A Paper Trail

by Magan Vernon

  Dina raised an eyebrow. "So, who is going to be the maid of honor?"

  "My sister, duh. You know you'd be right up there and don't worry, she won't have eyes for Jackson. Unless my brother-in-law does something terribly wrong after she has her daughter next month."

  Dina sighed. "Wow. This is all crazy. A baby. Getting married. Are you waiting until after the baby is born?"

  I shook my head. "No. I wanted to but Blaine said he wanted us to actually be married whenever he or she was born and he wanted it to be on our dating anniversary. We're looking at June. We're actually meeting with the priest later this week."

  Dina's eyes widened. "June? That's like four months away. How are you going to get everything done in time with school, a wedding, and you're not even done with your first trimester?"

  "I have no idea."

  ***

  After Dina's reaction, I thought I could get away without telling people I was pregnant for a while...at least until my third trimester.

  I'd been able to successfully avoid seeing Nikki, Blaine's ex-hook-up, for most of the semester. Even though we'd sort of made up in whatever our feud was, that didn't mean I wanted the reminder of seeing his ex every day.

  But the one day, the one freaking day that my bladder failed me and I had to take a detour to the bathroom in the student union before heading to my class, I saw her.

  I tried to turn in the other direction, but she caught me stepping out of the bathroom stall at the same time as her. Shit.

  I cringed and tried to hide the grimace on my face as I turned toward her.

  She looked every bit her practically-a-country-singer-good-looking-self with low slung jeans and a white tank top, her platinum blonde hair falling in loose waves on her shoulders. She was cute without even trying and it made it harder not to hate her.

  "Hi, Nikki," I managed to force out.

  "Hey. How you doing?" she asked, fiddling with the strap on her backpack.

  I nodded. "Doing great, you?"

  She walked in step with me as we exited the bathroom. I was hoping she would just answer and we'd be done, but I could never be that lucky.

  "Doing good, doing good."

  She was silent for all of two seconds before she finally sucked in a breath. "So Butch and I were over at Jackson's the other night."

  "Cool." I didn't want to lead her, but I knew where it was going.

  "And Dina said you and Blaine were engaged. Congrats."

  "Yeah, he proposed the day after his birthday." I tried not to make eye contact with her. I didn't need to rub salt in the wounds and I also had a feeling that wasn't the end of her statement.

  "Then Butch made a crack about you probably being pregnant if y'all were getting engaged so soon and then Jackson told us that y'all were, well, pregnant that is."

  I stopped and she came to a halt beside me. I slowly turned toward her. "So you think that's the only reason Blaine would marry me? Because, let me tell you, he would have done it otherwise and you don't need to feel sorry or think we need to be besties now because I'm pregnant with your obsession's baby."

  Nikki put her hands up. "Okay, first off, fuck you. I was trying to be nice, and second, I probably didn't say that in the best way, and I'll blame your reaction on hormones and my bitchiness."

  I glared at her. I didn't know what to make of Nikki, ever. She was the type of girl that could probably kill a man with her bare hands and then have kinky sex with his best friend.

  She sighed. "Look, Libby, I know I'm a bitch, I don't sugar coat it, but I'm not trying to say anything about you and Blaine. I just wanted you to know that I know. People are going to know. It's a small ass town. Some people are going to like it and some people are going to talk a hell of a lot of shit about it."

  I raised an eyebrow. "And your point?"

  She pushed her hair behind her ears. "I just wanted you to know that the Sinclairs have your back."

  I nodded. "Okay. Well I appreciate that and I guess I'm sorry for my hormonal bitchiness too."

  She finally smiled. "Now that this awkward conversation is out of the way, I have to go meet up with Butch. He wanted the details after I talked to you."

  "Was he expecting me to be nine months pregnant and you would run to him and tell him that my water broke?"

  She laughed, shaking her head. "No, I think he was hoping for a good girl fight, but I think we're both past that. And we both know I'd win."

  "I don't know. I've got at least a foot on you and you wouldn't hit a pregnant woman."

  "You're right. I guess you win."

  I nodded. "I usually do."

  She smirked. "That you do."

  ***

  After a full day of class then work on Thursday, I wished I could have just slept the day away on Friday. But I had a feeling those days would soon be fewer and farther between.

  And especially since Aunt Dee was able to get Blaine and I an appointment with the priest.

  Like clockwork, every Sunday, The Crabtrees and Aunt Dee and Britt had been fixtures in the small Catholic Church in town. I knew we didn't have much of a choice in the matter of where we would be getting married and since Catholics couldn't get married outside, it was basically our only option unless we went back to Chicago. And there had been very little discussion about us having it anywhere other than Elsbury.

  "Are you ready for this, Lib?" Blaine asked as we pulled into the church parking lot. We were the only other car there besides an old blue station wagon. I figured people would probably come later in the day to pray since it was Lenten season, but with it being early in the afternoon, it was empty.

  I sighed. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

  Blaine shook his head and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He'd worked all morning on the road crew and picked me up at the shop right after lunch. He looked beyond exhausted with his dark circles and the fact that he yawned about a million times. "We don't have to do this. We can just run off to Vegas or the courthouse."

  I laughed. "Yeah, that's definitely not an option."

  "Who says so?"

  "I do." I sighed. "I mean, I've never been the kind of girl that played dress up and dreamed of some grand wedding, but there's just something about the white dress and walking down the aisle with both our families being there to witness it that intrigues me. It's kind of what makes a marriage. The joining of two families."

  He squeezed my knee. "And the beginning of ours."

  "Yeah." I looked down at my stomach. "It is, isn't it?"

  "I won't lie, it's been hard to wrap my head around everything. It's going so fast and I wish time could slow down, but at the same time it's exciting. It's like we get to take one giant leap forward into our future. No looking back."

  I laughed. "Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend? The Blaine Crabtree I know doesn't talk like that."

  He opened the car door. "Your boyfriend isn't here. It's just your fiancé'." He winked and went around the car, opening my door and helping me out.

  I smiled. "And getting engaged turned you into a guy that loves commitment?"

  He shrugged, swinging our intertwined hands between us. "Stranger things have happened."

  We followed the cobblestone path up to the little white church. It reminded me more of a Southern Baptist church on a plantation than the grand cathedral-looking structures I was used to.

  There was a doorbell next to the two carriage-style doors and Blaine buzzed it.

  I thought we were going to have to wait forever. Father Donahue was not a young guy, by any means. I think he was older than my grandpa. So I was pretty damn surprised when he was at the door before the second ring went off. Not only that but he was in a baseball cap, an LSU shirt, and some muddy shorts.

  "Hey y'all, sorry, I lost track of time working in the garden." His voice was always sugary sweet and inviting and I couldn't help but smile.

  "That's fine. We should be apologizing to you since you had to meet us on such short notice," Blai
ne said, putting his hand on the small of my back as we stepped into the sanctuary.

  "Would you two like to have our meeting in the garden? It's much better than sitting in my office and if we're lucky, maybe the birds will join us."

  "Sure. That sounds great," Blaine said and we followed Father Donahue out the side door into the garden.

  My parent's church back in the Chicago suburbs was meticulously landscaped; they had workers that came in just about every day to mow the lawn, water the flowers, and make sure everything was in place.

  St. Alphonsus Church in Elsbury was definitely on a smaller scale and even though there was one line of flowers that flanked a side of the church and a few magnolia trees with benches beneath them, it was still easy to tell that it was well taken care of. Possibly all by Father Donahue himself.

  Father Donahue took a seat on one of the benches and motioned for us to sit in the one across from it. "Sit a spell, would ya? And let's talk about how two of my younger members found love and want to spend the rest of their lives together. If I recall, y'all didn't meet too long ago?" He raised his eyebrows.

  Blaine shook his head as we took the seat across from him. "No, sir. Since last June, which is why we were also looking at June for a wedding date. Our anniversary."

  Father Donahue whistled through his teeth. "That's only four months away, son, and you know you're marrying a Yankee girl who I'm sure is going to want something big and fancy. Are you sure you don't want to wait until next June? Give some more time to plan?"

  Blaine laughed. "It sounds like you're trying to talk us out of it, sir."

  Father Donahue smiled and shook his head. "I just want to make sure you two aren't jumping into anything. There are a lot of young people that walk through these doors and promise God and their families that they'll be forever and then something happens and they break that vow. And it doesn't just affect them. It affects the church. Their families. Their world."

  I swallowed hard. Plenty of my friends had parents who were divorced and Blaine and I both had our share of bad break ups, but it wasn't just about us anymore. There were three of us in the equation.

  "Father, I love Libby Gentry. I've known that since the moment I laid eyes on her. I've sat in that church every single Sunday and every single Sunday I find myself staring at Libby across the aisle when I should be paying attention to your sermon. I know it's not very Christian of me, but I think I'd pay a whole lot more attention if this woman was at my side and my wife."

  Father Donahue laughed and pulled out his phone. "Now you two are just trying to guilt me into it."

  "Is it working?" Blaine asked.

  Father Donahue was silent a few moments as he scrolled through his phone. "Well, I do have June 11th available. It's a Friday if y'all can do that. Now you'll have to get your Catholic marriage classes in before that and four meetings with me. So we'll need to get those booked as soon as possible. Do you think you two can handle that?"

  Blaine looked at me and I squeezed his hand in response before looking at Father Donahue. "That sounds perfect. June 11th it is."

  Chapter 7

  Two weeks and morning sickness was still all day sickness.

  I had my first appointment with an OB and I was hoping that she could give me something that would make me stop feeling so sick and drained all the time. I felt like I had a parasite that was just sucking the life out of me.

  The doctor was in New Orleans, but not as far as the city. I made the appointment for a late Friday afternoon so Blaine would be able to get off of work and Aunt Dee was being very slack with my hours, which I was starting to feel bad about. It made me think about the future.

  What the hell was I going to do about a maternity leave? Finish school with a child attached to my hip?

  Growing up in such a short period of time was one hell of a ride and made me even more exhausted.

  Blaine was supposed to pick me up at the shop when he was off work around two. He said he'd be done early. But when the clock struck 2:15, I found myself getting more and more agitated and every time I tried to call his phone, I just got a voicemail.

  "Where the hell is he?" I muttered, staring out the shop window for the millionth time.

  "Why don't you just go without him?" Marion, my older co-worker, asked from behind the counter.

  Since I started she'd taken less hours at the shop, which I was glad for. It meant I didn't have to see her as much since she liked to be in my business. But with me working less hours with school, she ramped up her hours, which meant I was stuck with her constant prying.

  "It's our first appointment and he said he'd be here."

  She cackled. "Honey, haven't you figured out by now that you can't depend on a Southern man for anything more than fixing your car?"

  She kept laughing like she said the funniest thing in the world. I looked at my phone and saw the time hadn't moved. Blaine still wasn't there and I had to get on the road.

  I had to prove that my Southern man was worth more than fixing my car so I grabbed my purse from underneath the counter. "Tell Aunt Dee I'll be back later."

  With that, I pushed open the door and got into my car, speeding as fast as I could to the construction on Parish Road.

  The bright yellow trucks were on the side of the road, digging into the ground with orange cones and signs with the words 'Men Working' displayed for at least a mile.

  I parked my car and jogged toward where a group of guys were standing around. It's not like they were in the middle of a big dig. They were just standing there with shovels in their hands and their bright yellow vests practically blinding me.

  "Excuse me? Is anyone actually working?" I yelled, jogging up to them.

  The guy with his back turned to face me and immediately his blue eyes lit up. Blaine was just freaking standing there when he knew how important this was to me.

  "Hey, baby, you know you're not supposed to be here," he said, walking toward me and wiping the dirt on his jeans.

  He was covered in dirt, even some flakes in his blond hair. There was sweat glistening from his forehead and I didn't doubt he was working. But not now. Not right freaking now.

  "Yeah, you're not supposed to be here either. You were supposed to be at the shop half an hour ago," I spat.

  His eyes widened and he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Oh, shit, really? I'm sorry, baby. We've been trying to get this done."

  I held my hands up. "Look, I don't want your excuses. You're either coming or you aren't."

  "Baby, you know I want to come. Don't be like that."

  I huffed. "Really? Because you were just standing around when I got here and it didn't look like you were working too hard."

  He turned and pointed at the road behind him. "You see all that? You see the dug up road? The ones that my hands are all mangled from trying to expand? That's what I've been doing, so excuse me for taking five minutes to discuss the next moves with my team before we break for the day."

  "No need to be an ass about it," I muttered, crossing my hands over my chest.

  He turned, groaning as he shook his head. "I'm working my ass off here, Lib. We have a baby on the way and a wedding. I can't just stop working, if anything I need to work harder."

  "What are you trying to prove? That you need to be a big man now?"

  He rolled his eyes. "Are you going to get all feminist on me now that you're hormonal?"

  I wanted to smack him. I even had my hands balled into fists, but instead I just stomped my foot like a little kid. "Argh! Whatever! I'm going to my appointment. Come if you want!"

  I went to turn but he grabbed my arm, his grip firm. "Baby, wait. I'm sorry, okay? Don't get all mad at me. I'm just tired and I've been working in the sun all day. This is a stupid reason to fight."

  "No. It's not. This is about us and you being late. Will you be late working when I go into labor as well?"

  He groaned. "Libby, can we not argue about this now? Let's just get in the Blazer and get to your appointment."


  I shook my head. "No. You don't have to go. I don't need you there. Go work, obviously that's more important."

  He put his other hand on my arm and looked into my eyes. "Baby, do you know how important you are to me? You and our baby. It's why I'm working my ass off. Things are just going to get crazier as spring moves into summer. You know this. It was like this last summer, I just tried not to work as much overtime so I could spend more time with you. I don't have that luxury now and I want to do the time now so that when the baby comes, I'll have the flexibility if I need to scale back with work."

  I blinked. "Do you really mean you're going to scale back?"

  "If I need to. I'm in this with you, Lib. I need to get all this work out while I can and then if you need me to hold your hand or run out in the middle of the day to get diapers, I can do that. Okay?"

  I sucked in a deep breath. I knew this wasn't going to be the last of our arguments, but for now I'd take it. "Okay."

  ***

  Blaine pulled the car up to a brick building with a small pink sign that said "Obstetrics and Gynecology" in a very swirly font.

  "Well, that's welcoming," Blaine said and smirked, putting the car into park.

  "Get used to it, Blaine. If we have a girl, it's going to be all pink and glitter." I smiled.

  "I hope you and your mama aren't planning the same thing with our wedding."

  I cringed and hoped he didn't notice. No such luck.

  He raised an eyebrow. "You still haven't told her our plans for the wedding yet have you? Does she think it's going to be up in Chicago in two years at a country club? Or does she think we won't actually do it and you'll end up back there living in the guest room?"

  "Blaine! Why do you say things like that?" We'd just gotten done having an argument and I wasn't ready to have another one.

  He sighed. "I don't know. I guess because I'm nervous and worried and I'm about to walk into a place where my fiancée is going to have her legs strapped up and some woman feeling her lady parts."

  I laughed. "Well, at least you're honest."