“It will fucking so,” Quinn interrupted me. “It’s going to be perfect.”
We’d chosen to have a wedding reception to celebrate our marriage. Well in reality, Quinn had decided, and we’d picked New Years Eve to host it. It was going to be in the restaurant Lawson owned. I’d insisted on that. So much had started there for us, and in my mind, it was the perfect place. We had cancelled all the other plans we’d made on our original date, and made donations to the companies that had refused to take a part payment from us.
We had nearly everything organized for the party. I had become close with a few of the teachers from Stella’s pre-school and more than one had kindly offered to have her over night for us – so that was one less thing for us to organize.
My girls were coming out from back home, my parents, the twins, Law and Q’s mum, aunties, uncles, cousins... everyone was coming to spend the night with us.
“I’ve given Ricky free range with the food,” I told her as I curled a strand of hair around my finger.
Quinn nodded in approval. “Good idea. That man is a genius in the kitchen.”
She jotted some notes down in the giant planner she’d started bringing around, and I rolled my eyes.
“What did Lawson say about the decorations we talked about?”
Quinn wanted to have a living wall installed and fitted out with beautiful plants and twinkly lights. I’d thought it was over the top, but when she showed me an image she’d found, I couldn’t argue that it looked amazing.
I smiled sweetly at her. “He said I could have whatever I wanted.” I giggled as I looked at Quinn’s face.
“Don’t get me wrong, that’s a win for the living wall, but I’m just wondering where my brother’s balls went.”
I threw a bit of screwed up paper at her. “Don’t be talking about my husband like that, thank you, I’ll have you know his balls are exactly where they’re meant to be.”
“La, la, la.” Quinn covered her ears as she joked. “Enough about his balls, let’s get some real work done on this.”
I sighed and glanced at the video baby monitor. Lawson was asleep in the rocking chair, Stella nestled against his chest. She was getting another tooth, and she’d literally thrown her toys out of the cot at nap time. They looked so peaceful together like that.
Quinn interrupted me by tapping the end of her pen loudly on the coffee table in front of her. “Excuse me, Mrs. Pierce, could I have your attention for just one minute?”
Mrs. Pierce... swoon.
“I’ll tell you what, Q, you can have all the attention you like... if you talk to me about Colt first,” I told her quietly.
She sighed, still staring down at her page.
I waited her out, seeing the internal debate she was having with herself.
C’mon, Q.
“Okay. What do you want me to say?”
I shrugged. “You tell me what there is to tell.”
She dropped her planner down and threw the pen down on top of it. “I don’t know, El. I don’t know what you want me to tell you. You know I’ve tried to end it with him.”
“Clearly not hard enough...”
“I’ve tried,” she snapped.
“Q... I’m not having a go at you, okay?” I replied quietly. I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I just don’t like seeing you like this. I know you’re not happy.”
She shook her head. “I’m not unhappy.”
“I know.”
“But you’re right. I’m not all that happy either.”
“Why are you still seeing him?”
“I told you, he just seems to have this uncanny ability to remain in my life.”
“You stopped seeing him a while back though?” I prompted.
“But yet he’s back.” She sighed again. “I didn’t see him for a whole month, and then bam... he comes by the office. ‘Just friends’ he tells me. Well one thing leads to another and I find myself right back to the start again. I really don’t know how it happens.”
“Is his age the only reason you think it won’t work?”
She shook her head quickly. “Not at all. I gave up caring about that a long time ago. It’s just not quite right. I can’t put my finger on it, he’s gorgeous, he’s my type, he’s kind, sweet... and he likes me. I just don’t know why it’s not clicking for me.”
“He’s not the one,” I told her.
That was the problem. I knew Quinn was getting to the point in her life where she was beginning to want something more than ordinary. I think Lawson and I were partially to blame for that.
“He’s not. He should be.”
I laughed. “It doesn’t work like that, babe.”
She giggled. “Yeah... I know. I’ll end it after your reception, okay? I can’t do it to him before then.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Just make sure he knows it’s for real this time. He’s a nice guy, Q. He needs to move on.”
She nodded and picked up her planner again. “Okay, lace or tulle on the center pieces?”
Oh god... help me.
***
Christmas came and went faster than I’d thought possible. My parents had arrived five days before, which was an absolute god send. They adored Stella, and since her pre-school had closed down for the holidays, we needed extra help in the form of babysitters.
Lawson and Logan were flat-out at work, and Quinn and I had our hands equally full. Dad being around was amazing, he’d helped out in the office for a few days while mum stayed home and fussed over Stella non-stop.
The twins had both arrived the day before Christmas Eve, surprising us all. Molly wasn’t due in until the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and we hadn’t expected Kyle until the early hours of Christmas morning. They’d arranged to meet up overseas and travel back together. It was so good to see them; I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed them until they were standing right in front of me. I’d bawled like a baby.
They’d missed so much in my life, and we had the best time sitting around the fire, having a few drinks and catching up on the past few months. They were fans of Lawson, that was safe to say, and they’d fitted into their new roles as aunty and uncle respectively, with delight.
Stella had taken a real shine to Molly, crawling around after her everywhere she went, and Kyle was also a hot new favorite for attention.
I’d looked around the room, filled with the people I loved more than anything else in the world, and I couldn’t remember a time when my life had ever been so rewarding and felt so full.
Lawson had been watching me like a hawk all night, and he’d given my leg a squeeze, no doubt unsure about the emotions I was experiencing.
“Thank you,” I’d whispered. “None of this would be complete without you.”
He’d stood without a word and raised his beer bottle. Everyone quickly caught on and followed suit.
“To family,” he said simply.
“To family,” we replied in chorus.
***
Christmas day itself was magical. I’d never experienced anything quite like that day and I wasn’t sure I ever would again. It was so complete, so utterly perfect. I’d sat in a room crowded with people that I had nothing but love for, and by the end of the day my cheeks had hurt from smiling so much.
I gave Lawson a cowboy hat. I wasn’t sure what my intention for it was when I saw it in the store. It was an expensive bloody hat, and I’d deliberated back and forth about whether or not to buy it.
I eventually decided to get it. If he wouldn’t wear it in public then I was willing to bet he’d be my cowboy in private. I shouldn’t have worried about it. Lawson had opened it and his mouth had turned up in a huge grin. He’d put it straight on his head, walked towards me and dipped me down, kissing me passionately.
“You like it then?” I remembered asking when I finally caught my breath.
“Now I can really be your cowboy,” he’d replied with an unmistakable sparkle in his eye.
All of a sudd
en, I hadn’t been able to wait for bed time.
Lawson had given me a wooden photo frame he’d crafted with his hands. Inside it sat a photo of Quinn, Reeve, Lawson and I on that very first night at his restaurant. I wasn’t sure I could even recall a picture being taken, but there it was. We were seated in the booth, Quinn and I opposite each other, Reeve next to me and Lawson across from him. Quinn was reaching across the table, lightly squeezing my arm, and we were laughing together about something I couldn’t remember. Reeve was sipping on a bottle of beer; his eyes looking in our direction, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth. And Lawson... he was staring at me with an intensity I couldn’t even begin to describe. He was like a man seeing the sun for the first time.
I’d told him as much, and he’d just smiled and nodded his head in agreement. “That’s because I was.”
***
“The sooner you admit it the better, baby.” Lawson chuckled, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Okay, fine,” I conceded. “The play house was a great idea.”
I had been right on the money when I’d said that Stella would be spoilt rotten. But even I had underestimated just what our families were capable of. Stella had been given a wooden rocking horse, a dolls house, a ride-on tractor, a tricycle, a play kitchen, complete with table and chairs, and even a blow up ball pit. And those were just the big items; there were books, blocks, clothes, shoes... if you could name it, Stella now owned it.
Lawson and I had given her a simple handmade bird mobile that I’d seen at a local craft market, and of course her play house. We’d also picked out a pretty antique rose-gold locket that was going to be put away for her to have when she turned twenty-one years old. I’d placed a small picture of Michael and Cassandra holding Stella on one side, and a photo of Lawson, Stella and I sat opposite it. I hoped it would be something she would cherish one day.
I was glad we hadn’t gone overboard like everyone else. There literally wasn’t space in here for all this stuff.
“I knew it,” Lawson teased as we carried the play kitchen, table and chairs, and a variety of other things out to the play house at the back of the house.
“God this is a lot of stuff,” I panted as I maneuvered the dollhouse through the door of the play house.
Lawson swiftly took it from me and easily slipped it through the door.
“Stupid big muscles,” I grumbled to myself as I ducked in the door frame. I gasped as Lawson pressed me up against the wall, the ceiling only an inch above his head.
“What was that, baby?” He breathed, deep and husky against my ear before trailing kisses over the skin just below.
Oh god...
I shuddered under his touch. “Nothing,” I murmured.
“Are you sure?” he taunted, still kissing my skin, his stubble lightly scraping and tickling in a delicious way. “I thought I heard you call my muscles stupid?”
“These?” I gripped his biceps and felt the thick strong muscles flex. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I panted, his mouth making me feel lightheaded and breathless.
He pulled back suddenly and stepped away from me. “Oh, well, my mistake then.” He ducked out of the low door, and I watched in disbelief as he made his way across the lawn, heading towards the porch.
Like hell...
“Oh no you don’t, cowboy!” I yelled before taking off after him, full sprint. He looked over his shoulder and saw me coming, turning the moment before I lunged at him. He caught me effortlessly and held me tight against his chest.
“What’s the matter, baby?” he asked innocently. I could see the hint of a grin in the corners of his mouth.
“Shut up, you smug little shit.”
He chuckled and opened his mouth. I already knew he was going to crack a joke about being anything but little, so I stopped him. I kissed him in a way that always led to clothes being ripped off, furniture being bumped into, toes being curled...
“Fuck,” he moaned against my mouth.
“What’s the matter, baby?” I teased.
“What’s the matter?” he growled. “How about the fact that you’ve got me so worked up I want to fuck you right now and I can’t, because our entire family is inside that house.”
His words had me squirming. “You started it,” I accused, humor evident in my voice.
He shook his head, a massive grin on his face. “I’m completely out of my depth here aren’t I, pretty girl?”
I laughed and mimicked his earlier smack talk. “The sooner you admit it the better, baby.”
“I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, that has always been enough.
- Nicholas Sparks
15. Lawson
I snuck out of bed to get Stella up before she woke El. Today would be a massive day for her and she could do with a sleep in. I was lucky; all I had to do was shower and put on my tux. El, on the other hand, was willingly subjecting herself to a hell of a lot more than that, not that she needed any of it anyway.
Stella shrieked when she spotted me through the bars of her cot. She loved standing up against the sides and shaking the crap out of the thing. I chuckled to myself as she started doing exactly that, her excitement was infectious.
“Good morning, baby girl.”
“Dadada... da!” she cried.
I scooped her out of her cot and carried her down stairs. I sat her down on her play mat and she watched me stoke the fire up so it was roaring again.
“Well, I guess we better change that stinky butt of yours, right?”
She squirmed and fought me as I changed her nappy. I still had no idea how El made it look so easy.
Becoming an overnight dad had been a shock to the system, even though Stella slept well at nights, everything was still different. Gone were the days of lying around on the couch watching a movie on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We’d tried that just the other week, and twenty minutes into the movie, Stella had woken from her nap, screaming bloody murder. I still had no idea what happened in the rest of that movie, we’d never got back to it.
Grocery shops were like a race now, we’d figured out that Stella tolerated it for exactly thirty-five minutes before she started grizzling and moaning to get down and crawl. I suggested once that we let her crawl around the store, but the look on Ellerslie’s face had told me that it wasn’t such a great idea.
All in all, we were doing pretty well. Neither of us really had a clue about what to do, but, like all new parents, we were figuring it out as we went.
Stella was happy. That was the most important thing.
***
“Is this the part where I call a stripper and we get you shit faced? Make up for you being a pussy and bowing out of having a bachelor party?” Roman’s booming voice filled the room.
I just chuckled and took another swig of my beer. He’d been laying the guilt on thick all day.
“No strippers,” Logan piped in. “He’s a married man now. Let’s just get him wasted.”
“El would have his balls.” Josh smiled a shit-eating grin as he taunted me.
I shook my head at my so-called friends. “She’d have all your balls actually. And I’d buy her a nice handbag to carry them around in, you bastards.”
Roman barked out a laugh.
I pointed at him. “Just wait until it’s your turn, man, I’ll remember this.”
“Nah... no woman is that stupid,” Josh goaded Rome. It worked too; Rome lunged for him just as Josh darted out of his reach.
“Now, boys... let’s not do anything silly.”
I turned at the sound of Q’s voice and found her standing just inside the door, already dressed and ready.
“Jesus, Pierce, you look good.” Rome added a wolf whistle as he looked my sister up and down like a drooling dog.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Charming as always
, Roman.”
“Seriously though, what have I gotta do to get a piece of that a—”
“I’m not afraid to knock your head in... even wearing this tux,” I interrupted him.
Rome just laughed. He was always trying to rattle me.
“Give the guy one day off from your shit, would you? It’s practically his wedding day,” Josh joked with Rome.
I shook my head.
I don’t know why I do this to myself.
“You look beautiful, Quinn,” I told her.
“Thanks, those professionals can work wonders.”
Quinn, El, Brooke, Stacey and Jemma had all been getting styled and plucked and painted and god knows what else upstairs, a team of hair stylists and makeup artists had been up there for hours. Lexie wasn’t able to make it, and even though El was crushed, she understood – Lexie had her dream job, it was demanding, but she loved it and she couldn’t risk upsetting things by asking for the busy season off.
It was just the nine of us here. Even Stella and the dogs were out for the night. Kaylie had picked Stella up a few hours ago, and she’d been more than happy to go with her favorite teacher.
Ellerslie’s parents were staying with Reeve, and my mom was staying at Q and Logan’s place. All our other family members had rented hotel rooms close to the restaurant for the night. I’d offered for them to stay here, since the place would be empty. I had plans to surprise El with a sweet little bed and breakfast for the night. I’d organized for us to be driven there after the party tonight. I’d sworn everyone to secrecy; I hadn’t wanted to risk El finding out about it.
“Anyway, I’ve come for a reason. We’ve decided she needs a grand entrance. Can you come and wait at the bottom of the stairs?” Quinn asked.
I couldn’t explain the butterflies I felt racing around in my stomach. We were already married for Christ’s sake. I’d seen her in her dress, I knew how beautiful she’d look, but the nerves didn’t fade as I nodded and followed Q to the bottom of the staircase.
“I’ll be right back,” she called over her shoulder as she raced upstairs.
Love like Yours Series Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 44