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“I can’t wait for that phase,” Nick says with a smile. “Not that there’s any issue with that part now, I mean,” he quickly adds.
“It’s the best part of getting married,” Sawyer agrees, slapping Nick on the back. “Well, besides the actually being married part.”
“Truth,” I reply to my brothers-in-law and the man who will join the ranks in approximately four hours. “We’ve got two hours before we have to head back to my place and start getting ready,” I add as Lucky comes to take our burger order.
After lunch and a few games of pool, we’ll stop by AJ and Sawyer’s house to put out the chairs before we all go back to our place to dress in our suits. The girls will all finish getting ready at Sawyer and AJ’s house, and if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to steal a kiss from my wife before the ceremony starts. It will be on the smaller side, with only about four-dozen chairs being placed on the beach for Nick and Meghan’s closest family and friends. It shouldn’t take us too long to make sure everything is ready to go.
“You know, back before my Emmie and I got married, we had a pregnancy scare,” Orval says, drawing the attention of everyone at the bar.
The room is silent for several seconds as we all wait to find out why he decided to bring this up now. “Really?” Sawyer finally asks, all eyes on the elderly man in the room.
“Yep. It was a few months before we were to be married. After a weekend with Ava and Frank – they got into this huge fight, by the way – well, my Emmie was late on her womanly time. It made the entire trip to Europe very tense.”
“Wait, who are Ava and Frank?” I ask, trying to run through a list of family and coming up short.
“Why were you in Europe?” Ryan asks, a questioning look on his face.
“I thought you got married after you left the military?” Dean chimes in.
Orval nods his head. “Just wait, and I’ll answer all of your questions. I had just left the service and reconnected with an ol’ friend. He was going through a divorce from his wife, Nancy. Frank was in a hurry to marry his Ava, so after his divorce was final, we all hopped on a plane for Paris. We visited Rome, London, and Prague during our two-week stint.”
Orval shakes his head as if recalling the trip. “Of course, his production crew was on him to come back for the rest of his shows. Plus, the theater had arranged an Orchestra for a new song they wanted him to cut. Everyone wanted a piece of Frank,” Orval says, staring off at nothing.
We’re all silent for many heartbeats before Levi finally speaks up. “So…the pregnancy scare?”
“Oh, yes. We had just returned from Europe and Emmie was working with my mother to plan the wedding. Somewhere along the way, she missed her womanly time and we were afraid she was pregnant. That would have been a bit awkward, since premarital sexual intercourse was frowned upon back in the early fifties. But my Emmie was a frisky little thing, and she couldn’t keep her hands off my love sword. Who am I to deny?”
“Yeah, that’s not surprising, Orval,” Nick says with a laugh.
“Anyway, turns out she wasn’t pregnant, not that I would have minded.”
Again, silence fills the bar. Even Lucky is standing there, listening to the old man’s tale of love and life in the early fifties.
“So, then your point was…” I ask, not quite sure where the whole pregnancy thing comes into play here.
“My point is, boys, that sometimes life throws you curve balls and the potential of a surprise baby.”
“Who was talking about a surprise baby?” Sawyer asks, glancing around the room.
“No one,” Orval answers, taking a drink of his Coke.
Again the room is silent as everyone tries to figure out what just happened. I mean, Orval can be kinda random at times, but this seems a bit odd, even for him. Just blurting out that he and Emma had a pregnancy scare? Suddenly, I’m a bit nervous. Is he talking about someone in this room? Lexi? When was the last time she had her period? I mean, we’ve been on birth control, but that’s not one hundred percent foolproof.
Quickly, I grab my phone from my pocket and fire off a text. It only takes her a few seconds to respond.
Lexi: What the fuckety fucksticks, Linkin? Are you high? Why are you asking if I’ve missed my period?
Me: I’m just checking.
Lexi: You’re so weird.
Me: So, you haven’t missed anything?
Lexi: Uhhh, no, crazy pants. And you’d be the first to know if I had.
Me: Ok. Just checking… Love ya.
I set my phone down and see everyone else on theirs too. Levi, Dean, Ryan, and Sawyer are all texting, probably doing the same thing as me. It’s just too weird that Orval decided to bring up that story now, especially when no one was talking about surprise babies or pregnancy scares. Though, for me, no pregnancy would be considered a scare. It would be very welcome, actually, and I suspect the same for everyone in this room.
