Almost two weeks later
It was hard to believe our trip to Memphis had already come and gone. When Wes first asked me to go there with him, two weeks sounded like forever, but now that it was almost over, it felt like it had flown by.
Our flight would leave the following morning, and I already dreaded leaving behind Memphis and this beautiful Bishop family. I had made so many memories during my time here.
On the 25th, Owen and Darcy had two precious, healthy baby boys. They were three weeks early, which was basically late for twins. Owen and Darcy named them Colin Michael and Cole Jacob, and they were just about the most adorable little family I had ever seen. There was something so sweet and special about two babies arriving at once, and I was honored that I got to be part of the welcoming committee. Ivy and I made a huge banner that said, "Welcome to the world Colin and Cole! We love you!" We hung it in Darcy's hospital room, and people liked it so much that they posed for pictures in front of it.
The twins' birth wasn't the only thing we had going on during those weeks. We stayed really busy, doing one activity after another with the family. I gave multiple beginner lessons on how to throw a knife, and took multiple beginner lessons on how to ride a motorcycle. We visited the Bishop Motorcycles Headquarters on several occasions, and I took notes and lots of pictures for my brother who was chomping at the bit to be over here with me. We went by Taylor's men's clothing store downtown and Gray's security agency (a place called Alpha).
We ate meals, made plans, sang songs, had long talks, played games, took pictures, and even got to babysit Kip one night while Daniel and Courtney went to dinner. We could not have possibly packed any more into our trip.
Tonight was our final family get together before Wes and I headed back to London. Doozy made some of his famous barbeque, and we all went to his and Shug's house to enjoy it. Owen, Darcy, and the twins were the only ones who didn't attend. They had their hands full getting used to life as new parents. They were, however, promised prompt delivery of a barbeque feast right to their doorstep.
Doozy cooked a whole spread of different types of meat, all of which were mouth-wateringly delicious. I wasn't hungry, and I still ate some—that's how good it was.
Why wasn't I hungry, you ask?
That's a great question.
One that has a remarkable answer—a super fun, fantastic answer.
Let me explain.
Actually, I'll let Wes do it. He did a beautiful job of telling everyone what was going on.
We had just finished eating when Wes stood up, getting everyone's attention. He didn't even have to clang a fork to a glass or even clear his throat. Everyone just knew to give him their attention by the way he stood up. His intentions were to make a speech, and because I knew the subject of this speech, I got so anxious I could hardly breathe.
"I just wanted to say what a good time we've had. It's been a long time since I've been able to just chill and really enjoy being home, and I've really loved every minute of it."
We were all sitting around a huge table. There were a few people spread out in the attached living room, but everyone's attention was on Wes.
"I'm so glad I got to be here when Owen's babies were born. It's really crazy seeing both of my brothers as dads now. It's amazing."
"You're next!" Daniel yelled, causing everyone to laugh.
"I'm getting to that," Wes said, holding a hand out.
"It's a proposal! I knew it!" Jane said excitedly from her spot at the table nearby.
"Not quite," Wes said. He took a deep breath and glanced at me with a smile before looking at everyone else. "I don't think it's news to any of you that I love this lady sitting here next to me. She's, uh, she's beautiful, obviously, and she can draw and throw a knife, which is really cool, but that's not what did it for me. It's the other stuff—the stuff on the inside that captivated me." He paused and smiled at them, taking a deep breath as if trying to decide how to say what he wanted to say. "Anyway, so I asked her to marry me."
Everyone clapped, and Wes nodded graciously, thanking them for their approval, but telling them he had more to say. They quickly got quiet again.
"So, we're going back to London tomorrow—back to living life and sleeping in our own separate flats and everything. And I've got all of these plans and ideas swirling around in my head. I want to try to move back home—I want to marry my lady—I want to go to the next level with my music—we need to talk to her parents about all of this—we need to talk to you guys about all of this. And then I just looked at her one night and I was like, 'Let's just do it. Let's get married. I don't want to go back to London and pick up where we left off.' I didn't want to live in separate flats anymore, and neither did she, so we started talking about it. We thought about doing it in London when we got back, but that would mean most of you guys wouldn't be there. I told her we should just do it, spur of the moment, while we were here, but then we felt bad about leaving her family out. So basically, we decided to leave you all out." Wes gestured at his grandpa who was sitting near the end of the table. "We went to Pawpaw Jacob a couple of days ago and told him our dilemma. He talked to us about it for a long time and made us answer a whole slew of questions, which looking back, felt a lot like a test—I think maybe it was a test." He shrugged. "We must have passed," he added in a funny, hopeful way that caused everyone to laugh. "So, no, this isn't a proposal. We're past that. Pawpaw Jacob helped us out with a license and everything, and this morning, we made it official."
Everyone began talking at once. The whole room erupted with excited murmuring as people realized what Wes had just said. Wes whistled, getting everyone's attention, and just like that, they were quiet again.
"Are y'all really married?" Rose asked, cutting through the silence.
Wes nodded. "Yes, we really are, Mom."
"They really are," Jacob confirmed from the other end of the table.
"I guess she's not sleeping in my room tonight," Ivy said, drawing laughs from the whole room. "Are y'all moving back here?" she asked, probably trying to distract her parents from her first comment.
"Yes," Wes said. "The short answer is 'yes'. We don't know exactly when, but yes."
People cheered as a result of this news, and Wes used the distraction to sit next to me. In one swift, fluid motion, he pulled me onto his lap, and I went easily, leaning into him as he held me around the waist.
"Why didn't you tell us y'all were getting married?" Rose asked. "We could have thrown y'all a party."
"We didn't need that," Wes said. He took a second to kiss the side of my face, and I smiled at him thankfully. "It's not that we didn't want to tell you guys, it's just that we both wanted to go ahead and do it, and we didn't want to have this big wedding over here and leave Jolene's family out. Plus, Owen's got the new babies and everything. Everybody's got a lot going on. I don't know. It just felt right doing it nice and quiet—just the two of us. We both wanted that. We saw the opportunity, and we took it. I love her, and she loves me, and that's all we needed."
"Hear, hear!" Daniel said, holding up his glass, which looked like it contained iced tea.
Everyone followed suit, holding their glasses in the air.
"Here's to the bride and groom," Jesse said.
Everyone agreed at once, making various statements and noises of agreement as they clanked their glasses. I was sitting on Wes's lap, so I was in a rare position where I was slightly taller than him. He gave me a squeeze as he stretched up to kiss me. He didn’t care that people were looking at us, and neither did I. I smiled at him as I leaned in to kiss him back.
"You may kiss the bride," Jacob announced, making everyone laugh and cheer again.
Wes and I smiled at each other before he placed two, three, four kisses on my mouth. We smiled at each other some more in between numbers five and six.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," I said.
He stretched upward, putting his mouth right next to my ear. "Hey, JoJo," he whispered.
"Yeah, Buggy?" I asked without looking at him.
"You're not sleeping in Ivy's room tonight."
My heart raced at the thought. I pulled back to stare at Wes, noticing that he was regarding me with an irresistible, challenging grin.
I returned it with one of my own, raising my eyebrows. "I know," I said. "And I can't wait."
The End
(till book 9)