25. Chapter 25
Laying in bed watching Melanie get ready in the morning was one of his favorite things to do. She had this weird system of drinking coffee in the shower that always made him smile. Apparently a requirement for the house they were going to buy was that the shower either had to have a ledge for her coffee cup or he was going to have to build her one. After the shower, she did her makeup while also listening to the morning news that she streamed on her phone. Then she blow dried her hair, only to listen to more news while she curled or straightened it. Once all that was done, she would stand in front of the closet in just her bra and panties to decide what to wear. When she finally picked out an outfit was when he knew it was time to get out of bed.
He could be dressed and ready to go in the time that it took her to put on clothes and shoes. Some mornings if he was lucky, like today, she was still standing there holding the clothes double checking her decision when he made it out of bed. That always meant there was the opportunity to put his hands on her body and kiss her neck or shoulder. She leaned into him and let him take some of her weight while he kissed her. “I like you in that shirt,” he said when she looked like she was going to put it back.
“Really?”
“I mean I like you like this the best,” he said, running his hands down her sides, “But yeah, blue looks good on you.”
“Ok.” She turned in his arms and kissed him. It was unusual for her to do that in the morning, so he just soaked it in and kissed her back.
“Happy birthday,” he whispered against her lips.
“Thanks.” She pulled back to get dressed after another kiss.
He grabbed his clothes from the hanger he brought over last night and put them on before going in the bathroom. While he was brushing his teeth, Melanie leaned on the doorframe with her arms crossed. He wasn’t sure if he should be scared or not. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been thinking about the party tonight.”
“And?” He prompted when she didn’t elaborate. But she just bit her lip and shook her head. He spit then washed out his mouth before moving to stand in front of her. “You want to cancel?”
“No, Luna and Valerie have everything setup and everyone’s already coming.”
“Then what? You’ve got to help me out because I’m not sure what this look on your face means, cupcake.” He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed up and down her arms. “Tell me.”
“What if we did something completely insane?”
“Define insane.” His heart picked up pace because Melanie wasn’t really the spontaneous type. Tradition, routine, and following expectations were more her style.
“Like what if we surprised everyone with our wedding at the party?”
That was not what he was expecting. After opening his mouth to speak, he realized he didn’t even know what to say. She laughed and pulled away from his hands on her arms. “I told you. Insane.”
“Hold on.” He rushed to catch her before she could leave the bedroom. “Is that what you want to do?”
“Kind of.”
“It sorta needs to be a yes, if we’re actually going to do it, Mel.”
She turned to sit on the edge of the bed. “Why wait? Honest to God, Levi, I don’t want to plan a wedding. I don’t want to deal with my mom and the months of flowers this, place settings that, and seating arrangement changes. Wouldn’t it be nice to be married already? We can spend our time and effort on buying a house and settling into our life together instead of bickering over dates that work for everyone and what food is appropriate to serve.”
He knelt down in front of her, holding her hands in his. “So you want to marry me tonight to avoid your mom and her opinions?” Because that didn’t sound like a good reason to push things up.
“No.” She shook her head with a sigh. “I’m just saying it wrong.”
“Then say what you want, babe. I’m all ears.” He wanted to marry her but he also didn’t want her to regret not having the formal wedding. To him, it wasn’t such a big deal. Twenty years from now though, he didn’t want her to look back and say what the fuck?
“I want to move forward with our life together. All an engagement is, is a holding pattern. We’re stuck in limbo. Together but not a family. Living together but not as one.” She pulled one hand back to push her hair behind her ear. “Last night, I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking, what if something happens to you? I’m not your wife. You have no living next of kin. I wouldn’t be able to make decisions or be with you when you needed me most.” She closed her eyes and looked toward the wall. He knew she was fighting back tears. “Worse yet, what if something happened to me again? My family would instantly close ranks. They’d shut you out because even though you’re a great guy and they like you, in their minds you’re part of the DeLaney family. They’ll never let go of that to some extent.”
Well, when she said it like that, it put things in a different light. As much as he wanted to promise nothing would happen, the world didn’t work like that. Look at his parents for example. “Hey, look at me for a second,” he whispered, squeezing her hand. When her glassy eyes finally met his, he gave her a smile. “I’m not saying no, but I just want to throw this out there as an alternative for now if you want to change your mind. We can get Charlotte to draft up powers of attorney and wills and stuff giving us rights until we actually get married. It would cover us legally if something happened.”
“I thought about that,” she said, wiping her eyes. “But I want to do this. Something inside of me says it’s the right choice.”
He searched her eyes, looking for any hint that she was lying or holding back something. She wasn’t. “And youre sure you want our anniversary to be your birthday? It’s awfully close to a holiday too. I mean eight days after Valentine’s puts three big days all right in a row.”
“At least maybe you won’t ever forget our anniversary,” she said with a small smile. Thankfully, the tears hadn’t gone full blown. He hated when she cried because it left him feeling like he wasn’t doing enough for her.
“I’d like to think I’d never be one of those guys who forgot our anniversary.” He rolled his eyes but leaned forward to kiss her gently. “If this is what you want, Melanie then of course we’ll do it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, cupcake really.” He kissed her again then looked at the clock. “Before you launch into what we need to do, I want to ask you something.”
“Ok?”
“If you couldn’t sleep because you were worried about all the things you said, why didn’t you wake me up so we could talk about it?”
“I don’t have a good answer for that other than worrying that I was just acting crazy.”
“I’ve never once thought you were crazy.” He stood up off the ground because his leg was cramping. Taking a seat beside her, he said, “I’d like it if you would wake me up next time.”
“Careful what you ask for,” she said with a laugh. Before she could say anything else her alarm on her phone that was a warning she needed to leave for work went off. She pushed the button to stop it and looked at him. “In twelve hours we’re getting married. Now’s your chance to back out.”
“Not gonna happen. I’m with you.”
The first thing he did when he got in the car was call Andrea. He and Melanie had agreed they were only going to tell Luna, Andrea, Valerie, and Allie. Mostly because he needed their help. Luna so she didn’t freak out that her event was being hijacked. Allie because she was the only officiant they knew other than a priest. Andrea and Valerie because well they were his only family, and he needed their help with the finer details. No one else had the reach those two did for making this happen.
“Hello?”
He glanced at the radio to make sure he’d called the right number, but he definitely called Andrea even though it was Valerie’s voice.
“Hey Valerie, is Andrea there?”
“Yeah. Hold on.” She sounded like he woke her up. “Everything ok?”
“With the business and stuff, yes. My life…well.”
She chuckled and opened a door. “You didn’t dump Melanie did you?”
“God no.”
“Ok, hold on.” It sounded like she put the phone against her chest to muffle the noise but he could still hear her. “‘Drea, you left your phone in the bed. It’s Levi.”
“Sorry, love. Go back to sleep.”
“I’m up now. Give me the monitor and you can talk to him while you finish your walk.” There was some shuffling around and it sounded like they kissed. “You had better not have been in here running,” Val warned.
“I haven’t. Just walking, love.”
“Ok. Here.”
It was good that Val was making Andrea follow the rules of her recovery, even though he was pretty sure she didn’t need to be working out at all. Usually she worked out really early in the morning. That she was still at home and not ready for the day at eight was strange.
“Levi?” Andrea said into the phone.
“Good morning, Mama A. Sorry I woke her up.”
“It was my fault for leaving it in the bed. What’s up?”
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and took a breath. “Are you still on the treadmill?”
“Technically yes, I’m sitting on it drinking water. Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you to fall off,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh, God, what did you do?” The smile in her voice was obvious though.
“Melanie told me she had an idea this morning and we’ve decided…well we’re going…”
“You’re not eloping,” she said seriously. It wasn’t a question either, it was more like she was telling him that wasn’t an option.
“No, but she wants to surprise everyone at her birthday party tonight with our wedding. Like we can have Allie officiate and her family and friends are already coming. You’ll be there. Instead of it just being a birthday celebration, somehow we’ve got to turn it into a wedding too.” He practically held his breath waiting for her to answer or say something. She had gotten married on a whim, this shouldn’t have been crazy to her.
“Is there a reason? Did you find out she’s pregnant after all?”
“Nothing like that. She just wants to start our life together.”
“What about you? Is that what you want?”
He took a second to think about it again. There was nothing he wanted more. “Yes, me too. You know how I feel about her, Mama A, and even if this is kinda different, I want to make her happy.”
It sounded like she hummed while taking another drink. “I’m not trying to piss you off when I say this, Levi, but after everything that happened to her, is she really ready? Trauma can change your perspective, and I don’t want the two of you to rush into marriage because one or both of you just want to put that part of your life behind you.”
Valid point or not, it rankled him a little that she brought that up. “This isn’t that. You still trust her with your money, she’s not unstable or anything like that. We belong together.”
“I never said she was unstable, and I trust her with the business. You’re not business to me, Levi. I know I’ve made mistakes with how I’ve used you over the past several years, but you’re so much more to me than that. All I want is to make sure you’re happy and taken care of.”
The sincerity in her voice made him sit back in his seat and swallow harshly. “I know.”
“Ok then, how can I help? What do you need me to do?”
“Can you ask Allie to be the officiant? And can Charlotte help us with the paperwork?”
“I’ll take care of it. She’ll call you within the hour and let you know what she needs.”
Relief washed over him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but hold on,” she groaned as she stood up, “You get to tell my wife that you’re hijacking her party plans.”
“Ugh,” he groaned, “You could’ve told her for me and then let her call Melanie.”
“No way,” Andrea said with a chuckle. The sound of Avrie babbling filled the speakers around him and then he heard Andrea whisper to Val, “Levi has something to tell you.”
“It better be that he’s bringing coffee because we’re out since you didn’t go to the store yesterday like you said you would.” He laughed when Andrea groaned.