But now? Now that I was pregnant, it was like we’d traveled to another galaxy. Sometimes it was almost too much to deal with and I had to close my eyes.
“What is it?” Lucah said that afternoon as we lay on the floor. I’d said I hadn’t wanted to get rug burn, but he’d quickly changed my mind and I was going to be wincing tomorrow.
“Are you more attracted to me now that you know I’m pregnant?” I rested my hand on my stomach and looked up at him. I was still on my back and he on his side, leaning on his elbow.
“I’d be lying if I said no. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s some sort of primal reflex. I don’t know. What I do know is that you are glowing and beautiful and I’m so lucky that you agreed to become my wife,” he said, stroking my face. I kissed the palm of his hand.
“I feel a little different, I think. I can’t tell if it’s real, or if I’m just telling myself that I feel different. Time will tell, I guess.” He put his hand on top of mine and then leaned down to kiss where our hands were.
“I know you’re probably not looking forward to it, but I have to admit I’m looking forward to seeing you pop out.” I made a face.
“I’m really hoping that my face doesn’t swell, but there’s really not a whole lot I can do about it.” I sighed.
“I’ll love you anyway.” I knew he would. And pregnancy was a temporary state. I could handle it for eight more months. I hoped. I didn’t really have a choice. BG was happening.
I looked around and saw what time it was. We were going to be late for the rehearsal dinner if we didn’t hurry. I didn’t want to move, so Lucah helped me to my feet and then we showered together to save time and water. He blow-dried my hair as I did my makeup and then we headed out front to walk to the garage where Lucah had his car. He stopped me before I could turn on the sidewalk and start walking.
“What?” I asked and he just pointed.
Parked next to the sidewalk right in front of us was a white car that looked straight out of history. The forties, maybe? A driver got out and bowed to us before opening the rear door for us.
“It’s a 1935 Rolls,” Lucah said in my ear. He put his arms around me from behind and nipped at my ear.
“Happy Wedding Eve,” he said and I beamed at him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, turning around.
“I know. I wanted to. Come on.” He led me to the car and the driver, whose name was Roy, helped us in. There was a little table with champagne and two glasses. I started to protest when Lucah popped the cork, but he told me that it was just sparkling apple cider.
“What are we going to do at the wedding? What if someone notices that I’m not drinking booze? I’m not exactly known for my discretion when it comes to alcohol.” He handed me a glass and waved his hand.
“I don’t think anyone is going to notice. I went ahead and got some more bottles of this stuff so we can just take the labels off to use it for the toast and I’ll hide another bottle under the table near your chair.” He had this all planned out. How lucky was I?
He tapped my glass with his and then we tried to do that thing where we looped our arms around the other and drank.
“Be careful,” I said as we tried to accomplish the feat in a moving car with limited space. We hit a bump in the road and a few drops splashed onto the upholstery.
“Shit,” I said, reaching for my clutch purse and a tissue to wipe it off. Lucah took the tissue from me.
“It’s okay. I’m sure more than this has been spilled in this car if you know what I mean,” he said. Gross.
“Yeah, we won’t be doing that with Roy right there.” These older cars didn’t have a privacy screen. Roy just whistled to himself like we weren’t even there.
~*~*~
The former church was all lit up when we arrived outside. Roy dropped us off and promised he’d be back later to pick us up. I thanked him and we got out and went inside. We were greeted with cheers and hugs. Both Lucah and I were wearing outfits designed by Sloane. Lucah had on a black suit with a crisp white shirt and red silk tie. My dress was also red, made from the same silk as his tie. Matching, but not too much.
Sloane and Mom were running the show, getting us all in line. Pastor Todd was there, smiling and jolly as ever. Lucah and I had found him through friends of my parents and he seemed like a good fit to be the one to marry us. The ceremony wouldn’t be too much on the religious side, which was how we wanted it. Pastor Todd also had tattoos and a pierced eyebrow, so he had that going for him as well. I’d encouraged him to wear his eyebrow ring on the big day and he’d given me a huge smile.
Gracie and Fiona were hopped up on who knows what and having a ball bashing their flower girl baskets into each other. Since we didn’t have any young male relatives, we were bucking tradition and having the girls carry the rings along with the baskets. Hopefully they were tied on well enough that the girls wouldn’t throw them. Mom had given me quite the look when I’d told her about the rings, but she was on board with it now.
Lucah gave me a quick good luck kiss before heading up the aisle to the front to wait for me with Pastor Todd.
Marisol and Fin went first, followed by April and Tate and then Sloane and Ryder. The music swelled and it was my turn. I hadn’t wanted a traditional wedding song, so I’d picked “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. Lucah and I had spent forever choosing it and when we’d heard it, we both knew it was the one.
“Are you ready?” Dad said. This was just rehearsal, but it felt real. Really real.
“Yeah,” I said after taking a shaky breath.