“Or you could let me do it,” Eden says, capturing my attention away from Shane. “I planned all their weddings. You can just tell me what you like or don’t like, and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll contact you if I’m unsure of anything, or you can give me free rein, and I’ll surprise you with the wedding of your dreams.”
“You would do that for us?” I blink a few times, unsure if I heard her correctly.
“Of course, I love planning weddings. Plus, I have some free time on my hands. Let me do this for you, Aubrey. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“You really won’t. Eden is really good at reading people. She’ll make it seem like you picked everything yourself. I let her choose everything for me, and I honestly wouldn’t have changed a thing at my wedding. It was perfect,” Leah insists as Phoebe nods in agreement.
I look at Shane for guidance. He shrugs with a warm smile, letting me decide for the both of us. I turn back to Eden with a decision in mind. “Okay. Do it.”
“Yay! Oh, this is going to be the wedding of the century! I already have so many ideas for you two.” She squeals with joy as if she was the one getting married and it makes me giggle. “All you’ll have to do is find your wedding dress, leave the rest up to me.”
“Looks like we’ll be attending a third wedding this summer.” Shane grins with a twinkle in his eyes as he leans in to kiss me.
“Yes, ours,” I say seconds before his lips fuse with mine.
SHANE
~ Four Weeks Later / July ~
The renovations took less time than we had planned. They managed to finish everything up within a week of our deadline, which means our nursery is now finished, well, the painting is. We still have to buy everything to fill it, which is what we planned on doing today.
Originally, our plan was to do it while the renovations were happening, but I could tell Aubrey was stressed with everything going on. So we put the baby shopping on the back burner until one stressful situation was over.
We also now have a set date for our wedding, August 30th. Eden managed to secure Oheka Castle as our venue. I’m not sure how she did it on such short notice, but it’s happening, and we couldn’t have asked for a better place. The way Aubrey’s eyes lit up when she saw the pictures, I knew it was the right one.
We decided to give her free rein. No color choice, or flowers, or anything at all. We told her to go with her gut on what she thought we would like, and I think it’s the best decision for us. All that’s left is for Aubrey to get a dress, which is apparently proving to be difficult because of her pregnancy. Nothing she finds she likes enough to wear, but I have no doubt she’ll find something soon.
Aubrey is now on maternity leave, as of two days ago, so I’m hoping she feels a bit less anxious, at least enough to do some shopping. Because she’s now thirty-one weeks along and we still have absolutely nothing for our daughter. I don’t want to wait until she’s in labor to run out and buy things.
I’m not sure what’s been going on with Aubrey these last few days—she’s been different. She’s quieter and has been eating less. It’s getting me worried, but she keeps reassuring me everything is fine. I’m not sure if it’s the impending arrival of our daughter that might be causing her this change in behavior or what, but I wish she would talk to me.
“Hi, sweetheart.” I kiss her forehead and brush her hair behind her ear as I lie down beside her in our bed.
“Hi,” she whispers, her eyes slowly focusing on mine.
She’s been napping all morning, and it’s now the afternoon, which means she skipped lunch. I came in earlier to bring her food, but from what’s left on the plate on the nightstand, I can tell she only had a few bites.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, just tired.” She tries to smile but I can tell it’s forced.
“We can go get the things for Stellina another day if you’d prefer,” I offer. “Or I can go do it alone, so you can rest some more.”
“I feel bad making you buy everything for our daughter on your own…” she admits in a quiet voice.
“Angel, you have nothing to feel bad about. You’re already doing so much for her just by helping her grow. I just want you to feel okay, and if spending the day in bed will help, then that’s what I want you to do,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her head again. I take the time to notice she seems paler than usual, but she’s not burning up, so I know it’s not a fever.
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “Yeah. I could even ask Adler and Ellis to join me, and Veronica could keep you company while we’re out?”
“That could be nice, I’d feel a bit less guilty.” She smiles, and this one seems more real, but it still looks like it’s taking a lot of energy to produce.
“Okay, let me give them a call and see if they’re free.” I get up from bed and exit the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
I pull out my phone and try Noah first, he picks up on the second ring.
“Hey, Coach.”
