Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
“What?” Matthew asked with his arm around Sarah, his wife, stunned by my announcement. A crowd of all our loved ones wore shocked expressions.
“You heard,” I murmured, giving Mark a knowing look. He held my hand tighter in his as we gazed lovingly at each other while we stood in the lobby of the grand hotel.
“Oh, my God!” Sophie squealed, hugging me, nearly knocking me off my feet had Mark not steadied me.
“Really?” my mom asked, putting a hand to her chest like my news had winded her.
Still in Sophie’s death grip, I nodded, feeling my excitement bubble.
“Today?” my dad asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.
“Yes, sir,” Mark answered.
Chris came up, holding his girlfriend’s hand.
Her name was Paige. She had long dark hair with matching brown eyes.
She was strikingly beautiful. She was also very shy and timid, which also meant she was usually pretty quiet, which meant she was well suited for Chatterbox Chris.
Chris slapped Mark’s shoulder. “You finally did it.”
“Yeah, all it took was meeting the right one,” he shot back.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Chris playfully whispered to Paige. She smiled adoringly at him.
Despite his words, there was a lot of love and affection between them.
“We had no idea,” Sophie said, still hugging me so hard it was difficult to breathe.
“That’s the point of a surprise wedding.” I winked, relieved when my sister finally released me.
“Congrats,” Paige whispered softly.
I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
We had kept so quiet about the details, no one had any idea the weekend away would include our wedding.
Mark had proposed six weeks earlier over a romantic dinner for two. He had done it on a bended knee and asked for me to spend the rest of my life with him.
We would have done it sooner but it had taken a while to pick a weekend that suited all our guests. We didn’t want anyone to miss it.
The ring had been beautiful, but I hadn’t worn it for fear someone would notice it.
My fingers ran over the band. I was wearing it for the first time since we had gotten engaged.
“Oh, my God,” Sophie squealed again. “Is that the ring?”
I nodded as she grabbed my hand. “It’s beautiful,” she sighed dreamily.
“Oh, baby,” my mother said tearfully, but she was happy. I moved to embrace her.
“Congrats, man.” Matthew shook Mark’s hand. My mom released me, and then Sarah was there to replace her.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said.
“Thank you. ”
Haven appeared with a protective Damien. “I’m so happy for you,” she gushed, and I hugged her.
Damien no longer regarded me with suspicion.
With knowledge of their secret, I was bonded to them in a way I couldn’t explain.
He was still studying law and on track to become a lawyer.
I often wondered if it was to protect us if the secret ever came to light.
Haven had become a social worker and they had spoken of their desire to foster and possibly adopt.
Haven was positively glowing. I looked down to see the slight roundness of her tummy.
“You’re pregnant?” I asked. It had been a month since we had last seen them and there had been no sign of a pregnancy then.
She nodded. “Surprise.”
“That’s wonderful,” I breathed, having been stunned at my own surprise wedding. “How far along are you?”
“We’re safely at the twelve-week mark,” she revealed.
I was no expert on pregnancy but she looked a lot bigger than just three months.
Damien placed a protective hand on her stomach. “We’re having twins.”
“Wow, congrats, man,” Mark spoke beside us, shaking Damien’s hand. “I want to be in the running for the godfather position.”
“Now wait a second, that’s my job,” Chris argued. I grinned, just shaking my head. We still saw them once a month for lunch.
They were Mark’s unofficial family. None of his blood relatives had been invited and I was happy with that.
Haven rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
“What about adopting or fostering?” I asked her softly, knowing how important it had had been to her.
“That’s still the plan. We’re just going to wait a little longer to do it. I’m going to have my hands full soon.”
Damien, in full protective mode, insisted Haven have time to put her feet up before the ceremony, so they disappeared with Chris and Paige.
Next was Sebastian and Cole, accompanied by Maggie.
“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.” Sebastian kissed my cheek.
In the two years since I had found out about them, we had become really close and I was over the moon that they had been able to attend.
“This is so exciting,” Maggie exclaimed, kissing me on both cheeks.
It was only when I thought of my father that I felt a moment of sadness, but I swear I felt him when I got dressed and walked down the aisle. Like before, he would be watching over me, but this time from up above.
A couple of hours later, out in the garden, dressed in a simple white sundress, I stood in front of the priest, facing Mark, who was dressed in a crisp white button-up shirt and black slacks.
He held my hands as he recited his vows, then he slid the wedding band on to my finger. I took a deep breath.
I held his gaze while I recited mine, feeling emotional and trying not to cry, but I wasn’t very successful. My eyes misted as I slid his wedding band on his finger.
We had both come such a long way from where we had started.
If I remembered back to all the stumbling blocks we had faced and where we were now, I felt my heart inflate.
We had bought a house together, large enough to house my father’s paintings.
It hadn’t taken long for Mark to handle the role of managing his grandfather’s companies.
His success made me so proud of him. My business was also doing extremely well to the point I had to turn some jobs away.
I was still the same absent-minded person who locked herself out the house and car, who misplaced items on a daily basis and who was always running late.
But Mark loved those things about me. I knew when I needed him, he would always be there. Not once since we’d gotten back together had he ever missed a call from me. He was my knight in shining armor.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Mark drew me close and touched his lips to mine.
Everyone began to clap, and we turned to face them.
“When are we going to tell them about the other surprise?” he whispered close to my ear, grinning at our family and friends.
“Let’s give them time to recover from the first one.” I smiled.
Our secret wouldn’t stay hidden for long. He touched my stomach before swooping to give me another kiss.