“Thank you, Daddy.”
He sat next to Nadine. “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Nadine looked at him, nodding. He handed her his handkerchief.
She wiped her eyes, cleared her throat, and let out a sigh. She looked up at Kyla, smiling. “My baby.” She stood up and brushed Kyla’s bang to the side. “God has truly gone beyond what we expected.”
“What are you talking about?” Kyla asked.
Nadine looked at Percy and he stood up and wrapped his arm around her. “We’ve been praying you’d wake up…see that you’re a precious thing.” He stroked the side of her face. “This relationship with Sean is way more than your mother and I expected. And now you’re getting married…wow! We couldn’t be happier.” He kissed her forehead.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“Okay, baby, what can I do?” Nadine asked.
“Help me get dressed and oh, Daddy, will you give me away?”
“You didn’t even have to ask.” He smiled.
“Thank you.” She turned and went back to the bedroom.
“Percy, call Corianne and tell her what’s going on,” Nadine called out as she followed Kyla into the bedroom.
“Yes, dear.” He dialed Corianne. “Hey, baby girl.”
“Hi Daddy, we’re on our way. Dexter got home late.”
“Baby, your sister is getting married.”
“What!” she shouted.
“She and Sean are getting married tonight.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“They wanted to surprise everyone.”
Corianne cut Dexter a sharp look. “When Daddy?”
“Hold on. Kyla baby,” he called out. “What time is the ceremony?”
“Six thirty. Why? What’s going on?”
“Your sister is running a little late.”
Kyla came back into the living room. “Hand me the phone. Cori, where are you?”
“Sitting on the expressway. Dexter got stuck at the hospital. We are probably about an hour away.”
“What?” She looked at her dad’s watch.
“I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?” Cori asked.
“We wanted to surprise everyone.” She looked at her dad. “I’ll push the ceremony back thirty minutes.”
Cori looked at Dexter and hesitated before answering. “No, don’t do that. We’ll get there as soon as we can.”
Kyla sensed her sister’s disappointment. “I’ll hold off as long as I can. Be careful.” Kyla handed the phone back to her dad and went back into the bedroom.
“Cori.” She started rambling and crying. “Cori, calm down.”