“Oh! You must be Adrian. I’m Elise.” She held her hand out for me to shake, but I just stared at her like a complete idiot. She was beautiful, and not just your basic beautiful woman; she was strikingly beautiful. Her eyes drew you in, her scrubs fit her but didn’t hug her, and her hair was up in a beautiful bun. Pretty sure my jaw was on the floor as I watched all of the grace and beauty she had. How could any one person be so damn pretty? So perfect? She had this chocolate brown hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen. She was even tinier than Denise.
Like a little pixie.
“Or not.” She said as she started to pull her hand back.Shit. This wasn’t how I wanted the first meeting with my new house guest to go. I stood, towering over her.
“I am. Sorry. I’m Adrian, roomie for the next couple of weeks. I didn’t mean to be a dick just now, it’s just, you took my breath away.” Woah! That wasn’t supposed to come out of my mouth, “Nice to meet you.” I said, trying to smooth things over, hoping she wouldn’t freak out at the words that spilled from my mouth, as she took the baby from Aaron.
“How was my girl today?” She cooed at the little girl in her arms. Was that her baby? That was when it clicked. Aaron told me she had a baby recently. She had a baby recently. How did I forget that?! I mentally face-palm myself, trying not to beat myself up.
Great first impression I’ve made.
“She just woke up. I’m thinking she’s a hungry girl,” Denise said. Aaron had dished up dinner for Elise, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She pulled her shirt up to feed the baby, as I quickly looked away. When the little girl was done breastfeeding, she set Tennley in her high chair and let the girl eat her baby mush. Dinner continued that way, with Elise feeding herself and Tennley while Denise and Aaron took care of cutting her food and fussing over who was going to burp the baby. I sat there, watching the four of them working together, fussing over each other and talking, joking, like they’d been family for years. And maybe they had.
“I’ll burp her,” I offered since I was the only one done eating, “If you show me how.” Elise looked at me. Those beautiful eyes, taking me in, seeing if she could trust me with her world. She nodded, standing and moving toward me.
“Put this on your shoulder,” she thrust a cloth at me. Once it was there. She came closer and set the baby on my shoulder. “Support her,” she moved my hands to help me hold the baby, “So she doesn’t slide down, then gently pat her back until she burps.” She never took her eyes off what I was doing, making sure I was following her instructions, until Tennley burped, making my eyes go wide. There was no way that man-sized burp came from the tiny baby in my arms. Elise laughed at me while I asked, incredibly concerned.
“Does she always burp like that? That was a grown man's burp!” Everyone was laughing now, and I swear, I joined in a little because Elise had the most beautiful laugh. It sounded like peace and felt like sunshine, warm, happy, loving.
“Yes. She does most of the time.” She smiled at me, wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. The dinner was full of talking, wedding planning, getting the to-do list together for the next day, and we just spent time together. It was nice, almost normal.
After everyone was done, we said goodnight and all went to our respective homes, well, I went with Elise and Tennley to their townhouse right next to where Denise and Aaron stayed. Elise showed me to my room on the first floor and showed me how to pull down the Murphy bed, where the bathroom was, and apologized in advance for Tennley waking up in the middle of the night.
“She’s still breastfeeding and wakes up every few hours at night. Thankfully, it's only once or twice.” She gave a small smile before heading upstairs. I watched her go as she carried her little girl up the stairs.
Once it was quiet in the house, I checked the locks again, then finally laid down on the pull-down bed. I couldn’t sleep,laying there staring at the ceiling, looking out the window at the street light that was flickering in the parking lot. I always had trouble sleeping, especially in new places. I think it was the PTS, from all the overseas deployments. Maybe I would look for a job here in this little town, maybe I’d live the first couple of months on the disability check I’d get from the military, or see if there was another townhouse available close by.
Picking up my phone from the nightstand, I checked online for jobs, places to live, and things to do in town. I applied to a few different jobs and the website for the townhouses here, and another set of them that were close to the dot I had on my location. I set my phone down, not wanting to doom scroll, and stared out the window at the flickering light again.
How was this my life? I had planned to be in the full twenty so I could retire with benefits, a pension, and wouldn’t have to worry the rest of my life, but here I was out in just thirteen years. I still had seven more to go, but getting myself blown up had thrown a wrench in that plan. I tried my hardest to get myself back in the fight, but the docs wouldn’t let me. I got up and started pacing the room, like I did every night.
How was this my life?
S I X: Wedding Day
Elise’s POV
It was finally the day of the wedding! I wanted to scream with excitement! We had rented out a large cabin for the five of us to get ready in, and for Tennley, Adrian, and me to stay the night in. We had packed up everything we needed the night before and loaded up our vehicles. All of the guests who were coming had either rented a hotel room at one of the few that were nearby hotels, where the ceremony and reception would be. Some even said they were going to bring a tent to camp in, or there would be rooms they could stay in, in the reception hall, which was basically a giant cabin that could host twenty couples. We brought in a local caterer that did farm-to-table style food, and since there were only 100 people who RSVP’d as attending.
Hopefully, it shouldn’t be too crazy.
They were getting married outside in the back of the cabin we were staying in, then we were hiking to the next cabin for the reception, where everyone was going to be waiting. It was just going to be the five of us, mine and Denise’s boss, and one of Adrian’s military buddies who had the power to marry someone. Which, I thought, was pretty cool that his friend could marry people, legally.
Adrian had been on the phone with him for at least five days, working on things that needed to be included in the ceremony. We also hired two photographers and videographers. Since their families weren’t coming and they could keep it smaller, they decided to splurge on the things that mattered to them, such as the DJ, food, and ways to memorialize the day. They also made sure that a DJ and dance floor could be brought in, so we weren’t dancing in heels in the grass.
We came down two days early to start setting things up for the big day and to make sure that things were delivered and set up on time. And, since there were no other reservations before ours, we were able to get into the giant cabin early to decorate, which made everything way less stressful. Thankfully, we wouldn’t have to try to get ourselves ready and set everything up the day of.
Denise looked beautiful, simply stunning in her wedding dress with her hair all pinned up and simple makeup on. It was a fall wedding, what she had always wanted, with a little chill in the air. She ordered us cute sweaters in autumn colors to wear over our dresses. I was in a burnt orange dress with a sage green sweater, while Tennley was in a wine-red dress, matching socks and tights, and a burnt orange sweater with a red and orange floral headband.
We all had flower crowns with some of the most beautiful autumn flowers. Mine matched Tennley’s, and Denise’s was white to match the fact that she was the bride today. She had always been gorgeous, but today she was glowing. She looked ethereal, like something from a fairytale. She looked like a fairy princess. Her dress was gorgeous, an A-line dress with loose, long sleeves, the whole bodice made of lace. It had a plunging neckline that stopped midway to her navel with an open back. I started tearing up looking at my best friend. She looked amazing.
Aaron wastotallygoing to cry.
We had our cowgirl boots on under our dresses because we were not trying to fall on our asses in the mud. I had the cute shoes packed in the duffle for the reception, so we were covered. It also had changes of clothes for all of us girls in it. I was planning on staying in my dress, though. I was feeling quite pretty in it.
“Ready?” I asked, checking at the time. It was already three-thirty in the afternoon, and we needed to get to the giant cabin before it got too dark, which, for the middle of November, was quickly approaching. Turning on the little Bluetooth speaker I brought with us, I connected my phone and listened as the music drifted softly out of the back door. I peeked out the curtains hanging over the sliding door to see our boss, both a friend and a mother figure, and the guys, waiting for all of us. The guys both looked nervous, like they were waiting for women they loved to appear at any given moment.
I could have been wrong about that assumption for both of them. But I knew it was true for Aaron. He had been waiting for this moment for years, and still loved Denise as much as he did on day one. While…Adrian…well, we had gotten closer over the few weeks. He helped all the time with Tennley, saying he didn’t mind and wanted to help. I wouldn’t say we were in love, but I couldn’t deny I had a crush on him. If I were honest with myself, the man had stolen my breath the first time I met him. He was handsome. Like, coach-for-the-Washington-Commanders-handsome. And, if you know, you know; you know what I mean, ladies? His dark hair had grown out a little since leaving the military. He was tall, almost as tall as Aaron, and the muscles and tattoos he had bulging out of his shirts? The thigh muscles straining and testing the fabric of those jeans?! Those things should be illegal.
