More Than Forever (Providence Series Book 2)

by Moore,Mary B

  “Did you ever have him tested?” Dad asked Brett, who was sitting beside him.

  “No, but we did tell him that he was adopted.”

  “Is he?”

  “Maya did, and apparently he’s fine. I’d still prefer that he was adopted,” Ren replied scowling, while his siblings nodded their heads and Christie looked up at the ceiling.

  “I told you that boy wasn’t right when he was born,” Hurst snapped at Jack.

  “Dad, he’s a mini you for crying out loud.”

  “That’s how we knew there was something wrong with him, sweetheart,” Linda said, reaching over and patting Jack’s hand. “You’re just like your father, too, but at least four of your kids got Colette’s genes. We have hope that Ren and Maya’s baby will too.”

  Turning around to face me, Dad looked at my stomach, then to Ren, then Brett, Tom, and Layla who had both arrived that morning. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then looked at my Mom for help. She just patted his cheek and said, “It’s okay, I don’t think it’s hereditary.”

  Little did they know, I still had the number that Ebru gave me and I fully intended on using it, as soon as the baby was old enough.

  It had sucked not being able to spend the night with Ren and I missed him. I was lying with Pippa, who I’d stolen back from the pig thief Cole, feeling sorry for myself in our big empty bed, when I felt the first movement from the baby and snatched up my phone, dialing Ren.

  “I miss you, baby,” he sulked down the phone as soon as he answered.

  “Ren, I need you here, now.”

  “What’s wrong?” I could hear stomping and doors slamming. He was at Mark’s house with the rest of the guys, while the girls all spent the night here, so he didn’t have too far to run. The houses were far enough apart though that it would still take him a couple of minutes to get to me.

  “The baby moved,” I gasped just as it did it again.

  I could hear the guys shouting and Ren yelling at them to get out of his way. There was a thud and Cole whined and then there was scuffling sounds. “The fucking baby moved, assholes, get outta my fucking way!”

  Obviously, those were the magic open sesame words because it all went silent in the background and all I could hear was Ren panting as he ran. The door slammed downstairs and I hung up hearing footsteps thudding towards me, and then he was skidding into the room and Pippa was standing at the edge of the bed squealing for her daddy.

  “Is it okay? Do you need the doctor? Is it meant to do that?” I just laughed and grabbed his hand, putting it on my bump. As soon as his hand spread out, the baby kicked again and I looked up at him grinning to see his nose wrinkled. “Baby, I think that’s just gas.”

  “It’s not gas, it’s the baby,” I was growling, but come on, gas? This was the most magical moment of my life and he was calling it gas!

  Ebru, Scarlett, and Layla stuck their heads into the room and took in Ren’s look of… I don’t even know what that was, and my scowl.

  “What did he do?” Layla spoke up first.

  “The baby moved, and he,” I pointed my finger at Ren as he narrowed his eyes at me, “said it was gas!”

  Apparently, the women got it because they all glared at him, causing Ren to take a step back. “What?” He held his hands up in front of him. “It felt like gas, how am I meant to know what it feels like?” None of them fell for it and continued to glare at him. Sighing, he nodded his head in acceptance over his fuck up. “You’re right! Now go, so I can have a minute with Maya and our little gas bubble.”

  Scarlett let out a little laugh, but I wasn’t going to be fooled by that cuteness. They all said goodnight and left me alone with the asshole that I was marrying in twelve hours.

  Lying down beside me on the bed with his head level with my bump, he reached out and stroked it gently while Pippa, who was delighted that her daddy was there, snuffled excitedly around his neck making him smile. “This time two years ago, if you’d told me that I’d be marrying a woman I loved so much that it hurt with a baby on the way…”

  “And a pig baby,” I interrupted, nodding my head at Pippa who was now standing on his back walking back and forth.

  “And a pig baby,” he laughed, the movement sending Pippa tumbling off his back and onto the bed. “I wouldn’t have believed you. But there isn’t one day that goes by that I don’t think of myself as the luckiest guy in the world.” He got up and crawled up the bed so that he had his hands either side of my head and was looking down at me. “I can’t wait to marry you, baby.”

  I didn’t realize I’d started crying until he reached down and wiped away a tear that was heading towards my lip and then leaned down to kiss me. Any kiss from Ren was amazing, but this kiss seemed to mean so much more.

  “I don’t hear talking up there,” Amy yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “No ding ding until you get that wedding ring, bitch. Move it, Townsend!”

  Ren raised his head and from the scowl on his face was about to yell something back to her, but I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down for one last kiss. I released him and leaned back. “Go Mr. Townsend, I need my beauty sleep. I’ll see you in twelve hours!”

  He gave a miserable sounding sigh and kissed my forehead. “Night-night, soon-to-be-Mrs. Townsend. I love you more than anything!”

  After he’d left, I’d fallen asleep quickly and when I’d woken up it was to Amy shaking me and telling me to get my ass out of bed. The morning passed quickly, and before I knew it, my hair and makeup were done and I was in my dress looking at my bridesmaids - Amy, Lucy, Ava, Scarlett, Isla, Ebru, and Layla and my bridesman Tony, who all looked amazing in their outfits. I’d gone with a coral color for the bridesmaids’ dresses. They were to the floor, and had straps that came from a v point on the chest and lay close to their necks and crossed over at the back; they really were stunning. Tony was wearing a dark gray suit and, like Ren and his groomsmen, had a tie that matched the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses and the roses in our bouquets. The only difference for Tony was that he had insisted on carrying a bouquet with him, too, so that he fit in with the bridesmaids and he would be walking down as if he was one, too, which I had to admit I loved.

  “So, any second thoughts?” Lucy asked, coming to stand beside me.

  “If you want, I’ll take him off your hands and you’ll never have to put up with his ass again,” Tony said winking.

  Laughing, I shook my head and took a last look out at where I was going to get married in twenty minutes time, it couldn’t come soon enough.

  Ren

  I was standing at the end of the aisle with roughly one hundred and fifty people sitting in front of me, waiting anxiously for Maya to arrive.

  “How you doing there, buddy?” Mace asked. Looking at him in a suit was surreal, what was more surreal was the color of the tie around his neck. I had never seen Mace in anything smarter than a shirt and dress pants or his Marine uniform, and I sure as shit had never seen him anywhere near the color pink, or pinky orange, whatever the fuck it was.

  Nodding, I looked behind him and caught sight of Cole with a black eye glaring at me. Apparently in my rush to get to Maya last night, I’d elbowed him in the eye, resulting in an impressive shiner. Was I sorry about it? Nope, but I was worried that Maya was going to kill me.

  “You wouldn’t even let me cover it,” Cole hissed making us all laugh.

  “Dudes don’t wear make-up, pussy,” Tom snorted from beside him.

  “I have this,” he pointed at his beard. “Trust me, I look man enough to pull it off.”

  I was about to reply when a song came on that I was sure was from a Disney cartoon about dreams being a wish your heart makes, letting us know that the wedding was starting. Everyone turned to look at the entrance of the tent as Lucy walked through first and made her way towards us followed by Tony, then Amy whose eyes cut to Coleman’s as he stood to the side of us. Ava and Scarlett walked out together and I heard Mace take in a sharp breath be
side me as he watched Ava walk toward us. The final two were Isla and Ebru who stumbled when she looked at Cole; I guess the black eye was pretty bad.

  The music changed then to the song that I’d chosen for her, and as God Only

  Knows started playing, Maya appeared holding her Dad Lasco’s arm tightly. She looked absolutely beautiful with her hair up and the dress she’d chosen showing off her baby bump. She was grinning through her tears at me when she looked to the side of me and her eyes narrowed. Looking over to see what was the issue, I saw Cole with his hand covering his eye, pretending like he was itching his forehead instead. Brett elbowed him hard making him gasp and drop his hand to hold his side, revealing his black eye to Maya, who looked like she was going to kill him.

  When she reached me, I took a step over to take her from her Dad and shake his hand, doing my best not to wince when he tried to break it.

  I’d been scared shitless that Maya would want us to write our vows, but thankfully she loved the traditional ones so we were going with those. In no time, I was leaning down to kiss her, totally forgetting where we were until I heard Cole coughing up a lung and people laughing. Releasing my wife, we turned over toward him to see him holding his throat, red in the face while Luke smacked him hard on the back.

  “What the hell?” Maya whispered.

  “Y’all were getting carried away, and Colon over here had his mouth open and a fly flew in,” Amy filled us in sniggering with everyone else while Cole continued hacking up a lung. It was when he ran over to a vase of flowers and hocked a loogie in it that Maya snapped.

  “I’m going to kill him,” she hissed. “First the eye, then he spat in the flowers! Just one day, that’s all I asked for - for him to be normal for one day.”

  “In his defense, he wanted to put makeup on to cover it,” Mark said from the end of the line of my groomsmen helpfully, but slightly too loudly so that the guests heard it. The roar of laughter filled the tent and even Maya joined in. “And the fly wasn’t technically his fault.”

  Shocking us all and taking pity on him, Ebru walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and walked back over to us as Cole sulked beside her. “I didn’t do it on purpose, it just flew in.”

  I got half way down the aisle with Maya, before I snapped and grabbed her up lifting her above me and spinning. “She’s mine!” I yelled as she giggled and before I put her back down again, I kissed the bump where my baby was and grinned up at her. “Mrs. Fucking Townsend!”

  I heard a deep sigh behind me and then my mom said, “Really Renwick? Watch your mouth. First your brother wants to wear makeup, then he spits up in a two hundred-dollar flower arrangement,” my Dad was the one who started choking this time. “Hush Jack,” she admonished. “Then your filthy mouth makes an appearance.

  What next?”

  “I love your filthy mouth,” Maya grinned and then reached up to give me a kiss.

  “Don’t make me kill you and make my daughter a widow on her wedding day, son,” her dad growled.

  We followed her parents out of the tent towards where the photographer was waiting for us and I mentally prepared myself for the at least six hours of hell ahead of me. It was worth it, but if someone tried to take Maya away from me I’d kill them; she was mine now.

  Cole had wanted to involve Pippa in the ceremony, but Maya had said a hell no and pointed out that it wasn’t fair to Dash. Not wanting to take the risk that the dog would hump his leg in front of everyone or while we were getting married, he’d relented, but half way through the reception, he’d walked in with a very clean looking Dash looking up at him lovingly and the pig under his arm.

  “What’s the strange one doing, Maya?” her dad asked from where he was sitting beside her.

  Looking up and sighing, she filled him in. “That’s Ren’s dog Dash, who is in love with Cole and humps his leg…” she trailed off and I looked over to see Dash making thrusting motions. Within seconds though, Pippa was at the dog’s legs and squealing, resulting in Dash sitting down quickly in almost a show dog pose.

  “Ummm…” we looked at each other wide eyed. “And that’s the, uh, micro pig that Ren got to propose to me with, Pippa.”

  Her father nodded like it made total sense in crazyville and shot her mom a look, and then looked down at his plate at the ham that was sitting there. He’d known about the micro pig because Maya had FaceTime’d them to show her the ring when I’d proposed and had held Pippa the whole time, but I guess Dash made it a crazier story. Pushing his plate away, he’d just leaned back in his chair when he stood up suddenly and looked under the table. Lifting the cloth, I peered underneath and saw Pippa standing looking up at Lasco in her typical love me now way.

  “Oh look, Lasco, she wants you to love her!” Vivienne laughed; Maya’s mom was a riot. “Well, pick her up!”

  Grimacing, he bent down stiffly and picked up the spoilt piglet and had just stood back up again when a voice sounded over the speakers.

  “Oh, I see the father of the bride wants to make his speech. Please quieten down for Mr. Lasco Price, Maya’s father.”

  So that was how Maya’s dad had to make his speech, holding a micro pig who was making her little honking sounds, nuzzling his neck and then much to everyone’s amusement and his horror took a little piglet shit which mostly missed him, but not all of it.

  Thankfully, the whole thing was being recorded by people on their cell phones, so we could relive the moment. I don’t think anyone heard the end of his speech, which was broken up with the odd whisper of “fucking pig” under his breath earning himself a healthy kick each time from Maya’s mom.

  We’d chosen gifts for every member of our wedding party and had given them to them before the ceremony, but Maya had an extra one for Cole that she wanted to give him today. So, after the speeches she stood up and went to get it while I took the microphone.

  “Thank you everyone who came here today to help us celebrate our big day and also to all of the members of our wedding party who have held our hands and kept us sane over the last couple of weeks. We’re very lucky to have them,” I went to meet Maya behind Cole’s chair. “A huge thank you goes to my little brother Cole, though. He’s looked after Maya while I was at work and he’s done so much for us that we decided to get him something special to show him how grateful we are.”

  Maya held the large bag out to Cole who took it with a huge grin on his face and reached in through the tissue paper to pull out the cushion that Maya had had made for him. Turning it around to read, his grin dropped and was replaced by a glare which he then lifted to the both of us.

  “Show us what it says!” One of the guests shouted, followed quickly by other guests shouting the same thing.

  With all eyes on him, he couldn’t exactly say no, so he turned it around with a sigh so that everyone could read it.

  Always be yourself,

  Unless you can be a unicorn…

  Then always be a unicorn.

  Cole’s unicorn escapade at the hospital had been witnessed by many Piersville residents, so it had spread without our assistance. They all burst out laughing and I saw Dad filling Lasco in on the meaning at the head table.

  “Screw you guys,” Cole muttered and shot everyone the bird. How ungrateful could you get?

  “Cole Townsend, don’t you stick your middle finger up at your brother’s wedding guests!” Mom snapped from her chair.

  “Oh that’s not his middle finger,” Ebru giggled loudly. “That’s his unicorn fist!”

  We were walking back to our chairs with guests still laughing around us when, as we walked past Maya’s parents, her Dad reached out and caught Maya’s hands and said solemnly, “I’ll pay for it. You set up the appointment to have my grandbaby tested and we’ll foot the bill. Money is not an issue!” He was still holding Pippa in his arms when he said it and realized this when she squealed wanting his attention back on her, making him glare at me. I don’t know how I was to blame for Pippa’s infatuation with him, but he should be grateful tha
t it wasn’t a Dash-Cole type fixation.

  The rest of the reception went as you’d expect after that, and thankfully my biggest fear of us being attacked in some way didn’t happen. I’d been tempted to cancel or move the location of the wedding, but there had been so much security in place that Coleman said we were technically safer here as they could monitor who was around. His buddy from Langley had also flown out with a new device that was in the testing phase that prevented signals from being jammed and Mace’s Marine buddies had offered to provide additional security for both weddings. I was still on edge for most of it but did my best to hide it from Maya.

  We were waiting until after Luke and Isla’s wedding in two weeks’ time to go on our honeymoon because we didn’t want to miss it, but also because we were hopefully finding out the sex of the baby in four days’ time, too. I was taking Maya to a beach resort two hours away, though, for three nights. As we were saying goodbye to everyone and getting ready to leave before it got too late, Maya’s mom pulled me aside and said she was so getting Lasco, who was still carrying Pippa around because she’d screeched when he’d tried to put her on the floor, a piglet when they got back to Australia. I wonder if they’d be framing any of the wedding photos?

  Chapter

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Isla

  It was the Wednesday following Ren and Maya’s wedding and we were all sitting in Colette and Jack’s living room waiting for them to come back from their sonogram appointment.

  “If they have a boy, they’re naming it Cole,” Cole said, eating a piece of red velvet cake left over from the wedding.

  “Bullshit!” Brett scoffed. He was working from Piersville now, but had to keep flying back to Dallas for meetings. Jack started arguing with Cole about how his grandson would be taking his name and Hurst joined in while Colette and Linda just looked at each other and then started discussing baby stuff.