Chapter Seven
Ace knew his mother would love Trixie the moment she met her, and he was right. The two women got on so well, and he loved seeing his woman smile. It was also nice to see his mother seeming so happy.
Trixie rested between his thighs, laughing at another story his mother told.
“This is just awful. You guys shouldn’t be talking about me like this, at a picnic no less,” Ace said, taking a swig of his soda.
“Come on, that was cute. You put a diaper on your head and called yourself Captain Poo. That is just so funny,” Trixie said, and then giggled as she let out a snort.
His mother hadn’t told anyone else that story, and the look she was giving him right now, he knew she was proud of him.
“It’s so good to see you both so happy and together.” His mother pressed her hands together. “Have you made any arrangements?”
“I told you she’d be nagging about this,” Ace said, dropping a kiss to her neck.
Trixie burst out laughing. “We’re engaged. That is about as much as we have right now. We’re going to take our time. Neither of us are in a rush, or anything.”
His mother wasn’t happy with that. “I can help with all of this. I know a couple of places that would totally love to have you in a dress.”
“We’re going to go to Vegas,” Trixie said.
“We are?” Ace didn’t care at all where they were married.
“Do you want a long drawn out affair? I want to be married to you, and I don’t need a big church where everyone will stare at us to have it. I love you, Ace. I’m not marrying anyone else but you.”
He cupped her cheek, running his thumb across her lips. “You know how to say all the right things.”
“You sound like a girl,” she said, laughing.
Pressing his lips against hers, he ignored his mother’s tutting, and kissed his woman. He was on cloud nine, and knew that even if he had to have his wedding in the sewers if it was with this woman, he’d do it every single chance he had.
Staring down at her swollen lips, he watched her eyes open, and the smile filling the whole of her face. “You are beautiful,” he said.
She giggled, stretched, and stared off to the side. The moment she tensed in his arms, he followed her gaze. There at the edge of the park stood her mother. She wasn’t looking in their direction.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen her?” he asked.
Trixie nodded. She didn’t pull out of his arms, and Ace watched as Trixie’s mother finally looked over at him. They were far enough away that he couldn’t make out her facial expression.
“Is everything okay?” his mother asked.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I’ve just seen my mother for the first time in years.”
“In years?” Ace asked. “In this town?”
“It’s a really big town, and my mother has standards. I make sure I live where she will never venture into.”
Ace rubbed her arms, trying to offer her comfort, and knowing in his heart he was failing to do so.
“Do you want to go and talk to her?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“You can’t go on like this. I know her just being there is upsetting you. Just go and tell her how you feel. Let her know that you’re happy, that you have moved on.”
“Do you think that will help?”
“You’ll finally know her feelings. You’ve not spoken since you stopped the wedding, quit your job, and did a complete turnaround with your life.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m with you no matter what you decide.”
He could practically feel her mind working as she stared over at her mother. “I’m going to go and talk to her. I should do this. It has been too long.” She stood up, and when he made to stand, she shook her head. “No. If she’s going to say something bad, I don’t want her to direct it at you.” She leaned down, pressed a kiss to his lips, and began walking away. He watched her go, wanting more than anything to go with her.
“Are you okay?” his mother asked, drawing his attention back to her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. More than fine. I worry about her.”
“You don’t like her mother.”
He shrugged. “I’ve never met the woman other than in a passing glance. I know she had high expectations for Trixie.”
“You’re not worried she’s going to talk her out of marrying you?” she asked.
Ace shook his head. “No. I know Trixie loves me more than anything. She needs to do this for herself.” He took another long swig, and couldn’t help tensing up as Trixie stood in front of her mother.
“I’m really proud of you, and everything that you’ve achieved, Ace.”
“I know you are, Mom.”
She reached out, and took his hand. “To think of all those times I wasn’t there for you, and you had to fend for yourself. I was such a selfish person.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ve forgiven you, Mom. You need to learn to do that yourself. I’m a big boy, and I’m going to get married to the woman I have always loved. You have nothing to be ashamed of. One day, you’ll be a grandma.”
His mother put a hand to his chest, and he watched tears fill her eyes. “Is she pregnant?”
“No. We’re not pregnant. Not yet anyway, but I’m hoping one day soon I can convince her to have my babies.”
****
Trixie stepped in front of her mother, and instead of fearing the shame and ridicule that her mother had often given her, she felt … nothing. All of her life this woman had dictated everything to her. Where she should go, what she should do, whom she should love. The list went on and on, and now standing in front of her, having taken all of her power from her, Trixie felt nothing.
“You never come to the park,” Trixie said, shoving her hands into her jeans.
Her mother looked like she was going to say something, but then silence fell between them. “I like the fresh air, and since the park has been taken care of, my friends come to visit it as well. I didn’t come here to speak to the likes of you. Your father still can’t bring himself to speak about you. Just looking at you, you’ve fallen so far.”
“That’s fine. I understand. You told me that I was no longer your daughter, and I was dead to you. At first I had never felt pain like it, but now, I don’t care. You see, Mom, I’m happy. For the first time ever I am happy. That man over there, Ace Heart, he has made me the happiest woman in the world, and I’m going to marry him. I finally know what love is, and even if I never see you again, I know it’s going to be okay.”
“Is that what you’ve come to say? That you are going to give everything up to become some slut in a tattoo parlor?”
Trixie smiled. The voice her mother used, it was filled with so much loathing and disgust, and it drifted off her like water.
“I guess I am, Mom, and I’m going to be happy doing it.” She stepped forward, and embraced her mother even as she tensed. “You have no more power over me. You and I, we’re done.”
She turned on her heel and walked away. Ace stood, and she stepped into his arms.
“Are you okay, babe?” he asked.
“Me, yes, I’m totally okay.” He looked over her shoulder, and she cupped his face, shaking her head. “Don’t even give her the time of looking over at her. She made her choice.”
“It didn’t go well?”
“It went exactly as I expected, and you don’t need to worry about her, or even care what she thinks. I don’t. She’s nothing.”
Pressing her lips against his, she smiled. This man was her life, her future, and her everything.
He held her close, and just staring into his eyes, she knew she’d be more than happy.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you even more.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Sitting down between his thighs, she ignored the woman who had nearly ruined her life, and instead enjoyed lunch with her soon to be husband, and his mother. Ace kept her hand locked firmly in his grip. So long as they were together, anything was possible.