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“Oh, Hawk, I am so excited! When do we go?”
“Tomorrow morning,” he said, the grin getting wider. I felt like my jaw hit the floor.
“No way,” I said. “No way!”
He nodded, laughing a bit as all effort to sway with the music stopped. It was good timing anyway as the music shifted to a peppier eighties song anyway.
“Yes way,” he said. “I figured you wouldn’t mind taking the drive with me, so I booked us a hotel for tomorrow night. It’s about a ten-hour drive I figure, so we should make it there early enough to get an early dinner if you want.”
Suddenly, a thought bubbled up and my face fell.
“What about Rose?” I asked. “She’s never been on a long trip like that.”
“Already taken care of,” he said. “Gerry and Malia have offered to watch her all week. Your Mom is going to come over and give them a break a couple times too, but she will be just fine hanging out with her cousin, don’t you think?”
“They really offered to do that?” I asked.
Hawk nodded.
“Wendy offered too, but she has done so much to help us get this together, I didn’t want to burden her with that too. She will probably drop by your sister’s too,” I said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I turned around to see Wendy, Malia, and my mother all sitting together at their table. They were all staring at me, clearly aware by my reaction that Hawk had finally told me what was going on.
“They all want you to have a wonderful honeymoon,” he said. “For us both to. It was your sister’s idea to take Rose. As soon as I mentioned that I was thinking about bringing you to New Orleans to her, she offered and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Hawk, I love you,” I said, leaning up for another kiss.
“I love you too,” he said.
“I need to go thank my sister. Can you get me a water?”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll be waiting at our table.”
“Thank you,” I said.
As he walked away, I headed back to the table where Malia was sitting. Wendy had walked away, taking Rose with her and joining my mother, who had Alice. They were heading inside, and I could only assume one or both of them needed a change. It did leave my sister alone, though, and I came up to the table and wrapped her in a big hug.
“Are you having fun?” Malia asked.
“I am having a blast,” I said. “Hawk just told me about tomorrow.”
Malia hopped from one foot to the other in excitement and squeezed my hands.
“Are you so happy?” she asked.
“I am,” I said, matching her excitement. “Thank you so much for doing that for us.”
“It’s my pleasure,” she said. “Seriously, it is. When I got hurt, you were right there for me. You took care of me when I needed it, and you didn’t ask for anything in return. When I met Gerry, you accepted him, and you let me find my own way without interfering. I will never be able to thank you enough for that or show you how much I thank you for any of it. So, this is a small way of trying.”
“You are my sister,” I said. “It’s what I do.”
“You are,” she said. “And I am yours. So this is what I do. I want you to go on your honeymoon and not have to worry about anything. I’ll drop by your place and switch on and off lights and take care of Rose for you. You only have to tell me how amazing it is down there when you get back. Deal?”
“Deal,” I said, taking her in for another hug and kissing the top of her head.
“I love you, sis,” she said.
“I love you too, sis.”
“Best big sister in the world,” she said.
“Best little sister in the world,” I responded. “Absolutely, the best ever.”
27
HAWK
The reception lasted well into the late night, but Dee and I scurried off around eleven thirty. Both of us wanted to get a good night’s rest before hitting the road, since both of us wanted to be able to stop occasionally and divert time to roadside attractions and rest stops. What would normally be ten hours on the road was probably going to end up being fifteen, and I was just fine with that.
By the time we got back to my place and got undressed for bed, we were both exhausted. We ended up passing out almost immediately, though we both woke up in the middle of the night a few times out of habit. Rose was already with Malia and Gerry, however, and when I woke up at two, I saw a text from Gerry, a picture of Rose and Alice side by side in Alice’s double-sized crib, both sleeping like angels.
