Suddenly a Bride (30 page)

The doctor flipped through his chart.  “I can’t explain it, but all the tests came back negative.  There’s not
hing I can find wrong with you.  I still want to keep you here overnight to monitor how things are going, and we’ll run a couple of more tests to make sure everything’s working as it should.”

Chris looked disappointed but nodded.

Caitlyn was so relieved to hear he checked out okay that she didn’t care.  She’d spent many times by Randy’s bedside in the hospital, watching as the Chemo treatments sapped him of his strength.  She never wanted to go through anything li
ke that again.

“We’ll get you upstairs in a bit,” the doctor said before he left.

After a moment of silence, she asked, “Chris, is there anything else bothering you?”

“No.  Well, kind of.”

“What is it?”

He gave a slight shrug.  “I shouldn’t be jealous of Randy, should I?”

“
Of course not.” She squeezed his hand.  “I loved Randy, and I think of him with fondness.  But that has nothing to do with my feelings for you.  I love you because you’re
you
.
” She paused.
 
“
Chris, what if we have more than one child?  Will you love one and not the other?”

“No.  I’ll love them all.”

“It’s the same thing with you and Randy.  I loved him the way he was, and I love you the way you are.  I don’t want another Randy.”

“But you have his things in that trunk.”

“A trunk?”

“The one at the bottom of the closet.”

“Oh.” She blinked in surprise.  “I forgot all about it.”

“You put his picture in there and gave me his clothes from it.”

“Yes, but then I didn’t
think about
it anymore.  I had no idea that trunk bothered you.  Is that why you thought I was still mourning his death?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why you were trying to look like him?” she asked with a smile.

“I knew you loved him and thought if I looked like him, you’d love me too.”

“No, I wouldn’t love you if you looked like him because I adore the Chris who looks like Chris.” She caught the pleased look on his face and decided to whisper, “I especially enj
oy the way you make me feel as if I’m
the most important person in the world.  You’re perfect the way you are.”

“You are too.”

She giggled and kissed him.  As his tongue traced her lower lip, she
felt his hand cup her breast so she
pulled away from him.  “Chris, you can’t do that here!”

He chuckled.  “Why not?”

“Because we’re in a hospital.
”

“There’s no one in the room but us.”

His fingers brushed her nipple, making her skin tingle with delight.

She groaned and put his hand down.  “It’s nice to know you’re not sick.”

The door opened and a nurse walked in.  Caitlyn gave Chris a pointed look, secretly hoping he understood why he couldn’t grope her in a hospital.  His res
ponse was to pat her butt.  G
ranted
,
the nurse couldn’t see it from the angle Caitlyn stood, but she still felt an exasperated sigh escape her lips.  She took Chris’ hand and held it.

“So Chris is going to be okay?” Caitlyn asked, needing to hear it again.

The nurse smiled and went over to his IV.  “Everything looks good, but we’ll need to monitor him overnight.  I’ll get this IV out and then we’ll move you upstairs.”

Relieved, Caitlyn squeezed Chris’ hand, thankful things turned out okay this time.

Chapter Twenty-Three

O
n Monday, Ca
itlyn waited at the photography studio
for Chris to arrive.  As she bro
wsed through the different
backgrounds
she and Chris could use for their picture
, her cell phone rang.  She sighed.  She’d been delaying the inevitable
talk with her
mother
but decided she better get it over with.  Taking her phone out of her purse, she headed outside so no one else would have to hear how annoyed her mother made her.

“What is it, Mom?” she asked, not hiding her irritation.

“You’re not still mad at me, are you?” her mother sweetly replied.

“
No, I’m not having my wedding at the fancy hotel you picked out
.”

“I never mentioned a wedding.”

“You were thinking it.”

Her mom sighed.  “I spent a lot
of time and money arranging that
wedding for you.  If you don’t want me there, fine.  I’ll graciously back out, but you should at least go there.”

Caitlyn saw Chris pull into a parking space and stop his car.  With a groan, she said, “No.  I don’t want the wedding you planned for me.” She watched as Chris got out of the car and headed in her direction with an excited smile on his face.  She waved to him.  “Mom, I want the wedding I planned for myself, and just so you know, Chris and I are already married so there’s not even a need for a wedding.”

“Every woman needs a wedding, Caitlyn.  It’s a romantic memory,” her mother said.

“
No.  What every woman needs is for her mother to let her live her own life as she sees fit.”

Chris mouthed the question,
Your mother?

Nodding, she rolled her eyes.

To her surprise, he took the phone from her.  “This is Chris, Mrs. Rogers.” After a moment, he said, “No.  We’re doing what Caitlyn wants, and right now, we’re getting our picture taken.  Have a nice evenin
g.” He hung up and handed her
the phone back.  “I’m learning it’s best to keep things short and to the point instead of dragging a subject out when it comes to dealing with women on topics you can’t win.”

Caitlyn laughed and hugged him.  “Oh Chris, thank you.”

Chuckling, he hugged her back.  “
It’s nothing.”

“Are you kidding?  It was everything.” She kissed his cheek.  “You look especially handsome today in that dark blue suit.  I feel underdressed.”

“Don’t.  I love that white sundress you have on.  It reminds me of the first day we went shopping at the mall.  That was a good day.”

“It was.  And this one is too.  In fact,” she continued as she slipped her arm around his and led him to the door, “we’ll have many good days together.”

“I look forward to each one.”

“Me too
.”

After they got their pictures done, they went to her uncle’s jewelry shop to return the rings.

“I didn’t think this was your style,” her uncle said as he took them back.

“Well, she’s not going to be dictating my life anymore,” Caitlyn replied.

“Yes, I heard about the small wedding you and Chris will be having at the beach.”

“She t
old you all about it, huh?” That didn’t come as a surprise.  “We didn’t tell her she couldn’t come.  We just told her
she had to keep quiet.”

“You’re asking an impossible thing.”

“Then she doesn’t have to come.  She wasn’t there the first time we got married.  She doesn’t have to be there the second.
  It’s not my
fault
she won’t recognize our marriage until there’s a formal ceremony.
”

He smiled.  “I agree with you, Caitlyn.” Motioning to the counter, he asked, “What ring do you want?”

“We’ll get a ring for Chris too.” She glanced at Chris and added, “Randy didn’t
have one.” As she suspected, his grin widened so she took his hand and squeezed it.  “Do you see a ring that you like?”

“I have sets that match,” her uncle said.

“That’s a good idea,” Chris replied.  “Why don’t you pick out the rings you like, and I’ll pick the one I like from among the ones you choose.”

After some consideration, Caitlyn chose the wedding
rings she would like to wear.  “To be honest, I like this one best,” she began, pointing to a gold band with a small diamond embedded into it, “and it’s got a nice heart-shaped necklace with it.  It’s a locket, isn’t it, Uncle Gerald?” When her uncle nodded, she told Chris, “I could put our picture in here.  I’ve always wanted a locket so I could do that.”

Chris chuckled.  “That’s the set I wanted to get you.  To be fair, your uncle pointed it out, but I thought it might suit you.”

“Well, you were right.  See, I told you my mother doesn’t know what I like and don’t like.
  What do you think of the husband’s band?  It’s a simple gold one.  Not flashy but it matches.”

“I like it,” Chris said.

“Can we get them engraved?” she asked her uncle.

“Sure,” Gerald replied.

With a grin, she looked at Chris.  “What do you think of putting
Caitlyn’s Forever
on the inside of your ring and
Chris’ Forever
on the inside of mine?”

Chris nodded.  “I like that a lot.”

“Can you have them engraved by Saturday morning?” she asked her uncle.

“I can do that.” Gerald took the rings and necklace out from under the glass counter and put them on top.  “For what it’s worth, I think you both made a good choice.”

Caitlyn winked at Chris.  “We make a pretty good couple.”

“Mind if I ask when you’re due?” Gerald asked,
glancing at the slight mound at
her abdomen.

She rubbed her stomach. 
“
Maybe late November.  The doctor’s not exactly sure about the due date.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.  On Wednesday we go in for the ultrasound.  The doctor thinks that will give us a better idea of when the baby is due.”

After they made their purchase, her uncle told them their rings w
ould be ready on Friday.

On their way out of
the store, Chris walked her to the minivan and cupped her face in his hands before he gave her a soft kiss.  “
Thanks for getting me a ring, especially with that engraving on it.”

Smiling, she kissed him back.  When she felt a distinct flutter in her abdomen, she brought his hands to her belly.  “I felt the baby move.” She didn’t know if the baby would cooperate and move again, but the baby did and she noticed the surprised look on his face.  “That’s the baby, Chris.  Our baby.”

“
That’s amazing.”

“
It is.  I’m glad you finally felt him or her.”

“Me too.  I can’t wait for the ultrasound.”

She kissed him again and opened the car door.  “Me neither.  I hope you don’t mind if we get something to eat.  I’m in the mood for chocolate and pizza.” With a shrug, she added, “And when I say that, I mean chocolate is the topping.”

He laughed and squeezed her butt.

“Chris!” She glanced around to make sure no one had seen him.

“What?”

She groaned.  “You can’t do that in public, not in a parking lot.”

“Why not?” With a wicked grin on his face, he stepped closer to her and set his hands on her hips.  Leaning forward, he kissed her neck
before he whispered, “You
feel good.”

Her body shivered with delight, and she became aware of his arousal.  “Oh for real, Chris.  You know how horny I am these days.”

“I can help you with that,” he murmured as he kissed her neck again.

“Not here,
you can’t!  And not in front of my uncle’s store.  Seriously, this isn’t good.  I don’t like choosing between food and sex, especially when we’re talking about chocolate.”

His lips left her neck and went up to her for
ehead where he gave her a brotherly
kiss.  “Food first. 
Then we
can
spend the rest of night in bed…or out of it, depending on how creative you want to get.”

With a heavy sigh, she got into the minivan and gave him a pointed look.  “I hope you’re happy.  I don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands off you at the pizza place.”