He wiped the tears from my face with the pads of this thumbs, and grinned down at me.
“I wasn't trying to make you cry.”
“You should have thought about that, before you sang me that song then.”
He chuckled pulling me snug against him, and rubbing his hands up and down my back.
“Way to show me up.” Corey teased, as he placed his arm around his wife.
I turned in Owen's arms then so that I was facing my new friends. With his hands resting on my stomach, I placed my own over his. This life, the way that it was right now was pretty damn perfect. I had a man who loved me, a baby on the way, and prospects for a new business venture that I was actually passionate about.
“Wait until you hear the song that I wrote for her.”
“You've never written me a song.” Shannon said to Corey, before sticking out her bottom lip.
“Fuck you, Foster.” Corey said, before pulling the chair out so that Shannon could sit back down.
Owen flipped him the bird, before pulling my chair out as well. I could see now that the two of them had a competitive kind of friendship. I took the seat he offered me, and when we were all sitting around the table once again, Shannon cleared her throat quietly.
“There's something that Corey, and I wanted to share with you both tonight.”
Corey looked at her and smiled, shooting her a wink before she took a deep breath and continued.
“We're pregnant.” She said with a mixture of excitement, and apprehension.
“What?” Owen smiled wide. “Congratulations! I can't believe this!”
“What's so hard to believe?” Corey asked. “When a husband, and wife are intimate-”
“Shut up, asshole.” Owen laughed, cutting him off. “I never thought we'd be having kids at the same time.”
“I never thought I'd be having another one.” Corey laughed.
“Time to grow up boys.” Shannon said in a sing song voice.
Just then, the band got back onto the stage. Since no one else had signed up for open mic, they decided to play another song while they waited. When they started to play, Owen reached for my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. He pulled me flush against him, and placed his hands on my hips as he began to sway our bodies to the rhythm of the music.
“Are you having a good time?” He asked.
“I am.” I smiled up at him, before laying my head on his chest.
“See. You had nothing to be nervous about.”
“The only thing I'm nervous about now is Morgan's opening.”
“You've done everything you can to make sure that Sew New is successful. All you can do now is sit back, and watch.”
“Do you think she'll resent me for not being there?”
“She understands. After everything the two of you have gone through she knows you need your space.”
“I just feel like a shitty friend for not being there.”
“Do you want to be there?”
“I mean... I've been thinking about it.”
“Let's go then.”
“What?” I laughed.
“Let's go! It's only a two hour flight. We can even come home the same day if you want. What do you say?”
“I say... let's go to New York!”
OUR FLIGHT LANDED IN New York at eight AM on the day of the opening. Morgan wasn't expecting us, so we checked into a hotel for the night. The boutique was set to open at ten, so it gave us just enough time to change our clothes, and get settled in a bit.
I had chosen a black dress, with a pair of black wedged heels. I left my hair down, taming my curls with product, and Owen even put on a pair of jeans without any rips in them. I teased him about them endlessly, before the two of us finally finished getting ready and headed out to our rental car.
My stomach was gurgling on the ride over to the boutique. It had only been a few weeks since I'd seen Morgan, but I still missed her like crazy. She may have been able to forgive me for not showing up, but I knew that I would never forgive myself.
When we pulled into Sew New, there were four white vans with local television logos already sitting in the parking lot. Of course there would be media coverage. Morgan's father would have made sure of it. As we pulled into the already packed parking lot we struggled to find a place to park the small car.
We were in the back of the lot, but with no other choice we turned off the ignition, and walked around to the front of the building. There were still ten minutes before opening, and the line was already clear out to the road. There was no way that we were getting in front of all of these people without alerting Morgan. I had no choice but to ruin the surprise and call her.
“Ronnie?” She answered, with a shaky voice. “You do realize that our doors are opening in less than ten minutes, right?”
“I do. That's why I need you to let me in.”
“Let you in? What are you-”
“Unlock the door!” I laughed, as I waved at her from outside of the shop.
She hung up the phone immediately, and rushed over to the door. Sticking just her head out she instructed the security guard to let Owen and I inside, and we were quickly ushered past the waiting customers. There were a few complaints from the line, but I ignored them. The second I walked into the boutique Morgan pulled me into her arms.
“I can't believe you're here!” She said, squeezing me tightly.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world.”
Owen stood back watching our reunion with a smile on his face, and Morgan rushed over to hug him too.
“Thank you for getting her here.” She said, earnestly.
“Can I do anything?” I asked.
“Cut the ribbon with me?”
“I'd love
