All of a sudden, Granny’s favorite song by Usher starts to play over the speaker, and I can’t help but laugh. “It sounds like they’re playing our song, G.”
Everyone gathers around G, Lucas, and me, and we have our own little dance party. Nothing about this wedding has been traditional, but I wouldn’t change anything. Nothing at all.
Lucas
At the end of the night, after everyone has gone home and Granny is in her room at her wing of the house, Bella and I make our way upstairs. She’s been quiet since everyone left, and I’m starting to feel the guilt settle in. When we get to the top of the stairs, Bella looks at me, unsure. “Well, good night. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
She’s not looking at me, and she turns to go in the opposite direction before I reach for her. “I had Carlotta move all your things into my room today. I realize now that we never talked about it... I just assumed...”
I let my voice trail off, and she nods her head. “Right. I mean, of course you’re right. We need to make this believable, and no one is going to believe it if we’re newlyweds and sleep in different rooms.”
I thread my fingers through hers and pull her toward the opposite end of the house where my suite is. As soon as we’re inside, Bella starts to look at the room. There’s a seating area with a couch, chair, and television. To one side of the room is the walk-in closet and bathroom, at the other side is the bedroom. I point to the closet. “All your clothes are in there.”
She nods and points to the couch. “Do you want me to sleep there?”
I don’t release her hand. “No, you can have the bed.”
She rolls her eyes. “Lucas, I’m not kicking you out of your own bed. That’s crazy.”
I look at the double doors that lead to the king-size bed. “It’s big. Surely we can both sleep there.”
She gulps, and I realize that I’m making a lot of decisions and don’t want her to be uncomfortable. “If you’re not comfortable with any of this–”
But she cuts me off. “No, it’s fine. It’s not a problem. It’s fine.”
I nod as she pulls her hand from mine. “I’m going to go shower and change. Or uh, do you want the bathroom first?”
I shake my head. “No, honey, you go first. I’ll take a shower down the hall.”
She opens her mouth but closes it quickly with a nod before she walks off.
I take the coldest shower I’ve ever had in my life, and I make it to bed before Bella does. When she finally joins me, I can barely make her out in the dark as she climbs into the bed next to me. She has her back to me, and guilt is eating away at me. “I’m sorry about today. You deserve to have your dream wedding. I know this wasn’t what you imagined. I should have done more.”
She rolls over and faces me. I’d give anything to be able to see the look on her face. “It’s fine, Lucas. Don’t feel bad. It was good. Did you see the smile on G’s face? That makes it all worth it.”
I laugh out loud and shake the bed. “She loved that you chose rap music. I never would have thought I’d be dancing at my wedding to Nelly, Usher, and Tupac.”
She laughs too. “It was perfect.”
I almost slide my hand across the bed to hold hers but stop myself. “It was perfect, but I know you would have wanted something different. Don’t think I didn’t notice you picked all of G’s favorite foods for the reception.”
She can’t take a compliment. “It’s fine, Lucas. I loved it.”
“Next time you get married, I’ll pay for it.”
Even as the words come out of my mouth, I feel almost sucker-punched because if we follow up with our plans, the chances are likely that she’ll get married again.
Bella is quiet for the longest time, and I can tell the smile is gone from her face when she says, “That’s okay. I doubt my husband would appreciate my ex-husband paying for our wedding. Thank you for the thought, though.”
I roll onto my back and throw an arm over my face. I don’t even want to think about Bella with another man. What was I thinking making that kind of offer? “I’ll be honest with you, Bella. I can’t believe you’ve been single as long as you have.”
She hesitates for just a minute. “I, uh, guess the right man never came along.”
I roll back toward her. “What’s the right man? I mean, if you could make up the perfect guy, what would he be like?”
She lifts her arm and tucks her hands under her face. “Well, first of all, he wouldn’t be perfect. I wouldn’t want that. But he’d have to be a family man, I’d want him to know what’s really important in life. He’d have to be able to laugh and have a good time. Faithful. And love me... love me like he wouldn’t want to go one day without me.”