by Lacy Kinsley
Veronica was starting to feel as if waiting to tell William she was pregnant was making everything difficult, because every day she waited to tell him was another day his child grew inside of her. It wouldn’t be long before he pieced together that she slept in longer, drank tea every night religiously, and every once in a while touched her stomach from nausea or because she was aware something was in there. Soon she wouldn’t be able to hide it at all. Veronica didn’t know how long it would take before she started to show, but it couldn’t be long. Besides, it was almost cruel she was keeping him from the knowledge. He had equal possession over their child. There were decisions that he had every right to make with her. It was his treasure as much as it was hers. Even if he wasn’t going to look at it that way, she had to give him a chance. She was being a coward, and it was time she told him.
Veronica didn’t know how to tell him. If she had told him five days ago when she found out, it would have been easier. She could have brought home the pregnancy test and simply put it on the counter and wait until he saw it. But now, he was hurt she didn’t say, “Marry me,” in the store. And Veronica couldn’t say those two words without first telling him her secret. It was a vicious circle. It was clear she had to sit William down, and tell him everything.
The fact was she did want to marry him. All her worries about wanting to slow down were a brief phase. William was right; that once she was in a relationship that proved to be healthy she would throw her five year plan out the window. In fact, she felt like fate had given her the right to marry him, and as soon as she wanted. She wanted to get married, and in a perfect world she would do it on June fourth. With luck she would still be able to fit in the beautiful dress Kimmy was making.
She was nervous, but she was going to tell him! Her hands were shaking as she tried to unlock their front door. Finally she was able to get the door open. William immediately walked in and didn’t stop until he got into their bedroom. He was quiet since they left The Golden Pacifier. She knew why, and wanted to fix it, but she couldn’t think of how exactly she should tell him. It was going to be a shock. It took a few minutes, but it suddenly dawned on her. She decided she would simply purchase another pregnancy test, come back with it, and show him the results. Then she wouldn’t have to say it. If she hurried, she could be back before he even noticed she was gone.
Veronica ran to her car, and quickly drove to the gas station as she’d done five days ago. The clerk recognized her. He smiled as he rung up the pregnancy test, “I thought you already took this and found out you were pregnant.” He said happily.
“Oh, I am. I’m taking another for my husband,” she lied. “This is so I don’t actually have to tell him. He’ll figure it out on his own.” She grinned. “Wish me luck!” She called back as she snatched up the test, and ran out the door.
When she got home she was twice as shaky as when she came home only fifteen minutes before. She struggled to open the door. Suddenly the door swung open. Her smile fell. William opened the door. He was crying. “Where did you go?” He snapped.
“I . . .” She shrugged.
“I thought you left. I mean, left for good!” He explained. He wiped away tears as they fell from his eyes. “I thought I scared you off for good.” He paused, “Or did you forget something?” He asked, sounding snide and angry.
“I . . .” she came into hallway and closed the door. “No. I came home. I only went out for a moment.”
“Are you leaving again?” He asked her sardonically.
“No.” She exclaimed. She felt like crying. Her hormones were making her tear up instantly.
“You didn’t tell me, or even leave a note! You just left.” He said. “You’re breaking my heart, Veronica.”
“I’m sorry.” She whispered. They avoided looking at each other so long that William finally turned to walk away. On second thought however, he locked the front door. “I love you!” She said as he rounded the corner heading to their bedroom.
He stopped. “You have a funny way of showing it.” He asserted without turning around.
“You’re not allowed not to say it back.” She reminded him.
“There are a million things you’re not allowed to do, but you’re not worried about doing them.” He said quietly.
“I told you, I went out for only a moment. I . . .” she held up the white plastic bag from her purse, “went to get this.”
He turned to look at her. He looked at the bag and cursed. He hung his head and cried. “I’m such an ass.” He looked at her, wiped his eyes, and then added, “I’m such an ass, Babe. I’m so sorry. You were going to tell me.” He smiled for a moment. Then out of guilt he cried. “You were going to tell me, and I . . . I didn’t listen.” He quickly added, “I love you! I love you so much!”
She looked at the bag, “You know what this is?”
“Yes! And I know what it will say, too.” He admitted. He wiped his eyes one last time. He smiled, still fighting tears. He bound down the hallway, picked Veronica up, and carried her towards the bedroom. “You’re pregnant.”
She bit a smile. Her eyes were tearing up. “I’m excited about it.” She queried, “Are you? Please tell me you are.”
“You and this baby are the best things that ever happened to me.” He confessed. He lay her on the bed, and lay next to her. “Why didn’t you tell me in the store? I begged you to tell me.”
“You asked me to say, ‘Marry me.’ I can’t, or couldn’t because I felt I was deceiving you if I hadn’t told you first that I was pregnant. And I didn’t tell you I was pregnant because I worried you wouldn’t like that we weren’t married. I couldn’t bear to hear your disappointment.” She said. She wiped away tears.
“Disappointment is the last word I would ever use in the same sentence while describing how I feel about you being pregnant. Okay, except my last sentence.” He jested. “This is what I’ve always wanted for us. Wait, I wasn’t trying to get you pregnant, but . . . I want this now! I’m not saying this well. I’m happy. I wanted this ever since I figured out you were pregnant. I just didn’t want to pressure you. I’ve known you were pregnant since the day I asked you to go to the doctor. I knew when you came home from ‘getting milk’ that you knew you were pregnant. I’ve known for days you’ve been hiding it, and I let you because I didn’t want you running scared and leaving me. I didn’t want to have too vigorous of sex the other night, because I need to hear from a doctor it will be fine. I took you to the baby store today because I wanted you to know I was excited, in case you thought I wouldn’t be thrilled about it. I got that jacket because it was the one thing you wanted and picked out. I bought that hat for me! And the two words I wanted you to say was not, ‘marry me,’ but, ‘I’m pregnant.’ I want this. I’m thrilled about this. I want to marry you and have this baby. I’ll marry you as soon as you’ll let me and probably sooner.” He smiled.
He couldn’t have said anything more perfect. “Then let’s get married June fourth. I hear it’s on a weekend.” She smiled.
THE EPILOGUE
“Your baby bump is showing in this dress. Luckily, I put in a lace back instead of satin buttons; because I worried you’d be showing and I was right. You’re so thin that of course you’d show.” Kimmy said with a grin. “I’m jealous. Did you see mine? Nope! I’m even a little smaller then you. I should be showing. Nora is! She’s showing even more than you.”
“Just wait until your second pregnancy. You’ll show early, too. You also feel everything sooner because you know what you’re looking for.” Nora explained. She pressed her dress to her stomach and turned so they could see her belly sticking out. “Did I tell you I had a dream it was a boy? I’m not sure if Colin keeps putting thoughts in my head with all the talk about boys or if it means I really am having one. It would be perfect, though.”
“Oh, you must be having a boy!” Veronica paused. “What did Travis say? Ninety–five percent of pregnant women dream correctly about the sex of their baby.”
“If that
’s the case, I’m having a boy with curly red hair.” Kimmy laughed. “And no one in my family has red hair.”
“Well, I don’t know because so far we’ve all dreamt of boys!” Nora said. “We can’t all be having boys. I mean we can, but odds aren’t in our favor. Three boys?”
“Let’s not think about the odds,” Veronica began, “and think about how great it would be that our boys grow up together. They’ll be best friends because we are. It’s perfect. I’m going to have the biggest family, and my kids will love it! They’ll have the best childhood! I couldn’t be happier!” Veronica laughed happily. “Kimmy please loosen that. It’s hurting my belly. I can feel him squirm and he doesn’t like it, either.” Kimmy quickly untied the lace backing and started over once again.
“I thought it was loose.” Kimmy apologized.
“I haven’t worn underwear for months! He doesn’t like anything squishing him. The only thing that can touch my belly without upsetting him is water and William.” Veronica said. “Oh, that’s perfect. Not too loose, but not too snug either.” She added, “This truly is the most beautiful dress.”
“It is! And you look beautiful in it.” Nora said.
They turned when a soft knock rapped on the door. It opened and in walked little Cleo and Claudette. They were dressed in white flower–girl dresses that had pink and teal petals on the hem. Their hair had baby’s breath in it. They even got to wear lip gloss and pink eye shadow. And they both carried baskets that they put little toys in as if they were small beds. Claudette ran to her mom and yelled, “Dad loves you, and,” Claudette paused trying to remember what she was supposed to say next.
“He wants to marry us!” Cleo said and then laughed.
“Well, go tell Daddy he has to wait until July, after Uncle William and Aunt Veronica come back from their honeymoon in Greece.” Nora said.
“Mom! I can’t remember all that!” Claudette bellyached.
“Then remember to tell him he has to wait until July. And Cleo you tell him he has to wait until Uncle William and Aunt Veronica get back from their honeymoon.” Nora instructed them.
“But we’ve told so many messages already! I’m tired of this game! I want to play something else.” Cleo groaned and rolled her eyes.
“Is that too tight?” Kimmy asked Veronica.
“No, it’s perfect. It means I can drink water and eat dinner without him squirming.” Veronica stated, and smiled satisfied.
“My feet are tired from walking so much!” Claudette complained.
“Well, try having swollen feet.” Nora said.
“Huh?” Claudette scrunched her nose, puzzled.
“Tell you what; you can have an extra piece of cake after dinner if you go tell him that one last thing.” Nora said.
“That’s three pieces!” Cleo cheered with wide eyes.
“No, two.” Nora corrected her.
“Dad said two, you said three.” Claudette told her mom. She grabbed her sister’s arm. “Quick, let’s go to tell him that he can marry mom after Uncle Will gets back from the moon.”
“No, I’ll marry Dad in July after William’s honeymoon!” Nora called out as they left. “Well, how much do you want to bet he’s not going to get that last message?”
“Oh, no, not another bet!” Veronica laughed.
“A figure of speech.” Nora laughed.
“Well, that’s it.” Kimmy said. Kimmy and Nora backed up so they could look at Veronica.
“You’re beautiful!” Nora said. “Absolutely beautiful.”
“Yeah, it’s like that dress was made for you. Oh, wait! It was made for you.” Kimmy laughed. “You do though. You look beautiful. You’ll be boning in the limo before you even get to the reception because he won’t be able to keep his hands off you!”
“Wow, Kim, you know how to embarrass Veronica and me. That’s my baby brother. He doesn’t do stuff like that.” Nora grumbled, grossed out. “I will say he’s going to fall in love with you all over again when he sees you!”
There was another knock on the door. The wedding planner came in. “Wow, you look amazing!” She said.
“Thanks.” Veronica said.
“He’s going to be here in exactly two minutes. Remember if you need anything, look to me. I’ll always be standing on your right in the distance, so look right. I’ve rehearsed everything with him a million times what you two need to do, and he has an earpiece in case I need to speak to him. So follow his lead.
Everything will go smoothly. All you have to do is enjoy this because it’s your day. I will take care of everything else.” She turned to Kimmy and Nora. “And you two can follow me. You are going in the old race cars with your girls up to the park.”
They all walked outside. Veronica saw the carriage coming from down the street. It was the one thing Nora stressed she wanted to do for them, because she had loved that part of her wedding. The chaise and four came to a halt in front of her. William opened the door and jumped out. He looked handsome in his black tux and his green eyes stood out more than ever. His hair was slicked back. She was so in love with him. “I’m so in love with you, Veronica!” He said as if he was thinking the exact same thing she was thinking about him. He smiled when she told him she loved him, too. He put his hand to his ear, and looked at the wedding planner to address her. “You don’t have to remind me to say she’s beautiful! I was about to.” He looked at Veronica; “I hope she’s not speaking to me the entire time, because I’m a guy and I can only do one thing at a time.” He laughed. “It sucks all the romance out of this.”
“All I hear is you.” She said.
“Well, then in that case, you look gorgeous. You’ve never looked more beautiful.” He said. He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. She knew it meant I love you. Then he kissed her. Veronica put her arms around him and kissed him back. They didn’t care that people were watching. He squeezed her as they kissed deeply. Suddenly he let go of her in a hurry, and then touched his ear again. “I’m sorry, but I can’t hear another woman’s voice in my ear while I’m kissing you. It rubs me the wrong way. I have to take this out.” He asserted, and when he took it out it fell to the ground. Veronica picked it up off the sidewalk. William told her to leave it saying he got it. However, her hand was already on it. She stood upright to hand it to him. CRACK!
“William!” She yelled, and then gasped. Kimmy and Nora quickly pulled Veronica away from him. William clutched his bleeding nose. The wedding planner quickly manifested a rag and was at his side having him lean forward within seconds. Veronica had managed to break his nose a second time! However, this time William laughed, saying it was too perfect.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY–ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY–TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY–THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY–FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY–FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY–SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY–SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY–EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY–NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY–ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY–TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY–THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY–FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY–FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY–SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY–SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY–EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY–NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY–ONE