Chapter 20

Friday

"I don't remember it being this hot when I was getting married," I said and sat down next to Matt. Apparently the matron of honor and best man had everything perfect and were allowed to take a break. I knew that was code for Bee being scared I was going to die the night before their wedding.

"June isn't quite as bad as August," Matt said. "And you weren't this high up. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"That could be." I looked out at the expansive view of New York City. The ceremony was taking place at the top of a high rise. And not just any high rise. Mason and Bee owned the building and their successful Marketing firm, Bee Inspired Media Group, was located on the top floor. The ceremony was going to be beautiful. Just the view made it breathtaking and they hadn't even started decorating yet. The rehearsal dinner was being held in their office, which I totally understood. After all, Mason had named his firm after Bee in a grand gesture to win her back. It was so romantic.

"I almost made a point of saying you weren't pregnant during your wedding, but technically you were," Matt said, drawing me back to the present.

I laughed.

"But not nearly as pregnant. You couldn't tell or anything. Not that you can really tell now. I didn't mean..."

"It's fine," I said. "I know I'm huge." I put my hand on my stomach. "And uncomfortable. God, I swear I was this big at nine months for Scarlett."

"No, you were definitely bigger."

I laughed again. "Bigger? It's not possible."

"You still look good, though. You're always beautiful. And you make adorable babies." He nodded at Scarlett who had just decided to sit down in the middle of the aisle.

"Thanks, Matt." I watched as everyone else practiced standing there, waiting for Bee. "When do you think you'll settle down?"

"Me?" He whistled and put his arm on the back of the empty chair beside him. "I'm too young to get married. My big brother is only just tying the knot now. Give me some time, woman."

I shook my head. "I just think you're going to make a really good father."

"Just because I'm good at hanging out with your kid on occasion doesn't mean I'll be a good dad. But I do have the uncle thing down pretty well, don't I?" He flashed me a smile.

"Absolutely."

"Did you want me to go tell her to finish walking down the aisle?"

"You can certainly try."

He laughed and got up to join Scarlett. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Whatever he said to her seemed to work. She put her hand in his and let him walk her down the aisle. I looked at James standing on the right side of the altar. He was staring at our daughter with a smile on his face. That small action calmed me. See, he's whole because of Scarlett too. I looked down at my stomach. I wasn't really saying it to the baby. Maybe I was insane. Talking to oneself counted as insanity, right? Damn it, stop talking to yourself!

I took a deep breath and looked back up at James. All that mattered was that I wasn't going anywhere. I refused to. But I loved seeing him smile because of someone besides just me. He had so much love to give. So much more than he even realized.

Justin clapped his hands. Bee and Mason had opted to use the same wedding planner that we had. I'm pretty sure Justin was happy to be working with James again. I swear if Justin had his way, he would try to steal my husband.

"The sexy couple needs to get their rehearsal dinner on! And I'm starving! Chop chop!" Justin unceremoniously slapped Mason on the ass.

I tried to stifle my laugh at Mason's reaction. It looked like he wanted to punch Justin in the face. Maybe I didn't have to worry about Justin hitting on James after all. He seemed to be ogling Mason more now. Justin would probably try to steal Mason away before tomorrow. I smiled as I got to my feet. All preposterous thoughts. Mason and James were both certainly straight. No, I couldn't verify it for Mason first hand. But I had heard so many stories. I shook away the thought. His promiscuous past had nothing to do with the current events. I watched him and Bee exit the pavilion hand in hand, any trace of their hangovers completely gone. They were all smiles.

"How'd we look?" James asked as he put his hand out for me. Scarlett was balanced on his hip with a huge smile on her face.

"Did I do it right, Mommy?"

"You were both perfect. Just make sure to keep walking tomorrow, Scar." Please don't ruin their wedding. I grabbed James' hand and the three of us walked toward the elevators to head down to Mason and Bee's offices. My jaw probably dropped when I stepped off the elevator. I had visited them at work countless times. But they had completely transformed the floor. There were royal blue decorations everywhere. Even the wait staff and bartenders were wearing blue vests. It was worthy of the reception itself. Although, I was excited to see what they had planned for that if this was the rehearsal dinner. The reception tomorrow was being held at The Plaza. The ballroom was otherworldly. I had been there a few times for different functions with James. I smiled to myself. Actually, I was pretty sure the first time Bee and I had met was a gala at The Plaza. I still remembered how surprised I was to find out that Mason was dating someone. Times really did change.

Scarlett squirmed out of James' grip and ran off toward Axel.

"We really do make adorable babies," I said and smiled up at James.

"It must be the curly red hair."

I laughed. "Or the intense brown eyes. Or the perfect skin. Or that genius brain of yours." I tilted my face up toward his and he responded with the kiss I desired.

He pressed his forehead against mine. "I can't believe Mason is making me hang out with him all night. I hate spending the nights away from you. And with the trip tomorrow night..."

"It's okay. We made our bridal parties hang out with us all night, remember? The wedding is going to be so much fun. And when you get back from London I'll catch you up on whatever boring things you missed in between."

He smiled. "Not a day with you is boring."

"Trust me, sitting around all day is going to get terribly boring. I'm officially going on bed rest after the wedding."

"Finally. I'm going to go grab a drink. Do you want me to find you some fruit?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

He kissed my temple and wandered off toward the bar set up in the corner.

"Okay, that's enough standing," Daphne said and looped her arm through mine. "I've scoped out two seats over there with our names on them."

I laughed. It was like she had materialized behind me. "Not you too? Bee's already worried enough about me. And I'm fine. I don't know how many times I need to keep saying that. Besides, you're pregnant too."

"Just a normal boring pregnancy for me." Daphne pointed to the chair she had escorted me to. "Now sit. And yes, since I am pregnant, I'm sitting too." She plopped down in the chair beside me. "God, these shoes are killing me."

I looked down at the high heels she was wearing. "No one forced you to wear heels." I held up my leg to show off my flat sandals.

"But Rob loves when I wear heels."

I laughed.

"Don't you even start with me, Penny. You cater to James just as much as I cater to Rob. And they're both spoiled rotten."

"You know, I never really thought about it before, but you're right. They are spoiled, aren't they?"

"Extremely." Daphne took a sip of her water. "But they're also loving, caring, kind, thoughtful, romantic..." her voice trailed off. "We're so lucky."

I smiled as I spotted James in the crowd. He was holding a bowl of fruit in one hand and his drink in the other. Scarlett was pulling on his pant leg and he was in the middle of a conversation with Mason's father. James didn't look at all perturbed. He was still in his element despite the balancing act.

"We're the luckiest," I said.

Mr. Caldwell picked up Scarlett and all three of them started walking toward us. "How are the Hunter women doing tonight?" he asked.

"Good," Scarlett said.

He laughed and set her down beside me. "Beautiful as always, my dear," he said as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. "As lovely as ever," he said to Daphne and kissed her cheek too.

"Your fruit, madam," James said with a smile and a bow as he handed me the bowl he was carrying. "Can I get you something, Daphne?" He ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm okay, Rob is in search of pickles."

Mr. Caldwell laughed. "Oh, I remember the pickle phase. My wife couldn't get enough of them when she was seven months along either. I saw some back there. Let me go get you a plate."

"Oh, I'm sure Rob will find them," Daphne said.

"It's no problem at all. I'll be back." He smiled at us and then turned to James. He patted him on the back and gave him a much more tight-lipped smile and a nod.

That was odd. I was about to say something but James broke the awkward silence by kneeling down to talk to Scarlett.

"Say goodnight to Mommy. And we'll go meet Ellen, okay?"

Scarlett made the grabbing motion for me to pick her up. I lifted her into my arms. "Goodnight, Mommy!" Scarlett said.

"Goodnight, Scar." I placed a kiss on her forehead. "Be good for Ellen, okay?" I gave her a tight hug.

"I will, Mommy," she said as she hugged me back. And then in my ear she whispered, "Be careful of the snake."

The now familiar chills ran down my spine. Why did she keep talking about snakes? "Scar, we talked about this. There is no snake. It was just a movie."

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there, Mommy." She squeezed me once more and then jumped off my lap. "I'm ready to go!"

"Okay, pumpkin." James lifted her up. "I'll be right back."

"I should probably go find Sophie so I can say goodnight," Daphne said. "And I need to thank Ellen again for watching her tonight. That was so sweet of her to offer. Save my seat?"

"Mhm." But I wasn't focused on her words at all. Scarlett's warning was going round and round in my head. She was starting to scare me. I needed to search our house for snakes. Or at least tell Ellen to be on the lookout when she cleaned. I ran my hand across my stomach. When you can talk, don't say creepy things like that to me, baby boy.

I plopped a strawberry in my mouth. Screw bananas. Strawberries were now my favorite thing. I closed my eyes to relish the taste on my tongue.

 

***

 

"Baby," James whispered. "It's time to get going."

His scent was the only thing my mind seemed to register. I slowly opened my eyes and saw his smiling face. "But we only just got here."

He leaned forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "You fell asleep."

"No I didn't. I just closed my eyes for a second..." my voice trailed off as I looked around the almost empty room. "Oh, I missed everything. The toasts. I was going to take pictures. How could you let me sleep through the whole thing?" The real question was how could I have slept through the whole thing. What was I, eighty years old?

"The photographer handled the pictures. And you've heard plenty of Mr. Caldwell's toasts. The real fun is tomorrow night anyway."

I sighed. "I guess. God, I can't believe you let me miss it though." I swatted his arm.

"I think you needed your rest. Especially since you're going to be staying up all night."

"Isn't that the truth," Jen said, butting into our conversation. She practically pushed James out of her way. "Time to go, sis."

"Give us a minute, Jen," James said without looking at her.

"You have exactly one minute. We're all waiting by the door, Penny."

"I'll be right there," I said.

James put his arm behind me on the chair. "I'm sure I can get us out of the shenanigans tonight if you want."

"I already missed the bachelorette party. And the rehearsal dinner. I can't miss tonight."

He frowned. "Until tomorrow then."

"Don't look so glum." I ran my fingers along the side of his jaw. "It'll just make our reunion that much better."

"I know, I'm just going to miss my girls." He put his hand on my stomach and leaned in to kiss me.

I didn't even care that he was back to his old ways of wishing for a girl. I was much too focused on his lips. And the fact that I really wanted to give in to spending the night with him instead.

He groaned into my mouth. "Don't kiss me like that when you have no intention of sealing the deal."

I laughed. "I love you."

"I love you too, Penny. Call me if you need anything tonight."