Chapter Twenty-Two
Vanessa was right. Kat loved Hawaii. She’d never been a fan of the busy city life and had always dreamed of living in wide open spaces with lots of nature and little civilization. Oahu was just that and then some.
Taking a break from the wedding festivities, Kat stood on the beach with the ocean foam lapping at her bare feet and the hem of her bridesmaid dress. As she gazed up at the full moon casting its light over the watery horizon, she reflected on how quickly her life had changed over the last few weeks. And how much more it would change in the months to come.
After Sicoli was apprehended, they had decided to leave Alabaster and head up to Aiden’s house in Boston. She’d gotten to spend time with his mother and sisters, all of whom she adored, and according to Aiden they felt the same way about her. His mother had actually pulled her aside one day and thanked her for “bringing her son back from the dead.” She’d responded with, “We brought each other back.”
They also hung out with Joey quite a bit. It made her really happy to watch them reconnect as they recounted old stories and shared new ones with each other, like how Joey went from Boston PD to the FBI or how Aiden saved a spitting-mad kitten in a dark alley.
Then it was her turn to make familial amends. Aiden had finally convinced her to call her sister. She’d been so distant from Nessie for so long that the idea of talking to her, much less seeing her again, had made her nervous. But as she’d dialed the number, Aiden sat with his arm around her, offering his strength and support, as always.
Now they’d been living in this tropical paradise for three weeks as she reconnected with her sister. They’d spent every day together without fail. Some days were spent finalizing all the details for the wedding and sometimes they lounged on the beach while watching Jackson try unsuccessfully to teach Aiden to surf.
Sometimes they talked about their childhood and what Kat had endured after Nessie left home. Those conversations were always difficult, but in the end they were cathartic as well. Over the last few weeks, they’d gotten to know each other as women who were far different from the scared children they had once been.
Now that she had her sister back and the man she loved by her side, Kat couldn’t ask for anything more in life.
“Hey, Kitty-Kat, you okay?”
Turning, she saw Vanessa approach in her elegant satin sheath wedding dress. Her sister was even more beautiful than she had remembered. Poised and graceful and utterly classy. At least until you put a beer in her hand and a dartboard in front of her. Kat had enjoyed seeing Nessie’s wild side when the four of them hung out at Duke’s Waikiki. That girl could do half a dozen shots of tequila and still hit a bull’s-eye without flinching.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just enjoying the view,” Kat said. “I’m going to miss it.”
“I wish you weren’t leaving so soon.” Nessie took hold of Kat’s hands. “Are you sure you have to go back to Boston?”
“We talked about this. Aiden already gave up his life once when you and Jax sent him after me, and I want him to have more time with his family. Plus, he already owns a house there, so it only makes sense.”
Vanessa sighed in resignation. “All right, as long as he allows me visitation rights whenever I want them,” she said with a wink.
Kat laughed. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Good,” she said as she linked her arm through Kat’s and turned toward the ocean.
Kat still couldn’t get over the fact that she had her sister back. After so many years of keeping Vanessa at a distance to protect her, every time they were together, even the littlest thing would make her emotional, and she wasn’t sure how to process it all.
“Nessie, I know I’m not the greatest at expressing my feelings, but I want you to know how incredibly happy I am for you.” Kat felt her sister’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet them for fear of breaking into a blubbering mess. “It’s so obvious how much Jax loves and cherishes you and…I’m so glad you found each other, that’s all.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Vanessa gathered Kat into a hug and held her. “Thank you. That means so much to me. But I want you to know,” she said, pulling back to look her in the eyes, “that even as much as I love Jackson, without you my life wasn’t complete.”
Her green eyes started to mist over, provoking Kat’s to do the same despite her attempts to lock her tear ducts down. Vanessa continued. “You’ve always been the missing piece of my heart. There are no words for how I feel now that I have you back. I love you so much, Kitty-Kat.”
Damn her for making Kat cry. A few tears were all it took to undo the hard work the staff had put into transforming her into a worthy bridesmaid for her sister’s wedding. Now she was all stuffy and probably had a red nose and puffy eyes with running mascara. But even at the risk it would make things worse, Kat pulled her sister into another hug and whispered, “I love you, too, Nessie.”
“Hey, Irish, you ever fantasize about doing it with sisters?”
“Nah. I’m pretty content with the one I’ve got.”
They broke apart to find Aiden and Jax walking up to them, looking dapper in their casual wedding wear. As soon as he was within striking distance, Vanessa playfully backhanded her new husband in the chest. Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the scowl from her face.
Aiden smiled at Kat and she stepped into his embrace. Looking up at him, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Only ‘pretty content,’ huh?”
Bending his head, he spoke softly in her ear. “It wouldn’t be right to tell the guy on his wedding day that I have the better sister.”
She chuckled. “You’re such a good friend.”
Jax must have overheard her because he said, “If he was such a good friend, he’d stop fighting me tooth and nail on the details of our joint business venture.”
Aiden cut the other man a look that would make most cower, and Nessie let out a disgusted sigh. Kat turned to her brother-in-law. “What business venture?”
“I want to open an MMA gym with him, but he’s dragging his feet.”
“I’m not dragging anything. You’re like an antsy kid on a road trip.”
Kat held up her hands. “Whoa, what are you guys talking about?”
A splash of water doused the side of Jackson’s white linen pants and shirt. Kat tried not to laugh at the shocked look on his face as he turned to his smug wife standing in the surf.
“You said you’d give him time to discuss it with her,” Vanessa accused, one hand on a hip and the other keeping the bottom of her dress dry.
“He’s already had several weeks,” Jax argued. “He needed a fire lit under his ass.”
Jackson’s entire demeanor changed to determination and utter wickedness. As he pulled out the drawstring on his pants and wrapped it around his hands, Vanessa’s eyes blew wide.
“Jackson,” she said evenly while taking a step to the side, “remember when I told you I’d get you back for stuffing wedding cake up my nose?” Another two steps. “We’re even now. It’s done.”
Jax advanced. She retreated. “Jackson Thomas Maris, I am in my wedding dress.”
He winked at her with a devilish grin and said, “Run, little rabbit. Run.”
Vanessa let out a scream mixed with laughter as she picked up her dress and took off down the beach with her husband hot on her heels.
“I’ve decided those two are crazy,” Aiden said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Can’t argue with you there. Now, why don’t you tell me about these plans you’re making with Jax?”
Aiden hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his cargo pants and looked out over the black and silver waves. He half shrugged and said, “They’re not really plans. Not yet, anyway. I was gonna talk to you first to see what you thought.”
Kat moved in front of him. “Okay then, talk to me now.”
He took a big breath and said, “I thought maybe we could take the winnings from the Four by Four and invest in starting our own gym with Jax. He wants to open one here and I thought it would be a way to earn a living while still working on getting back into the game, so to speak.”
“But what about your house in Boston? And being around your family and Joey? You just got that all back.”
He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her in close. She ran her hands up his strong arms and rested them on his shoulders. “I’ve already spent my whole life there, and I’ve seen how much you love it out here. You need to be with your sister, and all I need is to be with you.”
Again with the tears! For the love of all that’s holy, this is getting ridiculous!
“Besides,” he added, “we can always go back to Boston for long visits and whatnot.”
“Well, then we should probably schedule a couple of visits in the next six months or so. After that it might be tricky for a while.”
His brow furrowed. “Why’s that?”
Butterflies kicked up in her belly and nerves almost had her changing the subject, but she took a deep breath and bit the bullet. Linking her hands behind his neck, she locked her eyes onto his and said, “Because I’d imagine it’ll be difficult flying that distance with a baby.”
Aiden’s jaw went slack, and he may have even stopped breathing. Kat’s heart beat like a bass drum in her ears as she waited for some sort of reaction from the man she loved.
At last, he stammered a few words. “H-how did—? When? How long?”
“I’d say approximately six weeks. Remember the quickie in the Nova?”
“But that was just once.”
“Yep,” she agreed, her nerves growing. “Oddly enough, that’s all it takes.”
Holding her at arm’s length, he stared at her still-flat belly in childish wonderment. “We’re having a baby,” he said softly. Then his eyes flew up to hers, and he practically shouted with a smile, “We’re having a baby.”
Laughter from nerves and excitement and relief bubbled from her chest. “Yes, we’re having a baby.”
With a whoop, he hauled her up around her waist and spun her around a couple times before setting her down gently. “Goddamn, you make me so happy. I suppose now I’ve gotta make an honest woman out of you and propose, huh?”
“I wouldn’t care if we never got married,” she said honestly. “Just so long as you never stop fighting for us and our family.”
“Not ever, I swear.” Framing her face in his hands, he kissed her under the moonlight with more tenderness than she ever thought possible. “For the record, though, I wanna marry you real bad. Change that Scottish last name of yours to a proper Irish one.”
She chuckled. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. So whatdya say?” he asked as he swept her up into his arms. “You with me, kitten?”
With tears in her eyes and her heart in her throat, she nodded. “Now and forever.”