I carry her to my bedroom and lay her on the bed. Leaning over her abdomen, I place my face next to her soft skin and whisper, “I love you, little one.” Lexi’s hand runs through my hair, and I look into her eyes. “I love you more than anything in the world.” Reaching inside the bedside table, I grab the ring I’ve had hidden for weeks. “Please tell me you’ll marry me and make me complete,” I beg. Before she’s able to refuse, I slip the ring on her finger and cover her lips with mine.
When we come up for air, she glances down at the ring then back up at me. “I love you, too. So much.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “But what about your job and my classes?”
Before I knew about our child, I’d already decided I would give up my job to keep her. Pulling Lexi into my arms, I explain my plans. “I’ll do whatever it takes for us to be together.” I’ve been approached by a programming firm that would like me to join their mathematics team. They’re in the beginning stages of designing math software, and my field of study makes me perfect for the position. I’m still waiting for the faculty board’s decision before I decide. It takes some work to convince my girl that nothing else matters except her and the baby.
“Please tell me you’ll marry me,” I remind her she hasn’t answered my earlier question.
“Of course, I’ll marry you.” She throws her arms around my neck before leaning up to kiss my lips.
I work fast. After Lexi agrees to become my wife, I call her parents and arrange to visit them the next weekend. My girl worries about how her family will react to our news, but I take the bull by the horns and call her father. Upon learning his daughter is pregnant, he threatens to cut off an extremely important part of my anatomy unless I marry her. When I assure him I’ve already proposed, he calms some and agrees to meet me. Next, I arrange a video call with my parents and explain the situation to them. They’re easier to convince. It’s common family knowledge that my dad met, fell in love with, and then married my mom within three weeks. I’m actually months behind his timeline.
After Lexi assured me she doesn’t want a huge affair for our wedding, an idea hits me. I have a little surprise for my girl and need a couple of weekdays in Georgia to pull it off. Therefore, I arranged for us to arrive on Wednesday. After landing in Atlanta, we rent a car for the two-hour drive to Lexi’s hometown. Her parents offered to meet us at the airport, but I wanted the time to reassure my girl. She’s watching the trees flash by out the window, fidgeting in her seat when I tell her about my conversation with her parents.
“You told them?” Her eyes widen as she stares at me in shock.
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be upset when we arrive,” I explain. There was no way I’d walk into an unknown situation with my pregnant fiancé.
As we pull up in their driveway, Lexi looks at me. “Don’t let my brothers scare you.”
Leaning over, I kiss her soft lips. As our tongues touch, I forget about everything including her family. A loud knock on the window causes us to spring apart. I glance over my girl’s shoulder and see three angry male faces pressed against the glass.
“Get out here,” the gray-haired man shouts. Shit. This isn’t exactly how I wanted to meet her family.
I place another soft kiss on her nose and hop out of the car. The three men storm around the car and surround me. “No wonder she’s knocked up. This asshole is all over her,” the tall, dark-haired man hisses.
“Stop being assholes.” A beautiful older brunette who looks a lot like my girl walks up and shoves her way past the three men. “Hi.” She leans up to kiss my cheek. “I’m Lorna Stokes, Lexi’s mom.” Lexi hops out of the car and rushes around to my side while her mother introduces me to the three men. Her father glares at me as she points to him. “This is my husband, Jeremy, and two of our sons, Jon and Chris. Jordan couldn’t get leave for the weekend, but Jacob is supposed to be here by Saturday evening.” The minute I saw them standing at the car window, I realized the huge man with mountains of muscles was the high school football coach; his taller, thinner older brother is no less intimidating though.
Lexi cuts in and wraps her soft arm around my waist. “Dane and I are getting married.”
“Hell yes, you’re getting married,” Chris grumbles. “Once the asshole recovers from his broken leg.”
Mrs. Stokes steps in and smacks her son’s shoulder. “There will be no broken bones. It’s a no-broken-bone weekend in the Stokes house.” The three men glare at me over the short woman’s head but don’t argue. “Now, let’s go inside and get acquainted.”
10
Lexi
I worried for nothing. Dane charms my mother, and everyone knows she runs the show in our family. My dad and brothers talk a big game, but it’s all for show.
I watch out my mother’s kitchen window while my brothers help Dane unload the car. “Are you sure it’s safe to leave them alone?” I worry.
“Those boys know better than to touch a hair on his head.” My mother smiles at me. “They don’t want to deal with me.” So true. No one wants to take on my mother when she’s riled up. She points at the breakfast bar in the middle of her kitchen. “Now, sit over here and tell me all about your handsome man.”
She sets a glass of sweet tea in front of me and stands at the counter to listen. On the ride here, I was terrified of how my parents were going to take my news. Dane did me a huge favor by making sure everything was out in the open before we arrived.
At dinner, my fiancée drops another bombshell on me. “I have a surprise for you.” He ignores the sound of Jon fake gagging across the table and takes my hand in his. “I want us to get married with our families together, and I don’t plan to wait until our child is born.” He reaches under the table to place his hand on my tummy. “If you agree, we’ll get married Sunday in your parents’ backyard.” Oh my goodness. I glance over and see my mother wiping the side of her eyes. Dane finishes explaining that we have an appointment at the courthouse tomorrow to obtain a marriage license. Judge Smith, a friend of my dad’s, has agreed to marry us. Dane’s family will arrive on Saturday in time for the ceremony.
As the information sinks in, I’m overwhelmed with everything we need to do. “How are we going to get this all arranged in two days?” I share my fears with Dane.
“It’s all arranged. Tomorrow, we have to get a marriage license, and then your mom is taking you to find a wedding dress.” Dane shrugs like it’s no big deal. “The florist needs to know what color flowers you want, and we’re all set.”
Dane is good to his word. We meet the county clerk at nine o’clock in the morning to apply and pick up our marriage license. Then he drops me off to meet my mother at Al’s Bakery. By the time we pull up at my parents’ house six hours later, I’m exhausted and sick to my stomach. I hope this isn’t morning sickness rearing its ugly head. Since my last two periods were a little spotty, the doctor assumes I’m anywhere from eight to ten weeks pregnant, but we won’t know for sure until I have an ultrasound at my next visit.