We hear a noise and sigh when we realise we’ve been interrupted again, some things never change! “Get your filthy hands of my sister Dickwad, she may be your fiancée now but she’s still my little sister!” Alex demands in a booming voice!
Dan rests his forehead on mine and sighs, “Learn a lesson Dipshit and KNOCK before you just come walking into our home. Normal people wait for an invitation to enter.”
“I’m not normal and my sister and my best friend live here, it’s my second home, therefore I don’t need an invitation!” Alex answers with a huge grin!
Dan turns to face Alex and I wrap my arm around his waist, my left hand is relaxed by my side. I catch Ally looking at my finger and she looks up to catch my eye and has a huge grin on her face. I give her a slight nod and return her smile with an even bigger one of my own.
“Well, Alex, dearest brother of mine, my husband is right. If you don’t start knocking and waiting for an invitation to enter, you’re going to have to deal with whatever situation you walk in on.”
“Maybe you two should keep your hands to yourselves when you’re expecting company. You‘re not teenagers anymore you know.” He stops speaking and then looks between Dan and myself and says, “Hang on a damn minute, did you just say husband?” He looks at Ally and says, “Did she just say HUSBAND?”
Ally nods and says, “Yes cupcake, I’m pretty sure that’s what she said and even if she didn’t say it, the rings on her finger do.” Ally laughs as Alex stands there with his mouth wide open. She gently pushes his jaw closed with a finger while laughing at him.
“Wow! You fucking bastard! When you said you were asking my sister to marry you, I didn’t realise you meant there and then. I thought you meant I’d get to walk my only sister down the fucking aisle!”
I can’t help it, I let out a loud laugh and that makes the three of them look at me like I’ve gone insane!
“Alex, I truly am sorry that we took that away from you.” He tries to interrupt me but I hold up my hand to stop him. “No Alex. You can’t put the blame on Dan. He proposed just like he told you he was going to and I accepted, before he could even finish asking to be honest. You know all of this because we called you the minute the ring was on my finger. What you don’t know, is that a couple of days later we found a beautiful little town and we loved it so much we decided that was where we were going to come back to, to get married.” I take a breath and continue, while Dan folds his body around mine from behind me. “We were talking about the prospect of having our wedding there with the locals over a few days and more than a few drinks. Two days later, we were married. It wasn’t planned and it wasn’t done to spite you or exclude you either. It happened. That being said, it is done now and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
There’s a very long silence and I’m not sure where this is going to go. Alex could go either way and I’m just hoping that he can be happy for us!
Then all of a sudden he’s yelling;
“Well OK then! I’m throwing you guys the biggest party to celebrate.” He draws us both in to a giant bear hug! Then just as suddenly, he pulls back and looks me in the eyes and he asks, “Please, please Sunshine, tell me there isn’t a reason behind you guys getting married so quickly? No surprise packages arriving in six to nine months?”
DAN
I can’t help but laugh at the look on Alex’s face. I probably shouldn’t because that would be poking the bear, not only for marrying his sister without him present but also impregnating said sister. He definitely will not be present for that. I want him to be happy for us so instead of laughing too hard at him, I let go of my wife and slap her brother on the back.
“No Alex, there’s no niece or nephew heading your way any time soon, ok. Relax Dipshit and come have a cold beer with me brother!!”
We walk to the kitchen to grab a couple of beers and a bottle of wine for the girls. Before we rejoin the girls, I stop Alex with a hand on his shoulder. “Alex, I truly am sorry for doing this without you. I know how much you mean to each other and I honestly didn’t do it to exclude you. After all the bullshit that happened all those months ago, I want to make sure that you understand I‘m not trying to take your sister away from you. I never wanted to do that and it’s why I decided to leave back then. Your sister means the world to me and it just felt right, in that time and that place, that moment, to make her my wife. I hope you can understand.”
Alex stands there and looks me in the eyes, I don’t know what he’s searching for but I don’t flinch away from his intensity. “Dan, I can’t pretend that I’m not upset that I didn’t get to walk my sister down the aisle, that’s something I can’t have now but I can understand that look in your eyes. That look in Mia’s eyes. You guys did what was right for you in that moment and to be honest, I’m kind of proud as hell of both of you.”
The man couldn’t have surprised me more if he’d said there were a herd of elephants tramping through the yard! “Proud of us? Why?” I ask.
“You did what you wanted and when it felt right. I can understand that and I can even appreciate your actions. Doesn’t mean I don’t wish I was there to witness my sister and my best friend getting married but I can live with that because I can see how happy the two of you are.” He looks outside to his fiancée, love and wanting in his eyes and he says to me, “We’re engaged and we will be married but it’s been a slow and frustrating process. Ally has a vision of what she wants and I want to give it to her. Maybe there’s just a small amount of jealousy that you got a wife and you didn’t have to suffer through seating plans, cake tasting and colour choices.” Alex looks at me and continues, “But even with all of that, the end result is that woman out there, becomes my wife and I don’t care how we get there, as long as that’s where we end up. You’re just one of the lucky bastards.”
We walk outside and join our beautiful women, laughing together as best mates do. We wrap ourselves around our favourite girls and enjoy the night of great food, drinks and family. All the while, Alex is planning this massive celebration of my marriage to his sister!
Sneaking Around (Sneaky Love Book 2) Page 17