The following week, we go to the doctor. It’s a beautiful thing to see your baby on the ultrasound. I never imagined the rush of emotions that hit me. Midnight is so gorgeous, lying there, a perfect smile lighting up her face. Heat radiates from my chest, making me weak. I grab the table she’s on for support, gaining strength from her glow. If I’m like this now, how the hell will I withstand the delivery? I hope I’m not one of those pussies who passes out when it happens.

“Look here,” the doctor says, pointing to the baby. You can hear the heart beating. I can’t really tell what I’m looking at, though I know it’s something alive.

Midnight starts to cry and then tells the doctor about baby Jack.

She pats her arm and says, “Midnight, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure this one is healthy. What your first baby had is extremely rare. Understand? What I need for you to do is take good care of yourself. Eat properly and get plenty of rest. A pregnancy is only forty weeks. While that may seem long, it’s not. Take time off from work if you can. Go back afterward. Sound good?”

“Yeah, it does.”

It sounds good to me too, because I want to take her somewhere for maybe a month.

We leave and she floats out to the car.

“I have a surprise. I know you want to elope. So I’ve made some arrangements, if they suit you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Then I shut up.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“The arrangements, silly.”

“Guess you’re gonna have to wait to find out.”

She nails me in the arm with a fist. The girl has some power too.

“Aw, come on. You can do better than that.”

“Really? How about this?”

Now she totally packs a punch. I give her the eye and we both get a good laugh. “I hope you didn’t bruise my delicate skin.”

I laugh as we drive home in the old Mustang with the top down.

Saturday morning, Helen and Holt show up with a breakfast of bagels and coffee. Midnight has no idea what’s happening later today. I hope she doesn’t kill me. Then Helen drags her off for a surprise Saturday at the spa. After they leave, everyone comes out of the woodwork and things start happening.

Mom and Dad cut their vacation short and flew in last night, so they arrive to lend a hand, along with Prescott, Vivi, Weston, and Special. My team from the office is here too. We get the terrace all fixed up for a wedding. The women and a wedding planner make it look extra special. At sunset, when the view is spectacular, we will be saying I do.

Lights are strung everywhere, with tables and chairs scattered around the pool. The caterers will arrive with food prepared immediately before we walk down for the ceremony, which will be on the beach. They can set up while we get married. The only guests will be those already mentioned. It’s going to be a very small party, and I also invited a few people from the movie crew with the help of Holt. I have to admit, he’s grown on me. Ever since he abandoned his crazy quest for Midnight, which he admitted was stupid in the first place and he was doing it for attention, we’ve become friends … sort of. As long as he treats Helen well, I’m cool with the goofy fucker.

“This looks beautiful, Harrison,” Mom says.

“Are you sure?”

“She’s going to love it. The lavender roses with the touch of yellow are perfect.”

I smile. I give Midnight lavender roses every week. She never knows what day they’ll arrive, but they always do.

“It’s her eyes, Mom. They remind me of them.”

“She’s a beauty. If she has a girl, you’ll have your hands full.”

Prescott overhears and says, “Yeah, I hope he does. I can only imagine it.”

“Shut up, dude. Look at Vivi. I hope you have twin girls.”

Prescott turns ashen. They decided to keep the sex of their baby a secret so they have no idea what they’re having. We won’t find out until our next visit.

“Oh God, my heart couldn’t bear that.” He hurries away to find his pregnant wife.

Weston overheard what I said and comes over. “That was brutal, man. He’s not going to sleep for months.”

“Yeah, he deserves it after all those months of manwhoring.”

“Harrison,” Mom chides. I forgot she was standing here.

“Oops. Sorry, Mom.”

She walks away, shaking her head. Weston laughs. “Better get back to work.”

I group some chairs together and take in the surroundings. Damn, I sure am thankful for these people.

“Hey, everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for helping me pull this off. I have no idea what I’m going to do when Helen brings her home from the spa, but I could never have gotten this far without all of you.” I put my hand on my chest, pound it, then extend it out to them. “You are my people.”

We finish setting up and everyone leaves with plenty of time to spare. The only problem is I’m a nervous wreck. I want this to be the most perfect night of her life. I want her to be surprised and thrilled with everything. If I blow this, it will be so disappointing.

Everyone is to arrive by six. Helen texts at four that they’re on the way home.

When they arrived, Midnight complains about how sleepy she is.

Fuck. I never thought about her needing a nap. So I fix her a plate and bring it to her in bed.

“Mmm. Looks so good, but all that massaging and stuff made me too tired for that.”

“Okay. Take a little nap.”

She’s out like a light. An hour later, I know she needs time to get ready. Helen picked out a beautiful dress for her and I want her to wear her hair down. Nothing fancy. I tiptoe into the room and she’s snoring softly.

What the fuck should I do? In an hour, we need to walk down the steps and out to the beach to be pronounced man and wife.

I decide to run out and call Helen, my savior. In my haste, I trip over one of her sandals and go flying and bust my ass. Or more likely my nose. My curses have her jumping out of bed and running to my rescue.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I wasn’t looking and tripped. Sorry.”

“You gave me heart attack. Your nose is bleeding and you scraped your chin.”

Exactly what I need. That’ll look great for our wedding pictures.

“I’m fine.” Maybe. “Hey, I was thinking that I’d love to walk on the beach and then go down to that cool restaurant. You up for that?”

She scrunches up her mouth. “Uh, yeah, I guess.” Her tone is skeptical.

“You sure?”

She rubs her face a second. “I need a shower.”

“Yeah, me too. You go first.” I quickly usher her into the bathroom where she raises her brows. I leave before she can ask me anything. When I get to the kitchen, I dab my nose just to make sure there’s no blood. But I’m sweating like a pig. It’s five fifteen. I hope she’s done showering. I move to the bathroom door. She opens it and I nearly fall on top of her.

“Jesus, Harrison. What the hell is wrong with you? You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry. Bad timing.”

I run inside, strip, and speed bathe. Then I run out and into my closet where I put on a white shirt and black dress pants.

When I walk out, she asks, “Where did this dress come from?” She’s holding it up for me to see. It’s the palest of lavender, so light it almost looks white.

“I bought it for you. I thought you could wear it tonight. Do you like it?”

It’s backless with a halter neck and a sheer cover that overlays a matching lace bottom. The cool thing about it is Helen showed me how the sheer thing detaches so she can wear it as a short dress again if she wants.

“Check it out.” I show her.

“That’s so cool. But don’t you think it’s a bit dressy for tonight?”

“Not at all. On you, it will be gorgeous.”

“Okay.” She’s going with it, but she’s not thrilled.

I have to help her with the hooks and zipper, but once it’s on, she’s in love with it.

“Oh gosh, this is amazing.”

“Let me see.”

I almost tell her she’s the most beautiful bride in the world, but I stop myself. Her bouquet of lavender and yellow roses was a great pick for this.

When she’s ready, I take her hand and we go out through the living room glass doors onto the terrace. Then we take the steps down that lead to the beach.

“We’re not taking the car?” she asks.

“No, I thought we’d walk since it’s almost sunset and it’s such a nice day.”

“Oh, Mr. Romantic tonight.”

I lean over to kiss her. “I hope to be that man with you every night.”

Once we hit the beach, there’s a small outcropping of rock where everyone is waiting, and I’ve had an arbor placed there. The preacher waits for us with everyone else.

“Oh, look. Someone must be getting married tonight.”

I stop and turn her to face me. “That someone is us.” I raise her hand to my mouth.

“Wh–what?” Her mouth hangs open as her hand flies to her chest.

“You wanted to elope, and what better place than in our backyard?” When we get to the arbor, everyone gathers around us. She’s in shock, and I pray it’s the good kind. Helen takes her place next to Midnight, handing her the bouquet. Dad stands next to me and the preacher looks at the two of us.

“Are you two ready?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” she says, her voice strong.

“Thank God,” I say. “You had me worried there for a minute.”

“At least I know why you were acting so bizarre in there.”

The ceremony is brief, and afterward, we walk back to the pool area, where music starts playing and appetizers are served.

This is the first time Midnight is meeting all my friends, so once all the introductions are made the party is on. Mom is in her element.

“Not only am I finally getting a daughter, but I’m getting a grandbaby too. I couldn’t be happier.” She can’t stop hugging my wife.

“Mom, you have to give me the opportunity to hug Midnight too.”

“No, you’ll have lots of time. I leave in the morning and won’t be back for a while.”

“Why are you leaving in the morning?” Midnight asks.

“They can stay, but you and I are going away for a month,” I explain.

“We are? Where to?”

“You’ll see.” I give her an evil grin.

“You’re awful.”

“You won’t be saying that tomorrow.”

She slaps my ass. Too bad I have pants on.

Prescott and Weston join us. Prescott says, “Let’s raise our glasses, brother. A toast.”

“Oh no. Not you.”

“Hey, man, I’m better, I swear.”

Midnight looks at me for an answer. “He used to be the worst when it came to toasts. When Weston and Special got married, his toast was something about Weston’s dick not falling off.”

Midnight aims a finger at Prescott. “You definitely need help in the toast category.”

Prescott holds his hands up in the air. “Harry, I swear, I’m good these days.”

“Harry?” Midnight asks, laughing.

Pointing to Weston and Prescott, I say, “Midnight, meet Westie and Scotty. Obviously I was Harry. Those were our Crestview nicknames. They’ve sort of stuck with us throughout the years.”

“Aww, how cute.”

Vivi comes up to us and says, “Don’t let them fool you. Trouble, yes. Cute, no. They had all the girls dangling from their grubby fingers.”

“I bet,” Midnight says.

Special joins the group. “Are they telling Crestview stories again? Prescott, are you going to tell Midnight some of Harry’s dirt?”

“Oh no, he’s not,” I say.

Prescott puts his hand in the air again, saying, “Hey, all I want to do is toast the newlyweds. Can you all believe we’re respectably married people now?”

“Who said anything about being respectable?” Weston asks.

“Speak for yourself,” I say.

“Okay, everyone, raise your glasses. To the newlyweds. May your lives be long and filled with love. Love each other more than any fight you will ever have, more than any struggle you will ever face, more than any distance that will ever lie between you, or any hurdle you will ever leap.”

I look at Prescott. “That was solid, man. Thanks.” We man-hug, and then I hug my other brother, Weston. It’s a great night for all.

The women chat. Special tells Midnight about her son, Cody, and daughter, Elizabeth. “They stayed home with my grandmother, but I hope you two come for a visit soon. They would love to meet you.”

“I’d love that, or bring them out to California. They would love Disneyland, I bet.”

“Elizabeth may be a bit young, but Cody would go nuts over it,” Special says.

I put my arm around my wife and add, “Maybe you could get Cody on the set to meet one of his superheroes.”

“Yeah, if he comes when they’re filming.”

Special says it’s a done deal.

Vivi claims Prescott won’t go anywhere until their baby is ten years old. “I’m afraid I’m stuck. He’s already such a freak about this baby. I’ll have to come alone.”

I wander back to where Prescott and Weston are and give him a hard time over Vivi’s pregnancy. He’s not dealing too well with it, according to her. Then I gaze over the group, and I can’t believe what a lucky man I am.

After our guests leave and it’s just the two of us, Midnight says, “I’m not sure how you pulled that off, but thank you. That was the most perfect wedding ever. Thank you for finding and fixing me. But most of all, thank you for loving me.”

“Ah, I didn’t think you could be fixed.”

“I didn’t think I could ... until I opened my heart to you.”

And if that doesn’t make me the happiest man alive, I don’t know what does.