Suddenly a Bride (13 page)

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.  “Deal.”

Smiling, she snuggled up to him and walked along with him, enjoying the nice sunny day on the beach.

Chapter
Ten

T
hree weeks later, Caitlyn knew she couldn’t put off seeing her family anymore, and they’d want to see her new husband so she gathered all the courage she could muster and invited him along.  On the drive into Fort Walton, she kept fiddling with the radio stations.

“Is something bothering you?”
Chris asked, reaching for her
hand before she could change the station again.

With a sigh, she squeezed his hand and smiled.  “Oh, it’s just been awhile since I last saw them.” That part was true, but it wasn’t the full story.  Though she’d told them she got married, she didn’t tell them how she met Chris.  Boy, would they flip if they knew the detail
s!  “Remember, don’t mention you’re from another planet, okay?”

“I won’t.  You can trust me.  I won’t say or do anything to make them suspect I’m from another world.  Besides, we have some great news for them, don’t you think?”

Noting his excitement, she couldn’t help but grin. 
The pregnancy test confirmed what he’d been telling her ever since that day
he said she conceived a child
. 
He
claimed he could feel the new life forming in her womb, but she shrugged it off as his hope to have a child until
she missed her period a week ago.

She still couldn’t understand how he just knew she was pregnant.  The connection established by the bond was something he was more sensitive to than she was, but she reasoned it was because she was from Earth.  Females who once inhabited his world likely knew as soon as they conceived.
 
Her parents, no doubt, would probably wonder if she got married because she was pregnant, and that was the part she was dreading.

When she drove her minivan down her parent’s street, she inwardly groaned. 
In the front yard stood her father and Randy’s father. 
It was just her luck that her parents saw it fit to invite their good friends over at the same time, and their good friends happened to be Randy’s parents.  This was bound to get awkward.  She slowed the car and considered turning around and going back home.

“There is something wrong,” Chris insisted.  “What is it?”

“Randy’s family is there.”

“Why?”

“Probably because my parents are best friends with his parents.  I guess everyone wants to check you out.”
Taking a deep breath, she pulled into the driveway and waved to the two men. 
She turned off the ignition.  “Here goes nothing.”

As she opened the door, her dad and Randy’s dad came over to the minivan, but they didn’t go over to her side.  They made a beeline right for Chr
is.  She sighed.  And so it
started.  She could only hope Chris passed their inspection.

By the time she made it over to Chris’ side, her dad was already beginning his interrogation.  “So, how long did you know Caitlyn before you married her?  I don’t recall hearing about you before you two eloped.”

She quickly stepped up to Chris and slipped her arm around his waist.  “Oh, I met him at the diner.  He came in to eat, and we started talking.  One thing led to another and we got ma
rried.” She patted his chest and smiled.  “He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever served.” That was true
.  So far, so good.

“I guess you getting married again
was bound to happen sooner or later,” her father admitted, turning his attention to Chris.  “Where do you work?”

“Eglin Air Force Base,” Chris replied, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“Yes.  He’s an engineer.” Now that was something she loved to say.  She actually jumped for joy when she saw his first paycheck.  Her dream of having a home of her own was quickly coming true.  “T
hey were only going to hire one, but he and the other
guy were so good, they hired both.”

Her dad nodded.  “That’s good news.” He shifted from one foot to the other
.  “You know, Caitlyn, w
e would have liked to have been at the wedding.”

Considering the fact that the wedding took place in her van
, she bit back her laughter.  “Yeah well, we wanted a private affair.” And how private it’d been indeed!

“Well, i
t’s your marriage
,” her dad began, “but your mother was devastated.  You know how she can get with these things.”

“Yeah, I know.”
Caitlyn glanced at her watch.  If
she and Chris stuck around for about three hours
, that should be long enough.

Chris squeezed her shoulders.  “Did you want to tell them the good news?”

Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head.

“What good news?” Randy’s dad asked.

“It can wait,” she said.  “Is everyone here?”

“Oh come on,” her dad argued, motioning to Chris.  “Your new husband is obviously excited about it.”

She glanced at Chris and saw the big smile on his face.  If her family found out she was pregnant, they’d assume she married as quickly as she did because she got knocked up, and it wasn’t like she could tell them the truth—that her new husband was from another planet and
that he released a hormone which
drove her to the point where she had to have sex with him. 
What do you mean you had to have sex with him?
her mother would ask. 
Yeah, Caitlyn, that’s pretty lame,
her dad would chime in.
  Never mind what the others would say.

“Yeah,” Randy’s dad said.  “What is it?”

Before Chris could speak, Caitlyn cleared her throat and laughed.  “You should meet everyone else,” she told Chris. 
Taking his
hand, she
headed for the house. 
Might as well get it over with.

The two men followed them.  “Everyone’s out back.  We’re having a barbeque.”

“A barbeque?” Chris asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“Hamburgers and hot dogs on the
barbeque
grill,” she replied.  “You’ll love it.”

Her dad laughed.  “Oh come on, Caitlyn.  The guy’s had barbeque before.”

If only her dad knew, but she wasn’t going to tell him. 
She hurried through the
house until they reached the patio where everyone else was mingling about on the large deck.  Her mother was setting out the salad and her brother was frying up the burgers.

“Blake makes some of the best burgers and hot dogs around, but
don’t tell Jack I said that,” she told Chris as they approached her brother.  “How’s it going?”

Blake turned a hamburger over and smiled.  “Well, if it isn’t the great eloper.  Mom and Dad have been talking about your sudden marriage nonstop.”

She sighed.  “I figured they would be.  This is Chris West.”

Blake extended his hand and Chris shook it.  “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Chris said.  “So, this is a barbeque
grill
?”

Blake laughed.  “What else would it be?”

Shrugging, he said, “It could be a lot of things, really.  It depends on what you plan to do with it.”

“Uh…okay.” Blake’s uneasy gaze shifted to Caitlyn.

“Well, you did use it to burn photos and
a
letter from an ex-girlfriend,” she reminded him.

Blake nodded.  “So I did.  It was actually a cleansing experience.  As the flames turned her memory into ashes, I was able to move on.  For all I know, the ashes
could still be under the charcoals.
”

She grimaced.  “Lovely thought.” 
She scanned the patio wher
e her dad talked to her mom,
Randy’s parents, Andy, and Sandy.  He
r dad
motioned to her and Chris.  Readying herself for more questions than she’d care to answer, she squeezed Chris’ hand.  “
I better introduce Chris to everyone else.”

“Good luck.”

She caught the meaningful look her brother gave her and rolled her eyes.  Of course, her mother wasn’t all that excited to know she missed out on planning the wedding, but what else could Caitlyn do?  Besides, she w
as in her thirties for goodness
sakes.  Didn’t being an adult count for something?

As she led Chris toward everyone else, he whispered, “Why don’t you want to tell them about the baby?”

His hurt tone brought her steps to a halt.  She looked over at him
and winced.  Quickly taking him to the edge of the patio where no one would overhear them, she said, “You don’t understand.  It’s best to wait until next month before mentioning the fact that I’m pregnant.”

“Why?”

“Because they’ll assume we got married because of the baby.”

“But we did get married to have children.”

“In this country, people get married because they love each other.  Well, there are some who get married because the woman is pregnant, but that’s not exactly the ideal reason.”

“You weren’t pregnant when we bonded.”

“True, but they don’t know you’re from another planet.  So if they find out I’m pregnant already, they’ll assume the worst.”

His eyebrows furrowed.  “I don’t understand.”

Oh boy.  He didn’t get it, and she didn’t know how to explain it.  And her mom was heading in their direction.  “Look,” she quickly said, “let’s just wait until nex
t month before we mention it, a
lright?”

Though he looked disappointed, he nodded.  “Alright.”

She squeezed his hand.  “Thanks.” Turning toward her mom, she let go of Chris’ hand and hugged her.  “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, Caity,” her mother replied.

She grimaced.  No matter how many times she told her mother she hated that nickname, her mother refused to listen.  Forcing aside the urge to bring it up yet again, she motioned to Chris.  “I got married, Mom.”

Her mother stiffly nodded.  “So I heard.  Nice to meet you.”

Chris shook the hand she extended to him and grinned.  “You have a wonderful daughter, Rachel.”

Her mother balked.  “Excuse me?”

Caitlyn slipped her arm around Chris’.  “My mother prefers to be called Mrs.
Rogers.”

“Yes,” her mother added.  “It’s a matter of respect.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry,” he said.  “I’m still learning the proper manners on this world.”

Her mother’s eyes widened, and hoping to cover up
for his slip of the tongue, Caitlyn
laughed.  “That’s a good one, honey.  Mom, guess what?  He’s an engineer.  Isn’t that
exciting?”

“Yes.  Well, that is a step up from being a DJ on the radio.  Congratulations, Chris.”

Caitlyn shot her sister
and Sandy
a ‘please help me’ look. 
T
hey left the picnic tables where they were setting out the condiments and headed over to them.

Sandy led the way over to them, Lexie close behind.  “Hi, Chris.  I see you’re meeting the family.”

Caitlyn’s mother arched an eyebrow.  “So you’ve met him already?”

“He came into the diner a couple of times,” Sandy replied.  Turning to Lexie,
she
continued, “Chris, this is Caitlyn’s sister.”

Lexie offered her hand so he shook it.  “Yes
,” he began,
“
I remember seeing your picture on Caitlyn’s wall.”

“
Lexie’s getting married in two
months,” Sandy told Chris.

“Speaking of which, where’s Nick?” Caitlyn could use another newbie in the group to help take the focus off of Chris.  She didn’t care much for the way her mother kept scanning Chris up and down, obviously sizing him up—and probably finding him lacking.

“Nick couldn’t make it,” Lexie replied.
  “He had surgery.”