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About a month ago, we went shopping, and this song came on. Travis mocked the hell out of the DJ. And then, also mockingly, he started to sing a few lyrics, and I felt one of the strongest kicks in my whole pregnancy. We thought it was a fluke, but he continued singing when we were out of the shop, and the kick returned.
"I love you so damn much, Bonnie." He was whispering now. "Both of you." He lowered himself on one knee, kissing my belly. Then he moved back a notch to look up at me, and I tilted so I could see him over my belly. He was staring at it. "I'm going to treat you and your mom like princesses." He'd said his vow to me in front of the priest, and now he was making vows to his little girl. "Always, every day, you have my heart and my soul. And that will not change. I used to think the hotel would be my legacy, but now I’ve learned there's another meaning to the word."
I ran my fingers through his hair, sighing. We’d both learned a lot about ourselves and our beliefs in the past few months. I’d always been adamant that I had to do things a certain way to give my kids happiness—that a good job and a strong marriage had to happen first. But now I knew life had its own way of just... happening. It took the right person and a leap of faith to create moments like this.
"That's a perfect shot."
I hadn't heard the photographer return. He looked very pleased as Travis stood up, squeezing my hand.
"Sorry if I scared you. I always think the best shots are the ones where you don't know you're being photographed. It's very natural."
"Can I see?" I asked.
He smiled wickedly. "Nah, let's take a few more, and I'll show you all of them after that. Did you look around?"
I blushed. I would've looked, but my man surprised me with his love declaration for our girl. “I think we can start with these two trees. I feel very happy just standing here at their roots."
"Yeah, it’ll make for beautiful shots," he said. "Just make sure you don't trip over the roots. They’re tricky."
The photographer certainly knew what he was doing. He asked us to do different poses, though I declined some of them because we seemed a bit fake. He must have taken fifty pictures of us around the trees.
When we returned to the party, everyone was already sipping drinks. I was parched and happily took the glass of orange juice Reese handed me.
I looked around, smiling. Sam was doing the same. He seemed very pleased as he came up to me.
“Great wedding.”
"Thanks. Pity your mystery woman couldn't come," I said. Sam had been hoping he’d have a date, but apparently that fell through.
"Yeah. I really wanted her to be here at the wedding."
"So when are you going to introduce her to us? The next time you're in town?"
His expression changed. Somehow he looked even more pleased than before. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Hell yes."
"I've decided to come back to Chicago."
"Oh my God, that's great news!" I exclaimed.
"Shh. Remember that part about this being a secret?"
I looked around, smiling even more widely. "It's my wedding day, so people are going to expect me to be all giggly and happy. When is this happening?"
"In a couple weeks."
“Man, you move fast!"
"I've thought about it for a long time, but once I decide things, I do move quickly."
"That you do. And you’re moving back because things between you and the mystery woman are getting more serious?"
Sam laughed, kissing my forehead. "That's enough secrets for one day."
"I disagree. It's my special day. I'm entitled to know everything."
"I see you’ve caught some of Gran’s persuasion skills. You learn fast."
