a chance to explain…to redeem myself…please?”
“No thank you, Noah. Let’s leave the past where it’s been. No need to dredge up those days.”
“Please! Marni. Give me ten minutes? I’ve thought about you a lot the past few years. I wanted to contact you but didn’t think I had the right. Will you let me apologize at least? I was a complete asshole to you at the very end.”
“Apology accepted, Noah. That was back in college. I’d like to think I’ve grown up since those days. I’m all right. There’s no need to feel guilty at this point.”
“Marni. Please. How many times does a man have to beg for a chance to say he’s sorry? I know! We’ll go get gelato instead of coffee. There’s a great place not far from here. I’ve thought of you often when I passed by that shop.”
“No!”
“Marni…did I screw up that badly where you can’t stand to be with me for more than a few minutes on a sidewalk? If what I’m sensing is anger and not apathy, maybe there’s hope for me. Give me one more opportunity to talk to you.”
“When you told me, ‘Everything just happened’ you explained plenty, Noah. Good-bye.”
“I’m not giving up, Marni. Now that I found you and now that I know you’re still hurt from my stupidity, I’m going to keep bothering you until you let me explain.”
“Have a nice life, Noah Bergstrom.”
“Oh I plan to…with you…AGAIN!”
“Whatever. Good-bye.”
“So, now that we’ve decided to put an offer on the house, does that mean we can go shopping for a gigantic bed?” My future husband was really getting into our home making.
“You really want to go shopping for furniture? Maybe we should do an accounting of what we can salvage from the apartment first. Then, we can decide what needs purchasing.”
“You’re too practical for your own good. I think we can buy a new bed.”
Noah made me laugh. “All right. Let’s go check out the beds.”
After purchasing the biggest bed on this side of the Pacific Ocean, my fiancé produced a satisfied smile.
“Was it necessary to buy something that cost a month’s salary?”
“It was, Marni Bergstrom. I love that name on you. It fits perfectly!”
“Where are you staying tonight? I assume you’re here until tomorrow night?”
“Actually, I’m only here until after dinner.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m technically on call this weekend. I traded with a buddy of mine but only until midnight. He couldn’t cover beyond that time.”
“Tell me what you’re planning to do about your career, Noah.” This weighed heavy on me. I didn’t want to be responsible for holding him back. Noah Bergstrom had the brains and savvy to climb up the Navy ladder. I wanted the best for him.
“Dad is helping me figure out some options. It’s a little up in the air but I have faith that a good solution will come about with the Admiral’s aid.”
“I hate making you sacrifice for me. You’ve worked so hard to get this far.”
“Worry not, Fiancée.” Noah kissed my nose. “There are Navy desk jobs. It’s just a matter of finding the few around here that pay well enough to keep you in style.”
“Maybe I can have Mom move up here until you can find a job you love. I don’t want you to take any job just because you need to live in LA. I’ll ask Mom to swap with me if you’d be willing to come to LA every weekend. Mom can help with Ali on the weekdays and I’ll see her on the weekends. She can come hang out with us so Ben can have a social life.”
“Thank you, but no. Your mind will be here with that little redhead. I’d rather we be in LA, regardless of my like or dislike for my new job. We won’t be Ali’s caretakers the rest of her life, right? In a few years, we can move if I find something better?”
It made me sad to think of leaving Ali. I didn’t know if I could. It would be a forced adjustment once I married and had kids with Noah. I supposed I needed to change my way of thinking. “Yeah, we can figure it out once Ali is settled,” I answered. “Thank you, Noah.”
He laughed at me as he said, “For what?”
“For being patient with me, for accepting Ali, and for making nice with Ben. Everything you’ve done was a complete concession on your part. In my head, I keep wondering what it is that I can do for you.”
“Marni,” his voice was a sweet caress. “This is not tit for tat. I feel like the luckiest man in the world right now and I do what I do because I love you. This is our life we’re planning. What makes you happy makes me happy and I know it’s the same for you. If I were in your shoes, you’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would!” I didn’t hesitate letting him know how important he was to me. “I’m glad you kept bothering me until I gave in, so many years ago in New York.”
Noah laughed loudl
y. “You put me through the ringer those few months. The many times I wanted to give up, my mother boldly pushed me forward. Thank her for this wedding. She was the ultimate puppet master.”
“Speaking of your mother, we need to call her and let her know of our progress. She’s texted several times asking for an update.”
“Why don’t I drive us to dinner and you can tell her everything we’ve accomplished.”
“Sounds good.”
In a little over a week, I’d become Marni Bergstrom!
Chapter 4 - Ben
Lessons Learned ~Carrie Underwood
“What’s wrong, Ben? Why do you look like that?”
“I was just thinking about your sister.”
“What? Why would you think about a person who broke up with you? She obviously didn’t want to be with you anymore. How did she break up, anyhow? Did you go see her?”
“No. She broke up with me over the phone.”
“That’s just cruel to do this via telephone. Did she give a reason why?”
“She said the distance wasn’t working out. She thought we would be better off apart. It was as if she was giving me permission to fall in love with someone else.”
“What do you think, Ben? Now that you’ve been separated for a while are you better off without my sister? Can you love someone who hasn’t been your best friend since youth?”
“I don’t know what to think. I’m still in shock right now. I’m unsure how to move on without Mar.”
“Do you think she’s met someone else? What about that Noah guy she hangs out with at school all the time?”
“Your sister is not that type of person. I don’t know, Melody. There was such sadness in her voice when she ended our relationship. This wasn’t what she wanted, but she thought it was the best for me. It was as if she was doing this for me. Why would she do that?”
“Maybe she knew she wasn’t the girl for you. My sister was always wise beyond her years. She must see something about the future that you don’t. Knowing Marni, she’ll be all right without you. The question is, will you be all right without her?”