My Expectation (My Escort Series Book 3) (9 page)

              “I’d be honored,” Hayden said.

              “Be damned if he gets offered before me!” Megan said pushing Hayden aside and confronting me with expectation. “I am your maid of honor.” It wasn’t even a question; she just took the role. I laughed as I wiped away the tears.

              “Well of course you are,” I said. I hugged her, wiping away the last of my tears. Megan whispered into my ear.

              “I am so proud of you. Congratulations, you deserve this happiness,” she kissed my cheek and then hugged Damon. “Now you have a huge responsibility to look after both my sister and my little nephew or niece. Oh and good luck, by the sounds of it she is going to be a hormonal beast.” She grabbed Hayden’s hand and began to tug on him. “Well I think it’s time for us to leave and leave you two to it. Come on.”

Hayden seemed to obey instantly, although he whined the entire time. We watched them close the door behind them. Damon hugged me from behind, his hands firmly patting my belly. “Thank you Clover,” he whispered and kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes. This moment was bliss, I felt secure in his arms, protected, utterly, and intoxicatingly in love.

              “What do we do now?” I asked still with my eyes closed. My body still pumped with adrenalin and I tried to ease my breathing to slow my pounding heart.

              “Now my beautiful
fiancée,
we plan a wedding because I don’t want to wait a day longer to make you mine for better and for worse.” I turned around to him with a smile. We stared into one another’s eyes. It felt like time had stopped for only us. This moment of pure joy and total commitment, we were moving forward together and towards a family. So much is about to change and it isn’t a world we are so used to. Yet, the gleam in both of our eyes made me believe we could take on the entire world, surely we could look after one child.

              “I would like that very much,” I smiled. I side glanced the food. “But first can we eat? I am so hungry.” I laughed. Damon swept me into his arms in a bridal carry position. I laughed at him as he walked me over to the table where few of the candlelight’s had gone out from the wind. But the fairy lights still glistened in front of the city lights beneath us.

              “Anything for you my most beautiful, Clover,” he kissed me gently on the lips and the world around us continued to swirl. Nothing seemed more relevant or important to me than Damon in this moment. I loved this man so very much.

I
nervously laid down on the bed waiting for the doctor to return to the room for our first ultra-sound scan. Damon giddily sat beside me, with his hair messy from his long day at work. I had finished a few hours before him. My sister while in the area for a few days, was staying at our apartment which she and Damon had schemed without my knowledge prior. She and Damon were so excited for this wedding that they had already started discussing flower arrangements and Megan was taking me dress shopping tomorrow.

              Although it felt like everything was being rushed, I didn’t mind. I was excited as the two of them worked together. It almost felt weird that we hadn’t done it sooner. Damon and I were in some odd bubble of young giddy love. I imagined this is the kind of energy that spurred on lovers to run away and elope. I have never felt so youthful and focused on something else other than work. We wanted more than anything to be husband and wife. Neither of us second-guessed it, it was what we wanted.

              The doctor greeted us as she came into the room with a smile. Her eyes diverted from Damon quickly. I still noticed how some women looked at him, he was gorgeous. It only made me feel that more special to be the one who he wanted for the rest of his life.

              She didn’t say much but apologized for the discomfort I might have been in, I didn’t really have any. She lifted my shirt and applied a sticky gel. I had done this with Megan with both of her sons so wasn’t a complete newcomer to the process.

              She rolled the stick around over my stomach until eventually she found something. It didn’t look like much and made a little regular pulsating noise. But alas, there it was on the screen. There was our baby. She pursed her lips and continued to look around on it. I frowned unsure of what we were looking at. It all looked alien like to me, but as she continued to search I was worried something was wrong.

              Damon held his breath seemingly the entire time as he was entranced by the screen. I didn’t think that he realized something looked wrong until he pointed something out himself. “What is that part there?” he asked inquisitively.

              The doctor gave a small smile at his open innocence. “I have to ask,” she started as she continued to awkwardly barge the stick on my stomach. “Do either of you have twins in the family?”

              Both Damon and I went silent. “I don’t,” I said hesitantly.

              “Neither do I, I think,” Damon said. We gave each other an unexpected glance.

              She smiled with a small giggle. “Well, you do now. Congratulations Miss Granture, it would appear you have a set of twins.”

              “Really?” Damon asked. He was squeezing my hand tightly. I wasn’t sure if he knew he was even doing it. He had such an open innocence to him. This part of him I had never seen before. He stared at the screen in bewilderment. I did the same, trying to absorb the news.

              “Really Mr. Brogardt,” the doctor said. “Congratulations.”

              “Two, Clover. We are having two babies,” he said abashed. I couldn’t help but laugh at him, his eyes seemed to boggle out of his head. He was so perfectly new to all of this, yet at no point did I ever doubt that he would be the most amazing father. All I had to process was instead of being a first time mother to one baby I would now be caring for two. That made me rather nervous. “How do you hold two babies at once?” He asked me. “Are they identical?” He asked as a secondary question.

              “We can’t tell things like that until they are born. Guessing by this scan you are fifteen weeks pregnant. So Mr. Brogardt, you have about five months until you will find out,” she said with a smile.

              “Five months?” He gushed. “That’s so soon. We will have to start preparing the rooms. Actually, Clover, we are going to have to buy a house, the apartment isn’t big enough.”

              I was surprised that he was seemingly more over the place than me. I always thought that he was more collected and calm than I was. “What? The apartment is plenty big.”

              “No, you need a home to raise a family in. Not an apartment, maybe if we weren’t so central in the city. We need a backyard so they can play and we will buy them a dog.”

              “Woah, woah,” I said easing him and placing my hand on his. He was getting so worked up and excited as he started listing off all these things. I found it utterly adorable but worried he would get overwhelmed. “One thing at a time, we still have plenty of time.”

              “That is correct,” the doctor said with amusement. “We also offer plenty of aids for birthing classes and preparations classes, reading materials and any questions you might have.”

              “Birthing classes,” Damon said as if tasting the words. “Is that what Michelle and Phillip went to? I remember Phillip telling me it was well worth it and it helped him prepare. I think we should do that.”

              I laughed, squeezing his hand tightly. “One step at a time, Damon. Everything is okay, you are going to be a wonderful father.” He condensed my words and smiled suavely. He kissed my open palm and looked back at the screen.

              “I feel like I am preparing for the end of the world,” he said now calmer and his usual self.

              “You sound it too,” I mocked. “We have plenty of time.”

              “Can we start telling people now?” He asked me for permission. He seemed on edge, worried if I said no. I think it might have spilled out of him one way or another, even if I didn’t agree.

              “Of course we can,” I said. He smiled proudly and sat straight again with eyes fixated on the screen. It was nice to see Damon flustered like this, because it reassured me that I wasn’t the only one new and apprehensive about this. It made me more excited to know and see the love that Damon already had for these
two
little bundles of ours. I pushed down the lump in my throat as that number properly sunk in.
We were going to have two babies.

I
t was already Saturday and Megan and I were now looking at dresses. We anticipated that it could be weeks, even months before I found the ‘one’. Damon and I had discussed what kind of wedding we wanted. We knew a lot of people and although we could afford an elaborate wedding which catered to all those people, we wanted something more intimate with only our loved ones.

              We both agreed on a small elegant wedding instead of a large one. It seemed to take a lot of pressure off as well. I’ve seen women go through hair loss as they planned for their big day. I was just so grateful that I had a fiancée who was actively helping plan and organize everything as well. He was disappointed that he couldn’t come and look at dresses with us, but Megan snapped at him telling him it wasn’t traditional. The joke then came up that I was already pregnant before wedlock. I rolled my eyes when he made that comment.

              I wanted my mother to be here as we began dress shopping but it was difficult to organize with the boys. I would’ve loved to see them again as well, but couldn’t afford all the dresses that they destroyed in the process with grabbing hands. I loved them but had seen them do it to many of my cocktail dresses prior.

              I pointed to one dress shop which I noticed a few times myself over the years while walking in central Manhattan. This was one Cassidy had recommended as well when I told her of the news yesterday and she giddily began preparing to come back home for the special day to do my hair and make-up. Everything felt so perfect and personal. I truly did have the support of all my loved ones. We hadn’t yet broken the news to Damon’s family. We were waiting until we had dinner with them tonight. We were dining at Michelle and Phillips home as it was easier with their newborn.

              I found it ironic that after Michelle had given birth to her surprise baby that I too found out I was expecting. There were numerous white dresses displayed at the front of the shop in the window. Some appealed to me with their long beautiful frocks and others seemed not to my taste.

              Damon and I decided that we only wanted our maid of honor and best man. We didn’t want anything elaborate and this was perfectly fitting as we had already decided on Megan and Hayden, and while I had Megan we were able to shop for her as well.

              We opened the door and the older lady who looked extremely elegant in her blue silk attire, greeted us. She seemed very classy and extended her hands out welcomingly. I looked around nervous at the amount of dresses. It was a two story shop and it seemed the first level only contained white dresses. Upstairs I could see more white and glimmering fabric and colored ones.

              “Who’s the lucky woman?” The woman in her mid-fifties said. She was very beautiful with her slick short cut gray hair. Megan instantly pointed at me and stepped away. I smiled at the woman and shook her hand gently.

              “Stunning. Congratulations,” she said. She swirled and looked around the room. “If there is any particular design or designer you are after please do let me know.”

              “I think for now we will have a look and try on a few, I’m not yet sure what I want exactly,” I admitted. She seemed slightly surprised but smiled. I imagined that some women had in mind exactly what they wanted. I know of many friends who bought an entire bookshelf of magazines related to dresses, destinations and anything wedding.

              “Well please let me know if I can help,” she said. “Champaign?”

              Megan cut in before I could respond. “Yes please, two.”

              “Certainly I will bring it to you,” the lady said before disappearing into a separate room behind the counter she once stood at.

              Megan interlaced her elbow around mine and began walking us up the stairs into the top room.

              “Megan you know I can’t drink,” I barked under my breath. She smiled demonically.

              “I know that. They’re for me,” she said with a smile. “I am so excited. I am just going to start throwing dresses at you.”

              I rolled my eyes at her. She was spending this time like her own personal holiday. I wondered how she was really feeling; this was the first time that she spent away from the boys. Her eyes mulled over the dresses and she instantly was pulled in by the first rack.

              “What about this one?” She asked. The dress was very puffy at the bottom with puffy shoulder pads. I pulled a twisted face. She laughed. “I know right, you are no princess. I can totally see you in an hourglass with a trail or something. Oh, something like this,” she pulled out the next dress which had a flowery texture to it.

              “I don’t mind it,” I said with admiration.

              “You don’t love it either,” she said putting it back.

              “Here you are ladies,” the woman came back with two glasses of champagne. I grabbed the glass from her with an appreciative smile. I looked at the bubbly drink, considering that for the next five months I wouldn’t be able to drink at all, well even after that while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding, it was such a foreign concept to me until now. There were so many things that I still had to think about and adapt to. The woman left with a smile and walked down the stairs.

              “Thank you,” Megan said grabbing her second glass from me. She sat down comfortably on a velvet red couch and placed the glasses on the table beside her. She took a sip and then stood back up. “I can’t wait to be sitting on that and watching you parade in front of me. I can’t express to you how much fun I am having doing this. It’s your big day Clover. This is actually happening!” she squealed with excitement. “And I am going to find something that makes me look like a man killer,” she winked.

              She began shuffling through the dresses giddily beside me. She would hold up gowns in front of me and pull some odd expressions. “We have to consider your belly too. I mean you can’t leave it too long or your dress won’t be able to adapt unless you get a princess-poofy looking dress. But to be honest, I imagine you with something more slimming to suit your hourglass figure. Stop me if I’m talking too much, I mean it’s what you like most.” I smiled as I looked through them as well. I couldn’t help but feel as if I were glowing, everything was moving so fast but perfectly for Damon’s and my own pace. We have that commitment, we both felt like no other could fulfil us and marriage oddly enough was exciting and youthful to us. I contained my excitement far more than he did. The usual cool and calculated Damon seemed like a child right now. I loved feeling the silky texture of the dresses and then the cotton.

              We had walked through both upstairs and downstairs for about an hour before we had decided on six dresses. I had no specific color or type of dress I wanted Megan to wear, so she grabbed a few to try and what she thought best complimented my own. Strangely enough, even though she had never been married herself she seemed to be really amazing and knew of things to point out. I, on the other hand didn’t have much concept of it at all. Even Damon surprised me with his knowledge after going to so many over the years. I’ve been to a few, but my own marriage was never anything I thought of or envisioned. I had always been far too busy. Love was once foreign to me, so the concept of marriage never came to mind. When I looked back, I questioned how I didn’t become lonely. I was grateful that I was so fixated on my work and pondered if I might’ve become like most women in Manhattan hungry and desperate for love. Yet, I knew in my heart that only Damon could’ve grabbed my attention the way he did.

              I already tried on the previous five and although I didn’t mind them and had various opinions from Megan and the lady who had offered another two glasses because of the rate Megan was drinking them, she had already decided on a very slimming green dress which came to her knees and had spaghetti straps. It was very simple and elegant. I was surprised she had decided on a dress so quickly.

              The last dress I was trying on was an off colored white, out of all the dresses it was the one that so far I liked the least, but I hadn’t yet tried it on and hoped I would be surprised. Admittedly I was already tired of looking at dresses. There were so many beautiful ones but none of them grabbed my attention.

              This one was tight, but had slight movement around the stomach, it was a mermaid design with a small trail. It was strapless with a low cut back and small crystals glimmered over the chest in a very subtle design. Inside the elegant change rooms there was no mirror so I couldn’t yet see how it looked. The woman slipped in zipping up the back of the dress and stepping back out.

              I walked out holding it up slightly worried I would damage it or trip somehow on the front of it. Megan uncrossed her legs and sat up straight with full attention.

              “That looks stunning Clover,” she said placing her glass down. I touched my stomach self-consciously and looked to the right where the mirrors were. It paled beautifully against my bronze skin and clung to my hips beautifully. When I looked to the side my small stomach which had begun to grow was near unnoticeable because of the thick material. The silk felt smooth against my skin and I didn’t think the trail was too long. It looked elegant.

              Megan came behind me and lifted my curls into the back in a messy bun. I could envision wearing it up a lot neater but in the same position. All it needed was a beautiful and simple silver necklace.

              “That is stunning,” the woman said with admiration from behind. “Even the back.” I twisted myself so I could admire the back. Even the back was beautiful and perfectly low cut to emphasize my slender frame.

              “Clover. . .” Megan trailed. “What do you think? You don’t have to buy today. You can think on it.” I stared at the dress in admiration. I did love it.

              “Can you take a photo and send it to Mom?” I asked. I loved it but knew I should wait for a few days just to be sure. I twisted back and forth admiring it more and imagining what else I would wear and how I would accessorizes it. I think that Damon would love it.