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“Baby.”
“Hmmm?”
“You want to tell me why you neglected to tell your brother that we got married?”
She practically stuffed her face full of food, so she couldn’t answer and shrugged, not meeting my eyes.
“Bailey,” I admonished.
She swallowed slowly, but I waited her out.
“I wanted to tell them all together, at once.”
I watched her for a few minutes as we ate, my brows furrowed in suspicion. “You’re sure that’s all it was?”
She sighed. “Yes, Wyatt. Now, what’s the plan for today?” she asked, deftly changing the subject and I decided to let her get away with it.
“We should get you unpacked.”
“It’s just a couple of boxes, it shouldn’t take long.” She shrugged and pushed her empty plate away.
I grabbed up the dishes and busied myself at the sink as I casually answered, “It’s all of your stuff, baby. We need to unload it and find a place for everything.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s all my stuff’?”
I heard her footsteps as she ran outside to look in the truck and subsequently heard her bellowing my name.
It took half an hour of being called bossy, domineering, and controlling (I decided it was definitely a bad idea to remind her that those were all the same thing. I might just have a bruise from where she punched me in the chest) for me to calm her down and remind her that married people lived together, so none of her shit should be at her old house.
We spent the day moving her in. Well, I moved things and refused to let her help, much to her annoyance, saying only, “Baby,” with a pointed look at her stomach, to get her to back down.
We got ready and headed to her dad’s house a little before six. When we arrived, Milo and Sharon greeted us at the door, sweeping Bailey up into a hug. I tugged her back into my arms after a few moments, jealous of anyone else’s arms being around her, even her dad and step mom.
Sharon suddenly squealed and grabbed Bailey’s hand, yanking her out of my grasp again. I grumbled, but reluctantly let her go to show off the rings that announced she now belonged to me.
“It’s gorgeous, Bailey!” Sharon sent a dirty look my way when she caught sight of the wedding band resting next to the diamond engagement ring. “Although, it would have been nice to be at our only daughter’s wedding and have her father walk her down the aisle.”
Milo laughed and clapped me on the back. “I should have known when you said you were driving through Vegas. Just couldn’t wait, huh?”
I looked him in the eye and said, “No, sir.” I wasn’t going to apologize for making Bailey mine officially, the moment she said yes. Never mind that it was Bailey’s idea to get married right away.
Sharon huffed, “We’ll just have to plan a proper wedding, and it doesn’t matter if you’re already married.”
Milo shook my hand and winked. “Welcome to the family, son. Treat her right or I’ll bury you where no one will ever find you.”
I stifled a chuckle, “Yes, sir.”
We all stepped inside and moved toward the couches, Sharon chatting happily about all of her wedding plans. Bailey threw me an amused glance and shrugged.
“Oh! Milo!” Sharon exclaimed, “Get the champagne, we need to celebrate and toast the new husband and wife.”
She turned to Bailey, beaming, “Well not you—”
“What the fuck?!” Jack’s outraged shout stopped Sharon cold and we all looked to see him standing just inside the door. His eyes were pointed directly at me, rage darkening his blue eyes to almost black.
“You talked her into a quickie wedding?” he seethed, his voice shifting to a deadly calm.
“Jack—” Bailey stood and took a step towards him, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my side, cutting her off.
“We made the decision together, Jack,” I grit out between my teeth. “We are having a baby and want to be a family.”
“We’re her family,” Jack thumped himself on the chest, over his heart. “You don’t even know her. If you did, then you would have given my baby sister the wedding she deserved instead of a sham Vegas wedding without any of us there.”
His gaze dropped and he looked at Bailey, his face softening. “I’m here for you, little sister. You didn’t have to rush anything. I will be here for you to lean on if you want to change your mind. Maybe get to know—“
I’d had enough. “Jack!” I shouted, “She is my wife. You need to back the fuck off and accept it.”
“Jack, this was my decision and I need to see if I can make this work. If it doesn’t, you’ll be the first one I’ll call.”
“If it doesn’t work?” There is no disguising the hurt and anger from my voice.
Bailey put her hand on my arm, drawing my attention, “Calm down, Wyatt. We just found each other and haven’t had much time as a family. He’s afraid you’ll take me away again and he won’t be there to protect me.”
“Protect you from what?”
“From me getting hurt.”
I staggered back a little. “You think I could ever hurt you?”
“Of course you can hurt her. You don’t know the first thing about commitment, Wyatt,” Jack piped up, and I shot metal daggers at him through my eyes.
Bailey growled in frustration, “Would you two knock it the fuck off?”
Then she sighed and rubbed her stomach, looking at me. “You don’t really know me, Wyatt, and I don’t know you all that well either. I’m just trying to say that I can understand why he’s worried things won’t work out.”
I shook my head a little, confused and hurt. “It was your idea to get married in Vegas. If you thought this wouldn’t last, why would you agree to marry me?”
“I do think this will—” Bailey gasped and bent over slightly, her hands cradling her belly. She looked up at me with pain written on her face and tears starting to roll down her cheeks. I grabbed her arms in a panic, not understanding what was happening. With another gasp, she suddenly curled into herself, hugging her middle tight. Her face drained of color, her eyes closed, and I caught her right before her head hit the ground.
11
Bailey
“I’m scared,” I cried, my hold on Wyatt’s hand tightening while I waited on a bed in the emergency room. We’d been here for several hours already, and they’d run numerous tests to see what was going on. The pain was gone, leaving only light cramping in its wake, but the blood stain I’d found in the gusset of my panties when I changed into the hospital gown they’d given me was what had me completely freaked out.
“I’m here, baby.” His thumb rubbed the underside of my wedding ring, a reminder that we were in this together as man and wife. “No matter what.”
I was barely holding on by a thread, the feel of his hand on mine the only thing keeping me sane. Jack kept hold of my other hand. He hadn’t said a word since we arrived and he’d insisted he was coming back with us. My dad and Sharon were in the waiting room, and I knew the only reason none of us had argued with my brother was because we all knew he felt guilty for starting the argument with Wyatt.
; “I’m sorry,” I whispered, staring up at my Wyatt with tears running down my cheeks.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” he reassured me.
But I did. I felt horrible for hurting him earlier. For not being able to find the right words. I’d only been trying to talk my brother down from his anger, to make him see that I knew he had my back, even though Wyatt was his best friend. “What I was saying before? When the pain started? I was trying to tell you I do think this will last. I would never have suggested we get married right away if I didn’t.”
“Baby,” he sighed, his gaze moving to Jack before coming back to me. “Don’t worry about that right now. It isn’t important.”
“It is,” I insisted. “You need to know how happy I was to become your wife.”
“Seriously, Bailey,” he growled. “This is the last thing you need to be focused on right now.”
“Wyatt’s right, little sis,” Jack agreed.
It was nice to hear my brother backing up his best friend after all the arguing. “It kills me to know I’m the reason you’re fighting.”
“We’re done with the fighting,” Wyatt declared.
“You are?” My gaze darted between the two of them.
“We are,” Jack confirmed, smiling at me before shifting his focus on Wyatt. “I’ve been a dick and I’m sorry.”
“No apologies needed, man. I get it. She’s your sister and you want what’s best for her. I can respect that.”
“I do want what’s best for her,” Jack agreed. “And if I hadn’t been so damn busy freaking out at the idea of losing my baby sister to my best friend, I would have admitted she couldn’t do any better than you.”
“Shit, Jack. You’ve got to know I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.”
