“We didn’t want to horn in on Gigi’s and Charles’s big day,” Kate explained. “We wanted them to have a chance to get back and get settled in and be the newlyweds before we broke the news.”
Her mother and grandmother did not seem moved by the reasoning. Sadly, it dawned on Kate that she shouldn’t have to apologize for eloping. Even if the reason they had given for sitting on the news was only half the truth—there was no way she would divulge the rest of the story about how they’d ended up married. If she didn’t owe them an apology for getting married, she certainly didn’t owe them the dirty details.
This time, Jane came to her sister’s rescue. “You know what, Mom and Gigi? I love you both dearly, but Kate and Aidan are adults, and if this is the way they wanted to get married it is their choice. You don’t get a say.”
Jane’s smile blunted the edge of her words, and it seemed to better drive home the point.
Bless her.
Gigi looked as if she wanted to say something, but she snapped her mouth shut, pressing her lips into a tight, thin line.
“Jane is right, you know,” Charles said. He raised his glass. “If this is the way they wanted to do it, who are we to question it? I’d like to propose a toast. To the newest newlyweds. May they have a lifetime of happiness.”
Everyone raised their glasses. Zelda and Gigi looked a bit subdued, but they did, too.
“I noticed that neither of you are wearing wedding rings,” Zelda said. “Are you going to wear them now that the secret is out?”
Kate’s finger went to the back of the naked ring finger on her left hand. Since she’d stashed her wedding band in her dresser, she hadn’t thought much about it.
She glanced at Aidan, who was nodding.
“Of course, we will.”
“But wait,” Kate said. “There’s more. Very soon, Aidan, Chloe and I will be a family of four.”
She hadn’t meant for the announcement to rhyme. Maybe if doing hair didn’t work out, she could start a greeting card company.
“And believe it or not,” Aidan was quick to add, “we did get married before we found out we were expecting. We just learned that good news the other day.”
Kate caught her grandmother’s eye. She was smiling and wiping happy tears. So was her mother, who was murmuring, “A baby. A grandchild.”
“Wishes do come true,” said Gigi. “It looks like I did get my eighty-fifth birthday wish after all. All three of my granddaughters are married. Even if Kate and Aidan did buck tradition.” Gigi laughed. “Oh, what am I saying? This is Kate we are talking about. She doesn’t have a traditional bone in her skinny little body.”
Kate kept the smile plastered on her face. That wasn’t true. In fact, it was one of her most personal, closely guarded secrets. She wanted nothing more than to have a traditional proposal and wedding. She wanted to buy bridal magazines and go dress shopping. She wanted to be moved to tears when she found the dress.
Most of all, she wanted a marriage so firmly held together by love that it would never break, that would keep her from ever feeling the urge to run, like her father had.
“Whether you know it or not,” she said. “Deep down I really am a traditional girl. I absolutely swoon at the thought of a big, fat traditional wedding. And because it’s so important to us and to Mom and Gigi, Aidan and I are going to have a ceremony right here in Savannah. I’ll need your help to plan it. Are you on board?”
As everyone hugged her, she thought about how in all other aspects of her life she wasn’t traditional. She’d cultivated a lifestyle based on marching to her own tune. She needed a flexible career, and above most things, she valued independence.
But a traditional wedding felt like the right way to start the rest of her life with Aidan.
She said a silent prayer that marriage wasn’t so traditional a lifestyle that it would drain the life blood out of her—and send her running in search of the freedom she had always cherished.
The brunch wrapped up around 1:30. Afterward, Aidan helped Kate move some of her things to the house. It wasn’t much—her clothes, shoes, toiletries and makeup. She brought a couple of special accessories and a few kitchen must-haves.
Just enough to allow her to get settled in and to make Aidan’s house feel like it was her home, too. She could move over the rest of her things as she realized she needed them. Even then, she probably would not end up bringing over everything, because that would feel like she was abandoning the life she had worked so hard to build for herself.
But now that they had a baby on the way, her life wasn’t her own anymore. She and Aidan were starting a life together, which would be so much better.
Wouldn’t it?
If so, then why does it feel like I’m abandoning myself, leaving my own life behind and stepping into his life?
Everything will sort itself out.
She had been repeating that promise like a mantra. Reminding herself why she wanted to make the marriage work and why moving in with him was the best decision. How could a marriage work if the couple lived apart? Marriage was a blending of lives; it was sharing, and sacrificing a certain amount of personal freedom was part of the equation.
Really, it was the only way to go.
Plus, it was the best thing for Chloe. It would not be fair to take her out of her home, and away from her familiar surroundings.
She had been through a lot in her short life—her mother abandoning her and Aidan’s accident this year. He had been in a coma for several days and recovering in a rehab center for a few weeks.
