The smell of food was taking its toll on my uneasy stomach. I had to force myself to stay in the kitchen with everyone and help with the cooking.
“Are you okay?” Paxton asked. My eyes landed on Gage. She was holding him while giving him a bottle. My heart soared. On Monday we had a doctor’s appointment to take a pregnancy test. Although we were already pretty sure we were pregnant—especially after Mitchell brought three more tests home just to make sure.
“Yep, just not feeling so well.”
Paxton’s eyes lit up, and I knew she knew. We had told Steed and Paxton we were trying for a baby.
“Melanie? Do you want to feed the little man?” Paxton asked her mother-in-law. It was a no brainer, Melanie wanted Gage in her arms twenty-four-seven.
“Yes! Give me him.”
“I left a pie at the house. Corina and I are going to go get it.”
Amelia glanced our way and gave us a questioning look. She’d helped Paxton carry in three pies so she knew Paxton wasn’t telling the truth.
“I think I’ll go with y’all,” she said. Her eyes narrowed as if trying to read our reaction.
We both smiled. “Sure, if you want to,” Paxton said in a calm, cool voice.
Waylynn was too lost in trying to decorate cookies with Chloe for her to notice we were leaving. They were having a decorating competition and both of them were bound and determined to win. Chloe was for sure a Parker woman, and took after Waylynn in more ways than one. The two of them were stubborn as mules and fiercely competitive.
Paxton laced her arm in mine. “Let’s go. I’ll drive. Chloe cat, I’ll be back in a few, I’m running to the house.”
Chloe acknowledged her mother with a simple, “‘Kay.”
As we walked toward Steed’s truck, I knew Paxton was trying to keep her question in.
“You take shotgun, Corina,” Amelia said.
After we got into the truck and started down the road toward Paxton and Steed’s house, Amelia popped her head up into the front seat.
“You honestly think you can hide it from me? Please. I see the signs. You keep touching your stomach and then covering your mouth. You look like you want to throw up every time Mom asks you to smell or taste something. Your face is glowing like all get out, and my brother is walking around with a permanent smile on his face.”
I turned in my seat to look at Amelia.
She wore a wide grin. “Girl, please, you’re pregnant.”
Paxton let out a scream. “Ahhh! Oh my gosh, Corina, are you?”
Letting out a chuckle, I replied, “I am.”
The truck came to a halt and we all jumped out. Amelia and Paxton pulled me to them, and we stood there in a circle hugging each other. I was crying; they were crying, and then Amelia’s perfume hit me like a brick wall.
“I’m going to throw up!”
Amelia pushed me away so fast I thought I was going to stumble onto my ass. “Don’t! If you throw up, I’ll throw up!” Amelia shouted.
All eyes were on her now.
Paxton’s mouth dropped. “Amelia, are you pregnant, too?”
With a look of horror, Amelia gasped. “What? Hell no! My God, Paxton, bite your tongue! I just can’t see anyone throw up. If I do, I’ll throw up. I’m a sympathy puker, through and through.”
My stomach was rolling with vengeance. I was going to get sick.
I spun around and started to gag. Then I heard Amelia gag, which made me gag even more.
“Oh God,” Amelia moaned.
“Just get back in the truck, Amelia,” Paxton urged.
There was no way I could hold it in. I lost my cookies.
“Don’t! Amelia, no!” Paxton shouted.
Amelia threw up. And I threw up some more. It was like a contest to see who could make the other one throw up by throwing up!
“You threw up on me!” Paxton shouted. I turned around to see that Paxton’s shirt was covered.
I clapped my hands over my mouth and started to laugh as Paxton stood there with a disgusted look on her face.
“Gross!” she shouted, pulling her arms through her shirt and carefully taking it off.
Amelia was leaning against the truck, trying to take deep breaths. “I need water.”
Paxton walked to the back of the truck and reached into the cooler. Thankfully, Steed had brought drinks over for Thanksgiving and hadn’t unloaded them yet. She handed Amelia a water and said, “Oh, for the love of all things good and holy, you’re not even the pregnant one, Amelia!”
She grabbed the water and began swooshing it in her mouth. Paxton handed me a bottle, as well. I took small sips, not wanting to make my stomach angry again.
Amelia looked at each of us. “We’re a team. You puke, I puke. Hoorah!”
“Is the morning sickness bad?” Paxton asked me.
“It’s getting worse. And it’s all day long. Every little thing makes me sick.”
“I’m never getting pregnant,” Amelia groaned as she climbed back into the truck.
Paxton laughed. “Let’s get you to the house. You need a peppermint to calm your tummy.” She looked down at her black bra. “And I need a new shirt.”
By the time we got to the house, I’d told Amelia all about Mitchell saying he wanted a baby and what our plans were going to be. She couldn’t have been happier.
“You know it’s going to be hard to keep this from everyone. I figured it out pretty quickly, and I’m sure Aunt Vi is catching on. What about your mom? She’s going to know the moment she sees you.”
I laughed. “No way. I don’t think my mom will know.”
My phone beeped with a text from Mitchell.
Mitchell: Your mom is here. She took an earlier flight to surprise you. Where are you?”
My head snapped up. “My mom is here! She’s early!”
Me: With Paxton and Amelia at Paxton’s place.
Paxton’s phone went off with a text message. She stared at it for a few seconds before laughing.
“What is it?” Amelia asked.
“It’s from your mom, Amelia. She told me to give Corina some crackers and almonds if I have them. She also said to cut up lemons and have Corina smell them. Your mother is here, and if you don’t get your morning sickness under control, she’ll know the second she sees you.”
My stomach dropped.
Melanie knew. Of course she did—she’s carried quite a few children in her life.
“Mom is the coolest mother on Earth. I swear, I want to be her when I grow up,” Amelia said with a laugh.
“Wait. Lemons?” I asked, snarling.
Paxton nodded. “Yep, if a smell is making you feel sick, something fresh like lemons or rosemary will help. Melanie was always shoving rosemary in my face when I was pregnant with Gage.”
“Won’t Lori know if she sees her daughter walking around with a lemon under her nose?” Amelia asked with a chuckle.
Paxton nodded. “Corina, if you want to keep this a secret, you’re gonna have to hide it better.”
I sighed. “I don’t know what to do. Should we tell everyone? Don’t they say you should wait? You know…just in case.”
“Nonsense,” Paxton said. “You can tell anyone anytime. You can’t control fate by keeping something in, no matter how hard you want to believe you can.”
This was why Paxton and I were best friends. She kept everything real, and I knew she was right.
Amelia let out a scream that made me and Paxton scream. “I have an idea! You have to call Mitchell though, and get his okay.”
“What is it?” Paxton asked.
With a look that said she was up to no good, Amelia handed her phone to me. “Tell Mitchell we need him here. Now.”
I had no idea what she was up to, but I did what she asked. She turned to Paxton and said, “And you might want to go put on a shirt, Paxton! I need Chloe’s fabric paint and a white T-shirt!”
Paxton jumped up from next to me and ran into her bedroom. “Don’t say anything else ‘till I come back!”
Amelia sat down next to me and flashed me a grin. “This is going to be the most epic Thanksgiving ever!”
Mitchell and I stood on the front porch holding hands while staring at the front door. Paxton and Amelia had already gone back into the house.
“Are you sure we should do this?” I asked.
Mitchell lifted my chin. “I wanted to shout it from the highest mountain the other day when you told me. It’s just family. We won’t tell anyone else.”
I nodded. “Who is going to be the first to notice?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom already knows, so she won’t say anything to ruin it. Maybe your mom?”
Chewing on my lip, I glanced at the shirt. “I can’t believe Amelia was able to make this!”
Mitchell looked down and laughed. “She was always painting when she was little. It’s that artistic side to her, I think. She got it from our grandmother. She loved painting and was good at it too.”
Amelia had used fabric paint to make two little orange baby feet near the bottom of the shirt. Then above it, she wrote the words, “I am stuffed” in the same color.
Taking in a deep breath, I looked into Mitchell’s eyes. “Can you believe how far we’ve come in just a few short months?”
He lifted his hand and placed it on the side of my face. I closed my eyes at the feel of his warmth on my skin. “I thank God every single day for you.”
Our eyes met. “Back at ya.”
He leaned down, brushed his lips over mine and whispered, “Marry me.”
I giggled. “You already asked me that, and I believe I said yes.”
His lips moved across my jaw to my neck. Each kiss was soft and sent tingles through my entire body.
“I want to marry you now.”
My head dropped back, giving him access to my neck. “Right now?” I asked in a muffled voice.
“Tomorrow. Let’s get married tomorrow.”
Jerking my head up, I looked at him. “What?”
“Everyone we love is here. Well, I mean, your brother isn’t which sucks, but everyone else is. Let’s get the pastor, go down to the river, and get married.”
My heart was racing. I’d marry Mitchell at the justice of the peace if he asked me to. I’d already begun dreading wedding plans. It seemed so silly to spend all that money when all I really wanted to do was become Mrs. Mitchell Parker. I didn’t need all the bells and whistles like my brother did. He’d had a beautiful wedding, but I was like Pam. I wanted simple.
Mitchell’s eyes searched mine. “Unless you want a big wedding. I don’t want to take anything away from you, dove.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. I lifted up on my toes, and our lips met again.
Our kiss was soft and slow. I could feel his love pouring into my body. The way he drew me closer made my knees weak. I loved this man more than I could have ever imagined. And I loved this baby. I didn’t care how or where we said our vows. All I knew was that I wanted to be Mitchell’s wife and give him this baby.
He pulled his lips away, and rested his forehead against mine.
“Was that a yes?” he asked.
“That was a yes. Let’s get married tomorrow.”
Mitchell wrapped me in his arms and lifted me up, kissing me more passionately this time. When he set me down, we both seemed to be lost in each other.
“Let me call Pastor Burch. If he can do it, all we need is a time.”
I nodded with excitement. The front door opened, and Amelia stepped out. “Are y’all going to come in or not?”
Spinning around, I said, “We are. We just need to call Pastor Burch to see if he can marry us tomorrow.”
Amelia’s mouth fell open. “Come again?”
Mitchell started talking on the phone and took a few steps away. I grabbed Amelia’s hands. “Everyone is here, we don’t need anything fancy, and I really want to be Mrs. Mitchell Parker.”
She went to talk and nothing came out. Then she closed her eyes for a few seconds and popped them open. “I’ve got this. Miriam Meyer is a good friend of mine, and she owns Meyer’s flowers. I can run down in the morning and buy some flowers and make you a bouquet.”
“Can you make four more?”
She already knew what I was asking. “Yes! I’ll keep it very simple.”
“A dress?” I asked.
“I have an idea, if you’re willing to wear a dress that’s been worn before.”
“Whose?”
“My mom’s. She tried to give it away a few years ago, but I snuck it out of the pile. I wanted to make something for her with it, but if she sees you in it…”
Tears filled both of our eyes. “I’d be honored to wear you mom’s dress. Will it fit?”
She nodded. “Oh yeah.”
“This is crazy, isn’t it?”
Amelia laughed. “Not to me! I did the same thing in New Orleans! At least this will be here on the ranch with our family. Our folks will be over the moon. They don’t care how it’s done, just knowing you and Mitchell are happy is all my folks care about, and I’m sure your mom is the same way.”
I nodded, and this time tears slipped down my face. “Thank you, Amelia. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
She pulled me into her arms. “If you leave it up to me, I promise to give you the best last-minute, shotgun wedding ever!”
I held on to her tighter.
“Pastor Burch can do it,” Mitchell said.
Stepping away from Amelia, I grinned. “What time?”
“He said he is open all day. His wife is going shopping for Black Friday.”
I covered my mouth and laughed.
Amelia clapped her hands. She was in full-on planning mode. “Then it’s set. Call him back and tell him we are doing a sunset wedding. He can meet us here at the house. You know that lookout by the cabin? I think it would make a beautiful place to get married.”
Mitchell smiled. “You are brilliant, Amelia.”
She grinned. “I know. The girls can get ready at the cabin. It’s perfect. I’ve got so much to plan.”
Turning on her heels, Amelia rushed into the house, leaving Mitchell and me standing there.
“Holy shit,” Mitchell said. “We’re not only having a baby, we’re getting married tomorrow!”
I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t hold it in. “This is insane!”
Mitchell kissed me on the forehead. “That’s what makes it so perfect. You ready to go in?”
“Yes, let’s do this.”
We both took deep breaths and started to walk into the house.
“I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces when they find out,” Mitchell said.
My chest fluttered with excitement. “You do know Amelia is about to tell everyone we’re getting married tomorrow.”
He laughed. “I have a feeling this is going to be the craziest twenty-four hours of our life!”