by Pj Fiala
Joci looked up and smiled. “If I could just hold onto one of you, I should be able to leverage myself around.”
Ryder leaned down and held his hand out for her. She grabbed his hand with her left and pulled herself to the edge of the sofa. Just that little movement caused pain to shoot up her right arm. She winced and yelped. Ryder leaned down closer and looked into her eyes to assess her.
She smiled weakly and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I move wrong, and it hurts. But it hurts less today than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better still.”
Ryder nodded and took a deep breath. “I love you, Mom.”
Joci couldn’t help herself. Tears sprang to her eyes, and a small sob escaped her throat. She reached her left hand up and cupped the back of Ryder’s head, pulling him down for a little hug. Shaking from the exertion and emotion, she said, “I love you, too, Ryder.”
When he sat back, she looked over at JT. His eyes were glistening as he watched them. “JT, I love you, too.” He nodded and opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly.
Just then, Jeremiah and Gunnar walked back into the room with a couple of trays.
Jeremiah looked at Joci, his brows furrowed. “Are you okay, honey?”
She smiled and nodded. “I’m better than ever.”
“I wasn’t sure how your tummy was doing. It’s getting close to evening now, and I thought warm soup and crackers would be good for you. Mom left some ginger tea for you as well.”
“Thank you for remembering, Jeremiah. While I was in the hospital, they gave me some anti-nausea medicine in the evening so I wouldn’t have to go through that. But I don’t have any now. I’ll just sip my soup and tea and nibble on my crackers until I know.”
He handed her a cup of soup, while the boys began eating. She sipped as her men sat and talked and ate. She conserved her energy as much as she could. She wanted to enjoy this for a while.
“Did Dad tell you about Deborah?” Gunnar asked.
Joci froze at Deborah’s name. She’d almost forgotten about that can of worms. She slowly focused on Jeremiah, who turned toward her. Joci’s voice felt small. “She’s not pregnant?”
He leaned back. “Oh, she’s pregnant. But, it’s her boyfriend’s kid.” His jaw tightened and his lips thinned.
“You’re not happy about that?”
His brows drew together then he leaned forward and gently took her hand in his. “I don’t give a shit whose baby she has. I’m pissed that she tried causing trouble with us.” He scratched his beard. “You were right; LuAnn put her up to it.” He let out a long breath.
Joci stared into his eyes for a long time. The green was back. She’d been sad that the darkness had seeped in for a while. His sparkle was vibrant again; his light was shining through. “How did you find out?”
He sat back and lifted up his backside as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He swiped across the screen and pulled up a text.
“Dog. Sorry to hear about Joci’s accident. I need to tell the truth. I’m not expecting your baby. It’s my boyfriend, Daniel’s. We’re going to get married this weekend. Hope all will be right with you. Deb.”
Joci handed his phone back and shook her head. “So many people just love causing trouble for others. I don’t get it.”
He set his phone on the coffee table. “I don’t either. LuAnn must have put her up to it. I don’t know how they know each other. I don’t care actually. But I’m just glad she felt the need to confess.” He took a bite of sandwich and chewed. “She was probably worried she’d be implicated in your accident in some way and wanted to come clean.”
Joci nodded and sipped at her soup.
JT was the first to bring up the wedding. “So, are you still getting married on the 28th?”
“No,” Jeremiah replied.
Joci looked at him, startled. Had he changed his mind? The boys were very, very quiet.
Jeremiah looked at Joci. “I don’t want to wait. I want to get married tomorrow.”
Joci let out the breath she was holding and started shaking her head no. “For the rest of our lives, we’ll look at the pictures of the day we got married. I don’t want to see them with me all bandaged and bruised.”
“But, I…””
“No, Jeremiah. Please don’t fight me on this. I’ve never been married. I will only marry once. At least give me this. Don’t let LuAnn take that away from me.”
He closed his eyes. How could he deny her this after what she’d been through? He just wanted her to be his—legally. He was terrified that something else would happen to her.
“It’s only three and a half weeks away Jeremiah. The doctor said he could have most of the bandages off by then. I’ll find a dress to cover the rest of them up. I won’t be one-hundred percent, but the pictures won’t show that.”
He turned to look at her, searching her eyes. He nodded very slightly. “Okay. But no later than that.”
They had finished eating and were chatting. Suddenly, Joci sat forward. She looked panicked, and Jeremiah stood quickly and went to her side.
“Honey, are you going to be sick?”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. He kneeled down, so he was eye level with her. He searched her eyes and saw the tears fall.
“Baby,” was all she could say. Her left hand wrapped around her stomach and a sob broke loose. God, she was losing the baby. It had been nine days since her accident. She had gotten comfortable with the thought that she wouldn’t lose the baby. But, right now she was experiencing severe cramps.
Jeremiah stood up, reached over, and grabbed his phone. He called Dr. Wan’s number. When she answered, Jeremiah jumped in, “Dr. Wan, this is Jeremiah Sheppard. Joci is having sharp cramps.”
“Okay, Jeremiah. Is she spotting or bleeding?”
“Joci, are you spotting or bleeding?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, Jeremiah, listen to me. Stay calm, please, for Joci’s sake. Have her go and check if she’s bleeding. Call me back as soon as you know.”
Jeremiah squatted down in front of Joci. “Shh, baby, don’t cry. We’re all here with you.” He wrapped his big hands around her small ones and squeezed. “Can you make it to the bathroom, baby? You need to check and make sure you aren’t bleeding. Then I’ll call Dr. Wan back. Okay? Can you do that for me?”
Joci gasped at another sharp pain. She breathed through it and then nodded.
41
Family
“Mom, can we stay here tonight?” JT asked.
“You boys never have to ask to stay here. Of course, you can.”
The men all fussed over her, brought chairs into the bedroom, and sat around talking. Joci nodded in and out of sleep, loving the sound of her men’s voices.
At one point, she woke up, and the room was dark. Jeremiah was next to her, sleeping soundly. Joci looked at the clock on the dresser—it was two eighteen a.m. She slept so much that she didn’t have a schedule anymore. And she had to pee.
It took her forever to maneuver herself around so she could get out of bed. She had started slowly walking to the bathroom when Jeremiah jumped out of bed, “What are you doing, Joci?”
“I have to pee. Go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.” She continued on.
When she finished, she opened the bathroom door, and Jeremiah was standing there, waiting for her.
She chuckled. “Did you listen the whole time? There’s something wrong with that.”
“No, but I heard you washing your hands, and I got up to help you. There’s nothing wrong with me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He kissed her temple and held her left hand as she hobbled to her side of the bed and wrestled herself back under the covers. Once she was situated, she laid back against the soft pillows and let out a big sigh.
He walked around and slid into the bed behind her. Very gently, he pulled her to him so her back was pressed against his stomach. She sighed when she felt his arms slowly coming around her. “I missed
this. I missed you holding me. I missed sleeping with you.”
Jeremiah kissed the back of her head. “I missed this, too, and you so much. I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
She let out a breath. “You didn’t cause it to happen, Jeremiah. You didn’t allow it to happen. LuAnn is the only one to blame there.”
“Stop it. A long time ago, you asked me to take care of the LuAnn situation, and I only went so far as talking to her. I should have fired her and removed her from our lives. That’s on me. Because I didn’t, and now you’re suffering.”
She sighed. “Well, we could beat each other and ourselves up, and it won’t change anything. So, we need to move on. Okay?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed Joci’s temple and pulled her in tighter.
“Will we have to sit through a trial, Jeremiah?” Her voice was small and soft.
“I’m afraid so, honey. But, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I want her in jail. I want her away from us. I want her punished for what she’s caused you.”
Joci was quiet. She wanted LuAnn punished, too. But she was nervous about the trial and what she would have to hear throughout that process. LuAnn no doubt would make herself seem pathetic. She loved Jeremiah, and she lost her mind over him. Poor thing.
“Tonight, the boys called me Mom and told me they loved me.” Joci smiled.
“I know. My chest has been tight all night, watching them with you. Did that make you feel good?”
“Yes. I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that they never had anyone to call Mom before. It makes it even more special to me that they think of me that way. If anything good is coming out of all of this mess, it’s just that it brought us all closer together.”
“How typical of you to look at the silver lining. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
Joci smiled.
“Get some sleep, baby. Tomorrow everyone is coming over to plan a wedding. You aren’t going to do anything but answer questions. You’re going to marry me in three and a half weeks. I won’t postpone it, not for anything. I don’t even want to wait that long.”
She drifted off to sleep, thanking God for giving her Jeremiah, the boys, and this little baby she was carrying. They had had a little scare, but it turned out to be just cramps. Dr. Wan talked them through it and said it was probably from all the trauma. Joci was to try and relax and keep tabs on herself. If the cramps started again, she was to call Dr. Wan.
42
At Last
Joci sat on a chair in front of a tall mirror, watching Sandi put the finishing touches on her makeup. A few more strokes of a brush and Sandi stepped back and looked at Joci.
“You look so beautiful. You always do; but today, you look even more beautiful. Being pregnant agrees with you,” Sandi said.
Joci smirked. “Well, it does now that I’m not puking every day. Gawd, I hate that.”
Jackie chuckled from behind her. “You were a puker with Gunnar, too; do you remember? I woke up every morning to you throwing up in the bathroom. At the time, I thought I would never get pregnant if I had to throw up every day. But less than a year later, I was puking in the bathroom, too.”
They laughed at the memory. Emily and Erin walked into the room smiling.
“Glad everyone is so cheerful,” Emily said, her cheeks pink with excitement.
“We were just reminiscing about how much we both threw up while we were pregnant. I’m glad Joci is going through it this time and not me.” Jackie winked at Joci.
Emily looked at Joci and smiled warmly. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“I feel great. I haven’t thrown up in three days. It must be over, finally.”
“You look beautiful. Jeremiah won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” Erin smiled.
Just then, Angie and Staci walked into the room. Staci whistled. “You look beautiful, Joci. Hubba-hubba.”
Joci laughed. “Thank you. I guess it’s time to wrestle me into this dress.”
Jackie walked over to the closet where Joci’s wedding dress hung. She pulled the gorgeous ivory dress off its hanger and cradled it in her arms as she carried it to Joci.
Joci’s hard cast had been removed. She had to wear a soft cast for another few weeks, but today, she didn’t have it on. She had had a few words with her doctor and Jeremiah about it, but Joci could be stubborn when she really wanted something too. And today, she didn’t want any reminder of her accident or the person behind it.
The skin on her arm and shoulder looked nasty from being in a cast, but she had been exfoliating and moisturizing over the past few days to make it look better. She was going to start physical therapy in a week. Right now, she couldn’t lift her arm very high. There were scars where the doctors had inserted the screws, but she had been told that the scars would gradually fade away.
Jackie held Joci’s dress open as Sandi helped her out of her robe. She stepped into her wedding dress. Her baby bump was beginning to show, but it was almost unnoticeable. She was ten weeks pregnant now.
Emily, her future mother-in-law, held out her hand to support Joci. She smiled and grasped the older woman’s hand, mostly so Emily would feel like she was helping. The main thing Joci learned over her rehabilitation was that everyone wanted to feel like they were helping in some way, no matter how small. Joci had to learn to let them so they would feel better. She had been so used to doing everything on her own; she didn’t realize how helpless the people who loved her felt.
Sandi, Staci, and Erin zipped her up and started arranging the train. Sandi placed the beautiful wide ivory band with Swarovski crystals displayed in a floral pattern on Joci’s head.
Her dress was simply stunning. It was a soft organza mermaid gown with hand-sewn Swarovski crystal and diamante beading encrusted on the neckline and dropped waist. The full skirt had dramatic layers of organza that flowed full to the floor. Joci had asked the seamstress to alter the dress to add sleeves to cover her scars and bruises. They were light and lacey, and even though you could see through them, the lace and beading camouflaged her scars. The add-on sleeves matched perfectly, and it would have been impossible to tell the dress hadn’t initially been designed that way.
The back of the gown was open with lace trim trailing to a V that stopped at her waist. A deep gray satin sash went around her waist and tied in a perfect bow in the back and trailed to the bottom of the dress. There was an intricate lace detail at the bottom of the dress, highlighted by the gray sash.
It was stunning. And Joci felt fabulous in it. She turned to look at the other women in the room. They were quiet for a few beats.
Emily sobbed and raised her hand to her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes. “You look so beautiful, Joci. That dress is perfect, just perfect.”
Joci smiled at her. “Thank you. It feels perfect.”
Everyone else burst into excited compliments. Then there was a knock on the door, and Molly Bates, the photographer, walked into the room.
“Hi, can I come in and take pictures?”
“Sure, Molly. Come on in and meet everyone,” Joci said.
“Molly, this is Emily, Jeremiah’s mom. Staci, Angie, and Erin are Jeremiah’s sisters-in-law. You know Jackie and Sandi, of course. Everyone, this is Molly. I met her a while back at a class, and then again on the Veteran’s Ride. She was one of the photographers. She freelances and I am thrilled she could come today.”
Molly grinned and said, “Hello, everyone; it’s great to meet you. Okay, let’s start getting some pictures, shall we? Then, while you’re putting on the finishing touches, I’ll go up and take pictures of the guys.”
For the next forty-five minutes, they proceeded to snap various pictures in different groupings and poses.
Molly walked down the hall and knocked on the half-open door of the guys’ dressing room. She peeked in, catching Jeremiah’s eye. He quickly waved her in, then walked over and gave her a hug. “Thank you for being our wedding photographer today,
Molly. Joci’s ecstatic you were available.”
Molly smiled. “I’m happy beyond belief to be here. I love Joci.”
Jeremiah smiled. “Everyone, this is Molly Bates. Molly, let me introduce you to everyone here.” He introduced his Marine buddies, then the family. “My father, Thomas. Joci’s brother-in-law, David; and my sons, Gunnar, JT, and Ryder.”
Ryder and Molly stared at each other for a few beats longer than everyone else. Jeremiah smiled, cleared his throat, and Molly looked at him, her cheeks tinted pink.
“Okay. Ummm, let’s start over here.” She pointed to an area in the corner.
Emily Ann, Dayton and Staci’s daughter, knocked on the door. “Time to get married, Joci,” she smiled.
The girls giggled and cheered. It was time. Erin opened the boxes with the flowers in them and handed Jackie and Sandi their bouquets. “Oh, so pretty, Joci. You did an amazing job on the colors,” Sandi beamed.
“When you said we were carrying orange flowers with accents of silvery-gray Dusty Miller in them, I thought you were crazy, but this works,” Jackie added.
The bridesmaids were wearing gray dresses to match Joci’s sash with ivory sashes around their waists. Joci’s bouquet consisted of long-stemmed silver roses with a few orange flowers tucked here and there. The corsages were pinned on, and they started down the hall.
Those not in the wedding party walked into the church and sat down.
Jackie hugged Joci. “I love you, Sis. I’m thrilled for you.”
“Thank you, Jackie. For everything you’ve done for me over the years. I love you.”
“Thank you for letting me be a part of this. I couldn’t be happier for you,” Sandi said.
Joci laughed. “I couldn’t get married without you. I love you, too. Okay, let’s go. I’m excited.”
Gunnar came walking down the hall and stopped in front of her. He looked amazing. The guys were all wearing gray to match the girl’s dresses. With Gunnar’s dark hair and bright blue eyes, he looked gorgeous in the tuxedo.