Once we passed the guards, and I had my dress in my hand, I said, “We’re not talking about money anymore Jeremy, and don’t bring the topic up with your friends.”
“Yes, Mom,” Jeremy said, then took his seat in first-class where a flight attendant was getting him a juice.
I put my seat belt on.
I’d have to watch to make sure he didn’t get too spoiled.
The plane finished loading and he said, “In Tulsa, I need to go to practice, but you two can meet me, and tomorrow I have the day off so we can celebrate without having to board planes.”
Good. Life was great. We held hands and the flight was fast.
I went into a dream state for a while as I stared at my ring. The princess cut was a few carats from the size and weight of it. Honestly, I never expected to marry or have a ring of my own. I wasn’t sure what to say. I blanked out for a while. I knew we landed, and I knew we were safe in a car Michael drove. But I’d stopped believing in ever getting married. This moment seemed unreal.
My bubble burst when we drove into a large gated estate home and Michael frowned as he said, “This is my…house. Georgie, Jeremy, it seems my parents came unexpectedly today.”
Parents. I had pins and needles in my arms now, but I swallowed and said like everything was under control, “It will be nice to meet them.”
He parked his car in his garage that had three more cars.
I glanced around to see everything and noticed the cowboy hat on the coat rack near the door. We stepped into a foyer, and an older woman with curly hair and a man who was a slightly balding version of Michael, stood. His mother wrapped her arms around me and said, “So this is the girl you’ve been pining for.”
“Mom!” Michael said and sounded a little like Jeremy in that moment, which made me laugh.
If my son grew into Michael, we’d need that gate to keep out the girls. His mother let me go but hugged Michael as she said, “It’s true. My son has been talking about you for years.”
Sweet. I checked my dress didn’t have a wrinkle and said, “Well, that’s nice to hear.” And then I offered my hand to shake his father’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Georgiana.”
Michael held my waist and said, “Georgie, this is my mom, Sarah, and my dad, Tom.”
The family resemblance was uncanny with that strong chin of theirs. I shook their hands and said, “Nice to meet you both. How was the wedding?”
They knew. My face heated. “Beautiful.”
Michael put his hands on Jeremy’s shoulders while he said, “Mom. Dad. This is your grandson, Jeremy.”
My son held his hand out to shake when he said, “Nice to meet you.”
Sarah went down on one knee and threw her arms wide open as she said, “Come here. We’re huggers.”
My son hugged her, and everyone seemed complete. Sarah then glanced at me and said, “Your dad wants to know if we can treat Jeremy to an ice cream.”
I nodded to Michael that it was fine, then my lips pressed together. My mother would have done exactly this.
“That sounds fun,” Jeremy said. “Michael promised me ice cream in Vegas, but we ran out of time.”
“We can make up for that. All the men in the family love chocolate syrup on ice cream,” Tom said and patted my son, who had his profile, on the back as he added, “We’ll be back in two hours, then we can all go to the game together.”
The nose was clearly a family hand me down from Tom to Michael and now to Jeremy as I glanced at the profiles. We walked them to the front door and Michael asked his parents, “How long do you plan on staying in town?”
His mother said, “Our tickets are for tomorrow. We’re staying in a hotel.”
So, we were to be alone. I sucked my breath as that was rude. This house seemed huge, unless the extra rooms were all game rooms, baseball memorials, libraries, indoor pools, tennis courts, or something. I hadn’t inspected to know, I met Michael’s gaze and his face was red as he said, “You don’t have to.”
His mother said ‘pfft’ and shook her head. “We’re giving you both space. It's your wedding night! Maybe tomorrow, if Jeremy likes us and the ice cream, then you can let us have breakfast with our grandson.”
Jeremy gave a thumbs-up as he headed into the car with them. There was a booster seat in the back they must have rented.
“I’m happy to have grandparents,” Jeremy said.
“See you soon,” I said and waved them off.
The rented SUV drove off, but we stood on the driveway until the car was out of sight. Michael pressed his hand on my lower back. “We’re alone.”
I walked beside him and as the door closed, I laughed and said, “It is our wedding day.”
His blue eyes had a twinkle in them as he glanced up and down my body. My skin was alive and well aware of him, though I ignored the feeling. “True, and you are wearing too many clothes.”
Well, my instinct had been right on, but I shrugged like I didn’t understand and said, “My dress is all packed up. Vegas was pretty fun. I’d never been there.”
He swept his hands on my sides and unzipped me a little. “Don’t distract me, Georgie.”
I batted my eyes a little too much and asked, “What do you want?”
He guided me to walk backward into another room in his house, as my dress draped open on the side, as he said, “You…me…one time before they get back. Two hours is not that long, and I have a game tonight.”
I nodded and stopped pretending. I wanted this, too. Michael and I made sense physically as he was the only one that
