Jack Griggs
Carly hadn’t said anything, and even though I was sure she wanted the same thing as me, I just wanted an answer. I figured if we arrived home married, it was already a done deal and no one could say we weren’t a proper or serious thing. Not that having babies was any less of a commitment, but I wanted to show the world just what this girl meant to me. Carly was giving me everything and the least I could do was give her security, and me.
I’d done some research a few days ago and had everything sorted. There was this crazy quaint town about seventy miles off one of the main highways on our route. The community was small and it was becoming known as ‘Hillbilly Vegas’. It sounded so ridiculous it was just perfect for Carly and me. If you wanted to get married, you could. You just needed to give them twenty-four hours notice and turn up. I’d already done that and doubt was starting to creep in, because she still hadn’t said anything.
“If you’re worried about my parents then don’t be. We’re together,” she told me.
“I’m not. But this place is crazy, Carly. It’s us kind of crazy and let’s face it, we’re crazy. You make me feel crazy and happy. When I read about this place, it made me howl with laughter. It’s just so us. What do you say?” My foot was tapping against the side footwell of the car, wondering whether she’d go for it.
“Of course I’ll marry you, but—”
“No. No buts.”
“I just always wanted a big family wedding. When I was a girl I saw it as a way of showing the world that I was belonged and at last I had a family. I was so alone for so long, just making do, and when I found Tommy, I knew that the best way to put the trailer park behind me was to have a big wedding. Prove to the world that I was good enough to be loved.”
Her words fucking shredded me. No one deserved what this girl lived like as a kid. If my mom and dad hadn’t adopted Jake and me, we could have ended up that way. Her reasoning for questioning my crazy plan was completely sound.
“How about we get married again later, renew our vows when the babies are with us and things are good with your family? That way you can show the world you not only have a family that loves you, but you are cherished enough to have your own family. You’re going to think this is crazy, but I always imagined I’d do stuff in the correct order, you know, have kids that would be born into wedlock.”
Carly looked at me with surprise. “Is that important to you?”
“Yeah. Kinda.” I shrugged it off, but it was very important to me. “I want them to have all the security my brother and I never had until we became part of my mom and dad’s family.” I had a feeling I was making a mess of this. It was starting to feel like I was making excuses and trying to manipulate her into doing this. “Baby, I’ve done so much crazy stuff lately, you included. The chance to do this one thing traditionally is very appealing to me. If you marry me now, I promise you can have your family wedding. You can show the world anything you want and I will happily do it as the guy who knew you were special enough all along.”
Carly went quiet and gazed out of our car. She seemed content to just watch the world go by. “Well, I can’t get married in lycra and I don’t have a lot else that fits right now.”
“You won’t have to. I have it all figured out.
And I did.
We checked into the Lucky Lovers motel. It was a stupid name, but it was something else that had made me laugh when I set the tentative plans for our quickie wedding into real motion.
I’d arranged for flowers and chocolates in the room and had already stowed a lighter overnight bag in the car that she hadn’t noticed. It contained the essentials, like a dress for her and some fancy clothes for me. All very simple and all very Carly and me.
That night, I wined and dined her in the only steak joint in town. Her appetite was crazy; it was getting to the stage where she could eat me under the table. I had a beer and she had a Cherry Coke, and it felt like we were two high school elopers in on this big secret. Neither of us could stop smiling. We were co-conspirators who just kept giggling for no reason. Later on, I walked her back to our room, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, and then made love to the girl who had been my fiancée for only a few hours. Before I fell asleep, I had a conversation with my babies. My crazy baby chatter relaxed her and as she drifted off to sleep, I found the only thing I wanted to do was watch her. The last time I’d waited for her to drift off to sleep, I’d crudely measured her ring finger with a bit of string and now I was so damn excited about actually getting to give it to her. I’d snuck out the following day and looked at wedding bands, settling on two simple platinum ones. Everything I’d seen had been too fancy-schmancy, and my girl was simple. Her beauty was plain and intoxicating, yet organic. She didn’t need razzmatazz or huge diamonds. She already had that kind of sparkle in her beauty and radiant hair, her loving personality.
I debated telling Jake my plans, but figured he would do his best to try to stop it. We were both adults and living in this bubble life that had served us well so far. In our bubble, we only had each other to rely on and it seemed right that we should do this alone with no one but ourselves. If others were pissed about us eloping then they could go fuck themselves. Had they not dismissed us, there was every possibility we would have been sharing this with them. Never did I imagine, though, that I’d be getting married without my brother at my side.
Carly and I woke the next morning and were due to be married first on the schedule. I was so excited I was ready to wait on the steps for the damn doors to open.
The look on her face when I produced a dress was a picture. It was simple, cream in color, and looked like something elegant that you’d wear at an occasion or a tea party. I knew when I saw it that it was perfect. I had visions of her wearing it on a hot summers day, walking through fields of wild flowers, a belly swollen with my children and picking stray petals as she passed without a care in the world. It had floaty sleeves, and according to the woman in the shop was cut on the bias, so would flatter her growing belly. Carly loved it. She left her hair flowing down naturally and my final outfit gift to her was a pair of white wedding, special edition vans I’d found. They were sparkly and had laces done up with ribbon. They were perfect for her.
I’d found a florist online and pre-ordered a hand tied bouquet of spring flowers, whatever the fuck that was. I had no idea until I told the woman on the end of the phone what I was after and she recommended it. I smiled when I dropped by to collect them. It was exactly like the flowers from the wild field vision I kept having. None of them were cut in a uniform way and they were packed out with ornamental grasses, tied simply with a piece of ribbon.
Carly adored it all. Her smile was nearly as huge as mine. Every surprise I laid on her seemed to make it so unique, I was mentally high fiving myself for pulling it together.
I looked at her, one last time, when we were showing our I.D’s at the town hall, wondering if I could see any hint of her backing out, but it wasn’t there. She was beaming. The registrar found a couple of people from the back office to come and be our witnesses, and thirty minutes later, Carly Sevens became Mrs. Carly Griggs. Before I pulled her lips towards me to celebrate, I pulled her hand up instead and kissed her new wedding band, securing it in place.
“You’ve made me the happiest man on the planet.”
When I finally went in for her lips, I stepped back a single pace and held her belly. I lay my hands on our unborn children, desperate to include them in this moment. One of the witnesses took a few photos that cost me fifty dollars, and then I got them to take some with our cell phones. When the registrar handed me our certificate and instant polaroids, there was a gift certificate for an all you could eat buffet up the road. It was all just beautifully ridiculous. Insane and perfect.
We arrived for our newly weds buffet, surrounded by strangers but treated like royalty. It was so laughable, but I knew we were making memories we’d always remember. Carly and I were starry eyed without a care in the world. Our plates were piled high with food that didn’t match or go together, and to top it off, we fed each other key lime pie like it was the most luxurious wedding cake in the world. When the cheesy congratulations tune came on, I grabbed my bride and started dancing with her in the middle of the ravenous chaos. I danced with my woman, feeling more whole than I could ever remember. While her body was growing physically, my heart was matching it pound for pound. It was a journey we’d started together, and everything we did kept linking us deeper on so many levels. We weren’t two people; we were a family rolled into one.
When our meal came to an end, I insisted on carrying her all the way to the motel. Even though it was less than a quarter of mile, I made jokes about how much of burden it was carrying your family on your back while she made fat jokes. The walk took us forever. I had to stop when she made me laugh or put her down when she was giggling so hard that I was close to dropping her. There was one time, she was laughing so hard, she felt sure she was going to give me that elusive golden shower, but then there were also the times when I just had to stop and kiss her for no reason.
At the motel we undressed each other. All the joking had left us. We’d become a unit together that couldn’t be put into words. “I do believe marriage suits you, Mrs. Griggs,” I told her, kissing her slowly.
“I’m no different than I was this morning… husband,” she replied, finally using that word.
“That’s where you are wrong. This simple piece of tin on your hand tells the world I own you. I’ve claimed you as mine forever. It’s nearly the most beautiful thing about you.”
“Nearly?” Carly breathed, palming my rock hard cock.
“It’s a close call between your eyes, your smile and my babies. I am the luckiest motherfucker on this planet, so lucky that you’re giving me two babies instead of one.”
Our love making lasted long into the night. I could have kept going but I knew Carly needed her rest because tomorrow was going to be a big day. We were going home, where the news of our shotgun wedding and pregnancy was going to bring more than just a storm. It was going to cause a hurricane. Jonas had warned me of that when I’d confided in him.
I didn’t care, though. Nothing could take her away from me now.
* * *
The closer we got to Hawkstown, the more nervous she became. At one point I thought I was going to have to stop the car so she could throw up. I let her try to blame the babies and her pregnancy on the jitters she was having, but we both knew she was worried that our bubble was about to burst. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t as well.
When we finally hit the edge of town, she was brimming over with nerves. “Stop, Carly. This isn’t good for you or the babies.”
“But what if…”
I pulled the car to a stop and turned to face her. “We’re married. We’re going to be a family. The way I see it, things can’t get any worse. They can only get better.”
“Your family could disown us, too.”
“They could.” The shock on her face wasn’t pretty and I regretted my attempt to joke. “But they won’t. My mom raised foster kids who ended up together. Scandal. My brother slept with his twin’s girlfriend, left town and came home with a girl he married three weeks later. More scandal. We’ll just be the icing on the cake. We’re doing them a favor by getting the scandal out of the way.” I was still trying to make light of it all and I could see it was starting to work. “We have each other. We wanted this. We decided our fate. The rest of them will have to get on board. What we are is together and it’s no longer a secret. You’re not my student. I am not your tutor. What we have is not forbidden and it never has been. Okay?”
I waited for her to nod and smile before setting off again.
“We’re staying in the cabin. Don’t get mad, but Jonas knows.”
Carly glared at me.
“You have to understand why I told him. I had to find us somewhere to live and he was the best option. Jake already knowing about us, puts him the middle, Jonas doesn’t give a fuck about the middle ground. He’s on our side. He understands better than anyone. We’ll tell my folks first, think of it as practice for your parents, before we finally let hell unleash at the Sevens household.”
“Man up, Sevens,” I heard her whisper.
“Griggs,” I corrected, squeezing her thigh. Laughing at her mental pep talk.
“I can do this. I am Mrs. Carly Griggs. I am Mrs. Carly Griggs.”
“Yes, you are baby.”
When we finally pulled up at the main house, we saw that the drive was full of cars. They were having a party. This was not how I wanted her first night to go.
“We’ll tell people later,” she decided.
“Sure,” I lied. There was no way I was softening this blow for anyone. I was as pleased as fuck to be a married man and I wanted to the world to know it. If this was how we did it, then bring it on.
I climbed out first and was expecting to have to crowbar her from the car, but once I opened her door, she came willingly. Her nerves had been replaced with steely determination and guts. The last time I’d seen that look on her face was when she walked away from her parent’s house, and before that it was when she found the courage to strip naked in a bar and let herself be painted.
God, she was fucking stunning.
The closer we got to the back of the house, the louder the voices became. We could hear children laughing and squealing, and the smell of chargrilled meat assaulted my senses. The back yard was barbecue busy. Before anyone spotted us walking into the yard, I heard her gasp in shock. Her parents and siblings were in the yard. Fuck, even Oli and Lottie were there. They thought of her as their granddaughter. How had we missed the cab in the driveway?
Before Carly could freak out and run, I grabbed her hand and felt it trembling.
Jake was the first to spot us. Call it twin intuition, but he was out of his garden chair and heading in our direction first. Jonas spotted him hustling forward and followed. The atmosphere was dipping and that was when I knew Carly’s dad had seen us, too.
I should have been worried about his reaction, but I was still riding high on my wedding cloud and I was desperate to shout it out. I was deciding whether to just do that before Carly had a complete meltdown. The stress of what she was putting herself through could not be good for her or the babies.
“What the fuck, Jack?” Jake snipped at me. “I thought you’d go straight to the cabin.”
So, Jonas had shared. “Hello to you, too.”
I felt Carly get closer and heard her gasp. Looking up, I saw her father stomping up the yard towards us. Only when he got nearer, he took a step to the side and went to walk past us, like we didn’t exist.
“Dad!” Carly finally broke the silence when he was level with her.
Lacey was gathering up Isaac and their stuff, as Carly’s sister Sophie ran full speed at us and threw her arms around Carly’s middle.
“Dad, we need to talk.”
Without turning to look at her, Tommy grunted, “I see you’ve still got your priorities wrong.”
I wasn’t going to have him taking this out on my wife. “Tommy, come on.”
“You do not exist for me, remember?”
The atmosphere was tense. Lacey was warring between standing by her man and trying to talk some sense into him. Sophie was clinging to her big sister, which unhelpfully for them, made a clean getaway more of a challenge.
“You’d best get over that,” I replied.
“Not going to happen.” Tommy finally turned and faced us. His anger wasn’t there anymore; it was just pure disappointment. “You stole my girl’s youth. She had a future ahead of her. You took advantage.”
“I’m sorry you still see it like that.”
I was honest with him. I didn’t shout or demand. I wanted to talk calmly and Carly knew this as she reached up to place a supportive hand on my chest.
Unfortunately, the hand she placed in full view of everyone was the one displaying a simple, shiny wedding band that was now sparkling, larger than life.