Aubrey
Chapter thirty
Squashed Chinese food and baked goods.
“At what time is your flight?” I ask as we finish up dinner with Shane’s sisters.
Today was fun, but very exhausting. We went to get our nails done, which isn’t something I do often, but since I’ve only been doing office work at the bakery, I’ve indulged myself a little.
Then we had lunch at some fancy restaurant, followed by a few hours of expensive shopping.
After that, everyone was dropped back at their houses, ending with me and Shane’s sisters at our home.
“At a quarter to nine, we’ll need to get a car soon.” Phoebe smiles at me.
“We can drive you if you’d like,” I offer.
“Oh, no need for that. One of the perks of being wealthy is that you can pay people to drive you around.” Eden laughs. She reminds me a lot of Em and Ronnie. A bit of a wildcard.
“So, have you two thought about when you’d like to get married?” Leah asks with an excited grin.
“I’m not sure, we haven’t really discussed it yet, but it will most likely have to wait until next summer.
With the baby coming soon and the season starting back up at the same time, that doesn’t really give us time to plan a wedding.
” I smile with a bit of disappointment. I wish we didn’t have to wait a whole year to be married.
“When are you due again?” Phoebe questions, looking from me to Shane.
“September 14th,” Shane answers before I can. I smile at the fact that he has the date memorized. He even has it highlighted in every calendar we own, including the ones in his phone and tablet.
“Okay, so there’s still time.” Leah’s smile widens.
“What do you mean?” I frown, confused.
“We could do it before. Wouldn’t you want to be married before your daughter comes into the world?” she clarifies.
“I mean, yes. Of course, I’d love to be married before.” I look at Shane, unsure what exactly they’re trying to say. “I just don’t see how having the wedding before would be possible.”
“We could do it say, end of August? There are a lot of beautiful venues out here around New York, I’m sure we can find one that you’ll like.” Eden pulls out her phone, most likely researching places to have a wedding.
“Wait, you want us to have the wedding at the end of August? That’s like, what, two and a half months away. We can’t plan an entire wedding in so little time,” I say incredulously, looking at Shane for support but all he does is shrug.
“I mean, we did plan an entire wedding in a few hours,” he says, smiling, but I can feel my stress levels rising.
“Yes, but that wasn’t the same. That was a simple, intimate backyard wedding. Not a huge, expensive Jefferson wedding. Because I’ve seen pictures of your weddings.” I point out to my future sisters-in-law. “I know how extravagant they were.”
Phoebe places her hand on mine reassuringly. “Exactly, Aubrey. It will be a Jefferson wedding. You might not realize it yet, but that name will open doors for you everywhere you go. It will make people move mountains for you.”
Leah nods. “She’s right. Our brother likes to hide from his family name, but it truly is a big deal. And soon, you’ll be wearing it too, so use it. If anyone can make a spectacular wedding happen in under three months, it’s us.”
“I… I don’t know if I can do that. We have so much going on already, with the renovations starting tomorrow.
We still don’t have anything ready for the baby.
I’m still working… I don’t know how I’ll manage it all on top of a wedding.
” I feel my heart rate picking up in a way it hasn’t done since my blood pressure has returned to normal.
I take calming breaths, trying to settle it.
“Angel, relax. It’s okay, no one is making you do anything. You don’t need to stress over this. We can wait until next summer.” Shane takes my free hand and kisses the back of my palm with a worried look in his eyes.
“Or you could let me do it,” Eden says, capturing my attention away from Shane.
“I planned all their weddings. You can just tell me what you like or don’t like, and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll contact you if I’m unsure of anything, or you can give me free rein, and I’ll surprise you with the wedding of your dreams.”
“You would do that for us?” I blink a few times, unsure if I heard her correctly.
“Of course, I love planning weddings. Plus, I have some free time on my hands. Let me do this for you, Aubrey. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“You really won’t. Eden is really good at reading people. She’ll make it seem like you picked everything yourself. I let her choose everything for me, and I honestly wouldn’t have changed a thing at my wedding. It was perfect,” Leah insists as Phoebe nods in agreement.
I look at Shane for guidance. He shrugs with a warm smile, letting me decide for the both of us. I turn back to Eden with a decision in mind. “Okay. Do it.”
“Yay! Oh, this is going to be the wedding of the century! I already have so many ideas for you two.” She squeals with joy as if she was the one getting married and it makes me giggle. “All you’ll have to do is find your wedding dress, leave the rest up to me.”
“Looks like we’ll be attending a third wedding this summer.” Shane grins with a twinkle in his eyes as he leans in to kiss me.
“Yes, ours,” I say seconds before his lips fuse with mine.
SHANE
~ Four Weeks Later / July ~
The renovations took less time than we had planned. They managed to finish everything up within a week of our deadline, which means our nursery is now finished, well, the painting is. We still have to buy everything to fill it, which is what we planned on doing today.
Originally, our plan was to do it while the renovations were happening, but I could tell Aubrey was stressed with everything going on. So we put the baby shopping on the back burner until one stressful situation was over.
We also now have a set date for our wedding, August 30th.
Eden managed to secure Oheka Castle as our venue.
I’m not sure how she did it on such short notice, but it’s happening, and we couldn’t have asked for a better place.
The way Aubrey’s eyes lit up when she saw the pictures, I knew it was the right one.
We decided to give her free rein. No color choice, or flowers, or anything at all.
We told her to go with her gut on what she thought we would like, and I think it’s the best decision for us.
All that’s left is for Aubrey to get a dress, which is apparently proving to be difficult because of her pregnancy.
Nothing she finds she likes enough to wear, but I have no doubt she’ll find something soon.
Aubrey is now on maternity leave, as of two days ago, so I’m hoping she feels a bit less anxious, at least enough to do some shopping. Because she’s now thirty-one weeks along and we still have absolutely nothing for our daughter. I don’t want to wait until she’s in labor to run out and buy things.
I’m not sure what’s been going on with Aubrey these last few days—she’s been different.
She’s quieter and has been eating less. It’s getting me worried, but she keeps reassuring me everything is fine.
I’m not sure if it’s the impending arrival of our daughter that might be causing her this change in behavior or what, but I wish she would talk to me.
“Hi, sweetheart.” I kiss her forehead and brush her hair behind her ear as I lie down beside her in our bed.
“Hi,” she whispers, her eyes slowly focusing on mine.
She’s been napping all morning, and it’s now the afternoon, which means she skipped lunch. I came in earlier to bring her food, but from what’s left on the plate on the nightstand, I can tell she only had a few bites.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, just tired.” She tries to smile but I can tell it’s forced.
“We can go get the things for Stellina another day if you’d prefer,” I offer. “Or I can go do it alone, so you can rest some more.”
“I feel bad making you buy everything for our daughter on your own…” she admits in a quiet voice.
“Angel, you have nothing to feel bad about. You’re already doing so much for her just by helping her grow.
I just want you to feel okay, and if spending the day in bed will help, then that’s what I want you to do,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her head again.
I take the time to notice she seems paler than usual, but she’s not burning up, so I know it’s not a fever.
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “Yeah. I could even ask Adler and Ellis to join me, and Veronica could keep you company while we’re out?”
“That could be nice, I’d feel a bit less guilty.” She smiles, and this one seems more real, but it still looks like it’s taking a lot of energy to produce.
“Okay, let me give them a call and see if they’re free.” I get up from bed and exit the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
I pull out my phone and try Noah first, he picks up on the second ring.
“Hey, Coach.”
“Hey, you guys busy?”
“Uh, no, not really. What’s up?”
I look back at the door, taking a few steps away from it. “Something going on with Aubrey, she’s been acting different these past few days,” I whisper.
“What do you mean? How different?” I can hear the concern in his voice.
“She’s more tired than usual and she hasn’t been eating much. She keeps telling me she’s fine, but I don’t know. If it continues, I won’t have a choice to get her checked even if she refuses.”
“Okay, and what do you need from us?” he asks next.
“I don’t want to leave her alone, but I really need to get this baby shopping over with. I was wondering if you and Ellis would join me to get it done faster, and Veronica could stay with Aubrey.”
“Yeah, we’re on our way,” he says without hesitation.
“Thank you.” I hang up and return to the room where my Angel hasn’t moved.
“Veronica is going to spend some time with you while the boys and I go shopping. Do you need anything while I’m out?” I ask, climbing back into bed beside her.
“No, I’m okay,” she murmurs.