I looked around the room at my family. With the exception of Van I had known everyone my whole life. “I didn’t even know Miranda was coming. I’d been working late every night and left my phone in my Jeep. Things hadn’t been going good for me. Aside from work, I spent most of my time alone.”
Everyone in the room was looking at me.
“Daddy.” Izzy reached her arms out for me.
I grabbed her before continuing. “Miranda showed up at my door and after helping her get settled I slept over at my parents. Since I knew she was upset, I offered to take her and Izzy to a petting zoo. Anyway, after spending the day together, I was invited to a party and I asked her if she wanted to tag along. My mother really took to Izzy, and the party didn’t start until after her bedtime, so it wasn’t like I was asking her to be a bad parent.”
“Obviously. Because goin’ out to parties is what every mother should be doin’.”
“Conner please. Your sister is a good mother. Don’t act like she isn’t allowed to have a life. The child was asleep and with family.” My new mother in law took up for me. Conner wasn’t happy.
“I wanted to go to the party. It was an ABC party. You know, the kind where you have to wear somethin’ other than clothes. I always wanted to see what they were like.”
Jesus Christ Miranda! There are some details they didn’t need to know.
“I had no idea what her outfit was going to be. I got dressed at my parents and when I picked her up she was wearing a coat. I should have known that it wouldn’t be good, but I just wasn’t thinking. Miranda decided that saran wrap was a great idea for a costume. I’m not talking like she wrapped her whole body. Very little was covered. Trust me when I say that I mentioned both Conner and Colt’s name when I saw what she had on. Once we got into the party, everyone had their eyes on her. I freaking panicked.”
Miranda started laughing. I was glad to have her take over for the next part. “Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with my clothing choice. I started dancing with these two guys and Ty got all protective. He forced me to pretend that I was his girlfriend so that I wouldn’t be approached by anyone else. But….there was one little problem with that. The more we were pretendin’ the more real it got. Ty pulled away from me and distanced us. I swear he did.”
I shook my head just thinking back on that night. “She’s right. I pushed her away. I pulled her out of that party and headed home. The thing was, I felt so bad about kissing her that I pulled over to talk about it. That’s when we both realized there were real feelings involved. The rest is history.”
There was no way in hell I was going to tell them about that first night. Miranda and I had experienced many hot nights since then, but that topped them all. The anticipation alone was insane.
“In other words, you screwed her twenty four hours after she got there.”
“Come on Conner can you be respectful please.” Colt was starting to get as annoyed as I was at him.
“It’s the damn truth,” he added.
“Well, since you know, what do want to do about it? She is my wife Conner. I did right by her and Izzy. There isn’t another man on this planet that could love them like I do. That child is mine in every way that it counts. If you hate me for that, then I am not going to apologize. In fact, I’m not apologizing for any of it. I’ve never been more happy. They are my whole world. I’m just sorry that you can’t understand it.”
Finally what I said seemed to hit a nerve. Conner went flying back out of the door and this time he didn’t stay close.
I took a deep breath. “That went better than expected.”
“Boy, if you were a stranger you would be in deeper shit than you already are.” My aunt chimed in.
“Shit!” Izzy said her new favorite word.
My aunt put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
“Mom, I kind of need to know what you are thinkin’ over there. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I need to know that you will support us.”
She put both of her hands flat on the table and looked from Miranda to me. I could tell she was really trying to think about what she said. “I’m really hurt, but I understand why you felt the need to do things the way you did. I just always pictured my daughter having a real wedding. Aside from the shock, I want you to be happy. I know Ty has made mistakes, but I can’t deny that it’s obvious you love each other.”
“I think I have an idea to make this all easier on all of us to take. If I can arrange it, would you be willing to renew your vows tomorrow night?” My aunt asked.
“They can get re-married in the barn. It’s already half way decorated.” Van added.
Colt turned to look at her. “You sure that is okay darlin’?”
She nodded. “I think it will be fun. Besides, after how I have been treating them, I kind of owe them.”
“So how about it you two? You up for letting that hard headed brother of yours walk you down the aisle, so he can have some kind of redemption?”
Miranda started laughing. “I don’t know if he will want to do it, but of course I am up for it. I would marry Ty a million times.”
I loved that she looked right at me when she said it. It was like watching someone throwing a kiss and the other person catches it and puts the invisible kiss on their chest. Well, it was something like that.
“Then it is settled. We are now in double wedding mode. Everyone help clean up breakfast. Us girls have to go out shopping for a dress and the guys need to finish getting that barn decorated.” My aunt stood up and everyone followed suit.
Miranda and I just looked at each other. “I guess we are getting married again.”
“I really hope we don’t have to sleep in separate rooms tonight,” I joked.
“I heard that Ty. I think pretending you aren’t married yet would be a fantastic idea,” Miranda’s mother noted.
I shook my head and decided I needed a laugh.. “That’s just mean Aunt Karen. Cousins should be allowed to sleep together before they are married. Everyone does it.”
She threw a dish towel at me. “Tyler!”
“Shit! Shit!”
“Thanks Aunt J for teaching my daughter cuss words!” I announced.
“Miranda you really have your hands full with this one,” she said as she came up behind me and kissed me. “My hard headed nephew.”
Chapter 29
Miranda
One minute I felt like I was being disowned and the next I was being pampered. After our family meeting, my aunt and mother drug me out to find a last minute dress. Ty insisted on keeping Bella so that I could relax and enjoy my day. I think he wanted her around so that my brother would be reluctant to start trouble.
He and Colt were put on decoration duty. As an added surprise, I called Ty’s parents and begged them to come. It wasn’t just my idea, in fact my aunt sprung for them to fly. She called the airline and bought two round trip tickets like it was nothing.
She had more money than she knew what to do with and she never spent it unless she had a reason. I suppose my wedding was a good enough reason for her. We had lived on the ranch since my father died when I was ten. I was the closest thing to a daughter that she would ever have. She and my mother weren’t just sisters, they were best friends. The two of them made me try on so many dresses.
I didn’t want anything big and formal. They seemed upset that I didn’t want a real wedding dress, so we settled for a dress that was white and long. It was strapless and had a light purple beaded design over the top and around the waist. It was very straight and came down to my feet. After trying it on, I knew it was perfect.
They also insisted on buying Bella a different dress than she was wearing In Colt’s wedding. We found her a little white dress that had purple beads just like mine. It was so cute and I knew she would get a kick out of us matching.
Just to set my mind at ease, Ty agreed to send me random text messages letting me know that he was alive. Of course I should have known that every single one would be totally i
nappropriate.
Make sure you buy crotchless underwear. –Ty
I don’t plan on wearing any. – M
Even better.-Ty
Everything okay? – M
Izzy and I decided to go cow tipping- Ty
I love when you teach your daughter about nature –M
I love when you are naked. – Ty
Leave it to Ty to request crotchless underwear. I wasn’t really sure if my aunt would be buying those anytime soon.
Our late lunch was relaxing. I had been spoiled all day. It was nice to no longer feel like a disappointment. “Thank you both for everything.”
“Honey, it’s our pleasure. We just want you to do this the right way. I don’t want you regretting not having had a real wedding,” my mother replied.
“I am really sorry for lying to everyone. I just didn’t think anyone would ever understand,” I admitted.
“Miranda we may be old but we aren’t blind. If you weren’t attracted to Ty we would think there was something wrong with you. That boy is very easy on the eyes. I appreciate how much he has always looked out for you. I really had no idea,” my mother looked to her sister and smiled.
“I agree, my nephew has the handsome gene, but let’s not forget how gorgeous Miranda is. You two remind me of Ken and Barbie. Seeing you both interact with Bella is just something else. She sure does love her daddy.”
I started to tear up thinking about it. “We never told her to call him daddy. They watch this show together and one day she heard it on there. The dad was reading to his child. I will never forget the day she did it. We were in the car on our way to church and she pointed to Ty and kept sayin’ it. He just started cryin’. It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.”
“Isn’t that funny that he was there for her birth? Almost like he was meant to be her daddy all along,” my aunt suggested.
“He says that too. She is the luckiest little girl. He reminds me of daddy the way he holds her. When he walks into the room she lights up. She hates being without him. You should see when we pull up at his work now. She recognizes the building and starts yellin’ for him. If she wants somethin’ she asks daddy, because she knows he will give it to her.”
“This morning I heard him singing with her,” my mother added.
“It sounds like she is a very lucky little girl,” my aunt replied.
“Are you mad at me for changing her name?” I asked.
My aunt winked. “Mitchell is a good strong name.”
“The more I hear about him, the more I realize that I may have been completely wrong about my nephew….uh…son in law. Sorry, it is still hard to change that. Sweetie this morning was a shocker, but now that I have had time to process things and I have gotten the picture of Tyler in his underwear out of my head, I have come to accept things. You are an adult. As far as Tyler being Bella’s father, well if he isn’t the perfect daddy than I don’t know what is. Besides, Bella chose him herself. I think you really didn’t have a choice.”
We all started laughing. “You are probably right about that.”
My mother reached across the table and took my hand. “I love you and I know that things haven’t been easy for you. Losing your daddy was the hardest thing for a child to ever deal with. I honestly still don’t know how we made it through. What broke my heart the most was seeing you look at other kids with their fathers” My mother started to cry. “Your daddy loved you so much, you and your brother. If I could bring him back I would. I still miss him so much.” She wiped her face before continuing. “When I think back to when you got pregnant, I remember how much family meant to you. I wanted Tucker to want to be a father to Bella, because I knew it was all you had ever wanted. When he did the exact opposite I saw how much it hurt you. No mother wants their child to be called a mistake. You know I never remarried because no man was ever as good as your father. It’s so hard finding someone to take full responsibility for a child that isn’t theirs. For Tyler to be that devoted to that child is a God given miracle. From the way you describe him I have to wonder if your daddy is out there somewhere looking out for you. Whatever put him in that car that day changed both of your lives.”
The people around our table must have thought the three of us were nuts. We were all three crying and smiling at the same time. I held up my glass. “Here’s to flat tires.”
Just to appease my mother, Ty spent the night in my room, while I stayed at my mother’s house. He did however spend the whole evening with us. Conner had made himself scarce. He didn’t come home for dinner and wouldn’t answer my mother’s calls. I couldn’t help the way my mother smiled when she watched Bella with Ty. She was even more impressed at how he refused to leave until he had told her goodnight.
“So I guess I will see you tomorrow Mrs. Mitchell.”
I laughed and kissed him. “Yes you will Mr. Mitchell.”
“You sure you don’t want to have a quickie?”
I wrapped my arms around him and didn’t answer.
“You okay baby? You know you can’t back out of this, on account of us already being married.”
“I’m not backing out. I just wish my brother would stop being such a dick. I am so afraid he is going to ruin tomorrow. This is really important to my mother.”
“Stop thinking about him. I better go before I decide to stay.”
He pulled my hand as he started walking away from me. “Love you.”
“Love you too!”
Sleeping was totally out of the question. I was a little overwhelmed with feelings and suddenly understood why the courthouse was so appealing to me. I tossed and turned until finally I just sat up.
I decided to see if Ty was having the same problem.
R u awake? – M
No-Ty
I can’t sleep –M
We should have had the quickie – Ty
I am serious –M
SO AM I – Ty
I miss you – M
Keep that in mind if you ever want to leave me – Ty
Whining wasn’t working. It was time to break out the guns.
I am so horny tonight I can’t stop touching myself. – M
Play fair – Ty
My nipples are so hard. – M
I know for a fact that Izzy is asleep next to you. –Ty
Please babe –M
Come open the door. I am outside. – Ty
Ty being outside meant that he had already left before I sent the sexy messages. He wasn’t playing fair at all.
Once we got into my room, we climbed into bed with Bella between us. “Are you mad at me?”
“No. Go to sleep. I can’t have my wife looking all tired tomorrow.”
When I woke up I saw Ty curled up with Bella. She had turned to face him in the middle of the night. They would both be sweating but never separate from each other.
I met my mother in the kitchen and started pulling a cup of coffee.
“Are Ty and Bella still asleep?”
I turned around with the guiltiest smile on my face. “Guess you heard him come in?”
She ignored me. “Are you hungry?”
“No. I feel sick. Did you ever hear from Conner?”
I felt arms wrap around me and almost spilled my hot coffee. “Morning.”
Little footsteps followed behind Ty and a very grumpy little girl emerged. She got one look at Ty hugging me and smacked him in the leg. “No Daddy.”
My mother put her hand over her mouth and started to giggle. “Somebody is jealous.”
Of course Ty had to make it worse. He started kissing me all over my face. “I love mommy. Oh, mommy gives good kisses. I love her so much.”
My daughter literally sat down on the kitchen floor and started crying her eyes out. After we all got a good laugh at her, Ty reached down and grabbed her. “Daddy was just teasing you. Mommy is a terrible kisser.”
I smacked him on his butt and started laughing. “Don’t tell her that.”
“Give daddy kisses Iz, I
have to go get ready.”
“Izzy bye bye.” She held her hands up.
He crouched down in front of her. “Today you and mommy are going to be princesses. Do you want to be a princess for Daddy?”
Her face got all pouty. “No!”
He let out a laugh. “Please be a good girl. Get dressed and you can come see Daddy.”
It took Bella twenty minutes before she stopped screaming for her father. I was half tempted to send her dress with him and let him get the child ready. She finally calmed down when she saw her dress. It was fancy which meant it was a real princess dress.
My aunt had agreed to go pick up Ty’s parents since he still didn’t know they were coming. Van showed up and started taking a million pictures of me and Bella. At first Bella liked it, but it got old really fast.
We hadn’t invited anyone else but Ty’s parents, so there were no guest coming. The minister told my aunt that he could only come at lunch time. At quarter of we all started to head to the barn.
When I climbed off of that golf cart and saw my brother standing there in a tux, I started to ball.
“Stop cryin’. You’ll mess up your face and I will never hear the end of it.”
Van led Bella in front of me and music started from somewhere inside of the barn.
“What are you doin’ here?” I said as I put my arm under my brothers.
“Ask your husband.”
I didn’t know what Ty had said to my brother, but here he was, walking me down the aisle. Bella was in front of me the whole time. All she had to do was see her father and she went running. I tried not to cry, but I just couldn’t help it. My brother was a hard head, but I loved him and he was the only person in my life to understand what we went through when we lost our father.
Thank goodness for waterproof makeup and tan skin. I didn’t wear foundation and the mascara I put on didn’t even come off during my showers, so I knew that was intact. When I got up to that makeshift altar and saw Ty standing there, more handsome than I had ever seen, with tears in his eyes, I freaking lost it.
Chapter 30
Tyler
I knew that this little service was all for show, but it felt so real. Especially when I walked into the church and saw my parents there. I had no idea they even knew this was happening. Colt had called the tuxedo place and arranged for us to get our wedding attire early, so all of us guys were all decked out. It was weird seeing Van walk up that isle first. Her eyes were fixed on Colt’s and I couldn’t have been more happy for them.
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