VANESSA

A month relaxing in Hawaii gave Vanessa the time to get to know her new husband better.  While there, they lounged, saw the sights, and celebrated her birthday quietly.  She all but forgot that he was a famous movie star, especially since they were able to move freely about the island without much fanfare.

That is until the return flight home, when all the attention at the airport brought a not-so-welcomed reminder of just what she got herself into by marrying Riley Tate.  Someone from the plane alerted the media of the return of Riley and his wife from their honeymoon.  It was not too fun almost getting mobbed by the paparazzi.  Riley, being the over-protective goof that he had become since learning he was going to be a father to twins, had the foresight to request the driver/bodyguard combination that he shared with Darby pick them up from LAX.

Luckily, most of the morning sickness subsided, otherwise the whole experience would have been a nightmare for Vanessa.  She wore Riley’s favorite sundress in an effort to hide her rapidly changing physique, but she feared some of the people who analyzed those pictures would be able to tell.  She hoped the lesson Riley gave her in keeping her carry-on in front of her worked.

She and Riley made out like teenagers in the back of the car as they drove to Riley’s house. 

It’s your house now, Vanessa.  Get used to it.  Wow, getting used to a Malibu beach house; that’ll be so tough.

She giggled at that thought.

“What’s so funny, Mrs. Tate?” Riley asked against her mouth.

She smiled.  “It’s Dr. Tate.” She kissed him softly and pulled back to look at his face.  “And I was just thinking of how hard it’s going to be to adjust to my new digs.  Oh what a rough life I have in front of me, living in this shack on a beach in Malibu with this random, okay looking guy I fell in love with.”  She kissed his right dimple.  “I have it so bad.”

“You think you have it bad?” Riley countered with a smirk.  “This woman I married wants to have sex all the time, and she eats like she’s feeding three people.”  He placed a hand on her stomach.  “I’m afraid she’s going to get huge.”

Vanessa laughed.  “Bet on it.”

When they pulled up in front of the house, Vanessa was just about pulled from the car by Emily.

“Oh, Ness, this is too long to go without seeing you.”  Emily enveloped Vanessa in one of her mega-hugs.  “I missed you so much.  So much has happened, you won’t believe it.”  She pulled back and showed Vanessa the simple, yet stunning ring on her left finger.  “Tater proposed.” She linked her arm through Vanessa’s and led her into the house.  “He said he planned to do it the weekend you guys got married, but he didn’t want it to seem like he was asking me only because of your wedding, so he did it last weekend.”

“Oh my God, Em, Congrat…”

“Don’t congratulate me yet, Vanessa.  I told Mom first since you had no cell service in paradise, and she has gone behind my back and made all these plans for my wedding there.  She is insisting we have it in Houston, stating we can’t expect all our relatives to fly out here for a wedding.  When I told her we just wanted a small and simple ceremony, she went ape shit and gave me the ‘no-daughter-of-mine’ speech.”

“What does Tater say to all this?” Vanessa asked quickly when Emily took a breath, pulling her down on the couch.

“He wants Mom to accept him, so he is agreeable to anything.  ‘As long as I get to marry you, I don’t care about the details.’  That’s actually kind of sweet, but Mom.  Ugh.  She’s getting on my last nerve.”

“What about his family?”

“They live on the East Coast, and I don’t know if they would come to the wedding anyway.  His family?  Kind of uppity and don’t really accept some of the choices he’s made, especially what he does for a living.”

“Okay, so you know how to deal with your mom, Em.  Tell her all the non-negotiables, one of which better be control over the bridesmaid’s dresses, and deal with the rest.”

“I already told her one.  The wedding has to be soon so that you can be my maid of honor, but the earliest she could book anything she deemed worthy was January.”

Vanessa did a quick calculation in her head.  She would be somewhere between five and six months pregnant by then.  And with twins, she would be friggin huge.

Emily noticed the look on Vanessa’s face.  “What?  Please tell me you are not about to throw another wrench in this for me.”

“Well… you don’t know everything.”  She stood and pulled her dress tight around her stomach. 

“Damn, Vanessa.  You’re already showing.  Normally people don’t show until…”  She smacked her forehead.  “Oh my God, is Riley not the father?”

Vanessa laughed.  “He’s definitely the father, otherwise we would have the second coming on our hands.”  She paused to see if it would sink in, but Emily’s confused expression still remained.  “I’m having twins.”

“Shut the fuck up, Vanessa.  Really?”  Emily stood and wrapped her arms gingerly around Vanessa.  “Jeez, girl, you’re going to get huge.”

“That’s the second time in ten minutes a size comment has been made.  You and Riley can suck it.”

“Holy shit, Vanessa.  Did you freak out?”

Vanessa looked at the door to watch Riley carry all their luggage effortlessly through the door.  She smiled and looked down.  “I didn’t, but he did,” she whispered.  “Made my freak outs look tame.”

Emily raised a skeptical eyebrow at her best friend.  “But you didn’t?”

“No, I’m really okay with it.”  When Emily’s face didn’t change, Vanessa playfully smacked her arm.  “Really, I’m fine.  Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones or something, but I’ve been relatively calm lately.”  She sat back down.  “So we have to think about the wedding now.  January isn’t that far off.  Do you want me to call your mom and talk to her?”

“Oh, God yes.  You always did know how to manipulate her.”  She looked down.  “She wants Etta to be in the wedding.  Mom still doesn’t know we aren’t talking.  Honestly, she hasn’t talked to me in so long…” Emily’s eyes became sad, “I really miss my sister.  Nathaniel left and she just shut down.  I wanted to help her through it, but right after he left… that’s the weekend your mom…” she looked down.  “I just wish I knew what made her so mad at me.”

“So this will give you the opportunity to reconnect.”  Vanessa smiled.  “I know your sister is stubborn, but so are you.  Don’t let her get away with it.”  Emily shook her head, and Vanessa sighed in resignation.  “I can talk to her, see if she’ll tell me.”

“No, this is something I need to do on my own.”  Emily laid a hand on Vanessa’s stomach.  “I always thought out of the two of us, I’d be the one to have the twins.”  She looked up at her friend and noticed Vanessa was watching Riley with that look on her face.  “Damn girl, kill the hormones.  Let the man rest.”

Vanessa smirked.  “He got rest on the plane.”

“Hint taken.”  Emily smiled, grabbed her purse, and stood up to leave.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you happy, Ness.”

Vanessa sighed contentedly before walking Emily to the door.  The friends embraced for a few minutes.  “I am, Em.  I really am.”