Chapter 33
Claire
“Are you okay?” Shaun stared at me from my office doorway.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I smiled. “Why?”
“I don’t know. You look off.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“I don’t mean it in a bad way.” He chuckled. “Anyway, I need you to look over these reports.”
“Sure thing.” I smiled.
He stood and narrowed his eyes at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’ll see you later.” He winked.
Nick and I were supposed to go to dinner tonight, but I was tired and didn’t feel like it. So, I stopped on the way home and picked up his favorite Chinese food. Walking into the house, I set the food bag on the island.
“Nick?” I shouted for I knew he was home.
There was no answer, so I searched the house for him.
“Where the hell is he?” I asked myself.
The sliding door opened, and he stepped inside.
“Hey.” He smiled.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Outside talking to Grayson and Ava. What’s this?” He walked over to the island. “You got Chinese? I thought we were going out to dinner?”
“I’m tired and don’t feel like going out.”
“Babe, what’s wrong?” He walked over, gripped my hips, and kissed me.
“We need to cancel our wedding at the Crystal Gardens.”
“What? Why?” His brows furrowed. “We just put the deposit down yesterday.”
“See, here’s the thing.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. “The date we picked no longer works because I will most likely be in the hospital having our baby.”
“Excuse me?” His brow arched.
“Right? That’s the same reaction I had.”
“Claire, you’re pregnant?” A wide grin crossed his face.
“Yes, Nick. We’re having a baby.”
“Oh my God!” He picked me up and spun me around. “Babe, this is the best news ever.”
“You’re happy?” I asked.
“I’m over the moon. Wait a second, when did you find out?”
“This morning. I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. Then I didn’t believe it, so I went and saw Georgia. She did a blood test and confirmed I’m pregnant.”
“Are you happy about it?” he asked.
“Yes, Nick. I am. It’s just I’m feeling overwhelmed. That date was the first available they had. I don’t want to be walking down the aisle, ready to give birth.” Tears formed in my eyes.
“Oh, babe.” He pulled me into him. “Don’t worry about that. We’ll find somewhere else to get married sooner. Hell, we’ll get the family together and go to Vegas. We can get married in one of those chapels.”
“I don’t want a chapel wedding.”
“Listen to me,” he said, breaking our embrace. “The only thing that matters right now is our baby. The worst thing you can do is stress over the wedding. It’s not good for either of you.” He placed his hand on my belly. “We’re having a baby.” He grinned.
I smiled, kissing his lips. “We’re having a baby. After we eat, we’ll get the family together and tell them.”
Nick grabbed a couple of plates from the cabinet and set them on the table. I mostly picked at my food because my stomach wasn’t feeling right.
“You need to eat, babe. Stop picking at your food.”
“I’m trying, but I feel so nauseous.”
“It’s probably morning sickness.” A smile crossed his lips.
“But that’s supposed to be in the morning, not evening.”
“Some women have it all day and night in their first trimester.”
“I didn’t know you were an expert on pregnant women.” I smirked.
“I did an OB rotation in med school. So, I consider myself an expert.”
I laughed as I tried to eat some food. After we were finished, Nick and I headed down to the beach, hand in hand. Darkness had settled in, and everyone was sitting around the bonfire. Stefan was strumming some chords while the others were talking and laughing.
“Claire and I have some news to share with the family,” Nick said.
“I’m pregnant.” I smiled.
“Say what?” Simon grinned. “Already?”
“That’s great news, sis.” Sam stood and hugged me.
My family took turns hugging and congratulating us.
“I knew you seemed off this morning.” Shaun smiled.
“When are you due?” Jenni asked excitedly.
Instantly, tears formed in my eyes. “Right around our wedding.” I started to cry.
“Oh, shit,” Sebastian said. “Didn’t you just put the deposit down at the hotel yesterday?”
“Yeah, we did,” Nick spoke. “I’m calling them tomorrow to cancel.”
“Oh, honey.” Jenni hugged me.
“No big deal,” Stefan said.
“How can you say that?” I looked at him. “It’s a huge deal.”
“No, it’s not. You’ll get married here on the beach.”
“Just like Christian and Charleigh did?” Nick said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“There was a fire at the hotel right before Christian and Charleigh were supposed to get married. So, we had it here on the beach,” Sam said.
“I’ll go get our wedding album.” Charleigh ran back to their house.
“Give us a date, and we’ll make it happen.” Stefan grinned.
“That’s right,” Shaun said. “You’re our sister, and you’re going to have the perfect wedding.”
“Here, sit down and look at our pictures.” Charleigh handed me her wedding album. “It was perfect.”
I thumbed through the album and looked at the gorgeous pictures. A beach wedding would be perfect.
“You guys did all this?” I looked at Stefan.
“We sure did.” He smiled. “I’m not sure why you’re even asking that, sis. You know us.”
I breathed out a laugh. “Is next month too soon?” I glanced at Nick.
“Are you kidding? I’d marry you tomorrow.” He leaned down and kissed me.
“Next month it is. Sammy, get drawing up the plans.” Stefan glanced at him.
“On it.” He stood up. “I’ll draw it up now and show you in the morning.” He walked over and kissed the top of my head.
“I’ll call my guys first thing tomorrow morning,” Shaun said.
“We better call Giuseppe, too,” Piper spoke.
“Who?” I asked.
“Your flower guy. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.” She smiled.
“Come on.” Jenni grabbed my arm. “We have wedding plans to make.” She grinned. “We’ve pulled off quick weddings before and can do it again. This is so exciting!”
“No worries, Claire.” Conner held up his beer bottle. “Everything will be perfect.”