"Not until you agree to marry me." I could see the fierce determination in the blue eyes meeting mine. "I can provide for you and the baby."
"In your home in Wisconsin." I spat the last like a curse word.
"Yes. In Wisconsin. It won't be so bad."
I wiped away the tear that I couldn't hold back. How could I be so selfish as to deprive my baby of having a father? I knew that Jimmy would fight me tooth and claw for the baby. He had already made it clear that being allowed to see the baby whenever he wanted to swing by DC would never be enough.
I didn't want to leave behind the life I had built for myself. I looked around my apartment. I had never acclimated to this little apartment fully. I had not made it into a real home for myself. Most of my stuff was in boxes anyway. I hadn't bothered to take it all out.
I sucked in a breath. "I get to come back to DC any time that I want."
"Done. You can come back when you want."
I felt like an ice cube was sliding down my spine, and I blinked back my tears.
"Okay. I'll marry you." I wiped my eyes with my forearm.
Just Married
Amelia
I sat in a car that said Just Married in roses on the back window. It was probably a safety hazard. I was wearing an off-the-rack Vera Wang wedding dress. It was not something that I would even touch normally, but then most brides normally had more than a few hours to prepare for their wedding day.
I looked at the bouquet of pink roses in my hand. Jimmy had certainly tried to make it right, to give me a wedding day that I would remember, even if it was hurried. I had my dad and a ton of my friends. They had come for the party that we threw, the reception that was completely spontaneous. It had an open bar, and people brought their friends, ones I had never met before, by the truckload. Daddy was covering the cost.
The ceremony had been quick and quiet. I knew that my baby was going to be born a little early after this ceremony. Why waste time? Jimmy certainly had not. We had a marriage license and a ceremony in what felt like a split second.
I pulled a petal out of one of my roses and watched it flutter to the floor of the car, next to my silver YSL high heels.
Jimmy joined me in the car, and the chauffeur took us away. There was nobody waiting at the curbside. It was just us. We left the alcohol-fueled party behind us.
"Are you happy?" Jimmy touched my chin, and he made me turn my face towards him. "You don't look so great under all that makeup."
Thanks for noticing, Jimmy. "I'm fine." I gave him a fake smile. "It's the happiest day of my life." And if that last sentence had a touch of bitterness in it, so be it.
He let go of my chin, and I turned my face to look out the window. Somehow, it felt like moving to Wisconsin was a prison sentence.
We got into a private jet, but it wasn't my dad's Cessna CJ13.
"Whose plane is this?"
Jimmy cleared his throat. "It's mine."
"Ready, Mister Fox? And Mrs. Fox, are you okay?"
There was a pilot with silver hair who had just walked to our seats. "I just did my pre-flight checklist. We should be good to go very soon."
"Ready. Thank you, Captain Jones." The captain touched his hat, and he settled into the cockpit to fly us to Jimmy's home in Wisconsin.
"How can you afford a jet? You're a Wisconsin farmer. A Cheesehead."
Jimmy looked at me. "That's not all I am. There is a reason why your dad wanted me to be his successor, you know. I am a successful businessman."
I looked around at the leather seats and the mahogany trim of the interior cabin. "Okay."
I leaned back in my chair, and I closed my eyes. I felt Jimmy's arm come around me, and I was too sleepy to protest the intimacy. I just lay my head on his shoulder. I was tired enough to fall asleep right now. I had had a very momentous day. First the wedding, and now the revelation that Jimmy had as much money as Daddy. It was a lot of information to take in, and I was absolutely exhausted from the day that I had had.
Chicken Soup