Amazing Grayson (#MyNewLife Book 3)

by M. E. Carter

  “Hey, excuse me.”

  He turns to us, taking one look before a smile lights up his face. “Let me guess. Newlyweds and you forgot about the pictures?”

  I nod sheepishly. “Obvious, huh?”

  He just shrugs off my embarrassment. “It happens a lot. About half my business is last-minute work.” Looking at the sky, he remarks, “It’s a perfect day, though. If you want to stand right where that last couple was, I’ll get a few shots.”

  Greer thanks him profusely as we situate ourselves where he wants us. Flinton may not be a huge town, but it wasted no expense on the courthouse. It’s the perfect backdrop to what is sure to be some amazing pictures.

  A few snapshots and poses later and the photographer hands me his card with the instructions to email him in the morning so he can shoot us the information about pricing and packages. Grabbing Greer’s hand again, I lead us to my truck. Now that we have pictures out of the way, it’s time to hightail it out of here while we can.

  “Wait, wait, wait.” She tugs on my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Don’t you think we should wait for everyone?”

  “Nah. They’ll be okay.”

  She quirks an eyebrow at me and crosses her arms.

  “I’m serious. It’s our wedding day. Let all those Bozos worry about cleaning up and getting our things.”

  A smile lights up Greer’s face as she decides to take advantage of their hospitality. “Okay. But can we make a quick stop first?”

  I cock my head, confused by the change of plans. She’s been craving Mexican food every day for the last week. It’s why we made plans to have an early dinner at Maldano’s after the ceremony.

  “Of course we can.” Pulling the passenger door open, I usher her in. “Where are we going?”

  Snapping her seatbelt into place, she smiles at me, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “There’s a secluded spot about a mile in at Flinton State Park. I’d like to have some alone time with my husband, if you catch my drift.”

  I blink once.

  Twice.

  A third time.

  How this woman continues to make my brain stutter, I will never understand.

  Not waiting for me to pull myself together, Greer grabs the handle and pulls the cab door closed herself.

  That’s my cue.

  Racing around the front of the truck, I climb in, crank the engine and gun it to the park. That’s the other part of this pregnancy I didn’t know was coming—Greer’s soaring libido.

  Once we decided on a wedding date, it was a natural progression for me to move into Greer’s house. The kids didn’t seem to have any issue with it so it just sort of happened. I started spending the night, and slowly but surely, all my essential items ended up in Greer’s bathroom and in the half of the closet Greer wasn’t using.

  Living in town doesn’t change the responsibilities I have to the farm, though. Things still start rolling at four thirty in the morning and sometimes don’t end until nine or later. Adding the drive time makes for some long days and thank fuck for Phillip taking charge when I’m running behind, but it’s worth it. I get to hang out with kids I love like they’re my own. I get to sleep next to the love of my life every night. And thanks to Greer’s hormones, our sex life is off the charts.

  Yeah, I’m exhausted, but it’s absolutely worth it.

  Reaching over, I place my hand over Greer’s baby bump and rub it gently. Her hands cover mine, and it occurs to me I have this little thing to thank for how quickly all the good in my life has come to fruition. Sure, I was going to marry Greer at some point. I have no doubt about that. But there’s no denying her pregnancy gave us a jump start.

  Making our way past the iron barricades into Flinton State Park, Greer begins navigating.

  “See that little gravel road right there?” I look at where she’s pointing, and sure enough there is a small road. It looks more like a trail, but it’s definitely wide enough for a car. “Turn there.”

  She continues to guide us through the trees until we come to a small clearing. By the way it’s been shaped over the years, it’s clearly a designated parking space for cars. But it also looks like it’s been forgotten recently.

  “How did you find this place?” I ask, as I park and roll down the windows, letting the breeze flow through the cab.

  “If you know how to use social media, it’s easy to find the local make-out place all the kids are using.”

  Unclicking her seatbelt, she slides over to me and crawls up on her knees, attempting to straddle me. It’s not an easy feat with the steering wheel in front of me and her growing midsection between us.

  “You wanted to find a local hideout for our wedding day?” I joke, loving that she’s desperate to be with me.

  Greer huffs a laugh. “By this point in my pregnancy, you should know there was no way I was going to dinner with my family without making love to my new husband on our wedding day first.” With that, her lips crash into mine.

  Cupping one of her cheeks with my hand, I reach down between us and grab the lever to move the seat back. With the extra weight on my side, it slides much faster than I anticipated, and she squeals in surprise.

  “Sorry about that,” I say with a chuckle, as I thrust my other hand into her hair.

  “Stop talking,” she demands, and her tongue delves into my mouth, searching for its mate.

  My hands slide down her back and grip her firm ass, pulling her so she rocks against me.

  “You sure you wanna do this out here?” Based on the sounds coming from her since she climbed on top of me, I’m positive I already know the answer, but I want her to verify anyway. Especially since attacking me in the outdoors is pretty out of character for my wife.

  I’ll never get tired of saying that word. Wife.

  “I have never been more positive of anything in my life,” she responds, her lips still touching mine. “Now make love to me, Grayson Whitman.”

  With no more hesitation, I comply. I no longer care we’re out in public. I no longer care if we get caught. Because this is my wife, and as far as I’m concerned from here on out, as long as she wants it, I’m game for anything.

  ~ ~ ~

  We finally get to the restaurant and our family is already waiting. When they see us walk in, everyone starts clapping.

  Everyone except for Jack.

  He pops a chip in his mouth and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his broad chest. He never takes his eyes off me, just glares in my direction as we sit.

  As luck would have it, Oli is sitting at the end of the table with Jack next to him. Greer sits on the other side of Oli and I sit next to her—catty-corner from my new, very pissed-off, brother-in-law. The one who looks like he wants to kill me.

  “Took you guys long enough to get here,” Brittany chides.

  Greer is still flushed from our romp in the woods, but she smiles like nothing’s happened. “Well if it had been a traditional wedding, we would have gotten about thirty minutes of alone time before the reception. We just had ours elsewhere.”

  Jack grunts. “Do I want to know what that means?”

  Greer narrows her eyes at him. “I don’t know. Did you tell anyone what you were off doing right after you got married?”

  He narrows his eyes right back at her before flipping his gaze to me. On one hand, I appreciate the fact that Jack’s trying to look after his sister. I can never repay him for standing by her for all these years. And I can never, ever repay him for helping her move down here after researching and finding my program. But that’s where my appreciation ends.

  Yes, she is his sister. But she is now my wife. And in my mind, my responsibility to love her, cherish her, protect her, and take care of her always trumps his big brother act.

  “So,” he finally says, never leaning forward even though the chatter continues around us and it’s hard to hear him. Not that I need to. I know what’s coming. “You knocked up my baby sister.”

  Greer slams her hand down on the table i
n anger while Joie gasps and barks out, “Jack!”

  “What?” He looks at his mate and shrugs like his rude comment was no big deal. “That is my baby sister. And she is knocked up by him. Correct?”

  “No, I am not knocked up, you jack ass,” Greer hisses, the anger dripping from her voice. “I am pregnant with your next niece or nephew. You got a problem with that?”

  For just a split second, he looks unsure about his caveman act. But the uncertainty disappears quickly.

  “Yeah, I got a problem with that. Remember what happened the last time you had a shotgun wedding?”

  The entire table goes silent and Greer tenses next to me. I whip my head over to look at my bride. “You never told me,” I say quietly.

  “Because it doesn’t matter.”

  I beg to differ because it matters a lot. Not because it makes me look at her any differently. Not because I think there’s anything wrong with it. But because now the intensity of her reservations about us getting married under similar circumstances makes more sense. It would have been nice to know before so I could have handled things a little differently.

  Then again, I think they turned out perfectly, so maybe I would have done everything the same.

  Except inviting Jack. I’m starting to think that was a terrible idea.

  “Mom?” Julie’s eyes are wide as she watches her mother, taking in all the venom being spewed around her. “Mom, is it true?”

  Greer’s shoulders fall in defeat, and she covers her eyes with her hands.

  Joie finally intervenes. “Can we not talk about this right now? I don’t think this is appropriate wedding talk.”

  Catching Jack’s eyes, he’s still looking at me like I’ve done something wrong, even though he’s thrown this entire celebration into a tizzy. His nonchalance is starting to piss me off.

  Leaning forward in my own chair, I clasp my hands together and direct my stare at him. “Since you’ve decided to agitate my pregnant wife by bringing up things from her past she’s not particularly proud of, I’m going to say this one time. I appreciate you as her support system. I respect you as her big brother. But that’s where the line is drawn. Whether you like it or not, she is my wife and this is my child. If you disrespect either of them again, or make either of them feel like this is a mistake, you and I are going to have more than words.”

  The entire table is silent except for the sound of Pedro munching on chips. If I looked over at him right now, I’m sure he’d resemble that gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn. The one the kids in the program think is hilarious and post on the co-op’s Facebook page regularly. It’s not in response to anything and rarely makes sense, but they think it’s funny.

  It takes about two beats before Jack breaks into a grin. “Okay. That’s what I was waiting to see.”

  “Are. You. Kidding me?” Greer screeches, and I put my hand on her arm, sure she’s about to launch herself over the table and scratch his eyes out. “You pull that shit on my wedding day in front of my kids and my new husband as some kind of a… a test to make sure he’s good enough for me?”

  “You’re damn right I did.” He should probably be embarrassed about Greer’s beratement, but I’ll give it to Jack, when he thinks he’s in the right, he holds strong to that belief. Even if everyone else thinks he’s being a dick. “I was never tough enough on Neil and look where that got you. Divorced and raising two children alone. I will never let that happen to you again.”

  Greer sits up straight, tears suddenly in her eyes. I can’t tell if it’s more hormones or if she’s just that angry. Hell, those could be happy tears. I have no idea these days. Turning to Julie, I give her a sympathetic smile. “Julie, why don’t you and Oli go outside for a bit. I think I left a present for your mom in the car.”

  “There’s no need,” Greer says, putting a hand on my arm. “This conversation is over. Jack, I love you and your desire to keep me safe.” Jack’s eyes soften as she picks up her napkin and uses it to blot under her eyes. “But if you ever humiliate me in front of my family again in the name of protection, so help me I will cut you out of my life so fast you won’t see it coming.”

  Jack sucks in a breath. “But I am your family.”

  “Not if you keep up this bullshit, you’re not.”

  Greer looks at her menu, making it very clear she is done with this conversation. Jack, on the other hand, looks completely taken aback for the first time since we sat down. Joie leans over and murmurs in his ear, quietly enough no one can understand her, but I have no doubt it’s something along the lines of letting it go for now and making amends later.

  Pedro, catching my attention and looking me in the eye, finally speaks up, trying to break up the tension. “The enchiladas look good.”

  The rest of the table, seemingly grateful for a change of subject nod their agreement and begin debating between chili con queso as an appetizer or quesadillas.

  Putting my arm on Greer’s chair, I kiss her on the temple.

  So far, this hasn’t been the warm welcome into her family I was hoping for. Moving out to the farm is looking better and better.

  The day I have dreaded has finally arrived.

  Maybe dreaded is too harsh of a word. Avoided is more accurate.

  Usually the first thing women do when they find out they’re pregnant is call their doctor to make sure. Not me. I already knew the truth. Why did I need to hand over a co-pay to confirm my life is being flipped upside down?

  I’m just having a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I’m starting over at the ripe old age of thirty-nine. That instead of having a surprise party or maybe a trip overseas to celebrate my fortieth birthday, I’m going to have a baby shower.

  Not exactly the birthday of my dreams.

  And I know I should be grateful. There are a lot of women out there who can’t have kids and would love to be in my position. But I don’t feel that way. I keep trying to force myself to feel something, anything, some sort of attachment, and I just can’t.

  It’s like I was finally wrapping my brain around the life I had. Finally, I was enjoying where I was and BAM! Out of nowhere, once again there’s more work I have to do. Another person to be responsible for. Another human whose needs I have to put before my own. I’m already exhausted and stretched thin. How am I going to fit another person into my life and how will it be fair to anyone?

  Not to mention my brother throwing the closet door holding in all my skeletons wide open for everyone to see. Not only did it piss me off, I felt like any emotional progress I had made was undone and all the excitement I was beginning to feel unraveled. It was just another reminder things don’t always go as planned and sometimes turn out terrible in the long run.

  Marrying my kids’ father was not exactly the greatest moment of my life. Sure, I got Oli and Julie out of it, but I also got a lot of heartache, a lot of criticism, a lot of judgement, and a lot of extra baggage for me to carry on my shoulders. I don’t want that to happen this time.

  While I trust that Ace and Neil, my ex, are two completely different people, it still doesn’t totally ease my anxieties.

  That doesn’t mean I’m not good at covering up any insecurities I have. No one knows how much I’m struggling. Ace suspects, but he doesn’t know how deep they run. And right now, as we walk into the waiting room, I’m not sure he’s focusing on anything except his own excitement.

  Walking to the window to check in for our first appointment, you’d think Ace would be headed to Disney World with as big as his smile has been. He hasn’t stopped holding my hand or rubbing my stomach since we got in the truck.

  “Hi. What’s your last name?” a cute, young, not pregnant receptionist asks. Why can’t they ever have pregnant receptionists at the ob-gyn’s office? You know, the kind of women who know exactly what you’re going through because they’re in the thick of it too?

  I suppose that would mean rehiring the staff every nine months, so it’s out of the question. Still, the fantasy
of being greeted by someone whose ankles are as swollen as mine makes me smile. Maybe she would hand out ginger pops for morning sickness.

  “Declan,” I answer, pretending not to be disappointed there’s nothing in her stomach except lunch. “Greer Declan.”

  Ace’s smile falls, and he gives me a strange look. “Why are you going by Declan?” he asks quietly in my ear.

  “Relax.” I pat his arm. “I haven’t been here since we got married. I still have to change it several places.”

  “Here you are.” The receptionist pulls a pre-made file from the file holder and slaps a giant, bright red sticker on it.

  I purse my lips knowing exactly what it’s for. Ace, on the other hand, is stumped.

  “Um, what does that sticker mean?”

  “This one?” She smiles and holds the file up for practically everyone in the tri-county area to see. Awesome. Ace nods, not noticing my agitation at all. “That’s just to give the doctor a heads-up of our advanced maternal age patients.”

  This is going to be a long few months.

  I sigh deeply and close my eyes to keep my emotions under control. Ace, on the other hand, takes the information in stride and moves right on to the next question.

  “Okay. And how do we change her last name on the file?”

  The receptionist gives him a quizzical look. “I’m sorry?”

  Ace points at me, like I’m an object up for discussion. “Her last name. It’s Whitman now, not Declan. How do we get that changed?”

  “Oh!” She snaps her fingers and pulls open a drawer, thumbing through some files. “That’s easy. It usually takes a couple days, but it’s just a matter of processing. Just fill out this paperwork, and I’ll get it entered.”

  Ace frowns, obviously unhappy with that news. “But won’t her last name come up on the ultrasound?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ace, it’s not that big of a deal.” I pat his arm, trying in vain to get him to let it go.

  “But your last name is gonna be on the ultrasound.”

  “And?”

  “And my baby’s last name is Whitman. As is your last name. I don’t ever want our baby to wonder why there is a different last name on those pictures.”