Faithfully (27 page)

When it went to commercial and Alex left the
stage, he came over and I jumped into his arms and wrapped my arms around him. He gently set me down and placed both hand on the sides of my face. “That is what I was doing when I forgot the girls. I needed to have it cut and finished that day. I needed to make it perfect because it was for you.” A tear slipped out and Alex wiped it. “I love you.” He didn’t give me a chance to say it back because he had me locked into a full kiss.

~21~

It had been a few weeks since we got back from New York. Alex backed
off the PR trips and sent Eric to help Paige. Her album hadn’t been released yet, but the two songs that had been were doing well and seemed to be on the radio a lot.

Alex and the girls were taking me out for my birthday.
Technically it wasn’t for a few more days. They had some elaborate plan worked out and even made me go blindfolded. When we got to where we were going, Alex picked me up and carried me into the place. He gently set me down and on the count of three, removed the blindfold.

I was shocked to be standing in the pub with everyone for a party. I had spent so many birthdays here
that he knew it was a special place for me. I leaned up and kissed him.

“Wait, you haven’t gotten to open any presents yet.” Johnny walked over with a large box.

I opened it and wasn’t sure what to think. I pulled out two large numbers – a five and a one. “Last I checked I was still in my thirties.” He smiled at me.

“Well, yes you are, but you own fifty one percent of the pub.” I looked at Alex.

“What?” He was nodding his head. “How?” I looked over at my dad who looked like he might start to cry. He walked over to me.

“I told you I would never sell to you.” That was
true; he made that point very clear in the beginning.

“He didn’t have any trouble taking our money.” Johnny had a smile on his face.

“Our money, we own this place together.” I was confused. I jumped into his arms, hugging him. I was so happy. This was the best birthday present ever.

“That’s why I disappeared back to
LA. I needed to get with my attorney and figure out the liquor license issues and all the other legal crap that comes with owning a bar.” My dad cleared his throat. “Sorry, a pub.”

I turned and looked at my dad. “That’s why you agreed to sell with all the pictures. To think I was so pissed at you for it too.” My dad started to laugh.

I looked over at the girls. “Did you know about this?” Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Lily, on the other hand, had to let me know she knew.

“Just another one
of Alex’s secrets with us.” I smiled and shook my head at them.

My party at the pub was nice. It was
a small gathering with the people I loved and cared about. Johnny and I sat and talked. He had some amazing ideas for the place. I just needed to know he would be okay with the alcohol. He assured me he was fine and that he found an AA sponsor here in town and planned to attend meetings. I had to tell him how comical it looked having an owner of a pub as a recovering addict.

My parents took the girls for the night and I went with Alex back to his place. “So would you like me to let you in on another secret?” He was looking at me with a mischievous look in his eye.

“I’m slightly offended you have to ask.” He knew I hated secrets.

He took my hand and
led me over to the bluff that overlooked the beach. I didn’t see anything at first until I looked down. Spelled out in luminaries were the words
Marry Me
. When I turned to look at Alex, he was on his knees and had a ring box open in his hand.

My hands flew up to my mout
h. I hadn’t been expecting this at all. “Abrianna Sullivan O’Hare, I love you and everything about you. I love that you think too much and have crazy thoughts. I love the fact that you have friends you call family and most of all, I love your girls. Please allow me to be your husband so I can make you even crazier.” I started to laugh. It wasn’t the most romantic speech, but it was true. Alex made me crazy.

I wasn’t able to
speak, so I just shook my head up and down to signal a yes. Alex stood up from the snow and slid the ring on my finger. I jumped into his arms and kissed him long and hard.   

When he set me
down, I was finally able to speak. “So would you like me to let you in on a little secret?” I didn’t wait for the answer. “I’m pregnant.”

Epilogue

             
I sat on the bed and watched the guests strolling around in the yard. I was shocked that Alex and I were able to pull off this huge event without anyone knowing what we had planned. Everyone thought they arrived for a back yard barbeque to celebrate the beginning of summer when we blindsided them with our wedding.

             
I glimpsed down at my ring and was still adjusting to being Mrs. Alex Morgan. Last summer when Alex said we would be married in ten months I thought he was crazy, but he was right. As I thought back over the months there were definitely trying times, but there were a lot more happy and loving times. Alex made me happy, and more importantly the girls. We were a family even before the wedding; the ceremony only made it official.

             
“Hey, are you hiding up here?” I turned and saw Alex walking over from the door.

             
“No, I was feeling hot and wanted to get off my feet for a minute.” I smiled at him as he knelt down in front of me and placed his hands on my belly. This had become a common thing since he found out I was pregnant. In the beginning I tried to discourage him. I was worried that I would miscarry due to the IUD. Once my doctor removed the IUD and the baby was safe I started to enjoy them. I looked down and played with the ring on his finger. “It looks good on you.”

             
“Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to put your ring on my finger?” He looked up at me and smiled. He didn’t give me a chance to respond or even think about it. “The minute I saw you in the hotel bar.” He leaned up and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in kissing him harder.

             
I heard a throat clear and stopped. We both looked at the doorway and saw Sam standing there. “We all know you two can’t keep your hands off each other, but do you think you could try for just today?” She looked amazing in her strapless black gown. Sam, Johnny and Steve stood up for Alex while Lexi and Derek stood up for me. The girls were not flower girls, but junior bridesmaids, but Josie made sure to stand on Alex’s side. It was far from traditional, but we were not traditional people.

             
“Fine.” Alex stood up and reached for me as he said it. “Shall we join our guests?”

             
I reluctantly stood. “If we must.” Alex kept my hand as we followed Sam down the steps and out the back doors to the reception.

             
I stood on the porch talking to a few of the guests while looking around. Lexi had sat at a table and talked to Logan most the night. She smiled and laughed while he spoke. I started to think to myself that something was happening and was going to make it a point to question her the next time we were alone. In the last few months Logan had made it a point to ask me about Lexi every time I ran into him in town.

             
Johnny was sitting at a table with my parents. As much as my dad hated him when he first arrived, he found a liking and fondness for Johnny. I think it’s because Johnny still kept him in the decision making of the pub. Johnny was a regular at our family dinners on Monday nights.

             
“You look amazing.” I looked over and saw Kate walking up the porch steps.

             
“Thank you, you look pretty fantastic yourself.” I gave her a hug when she reached me.

             
“I’m going to miss you next year. The school won’t be the same without you.” I had decided to give up teaching and concentrate on the girls, the new baby, Alex and the pub. I knew trying to juggle teaching as well was enough to make me fail at something, and parenting or wife duties was something I didn’t want affected.

             
“Believe me, with you having the twins you will be seeing me a lot. I’d be surprised if I wasn’t being called daily.” We both chuckled, but there was truth behind the statement. The girls were good, but they fed off each other, and last year I seemed to been talked to a lot about small behaviors that weren’t bad, but as a teacher I knew they were annoying.

“I might just call you to talk.” She came in for one last hug.

“Please do. I’ll need adult interaction and a break from the madness that will be taking place here.” I watched Kate rejoin the reception when I saw Sam standing off to the side, staring at Johnny with my parents.

Sam had failed to fully break off the engagement and the relationship with Brian. Instead he talked he
r into a long engagement. I had been staying out of it, but I wanted to physically shake the shit out of her. Johnny was miserable, but he put on a good front. I was happy the pub was keeping him busy so he could stop mopping around. I walked down the steps and stood next to her.

“Maybe instead of staring you should go talk to him.” Sam looked over at me and shook her head.

“There isn’t anything to say. I’m still technically engaged and in a relationship.” Sam held up her left hand so I could see the huge ring on her finger.

“So you would rather marry someone safe and have boring sex than Johnny who gives you great sex and you love
? I mean, it makes perfect sense to me.” Sam shot me a nasty look, but I didn’t care. She was always the one to throw the truth in my face when I deserved it.  

“It’s not that simple and you know it.” Sam had a little heat attached to that statement.

“Because you’re scared.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I was too, and look how bad things turned out for me.” She flashed me a forced smile. “Honestly, if you need to talk I’m here. I hate how you are shutting me out lately.” Sam didn’t say anything, but I reached over and gave her a hug as I walked away.

The reception was filled with music and dancing. Everyone was having a great time. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten until Alex grabbed me
with my bag in his hand. “You’ll have to change on the plane, we have to get going.” I still didn’t know where we were going, but I started to love the surprises he was throwing my way.

When I gave Lexi and Derek my hug bye they handed me my list with the red marker. “You need to cross off number one.” We all had a big smile on our faces.

“You know, Abs. you still have one on there and I can help you with that.” Derek pointed to the one night stand.

“Sorry for your luck, but Abby took care of that too.” Derek looked at Lexi with a questioning look on his face. “It’s called role play
. Alex was worried she would want it crossed of years down the road.” Lexi smiled.

“I don’t think I wanted to know the details.” Derek leaned in and hugged me and kissed my cheek. “I’m happy for you, you deserve this.” When Derek went to pull away
, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tighter.

“I couldn’t have made it here without you. I love you.” It was true
, and as many times as I’ve said it in the past I needed to say it again.

When Lexi leaned in for a hug I couldn’t help but whisper something about Logan in her ear. She didn’t respond, but I saw the look on her face and knew she was trying to hide something.

I walked over to my parents and gave them each a hug. When I pulled away I asked them if they saw Sam or Johnny and my mother told me she thought she saw them walk into the guest house. I knew it was empty since Johnny had moved into my house once we moved into Alex’s. There must be some talking or something happening taking place.

Before I could think any more of it,
Alex had my hand and pulled me over to the Jeep. “Sorry, but we really have to go.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss.

As I climbed in
, I questioned where we were going, and all he said was, “It’s a surprise.”