In Her Hands
Page 17
When Ronnie was finished ten minutes later, she went into Amy's room and changed into a clean pair of sweat pants and a tee-shirt from her overnight bag before going into Morrison's room. The toddler was sitting on her floor with a pad of construction paper and a pack of crayons, scribbling away on a light-green piece of paper. Tadpole was lying on the bed and chewing on a tennis ball happily, his tail still wagging and his ears flapping as he bounced. When Morrison saw Ronnie, she held up the paper and smiled. “Made for you!” she exclaimed, waving the paper back and forth.
Ronnie walked over to her and sat down in front of her. Morrison immediately got up and moved over to Ronnie's lap, showing her the picture excitedly as she pointed to different squiggles. “Drew me, Mommy, Tommy, and you!” She pointed to a series of dots in the corner of the the page. “There Tadpole!”
“That's beautiful!” Ronnie praised Morrison, tickling her sides and ruffling her hair. “Do you want to keep coloring or do you want to go watch your movie?”
Morrison stared at the crayons for a moment before getting off Ronnie's lap and putting them back on her shelf. “Movie!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down before running down the hall to Amy's room. Tadpole jumped off the bed and ran after her.
By the time Ronnie had reached Amy's room a few minutes later, Morrison was wrapped up in one of Amy's blankets, Tadpole lying on the bed next to her. Ronnie climbed onto the bed and laid down behind her. She grabbed the remote off the side table and turned the television on, turning on one of Morrison's movies and letting the overdone children's music relax her while Morrison started to sing along. Morrison scooted back until her back was against Ronnie's stomach, sitting still for a moment before moving and lying down at Ronnie's side. Ronnie put an arm around her and closed her eyes, simply listening to the music.
***
Ronnie startled awake, acutely aware of a pressure against her back. She blinked against the darkness of the room and started to turn over, only to be stopped be an arm around her waist. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart. We can worry about dinner later.”
Ronnie relaxed as she recognized Amy's voice. “I didn't hear you get home,” she said, humming in contentment when Amy placed a kiss on the back of her neck. “How's Tommy doing?”
“He's sleeping in his room with Tadpole. Dr. Bursten said it will still be another day or two before he is feeling like himself again.” Amy propped her head up on Ronnie's shoulder and moved her hand to straighten Morrison's hair. The little girl was curled up in front of Ronnie in the fetal position, the thumb of one hand in her mouth and the hem of Ronnie's shirt fisted in the other. “She loves you so much.”
Ronnie looked down at Morrison before looking up at Amy. “I love her, too. Her and her momma.” She tilted her head up and gave Amy a light kiss, laughing when Amy's stomach growled. “Are you sure you don't want to get up right now? I can order pizza or something.”
Amy shook her head before dropping back down behind Ronnie and snuggling closer. “No. I just want to stay here with three of my favorite people.” She poked at Ronnie's stomach as she said “three.”
Ronnie couldn't argue with that. She was still feeling very sleepy, and she was mighty comfortable in between Morrison and Amy. She yawned and nodded, snuggling further down into the pillow. She felt Amy kiss the back of her neck again, and before she knew what was happening, she was drifting back off to sleep.
She could get used to this.
Epilogue
Five years later
“Oh, where is my veil?” Ronnie groaned, throwing all of her mother's dress suits to the side of the closet of her childhood bedroom. She growled in irritation before putting the dresses back and moving on to the top of the closet. When that was a bust, she went out into the hallway and stood at the top of the staircase, leaning over the railing to the living room below. “Mom! Have you seen my veil?”
Patricia walked out of the kitchen with Katheryn, Ronnie and Amy's two-year-old daughter, on her hip. She was wearing a soft-pink blouse and a black pencil skirt, her hair and makeup already primed to perfection. Kathryn was still in her pajamas. “Your sister already took it to the hotel, along with your dress.” She glanced at her watch. “You were supposed to be at there twenty-five minutes ago to get your hair and makeup done. You better hurry up if you want to look half as pretty as that fiancée of yours.”
Ronnie rolled her eyes, but she started to gather the last of her accessories quicker. She made sure that she had all of her jewelry, as well as the last bit of odds and ends for all four of her children: Tommy's bow tie, Morrison's hair bow, Owen's ring-bearer pillow, and Katheryn's flower girl basket. Kenny and Carrie were getting Owen ready at their house, but the other three children were subject to Patricia and Natasha's orders while Amy and Ronnie got ready in their respective hotel rooms.
She put all of the kids' accessories in one bag and her own in the other, hurrying down the stairs and going into the kitchen. She slipped her shoes on and handed her mother the bag before picking her daughter up and kissing her on the top of her head.
After Owen had been born, Ronnie and he gained a permanent place in the Vascar household. Amy and she had purchased a larger home so that each child could have their own room, and after Amy's café expanded to three new locations, the women decided that they wanted to expand their family, as well. They had found an anonymous donor, and Ronnie had carried Katheryn. Their beautiful daughter was born on a bright and sunny morning in May, and was warmly welcomed by her older siblings.
“Be good for Nona, Kathryn,” Ronnie said, snuggling her daughter close before handing her back to her mother. Katheryn started to hold her arms out, but Ronnie shook her head. “You'll see Mommy and me in a little bit. You get to wear your pretty dress like Morrie, remember?”
Kathryn's face lit up. “Princess dress!” she said, clapping her hands together
“That's right. It's your princess dress.” She handed the bag to her mom. “Everything is in there, okay?”
Patricia nodded. “Yes, yes, I know. Now get going, or you won't make it to your own wedding at all.”
***
Ronnie blinked, suddenly all ready to go down the aisle. Her dress had a fitted blush top, and the bottom was full of light-pink tulle and champagne sparkles. She had her hair curled and down over her left shoulder, and her knee-length veil was seated low on the back of her head.
She stood behind a fence, out of the view of the guests while she waited for her music to start. Amy and she had decided that Ronnie was going to walk down the aisle first, followed by the children, Patricia, Amy's mom, and then, finally, Amy and her father.
When the music began to play, Ronnie took a deep breath before making her way toward the aisle. She smiled as she walked, her heart pounding and her mouth going dry. The seats were full of Ronnie and Amy's friends, family, Ronnie's past patients and their families, and Amy's most treasured customers all wanting to celebrate such a special day.
When Ronnie reached the end of the aisle, she stopped and faced her guests, her eyes brimming with tears. The music played, and Tommy and Owen walked down in a pair of navy-blue suits. Tommy had shot-up in height and was towering over his brother, Owen's sandy-blond hair contrasting starkly with Tommy's dark-brown locks. Morrison and Katheryn were behind them in navy dresses that were covered in a light-pink floral lace. Morrison’s tight blonde curls were held back with a large navy bow. Katheryn’s hair was held back in a similar fashion, but her chocolate-brown hair was too short to be swept to the side.
Once the kids had finished their trip up the aisle, Ronnie was temporarily distracted by making sure that they sat down in their seats in the front row. As much as she was invested in the ceremony, she couldn’t care less about her mother or her future mother-in-law walking in time with their song. When the music changed to a soft cello tune, Ronnie snapped back to attention. She looked down the aisle and whimpered, her mouth dropping open when she saw her beautiful fiancée and her father making their way d
own the aisle.
Amy was wearing a soft-white satin mermaid-style dress. It had a sweetheart neckline and a low waist, the material clinging to her body and showing off her perfect figure. Her hair was half-up and her veil spread out along the ground behind the train of her dress.
When she smiled at Ronnie, Ronnie swore that her heart exploded, and when Amy’s father gave Amy a kiss on the cheek before handing her off to Ronnie, she melted into the floor. She couldn’t help the tears of joy that ran down her cheeks, and when the officiant finally announced Amy and Ronnie as being married, she pulled her wife into her arms and gave her an intimate kiss before leaning their foreheads together.
“I love you so much,” Ronnie whispered, lifting her hands up to Amy’s face and giving her another quick kiss before taking her hand and turning her towards their family and friends. “You are my world.”