Parker's Island (51 page)

“If she’ll have me
,
”
h
e said, and turned to me.

“You know I will
; t
he second your divorce is final.” 

“The second it’s final?”
h
e asked.

“Yes!” I said, and kissed him.

“Good, then how’s today?”
h
e smiled.

“What?”

“I’m officially divorced as of today.”

“
You’re
all
mine
,
now?”

“I’ve always been yours, but now we can make it official.”

“As soon as we have the baby…
”
“No
.
I don’t want to wait.  I want it to be official before we have the

baby.  I want
you both
to have my name. 
I love you
.  P
lease marry me
,
today
,
”
h
e asked
, actually bending down on one knee
.
  I could hear my mother sniffling behind us.

“I’d marry you this second, but we have to have blood tests
, and a license
.”

“Done.”

“I didn’t have a blood…
”

“
Um,
I thought since they were taking your blood
,
anyway
,
”
h
e grinned.

“You’re crazy.” 

“For you.  Well, what do you say?”

“I’m assuming that there’s a minister waiting for us
,
somewhere?”

“Down the hall.”

“
I don’t have any
thing to…
” I didn’t finish my sentence
before my aunt walked in carrying a dress draped over her arm
, “White?  Really?”
I
said, patting my over-grown belly.

“Just go with it,
”
s
he smiled.

“Delaney, I know this isn’t your dream wedding,
but
I just want to make it official
,
for now.  We can
have
a huge wedding with all the trimmings
.  A
nything you want
…
after
we have
the baby.  This means a lot to me.”

“What are we waiting for?” I said
excitedly
, grabbing the dress from my aunt.

He kissed me and said,
“
I’ll see you down the hall.
”

“I’ll be the one waddling down the aisle
,
” I grinned.

I walked into the bathroom,
slipped into the dress and stepped back into my room.

“You look beautiful
,
honey
,
”
m
y mother and aunt said in unison.

“Aunt Vickie, would you be my maid of honor?”

“Oh, thank you,
I’m touched
.  B
ut
,
I think there’s someone else here that
already
holds that title.”

Molly walked in then, hugged me and handed me a bouquet of roses.  “I w
ouldn’t miss this for the world,
”
s
he said when she saw that I was speechless. 

“
Thank you
,
Molly
! 
I can’t believe this is happening,” I said, praying it wasn’t all a dream.

“Here honey, you can wear your diamond earrings.  They’ll be perfect with the
dress.  They’re pretty new, so…
now all you need
is
something old,
something
borrowed and
something
blue,” my aunt said.  “We really should have thought about this a little earlier, but Logan didn’t give us much notice,” my aunt said, grinning.

“I have everything I need.
  This is hardly a traditional wedding, anyway.
”

“But, it’s
good luck.  It’s supposed to ensure a happy life together,” my mom said.

“Logan is all I need to be happy,” realizing I wasn’t the least bit nervous
about
marrying
him
.

“Well, your dream man is in the other room waiting for his bride.  What are you waiting for?” Molly asked, grinning. 
“Follow my lead
,
”
s
he said and headed down the hall.

I walked out of the room and
the
nurses and
doctor
s
all applauded.  “You can walk down the
aisle
and say
,
I do,
and
then it’s off your feet
,
” Dr. Grey said, and then added, “I’m so happy for you.”

My dad met me at the door of the chapel, wearing a tux.  “Thank you
,
Dad
,
” I said, hugging him.

“You’re sure about this?”
h
e asked, giving me
a
chance to back out.

“I’ve never been
more certain
of anything in my life
,
”
I said, smiling up at him.

“
Okay
,
I believe
they’re playing
your song.” 

I took his arm
and he led me into the little chapel.  It was full of friends and family.  There were flowers everywhere, and as I looked up at the altar to find Logan, I saw his best man.  Brian was smiling at me, urging me on with his eyes.  I was crying by the time I made it to the front of the chapel.  Although it was
also
not a traditional
act
, I hugged
the best man
, “Thank you
, Brian
.  Y
ou don’t know how much this means to me.”

“You deserve to be happy
,
”
Brian
said and gave my hand to Logan.  My dad kissed my cheek and I stood proudly by Logan’s side
as the minister
began to speak.  He was told to make it brief
;
doctors’ orders
.  B
ut as he got to the part about rings, I realized I didn’t have a ring for Logan.  He sensed my
anxiety
and whispered, “You can pick one out later and give it to me at our next wedding.”

He had thought of everything and when he slipped
my
ring onto my finger
,
he said, “This was my mother’s
.
I hope it
’
s okay?  We can get you something else later, if you want.”

“It’s perfect. 
I love it. 
I’ll never take it off.”

He smiled a
s
we were pronounced Husband and Wife and I was
finally
kissing him.  The room broke into applause as the minister introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Logan Barnett.

Everyone was hugging me and
passing me around. 
Even my brother
was
happy for me. 
I was still thanking everyone for coming
when
I turned and saw
Christine
.
I was so touched that she came.  I hugged her
and b
efore I knew it
,
I was pulled into a wheel chair.  “I can walk!” I said, fighting to stand up.

“No way, you’ve been on your feet long enough.  Bed rest
, Mrs. Barnett
, remember?” Logan said.

“Bed rest
,
huh?
Whatever you say
,
Mr. Barnett
,
”
I said, grinning at him.

I talked to Molly and Brian
for a few minutes
, and they looked very happy together.  Molly whispered in my ear,
“
I expect you to
be
my maid of honor next June, okay?”
s
he grinned.

“Really?  I would love that!
  I’m so happy for you!
”

“And yeah, it’s better than I expected
,
”
s
he actually blushed.  I hugged both of them, but didn’t kiss Brian, remembering Molly’s threat. 

We said our goodbyes and before I knew it, we were on a helicopter flying home to the island. 

“A helicopter
…
is th
is
really necessary?” I asked.

“You need to get home
safely
and I didn’t want you to tak
ing
a rough boat trip.  Just sit back and
enjoy
the view. 
Look, th
ere’s our island
,
”
h
e said, pointing out the left side of the helicopter.

“We’re home
,
”
I smiled.

The weeks passed with frequent visits from my mother and aunt.  Even my brother made a couple of appearances, thrilled to have a rich brother-in-law.
  Logan had set up the most gorgeous nursery and he beamed when he showed it to me.  It was right next to our room and it was all done in pink. 
“Pouty pink, rose pink, pale pink,
shell pink,
” he said, showing me around the room, naming things off
,
one by one by their color.   He was so sweet and I had to keep from laughing and hurting his feelings, so I listened intently while he showed off all of his hard work. 

“Thank you
.  S
he’s going to love it.
  I love it!
  I love you!
” I said, and kissed him.

I had made quite a bit of money while working for my aunt and I knew what I wanted to do with it.  I wanted to buy Logan a wedding ring.  My aunt provided the perfect escape one day for me and took me shopping.  It was wonderful being out of bed.  “You need to
hurry and
find a ring
so you can
get back to bed.  I don’t want to be responsible if Logan finds out you’re up
,
”
m
y aunt said.

“He’s out running errands. 
I gave him tons of things to do. 
He won’t be home for hours.  It’s now or never
,
” I told her.

I found the perfect ring
.  I
t actually came very close to matching mine.  I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get home to give it to him.  I paid for it and
we left the shop, only to find Logan standing across the street
,
leaning up
against his car.
 
He was instantly by my side
.
“Hi, what are you doing here?”  I asked
sheepishly
, knowing I was in deep trouble.

“I could ask you the same thin
g!
”
h
e said, looking a bit angry.

“She made me do it!”
m
y aunt said, telling on me
, yet
again.

“I thought we were allies?” I said to my aunt.

“We are, but I can’t lie to
him
,
”
s
he said, then whispered, “I mean look at him
.  W
ho could lie to those eyes?”

“T
ell me about it,
”
I said, certain Logan and I were soon to have our first fight.
 

He picked me up then and carried me to the car.

“Put me down
.  Y
ou’re going to break your back
,
” I said
,
reminding him I was a bit over my usual 110 pounds.

“We’ll talk at home
,
”
he said through gritted teeth.

He was friendly and polite to my aunt, but she sensed that we needed to talk
privately,
so she took an early ferry home, leaving me to deal with his wrath.