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“It makes me much better,” I said and kept my eyes closed. “I don’t puke anymore, but I still feel nauseated and exhausted, but I can’t sleep either.”
“Poor baby,” Candace said. “I’ll try to distract you with my rapier-like-wit.”
I laughed weakly but was glad to have her with me. We spent the morning talking in quiet voices and watching the news on the television while my mother made all the arrangements for the ceremony at five.
At around three o’clock, I was starting to feel like a normal human being. Candace and I sat on the patio off the master bedroom and drank more peppermint tea and talked about the future.
The stylist arrived and did our makeup, hair, and manicures for all six of us. By the time five o’clock came, my stomach was now all butterflies instead of nauseated, and we got ready for the walk down the aisle between the chairs set out for our family and friends on the patio.
Mara had picked up my dress and had it steam-pressed before I put it on.
It was lovely. Perfect for what I wanted. The antique lace said wedding dress without being overly princess-like. That wasn’t me, even if Luke and I had decided to get married in a more formal ceremony with a big wedding party.
My father waited for me in the living room, and finally, once everything was in place, I kissed my mom and waited while she and Candace made their way outside to take their seats. Finally, the music played to announce the start of the ceremony.
“You look beautiful,” my father said, taking me in, squeezing my hand.
“Thank you, Daddy. You look handsome.”
He gave me a hug and then offered me his arm.
“Well, sweetheart,” he said, his voice sounding emotional. “This is it. Let’s go.”
We walked outside, down the aisle towards Mr. Cameron, the Justice of the Peace. A middle-aged man in a sober business suit, he was smiling as he watched us walk towards him.
Although we’d practiced the ceremony the night before, I felt nervous, and was afraid that I’d throw up in front of everyone but seeing Luke’s handsome and very calm face waiting for me, I grew more confident. I felt tears brim in my eyes. When I reached his side, he took me from my father’s arm and gripped my hand. He leaned in and kissed me, despite the fact we were supposed to wait until after we were pronounced husband and wife, but I didn’t care and neither did he.
What started less than a year earlier, with a mistaken email and a dare, was ending with so much happiness, and I felt my heart swell so much, that I couldn’t imagine being happier.
Epilogue
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Three Months Later
Alexa
I woke up when the room was still dark and glanced around the room where our bed was located in one of the corners of the cabin. We’d arrived the previous night, so I didn’t get a chance to see the cabin in daylight, but the brochure promised that we’d be alone on a private beach with nothing but the Pacific between us and civilization.
The first light of dawn peeped through the window and slowly brightened the room. I lay naked under the
covers, but Luke was already up, and the bed was cold beside me. I heard a splash and was surprised that he was swimming already, but he was excited about the calm crystal water in the bay where we were staying and the fact that we’d be alone. Our cabin was one of a dozen spread out around the private island, and so we had a stretch of white sand all to ourselves.
Luke came back in through the patio doors. He was wearing a pair of swimming trunks, water dripping off him onto the floor. My gaze moved over his body greedily as I remembered our lovemaking the night before. He grabbed a towel off the chair and quickly dried off, smiling at me from where he stood.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he said and came to the side of the bed and bent down to kiss me. "Here," he said and held out my bikini. "Put this on and come out to the deck. You have to see this place while the sun’s rising."
I rose from the bed, glad that my morning sickness had passed. I put my bikini top and bottom on hastily and followed him out the doors and onto the deck. The sky was clear after a weather system moved out of the region and in the west, there were still a few stars close to the horizon.
Luke stood on the deck and looked out at the bay spread out in front of us. Our cabin was actually perched above the water, with a small walkway leading to the beach. We’d fallen asleep to the sound of water lapping at the dock beneath us, and it was comforting, reminding us both of our time on The Phoenix.
I went to the railing in front of him and leaned against it, my gaze moving over the water, which was calm, the water shallow, and crystal clear. Off in the distance, I could see a shoal of corals that acted as a breakwater, protecting the bay.
"It's beautiful."
Luke came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, one hand covering my belly.
"Watch," he said and pointed to the east. “The sun’s rising.”
