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On the other side of the room are five men I don’t recognize. Four of them wear dark suits; three of them with ties. The fifth wears jeans with a leather jacket and has his hair slicked back. All of them are broad-shouldered. The tallest of them has a scarred face which adds to the menacing air about him. He’s glaring at us, as are his brothers—they're definitely brothers. Which means, these are the half-brothers Edward mentioned. He wasn’t kidding about them hating him. The air around them might as well be painted black, thanks to the contemptuous vibes emanating from them.
A little distance from them is a very pregnant Karma with her husband Michael’s arm about her. When she catches my eyes, she walks forward. "I have your dress ready for you. I hope you don’t mind, I estimated your measurements, but I think you’ll be happy with the results." She turns to Edward. "I’d like to take her away so she can get ready. No woman likes to be caught unawares on her big day." She shoots an admonishing look at G-Pa. "You’re lucky to be getting away with this."
"Oh, pffft!" G-Pa waves his hand in the air, and the gesture is so authoritative, so much like Edward’s, I have a snapshot from the future when Eddie’s as old as him, and every bit as stern and forbidding, and only allows himself to unbend for our granddaughter.
Our granddaughter?Holy shit, we’re not yet married, and by all accounts, I’m not going to be able to bear him a child unless I go the IVF route—which, I have to admit, I’m not completely comfortable with. But I may not have much choice if I wanted a baby of my own—and my mind is totally future-casting here by imagining a future where we have grandkids.
I must make a noise because all three of them turn to me.
G-Pa surveys my features and furrows his brow. "Are you okay my dear? I hope this wasn’t too much of a surprise. I thought, since you two were getting married in a few days—"
"In a full six days," Edward growls.
"—in less than a week, we could short-cut the process and have the ceremony today."
"Why would we want to short-cut something like this? You could have asked," Edward says in a hard voice.
"Would you have agreed?" his grandfather turns to him.
“That’s not the point.” Edward scowls, “Maybe Mira had a dream wedding planned, and you’re cheating her out of it. Besides, it’s only six days away, I don’t understand the reason for the hurry?”
G-Pa’s face falls. “I’m so inconsiderate. I only thought of myself and how much I did not want to wait a day longer. At my age, every day is the equivalent of a year, and who knows if I’m going to be around when the two of you tie the knot. I wanted to be present for my oldest grandson’s wedding.”
“You’re not in danger of dying anytime soon,” Edward says drily.
I jab my elbow in his side. “That’s not very nice.”
“I’m sorry, truly. I hadn’t thought of the fact it would deprive you of your dream wedding.” G-Pa turns to me, “We can stick to the original plan and—”
“No, it’s okay,” I say around the ball of emotion in my throat. “It’s not like I had a vision of what I wanted my wedding to be.”
“You didn’t?” Eddie blinks.
“I didn’t.” I tip up my chin. Knowing I was going to have an arranged marriage, I was too stressed worrying about who I’d end up marrying to plan the perfect wedding ceremony in my head. Not that I’m going to say that aloud in front of G-Pa.
“Hmm.” Eddie surveys my features. “All the more reason to hold the wedding as planned in six days so you have time now to plan and—"
“No, really, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter to me if it takes place now or six days from now.”It’s inevitable, after all, so maybe it’s best I get it over with.
He frowns. “Are you sure about this?”
“I am.” I hold his gaze.
“I apologize, my dear. In my excitement to get the two of you married, I didn’t take your feelings into consideration.” G-Pa holds out his hand. I glance at it. Then, with reluctance, release my hold on Edward and place my palm in his. G-Pa’s big gnarly hands engulf both of mine. “I did not mean to trample all over your dreams—”
“You’re not.”
“We can move the wedding to the original date, in six days—”
“Actually, I think it’s better to have it today. You’ve gone to the trouble of planning everything, and all of my friends are here, and I think I’d rather not spend the next few days stressing over what is to come.”Besides, I don’t have the energy to plan anything. The fact that someone else has stepped in and taken care of the arrangements is a weight off my shoulders.
G-Pa, doesn’t seem convinced.
“I mean it.” I squeeze his hand. “I’d like to get married today.”
“Don’t feel compelled to agree,” Eddie interjects.
“I’m not.” I raise my gaze to his. “Unless, of course, you'd prefer to wait another six days to get married?”
