Chapter 28
At six inthe evening on October twenty-ninth, I stood at the entrance of St. Phillip’s Church. The doors were closed, so I couldn’t see inside, but the place was crammed with guests. We couldn’t invite everyone to the ceremony that had been invited to the reception, because the church simply wasn’t big enough.
Charlestonians’ tongues would be wagging in about two minutes. My escort would arrive any minute and I would soon be breaking tradition. Big-time. But I didn’t care. My dad would not get this honor. They didn’t even get an invitation to the wedding. Two weeks ago, I finally got a call from them. They gushed all over me and told me how excited they were about my upcoming marriage. They must’ve read about it somewhere, because they certainly didn’t hear it from me.
Phil and I had discussed this, and he was on my side. They hadn’t supported me in my most urgent time of need but had kicked me to the curb instead. The truth of it was, or at least we sort of figured it anyway, was they wanted me to have a place in society because they wanted one too. When I told them I didn’t want to marry Peter, they became angry with me. After his death, well, I was nothing to them because I had removed any chance for them to move up the societal ladder.
Imagine what they thought when they heard I was marrying a Middleton! Suddenly, the daughter they’d disowned could offer them a chance at everything they’d always wanted. I don’t think so. Nope, it was not happening. They weren’t using me anymore.
Consequently, no dad to walk me down the aisle, but I had something much better, I noted as my escort arrived.
“Well, didn’t I tell you that you’d be something gorgeous swathed in that gown on your wedding day?” Lisbeth asked.
I laughed. “And look at you!” She also wore a gown designed by the same designer who had done my wedding gown, and she looked stunning in gunmetal gray.
“Come on, honey. Let’s get you down the aisle and give Charleston something new to talk about. You nervous?”
“Not at all.”
“Good, ’cause this old lady couldn’t hold you up if you started to fall or something.”
“Lisbeth, you’re lots of things, but old will never be one of them!”
The wedding director nodded, the music played, and the huge wooden door swung open. I took a few steps and found myself in the narthex of the church. The second set of doors were already opened, and I watched Terri walk down the aisle. You wouldn’t have known she could barely stand five months ago.
Then it was my turn. I lifted my head and there he stood, dressed in a black tux, looking positively gorgeous and waiting for me. I felt Lisbeth grab my arm and whisper, “Don’t you dare run up that aisle, Alexia. I know you can’t wait to get your hands on him and quite frankly he is one fine man, but this is your only chance to show yourself off. This means you’re going to take this walk nice and slow. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a giggle.
That was the longest walk I ever took in my life, but it was worth every step because by the time I made it to his side, he was dazed. I almost had to click my fingers in front of his face to get a response from him. Lisbeth cleared her throat twice before he took my hand from hers and escorted me up to the altar.
Then he bent his head and whispered in my ear, “I’ve never been speechless in my life until today. You are beyond exquisite, Alexia. I will never forget the way you look today walking towards me to take me as your husband.”
I melted on the spot, turned into jelly right there. I wanted to throw myself at him and I didn’t care that we were in the middle of a ton of people, and it was our wedding. I wanted to turn around and throw my bouquet in the air and shout out how much I loved him. But I did none of that. I waited until later.
We had a traditional ceremony but at the end we each whispered something to the other that we wanted to say.
Pearce turned to me and said, “I knew you were my forever girl the first time I saw you. I told you then that I’d be here forever, and I’ll tell you now. I’m here till the end, Alexia, with you by my side always.”
When it was my turn, I gently touched his face and said, “I’m glad you were persistent because I don’t know how I could live without you by my side every day. I didn’t know happiness until I met you. My heart is only half without you, Pearce, and I’m here till the end too.”
Then we kissed and it wasn’t the usual wedding kiss. We really kissed. People started laughing. We finally pulled away and the priest announced us as Dr. and Mrs. Henry Pearce Middleton the Fifth. We walked down the aisle and out of the church and were whisked away for pictures.
Before they started though, he towed me to a little nook. “I had envisioned what you would look like today, but, Alexia, there are no adequate words that can even come close to describing you. Your beauty just flows from you, and when I look at you, like now, my emotions are ...” He swallowed, and his eyes were smoldering with passion. “God, Lex, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you tonight.”
“Pearce,” I murmured. When he spoke like that, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep my hands off him. I kissed him, which probably wasn’t the best idea, but I couldn’t help myself.
We heard our names and he said, “Dammit!”
“Maybe in the limo.”
“I’ll figure something out. Alexia, I love the hell out of you.”
I beamed at him. “I love the hell out of you too, Pearce.”
* * *
We managedto get through the pictures, but I was squirming by the time we were finished. Even Terri noticed.
“You okay? You look flushed.”
“I’m fine,” I answered. “Just excited.”
“I don’t blame you. It’s going to be great tonight.”
“Don’t I know it!”
I laughed to myself because she was missing my double entendres.
Pearce and I got into the limo, and he told the driver to take a little spin.
“Sweetheart,” he began, his voice full and hoarse, “do you think you can sit on my lap without damaging your dress?”
“I’ll try anything.”
“Panties?”
“You’ll have to find out for yourself,” I said with a wink.
He did and we had a pre-reception party of our own. Thankfully, the limo had tinted windows and a partition between the back and the front. I’m not sure if it was soundproof, but I threw all caution aside. It was our wedding day, dammit.
Dress was fine, lipstick wiped off Pearce and reapplied to my lips, nose powdered, and everything was in perfect order when we climbed out of the limo. We received some questioning looks, which we totally ignored. Hors d’oeuvres were being passed around and tables of them were set up everywhere. Servers handed out champagne, as well as red and white wine. There were also several open bars available for non-wine drinkers.
Pearce and I didn’t want a seated dinner. We both felt it made the evening too stifled. We wanted lots of music and dancing and more time to visit with everyone. So, after the hors d’oeuvres course, the tables were laden with all sorts of food such as lobster tails and king crab legs. Filet mignon, shrimp and grits, grilled salmon on a plank, and pork tenderloin were also served. There were a variety of vegetables and salads available along with fruits and cheeses, and she crab soup as well.
Sometime during the night, just like Pearce predicted, Uncle Will came up to us and took credit for the little gem he found in me at MedSoft. But he did tell me that big things were happening there all because of me and I could be expecting another promotion soon.
Pearce and I danced and ate and had the grandest time until Susan pulled me aside and told me it was time to change.
Pearce and I followed her to a room where my outfit hung. He began the process of undoing all the hidden buttons, snaps, and zipper to get me out of the gown. When he finished and I stepped out of my dress, he stood there gaping at me, getting his first glance of me in my bustier and matching thong.
“Fuuuuck, Alexia.” His husky voice always made my skin flush.
“Soon, baby,” I answered.
I went to put on another outfit, but he stopped me.
“Please don’t, not yet anyway,” he begged. I smiled at his expression. “I’ve imagined all evening what you might be wearing beneath that lovely gown, but I didn’t even come close.”
In one long stride he was in front of me, and I was in his arms, being thoroughly kissed.
Then he released me and said, “Hmm, I think it was worth the wait.”
He held up the other outfit for me. It was another designer dress, but an above-the-knee, sleeveless navy-blue silk, with a short jacket to match. It was dressy but could go either way. I had dark navy Louboutin pumps to match.
We walked out and my arm was linked with Pearce’s. He turned and pulled me into his arms and started kissing me. And kissing me. And kissing me.
“Mmm, Mrs. Middleton. I think I love you.”
“Well, that’s a relief since you just married me!”
“You two better get a move on. The crowd is getting restless.”
I didn’t know what Susan meant until we walked outside. All the guests were lined up with sparklers and bird seed and bubbles and all sorts of stuff.
We said our good-byes to the family and left. Pearce wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and he had Ava and Terri pack for me. I had no idea where our honeymoon was going to be, other than it would be warm.
We boarded the G7, and it was filled with tons of food and drinks. Mitch was there as well as a copilot named Mark and a flight engineer named Ryan. There were also two flight attendants, Roy and Kathie. They were both older than us, maybe in their late forties.
The light bulb fired then. With all these people on board, we must be going somewhere a bit further than an hour or two away.
“Um, Pearce, are you going to give me any clues yet?”
“Baby, I’ve been giving you clues all over the place. You just haven’t picked up on them.”
“What do you mean?”
He just smiled. “You tired, hungry, or thirsty? Whatever you want, just tell Roy or Kathie and they’ll take care of you.”
“I am a bit tired,” I said.
“As soon as we hit ten thousand feet, we can go to sleep in the cabin. Mitch likes for us to be strapped in until then. Just recline your chair. The feet go up too.”
I did as he suggested and was out. We must have hit some bumps or something because I woke up when my head bobbed.
“Hey, you want to sleep on the bed?”
“Yeah. That sounds great.”
He unbuckled me and I followed him to the back of the cabin. We slipped in between the sheets, and I went right to sleep again.
Something kept tickling my feet. I’d kick it and there it was back again. In annoyance, I opened my eyes, intending to get rid of the offensive thing that was interrupting my sleep and found it was Pearce, lightly running his fingers up the arch of my foot.
“I thought you were a bug. I was getting ready to squash you,” I said, grumpily.
The covers flew off me and he spread my legs as he started to lick and nip his way up the insides of my thighs. A little while later, I’d forgotten I was grumpy, or that he’d awakened me because I’d officially become a member of the mile high club with Pearce Middleton.
We got dressed and headed out into the main cabin when he said, “Now will you please take a good look around you and try to guess where you are going on your honeymoon, Mrs. Middleton?”
The table was set with a plate of cheeses, olives, and an antipasto tray. There was San Pelligrino water, a chilled bottle of prosecco and one of pinot grigio. There was a loaf of ciabatta with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A menu was on the table that listed chicken marsala and chicken limone as the choices.
“Oh my God! We’re going to Italy!” I launched myself at him and knocked him into a seat. He laughed as he grabbed me.
“It took you long enough. I kept thinking you’d see the painting of Cinque Terre I had placed over there,” he said gesturing to his left.
“I totally missed that!”
“Tell me about it! And then you fell asleep like you were in a freakin’ coma. I paced out here for forty-five minutes before I finally went in and woke you up. You sure know how to torture a guy. I’ve had this thing planned for months and it’s been killing me not to tell you!”
I laughed and laughed. “Oh my God. I can’t believe we’re going to Italy!” It was all sinking in now.
“And for a month. I’m gonna pay for it when we get back ’cause I’ll be on call forever but I figured anything less than a month wouldn’t be worth it.”
“Have I told you today that I love you?”
“Um, only twice and that’s not nearly enough. You’re gonna have to do way better than that.”
“Okay. I love you, Pearce Middleton. You know, my life was on the edge of disaster before you walked in, swept me off my feet, and changed things forever. I’ll love you till the end.”
“And I’ll love you till the end, Alexia.”
THE END