My Real

by Mallory Grant

  “Not at all. It made me fall even more in love with you. What woman would encourage the bitchy ex-wife to spend time with her daughter. You’re an amazing woman, Bailey,” Andrew says. I can hear the smile in his voice.

  “We can talk more when we get there in fifteen minutes. More if Ella gets pulled over for speeding”

  “Okay, so now that Andrew knows the whole story, spill,” Ella begs.

  I relay everything that happened with Jessica. Ella sits quietly for a second. I’m a little worried about what her reaction will be. Ella has never been a big fan of Jessica’s, for good reason. I do need her to understand why I’ve chosen to forgive her though.

  “You have to give it to her. It takes a big woman to not only admit she was wrong, but come apologize to you and Andrew,” Ella says.

  I sigh with relief. Ella laughs, “That doesn’t mean I think she should be hanging out with us anytime soon.”

  We pull up in front of the hotel a few minutes later. Judy, Emerson, and Andrew are all sitting on a bench out front waiting for us.

  “That was a fast fifteen minutes,” I laugh.

  “Talk to Speed Racer,” Bailey says hitching her thumb toward Ella.

  “Food!” Ella points at the boardwalk, grabs Emerson’s hand and starts running with her.

  After Mom walks up and hugs Bailey she says, “I’m going to go back to the room and take a bubble bath in that tub. You kids have fun.”

  It is my turn to pull Bailey in for a hug. “I missed you,” I breath into her hair.

  “Me too. I woke up this morning and realized that it would be the last time I would be waking up alone,” Bailey says.

  I tuck her into my arm and follow Emerson and Ella up to the boardwalk.

  “So, Jessica,” Bailey starts.

  “Nope, not going to talk about her this weekend. We can work out the details and talk about it later,” I say.

  “Okay, new topic. Ella had fifteen text messages from Jake on her phone just from the ride up here. Do you know anything about that?” she asks.

  “Guys don’t talk about stuff like that. He hasn’t mentioned her at all,” I admit.

  “Hmm.” She frowns. She is doubting her matchmaking skills, which is funny because if a guy texts a girl fifteen times in the span of two hours, I don’t think there’s any doubt about his feelings for her.

  We catch up with Emerson and Ella standing in line for pizza.

  “First I want pizza, then chip fries, then a fried Oreo, and then finally ice cream,” Ella is telling Emerson.

  “You do know you have to fit in a tiny dress tomorrow right?” Bailey reminds her.

  “Yeah yeah, don’t spoil my fun,” Ella jokes.

  We walk up and down the boardwalk for an hour, before heading back to the hotel.

  “Bailey can’t sleep in your room tonight.” Ella insists.

  “Why not?” I ask. I don’t want to be away from her again tonight. This is a fight I plan on winning.

  “You get her for the rest of your life. You can give me one more night with her,” Ella says pulling on Bailey’s arm.

  “I’m going to sleep with grandma,” Emerson announces knocking on my mom’s door. “Grandma, can I sleep with you? I’m sleepy and THEY,” she says thrusting her thumb in our direction, “are fighting who gets to sleep with Bailey.”

  Everyone laughs as Emerson walks into the room without waiting for an answer.

  Ella turns back to me and crosses her hands over her chest. She wasn’t giving up either.

  “Fine, you can have her tonight,” I relent. “Now, give me a minute to say good night. I’ll see you in the morning Ella.”

  “No, you won’t. You won’t see us until the wedding,” she informs me.

  “Wait, what?” I ask.

  “You can’t see her until the wedding. Come on Andrew, don’t tell me you didn’t know this,” Ella argues.

  “But the wedding isn’t until seven. What am I supposed to do all day alone?” I ask.

  “You won’t be alone. Jake is on his way now. You two are taking Emerson to the beach tomorrow. Judy, Bailey, and I are going to a spa. I will get Emerson at five to get our hair done.”

  “When did you plan all that?” Bailey asks stunned.

  “It’s my wedding present to you.” she winks, goes to her car and pulls two bags out of the trunk.

  “Leave them there, I’ll bring them up to you room.” I tell her, then turn to Bailey.

  “I was so excited to have you next to me to sleep tonight,” I pout. She walks up to me and wraps her arms around me.

  “You were excited for me to be under you, don’t lie,” she jokes.

  “Alright, you have me there. It’s been a few days. I miss all of you,” I confess.

  I hold her until Ella leans out of their room and yells at me. “Let’s go Lover Boy, the bride needs her beauty sleep.”

  I grab their bags and follow Bailey into their room, depositing the bags onto a bed. I pull Bailey in for a kiss, and Ella throws a pillow at me from across the room.

  “Save it for tomorrow, get lost,” Ella says. I throw the pillow back at her.

  “Good night my beautiful bride.” I tap her nose.

  “Good night, handsome groom.” she replies then closes the door behind me.

  I leave the girls’ room and head back to mine where I will sleep, alone, again. I get the whole tradition that the groom is not supposed to see the bride until she walks down the aisle, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. As I’m walking through the parking lot to my room, Jake comes speeding into the lot, almost hitting me.

  “Hey, I thought you were coming up after work tomorrow. You said you couldn’t get off.”

  “I lied. Get in,” Jake commands.

  “Where are we going,” I ask as I climb into his car.

  “It’s the night before your wedding, where do you think we are going?” Jake asks.

  “I’m not going to a strip club,” I inform him. Jake has always been a a party animal. I used to be able to hang with him, but not anymore.

  “That’s where Ella told me to take you, but no. We’re just going to have a few drinks.”

  “This is a dry town. You do understand what that means, right?”

  “Yes, that’s why we are going to Atlantic City.”

  Jake and I made regular trips to Atlantic City while in college. We never invited the girls, which pissed Jessica off. Which is exactly why Jake never wanted the girls to come. Jake has always been about having the most fun you can. He was all about hooking up with as many girls as he could while in Atlantic City. The girls always put a damper on his macking skills.

  “You do know I can’t play your wing man tonight, right,” I remind him.

  “No need, I’m not looking for that kind of company,” he replies. “This is about spending time with my boy. And if a few quarters make it into some slots, so be it.”

  I wonder if this has anything to do with Ella. After a few minutes, we pull into a parking lot and walk into the casino. The place is packed.

  “Let’s go find a bar,” Jake says as he weaves through the crowd. We find two stools and Jake orders us a couple of beers. It isn’t long before three girls come up behind us and start to flirt.

  “Hello gentlemen,” the fake redhead says. Jake, barely giving her a look, waves and passes me my beer.

  “What are you boys in town for?” The blond asks, squeezing herself between our stools and thrusting her chest in our faces.

  “We’re just having a few drinks celebrating my friend’s wedding tomorrow,” Jake answers showing no interest in any of the girls.

  “Oh, a wedding. We love weddings,” the redhead says as she cozies up to Jake’s left side. “Are you the best man? You sure look like the best man to me.”

  A different blonde comes over to my right side and puts her hand on my leg, very high up my leg. I brush her hand aside, but that doesn’t stop her. “We are looking to have some fun tonight. Wanna have some fun before
you put on the old ball and chains?” She asks as she grabs me and squeezes.

  I jump off the stool and push out from between them. “Sorry girls, not interested.”

  The redhead plops herself on Jakes lap and grinds as she says, “What about you? You’re not getting married. You can have some fun.”

  Jake picks her up and sits her on the stool. Grabbing his beer he says, “Sorry girls. Not interested,” then walks away. It takes me a few second to recover from my surprise, grab my beer, and follow him. In college, Jake would have taken all three of them back to a room and played all night.

  I catch up to him and say, “What was that back there?”

  “What?”

  “We had three girls climbing all over us. I wasn’t taking part in the fun, but that doesn’t mean you had to stop.”

  He answered simply, “I’m not interested in that stuff anymore.”

  “One of them could have been the girl of your dreams,” I joke.

  “The girl of my dreams is not a casino slut.”

  “Do you have someone in mind already?” I ask him seriously.

  “Shut the fuck up man.”

  “So, that’s a yes then,” I respond as Jake walks ahead of me and flips me off over his head.

  I wake to the sound of knocking at the door. Ella opens the door for the room service.

  “You ordered me breakfast in bed? Maybe I should be marrying you.” I say.

  “Nah, you picked a good one, This was all him,” she hands me a note.

  Beautiful Bride,

  I am so thankful that you picked Emerson and me to spend the rest of your life with. Today, I am the luckiest man on the planet. I can’t wait to spend every moment laughing with you, loving you, and growing old with you.

  I’ll meet you at the beach.

  I. Love. You.

  Andrew

  The tears are streaming down my face as I read the letter aloud to Ella.

  “Yeah, he’s a good one,” she says handing me a tissue. “Okay, enough tears. We have to eat and meet Judy out front in less than an hour.”

  When we are full and dressed, we walk down to Judy’s room. She is enjoying her breakfast on her porch. Her eyes are red.

  “Did Andrew send you breakfast and a note too?” I ask, sitting down in the seat next to her.

  She nods and hands me her note.

  Mom,

  I can’t begin to thank you enough for all of your love and support through the years. You have always been my beacon in my life. Today, I will marry the woman of my dreams, and I’m honored to have you by my side. If I am half the parent to Emerson as you are to me then I think I’ll be ok.

  Love,

  Your Son

  And the tears are back again. I put her note on the table and place my hand on top of hers resting on the table. “You raised a great man, Judy.”

  “Oh, please, call me Mom.” When my eyes turn down she grabs both of my hands. “I’m sorry your parents couldn’t make it. I know this must be hard for you, but I want you to know that I will always be here for you,” she promises.

  I stand up and hug her.

  “Alright, enough with the water work! Let’s go get pampered,” Ella announces.

  “Daddy, can I go down to the water?” Emerson asks as she’s throwing sand in the air.

  “Sure baby, just don’t go in further than your knees.” She races down to the edge of the water and plops herself in the surf.

  “So, by this time tomorrow you’ll be a married man, again,” Jake laughs as he hands me a water.

  “I will, what about you?” I ask.

  “What about me?” he wonders.

  “You and Ella,” I state.

  He just shakes his head at me. I guess I’m not getting anything out of him. Bailey is on her own with this matchmaking stuff. When his phone buzzes, he smiles like a lovesick teenaged girl. Yeah, nothing going on there. I start laughing when he immediately starts typing.

  “Shut the fuck up man. I don’t need your shit,” Jake rebuffs. This makes me laugh even harder.

  We play with Emerson on the beach all morning. Just after lunch, I bring her back to the room for a bath and a nap while Jake goes for a run. I take a long shower and shave. Once I get dressed, I’m ready. Why in the Hell do the girls need to have the whole day to get ready?

  In just a few minutes, she will be walking down that sandy aisle. My palms are sweating.

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little nervous,” Jake asks, standing next to me under the arbor. The guests sitting in a small semi-circle around the arbor consist of my mom and a few friends from my work and Bailey’s school.

  “I’m fine. I can’t wait to see her,” I reply. The minister who is standing next to me turns around and starts the music. Eddie Veder’s voice fills the air, singing “Future Days.” A smile crosses my face. I didn’t know she picked this song. She is constantly giving me crap for liking Pearl Jam and here she is picking it as a song for our wedding. Emerson walks down the steps off the boardwalk and starts dropping flower petals in the sand. She looks adorable in her little blue sundress. She is all smiles now that she finally gets to be a flower girl. She walks up to me and tugs on my hand. I lean down and she plants a kiss on me. She then dumps the rest of the flowers in her basket in the sand at my feet before going to sit next to my mom.

  Ella comes around the corner, and I hear Jake gasp next to me. I glance over at him and see that his jaw has dropped. Ella’s long brown hair is pulled up, but there are pieces falling down around her face. She has on a strapless ice blue dress that falls well above her knees. The fabric moves with the wind.

  “Holy shit,” Jake whispers to himself.

  “Nothing going on huh?” I laugh.

  Ella winks at Jake and turns to take her place at my right.

  The song ends and “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri starts playing. Bailey walks around the corner and now it was my turn to gasp. She looks radiant. Her hair is also up. She has on a long white dress that is covered in lace and dragging in the sand behind her. There is a ribbon tied around her waist. She is holding a single stem of a stargazer lily.

  I become choked up as she walks closer. I bring my hand to my mouth to try to contain the emotion swelling in my throat threatening to betray my masculine exterior. But, I can’t stop the tear from falling. I notice that her eyes are moist.

  She stands next to me in front of the minister, and I mouth “You look amazing.”

  If the minister is talking at his point, I can’t hear him. All I can concentrate on is the amazing woman standing in front of me. Bailey starts saying her vows.

  “Andrew, I take you to be my husband, my partner in life, and my one true love. My real. I promise to love you more each day than the day before. I will trust you, respect you, laugh with you, and cry with you. I give you my hand, my heart, and my real love, from this day forward.”

  The minister hands her my ring, and she places it on my finger squeezing my hand three times.

  “Andrew, please make your solemn vow to Bailey,” the minister says.

  “Bailey, from the moment I first saw you, I knew you were the one with whom I wanted to share my life. Your beauty, heart, and mind inspire me to be the best person I can be. I promise to love you for eternity, respect you, and protect you.” I take Bailey’s ring from the minister and slip it onto her finger.

  “Andrew and Bailey have requested to include Emerson in their ceremony as well, Emerson will you please come up here,” the minister continues.

  Emerson walks up to stand in the middle of us. Bailey kneels down in front of her.

  “Emerson, you asked me a few weeks ago to be your mommy, and I was very honored that you asked me. I want you to know that I love your daddy very much. You have been so nice to share your wonderful daddy with me, so I will share the love I feel for him, with you.”

  I tap Bailey on the arm to hand her a tissue because she can no longer hold the tears back. I have to admit, I’m
getting choked up too.

  The minister leans down and hands Bailey a box. Bailey takes a necklace out of the box and attaches it around Emerson’s neck. “I promise to be fair and to be honest with you. I will not attempt to replace your mommy, but to make a place in your heart that is for me alone. On this day when I marry your daddy, I marry you too, and I promise to love and support you as my own,” Bailey says then places a kiss on Emerson’s cheek.

  Emerson smiles and looks down at the necklace. “It’s an eight.”

  Everyone laughs as Bailey explains, “It does look like an eight, but it’s also the sign for infinity and infinity means forever. I just wanted to you know that I will be here for you forever.”

  Emerson throws her arms around Bailey, almost knocking her over, kisses her on the cheek, and then says “Thank you Mommy,” into her ear. Ella takes Emerson’s hand and they step back as the minister continues.

  “By the powers vested in me by the state of New Jersey, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” I didn’t wait for him to give me permission. I grab Bailey, twist her around dipping her to the ground, and kiss her. Our small wedding party claps and cheers.

  After a few minutes of hugs, kisses, and pictures, Ella follows my directions perfectly and gives me a few minutes alone on the beach with my new husband. The sun is just starting to set behind the buildings on the boardwalk. There is a light breeze, and we are alone on the beach. He holds me in his arms as we watch the waves come in.

  “Well, Mrs. Cooper, that was quite a surprise seeing the girls walk down the aisle to Eddie.”

  Laughing I saying, “I thought you might like that. I do have another surprise for you.” I lean down and pull the gift box out of my purse and hand it to him.

  “Oh, what is this? I didn’t get you anything,” he says as he starts to open the watch box. He pulls the watch out of the box and looks at it.

  “I noticed that your watch broke a few weeks ago. I thought I’d replace it with a new one,” I say hardly containing my excitement to the news he was about to get.