Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set

by Annalisa Nicole

  “Congratulations, Amelia and Kyle, I know you two will be forever happy. Since everyone is making happy announcements, I too have something I’d like to say. This weekend marks the one year anniversary of Willow being cancer free. I promised her every year I’d add to her charm bracelet.”

  He pulls out a small box from his jacket pocket and hands it to Willow. She instantly starts to cry and takes the box.

  “I wasn’t expecting this, I’m so sorry I’m crying. Thank you, Asher.”

  She takes the box, holds it with both hands, then takes a deep breath. She ever so carefully removes the wrapping paper and opens the lid with a gasp. She looks to Asher, stands, and gives him a hug.

  “Don’t keep us all in suspense, show us what it is,” I say.

  She passes the charm around and it’s just stunning. It’s a platinum breast cancer ribbon, studded with tiny pink diamonds. It’s passed all the way around the table, when it gets back to Asher he takes it out of the box, then removes her bracelet from her wrist, and adds the new charm to the one he gave her just one year ago. He kisses her on the cheek and the look in his eyes is such a familiar look. I see the same love and devotion in Kyle’s eyes every time he looks at me.

  Not another tear is shed during dinner. After dinner the girls sit around the table and discuss wedding plans. The men all disappear to my dad’s study for an after dinner scotch. So many different ideas are tossed around for a location. Willow suggests the beach where they got married and I did love their wedding. I’ve always dreamt of having my wedding at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel though, they have this amazing staircase, that I’ve always imagined myself standing at the top of, wearing a princess wedding gown.

  “Earth to Amelia,” Willow says snapping her fingers.

  “Sorry, I was dreaming about my perfect day. I already know the perfect wedding place. I just don’t know if it’ll be available on such short notice,” I say sadly.

  “You leave all that to me. Asher will pull all the strings necessary to make your perfect day happen,” she assures me.

  If anyone can make it happen, it’ll be Asher.

  The rest of the planning seems to fall into place from there. My mom, Ava, Willow and I, are going to make appointments and go dress shopping this weekend.

  The next two months fly by and almost everything is planned for the wedding. I found the perfect dress. It was the very first dress I laid my eyes on. I knew it in my heart when I first saw it, that it was the one from my dreams.

  The guest list is short, but meaningful. All the catering has been arranged and the cake ordered. I found the perfect bridesmaid dresses. They’re the same style, strapless chiffon dresses, in different colors. Of course Willow’s is a soft pink, Ava chose a light purple, Chloe chose a pale mint green, and Amanda chose a baby blue. Each of their accompanying groomsmen will have the matching bow tie. Everything is perfect.

  Until today. When it hits me. I’m late. In a panic, I count the days on a calendar and I don’t know how I missed it. I’m not only late. I’m extremely late. I’ve been so preoccupied with planning this wedding. I didn’t realize that I not only missed one, but I’ve missed two periods.

  Kyle

  Today is a wonderful day. I delivered three healthy, happy babies. I stop at the florist and pick up orange roses for Amelia. She’s been working so hard on planning our wedding. She seems to have completely moved on from the trauma involving the kidnapping.

  She still goes to a therapist once a month, but shows no emotional or physical issues anymore. I put my key in the front door, then call out to her.

  “Amelia, I’m home.”

  That’s strange. I know she’s here. Her car is in the driveway. I start to search downstairs and call out to her again. Then I hear her. I hear a muffled cry and my heart sinks in my chest. Oh God no. Please don’t let her have had a setback. I take the stairs two at a time and find her sitting on the bathroom floor curled in a ball rocking back and forth crying.

  “Amelia, what’s wrong, honey” What happened?” I ask, scoop her up in my lap and hold her tight.

  She hasn’t said a word and I’m really starting to get scared. The last time I had to sit her in my lap like this, is when I scared her in her apartment after the attack. She sniffs a few times and screeches an unintelligible reply.

  “Honey, please calm down, tell me what’s wrong.”

  I would never have guessed in a million words, the next words out of her mouth.

  “Our wedding is ruined. I’ll be too fat to wear my wedding dress. I’ll be eight months pregnant in August, on our wedding day,” she sobs.

  My mouth falls open as I comprehend what she’s telling me. Oh my God. We’re going to have a baby. Amelia is pregnant.

  “Honey look at me, this is the best news I’ve ever heard. Please don’t cry, I’m sure there’s a way we can work this out. Our wedding will not be ruined. We can move the wedding up,” I say and try to calm her down.

  “We can’t move the date up. The venue is booked solid for years. Asher practically had to give his firstborn to get us a date this summer,” she says, crying hard again.

  She’s so upset she’s hiccoughing and snot is running down her nose.

  “Amelia honey, we can work this out. I promise you. I’ll talk to Asher and see if we can move the date up if that’s what you want, or we can still keep the August date. You’ll be the most beautiful bride in the whole world, ” I say and reach for a tissue, then wipe her tears and nose.

  “Really, you’ll talk to Asher? Everything’s already been paid for and arranged for this summer. It’s going to be awful to try and rearrange everything,” she says a little calmer.

  “Leave it all to me, don’t you worry one bit about it. I’ll take care of everything. Honey, we’re going to have a baby,” I say and smile at her.

  She starts to smile and nods her head.

  “I’m already nine weeks pregnant. Here,” she says and hands me a sonogram picture.

  I touch the perfect little image of our baby. Of our baby, Amelia and I are going to be parents.

  “We’re going to be parents,” I tell her something she already knows.

  I bring babies into this world almost every day, but nothing compares to the feeling of knowing that one I helped create, is growing inside the woman that I love. One day very soon we’ll have a son or a daughter that’s a part of me and a part of Amelia.

  I pick her up and carry her to our bed. I make love to my beautiful, pregnant fiancé. We talk late into the night and agree to tell the family this Sunday at dinner. We plan on talking to Asher tomorrow, to see if he can work his magic and get the wedding day moved up.

  Amelia is nervous that he won’t be able to keep this big of a secret from Willow, but I don’t think she’s giving him enough credit. Oh, he may be in big trouble, but I’m guessing he can pull it off.

  Every Sunday her parents keep telling us to invite my parents to dinner, and this Sunday I think is a special occasion to do just that. My parents have been seeing each other on a regular basis now and their relationship seems to be stronger than it was before.

  Sunday at Willow’s parent’s house with our entire families sitting together gathered around the dinner table, I stand and lightly clink my wine glass with my fork.

  “If I can have everyone’s attention, Amelia and I have something we’d like to say.”

  I gaze lovingly down at Amelia and reach for her hand, “First, I want to thank everyone for all the hard work you’ve put into planning this wedding for August. But, it’s not going to happen.”

  Everyone is completely shocked and not sure what to say.

  “Amelia and I will be getting married in two weeks.”

  That got everyone’s mood turned upside down.

  “With the help of Asher, Amelia and I moved the wedding up, because this September, we’re excited to tell everyone that we’re expecting a baby.”

  Willow stands and yells, “What!”

  She punches
Asher in the arm hard, then rushes over to hug Amelia. Asher rubs his arm and gives Amelia the look that says she’s going to pay for that.

  Both my mom and Amelia’s mom are in tears, Chloe comes to me and gives me a big hug.

  “I’m so happy for you, Kyle,” Chloe says.

  “I want to say a big thank you to Asher. None of this would be possible without his help. I was really upset when I thought I couldn’t still have my fairytale wedding, but he really came through for us. Thank you so much, big brother.

  “Willow, please don’t be too mad at Asher. We asked him to keep it a secret so we could announce to everyone tonight our happy news. Everything is still planned exactly as it would’ve been in August, but the big day will be in just two weeks,” Amelia says.

  Willow walks back over to Asher, then swats him in mock anger on the arm she punched him. She sits back down with a huff, crosses her arms in front of her and pretends to still be mad. Asher leans over and puts his face just an inch from hers, she quickly pecks him on the lips, then smiles at him. We pass the sonogram picture around and everybody oohs and ahhs at it.

  After dinner, Amelia and the girls talk about all of the last minute details that need to be pulled together for the wedding. She has the most amazing glow about her and I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. I’m a doctor and I see that same glow in all the pregnant women I see on a daily basis.

  My parents are sitting together on the couch holding hands. It’s hard to believe only a few months ago, I was alone and my family was torn apart. Never would I have believed that only a few short months would bring such happiness and joy to so many lives. I’m going to be a dad and I’ll soon be married to the most beautiful woman. My sister is home and safe and my parents seem to be back together. Asher walks up to me and hands me a scotch.

  “Sucks don’t it,” he says.

  “What?” I ask confused.

  “That look on your face. I have the same one plastered on my face all the time now. It makes it hard to come off as a serious business man, when you walk around looking like you just won the lottery. I know, because I feel this way all the time.

  “Life can sucker punch you in the gut, then the next thing you know you’re wondering how on earth you ended up with so many blessings in such a short amount of time. Every time I look at Willow and Abbey, I can’t stop smirking like an idiot.

  “Abbey has me wrapped around her little baby finger and I can’t say no to Willow to save my life. It’s no good to try and fight it either. I’ve tried, trust me,” he says and shakes his head.

  “I just can’t believe how much my life has changed so fast. I love your sister so much and I never imagined I would have the bonus of becoming a father,” I tell him truthfully.

  “It’s a good place to be,” he says, clinks my glass and walks away to find his wife.

  Chapter 16

  Amelia

  The big day is finally here. I’m sitting in the bridal suite at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel and everything seems so surreal. I’m sitting on an overstuffed bench perched in front of a mirror and our mothers, Ava, Chloe and Amanda are in a flutter getting ready and fussing over me and each other.

  My hair is styled in a beautiful, messy, curly bun with long loose curls, surrounding my face. A tiara is secured on top of my head and a veil tucked and pinned into the bun. My fairytale princess wedding dress is strapless and form-fitting on the top, then the traditional poofy, princess skirt cascades to the floor.

  The makeup artist is putting the finishing touches on my makeup. Willow sits down next to me and hands me a long, narrow box. I look at her surprised and take the box.

  “Congratulations, Amelia. This is something Asher and I wanted to give you on your wedding day. This tradition started with me and I’d like to continue it with you,” she says while everyone else gathers around.

  I open the box and find a beautiful platinum, diamond tennis bracelet. It’s just stunning. My eyes start to tear and I wave my hands in my face to stop them from escaping from my eyes. I remember on Willow’s wedding day Asher gave her an amazing diamond and pink sapphire platinum bracelet.

  “No crying on your wedding day, this is your something new,” she says, takes it out of the box, then clasps it on my wrist.

  “This is your something blue,” Ava says and hands me a small square box.

  I open it and pull out a baby blue garter, with white silk trim. In the center are two tiny hearts encrusted with crystals.

  “This is your something borrowed, it was your great-great-grandmother’s,” my mother says, then hands me a small square box.

  I lift the lid and find an antique broach. She takes the broach out of the box, kneels down, flips up the underside of my skirt and pins it to one of the many layers under my dress. It’s just perfect.

  “This is your something old,” Kyle’s mother says and hands me a small, flat, square box.

  I just don’t know how much longer I can hold myself together. I open the box and find a very old hand-stitched handkerchief with the letter P elegantly cross stitched in one of the corners.

  There’s a knock at the door, Willow opens it to find Asher on the other side. He hands her a small box and a card. She kisses him quickly, then tries to shoo him away.

  “Wait, let him in here for a second,” I say, quickly getting up to let him back in.

  He stands in front of me and takes both my hands.

  “Amelia you’re just beautiful,” he says and kisses me on the cheek.

  He looks handsome in his tux, with a pink bow tie that matches Willow’s dress.

  “Can you take this to Kyle for me?” I ask, then dig in my suitcase.

  I hand him a box and a card. He takes the box and winks at me. He kisses Willow one last time, then closes the door behind him.

  Willow hands me the box and the card. With shaking hands, I take them and sit back on the bench. The box is that familiar blue, with a white bow that every girl only ever dreams about. I set it in front of me and open the card.

  My dearest Amelia,

  I knew from the first day you crashed into my world that we were destined to be together for eternity. You have shown me what love feels like, all the way to the depths of my soul. Our love is as pure as this gift. I love you yesterday, and today, and for all of eternity and beyond. You’ve made me a whole man with your undying love and friendship.

  Love,

  Kyle

  No woman could read those words and not be a blubbering mess. The makeup artist folds a tissue and holds it under my eyes to try and save my mascara. I pull myself together and hold the tiny blue box in my hand.

  “Girl, if you don’t open that right now, I will,” Willow says, trying to grab it out of my hand.

  “OK, relax, keep your knickers on,” I tell her.

  I open the lid and inside is a pair of platinum earrings. There’s a large round diamond on top, followed by four smaller round diamonds, each set in platinum and a pearl dangles at the bottom. It’s absolutely stunning. Our love is as perfect as a diamond. I take them out of the box, then place them in my ears. It’s the perfect addition to my fairytale dream day.

  There’s another knock at the door, this time it’s my father. Everyone leaves the room to give us a moment alone. I stand and in this moment I feel like a little girl, standing in front of my life long hero that can only be every little girl’s daddy. It’s not even worth fighting, the tears run unchecked down my face and I could care less. My dad pulls tissues out of his pocket and dabs at my cheeks.

  “These were initially for me, I didn’t think I could do this without blubbering like a baby myself. I have some things I want to say to you before I give you away,” he says, then chuckles and gives me a sympathetic smile.

  “Oh, Daddy,” I reply, sniffle and return his smile.

  “You are my firstborn daughter and as hard as I tried to prepare myself for this day, I have completely failed to do so,” he says as a single tear trails down his cheek.
r />   My heart is breaking, not with sadness, but with an overwhelming sense of love.

  “You’re just beautiful, Amelia. I’ve watched you grow up to become an amazing, beautiful, successful woman. I never thought it’d be so hard to let you go. Today, I will no longer be the man in your life. I just want to hold that little girl that you once were in my lap and never let her go.

  “Your first word was Daddy and I knew from that moment on, you were my special girl. I’m so proud of you. You’re about to marry a man that if I had to choose for you, I couldn’t have done a better job. He truly loves you. I was blessed to be there when you came into this world and I’m honored to walk you down the aisle today. I love you, Amelia,” he says, wipes his face with his hands, then pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to me.

  “Daddy, I love you too, and you will always have that special place in my heart and be my hero. What’s this?” I ask and unfold a yellowed piece of lined paper.

  “You don’t remember this? One day when I came home from work you were playing house and rushed up to me and handed me this letter. I’ve cherished it all these years.”

  I open the paper and a flood of memories comes rushing back to me. I was maybe eight or nine and I was playing house, and I was about to get married. I tied a white sheet around me pretending that it was a wedding dress.

  I had my stuffed animals all lined up sitting in chairs in the family room and I wrote my Dad this note, asking him if he would marry me because he was the best man I knew in the whole wide world. There were even two little boxes with a yes and a no written, so he could check which one he wanted. I can’t believe he kept this all these years.

  “That’s not yours to keep. This is one of my cherished possessions,” he says.

  I hand him back the paper and he tucks it inside his breast pocket with a pat.

  There’s a knock on the door and the wedding coordinator pokes her head in, telling us we have ten more minutes. My heart sinks in my chest. This is it, I’m about to marry the man of my dreams. My dad hugs me and tells me he’ll be just outside in the hallway waiting for me.