“Yes, sir,” I said and nodded my head like a good girl. I’d been taught to be polite I couldn’t help it.
“Good, now, I have a golf game to get back to, boys. Have a good Sunday.” He showed us the door and locked up behind us.
“What do we do now?” I asked as we all piled into the car.
“We get married, of course,” Colin said with a grin on his face. “And we take care of you, and that little one, until you’re all better.”
“Married? What the fuck for?” I looked over at him, surprised. “It’s not 1860, Colin. The baby can still take your name if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, it’s not just that. I want to know you’re secure. Just in case something happens to the three of us. Stranger things have happened,” Colin said, and Grant started to go on about how the military had rules that if brothers couldn’t be in the same war zones, or something, and something else about if so many brothers joined up, and so many died then the rest would be taken out of the military, or a war zone, he thought, so that the parents wouldn’t lose all of their children in a war.
I stared out of the window as they debated over what the rules were exactly and then took out their phones to prove each other wrong. Well, Keith and Grant did. Colin was beside me driving.
“Which one of you am I meant to marry then?” I asked as he pulled into the parking spot on the road beside our house. “Or, have you not thought about that part yet?”
“Oh, we discussed it last night,” Grant supplied and climbed out of the car to open the door for me. “You’re going to marry Colin. He’s the calmest, the most like to make something of himself, and the most responsible. We thought he would be the best husband on paper. And we thought we’d have a little ceremony here at home for us alone.”
“Wait, does that mean we’re having a ceremony somewhere else?” I stopped as we all walked up the steps. “I’m not sure I want a huge wedding.”
“Why not?” They all stared up at me, surprised.
“I’m pregnant. I don’t want to get married just because of that. But if it will make you all feel better, fine. But fuck, don’t make me go through the whole thing with a dress and all of that. I would like to just fly home and have a small ceremony that my Mom can go to.”
“If that’s what you want, darling, that’s what you’ll get.” Colin came up the steps to unlock the door, and I walked into the house. I went straight to the living room and sank down to the couch. Now what?
I’d have to call Mom, I guess. She might be the only one that could make any sense out of all of this.
“Oh, where do you want to go on the honeymoon?” Colin popped his head into the doorway to ask.
“What?” I stared at him not in a good mood at all. I should be, my dream was kind of coming true, just not in the right order. I wasn’t in the best frame of mind.
“I’d like to order tickets and I need to know where you want to go. If we wait another week, we’ll be on the winter break and we’ll have almost a month. We can spend Christmas week with your mom and then go on our honeymoon. Or stay out there if you’d prefer.”
“Uh, you can’t all fit into my mom’s trailer.” I looked at him in horror. I wasn’t ashamed of where I came from, I was just uncertain how they’d react.
“Oh, then we’ll rent one of those really long RVs with the bedrooms and stuff. No problem.” He grinned. “So, is next week alright then?”
“Colin, what if I lose the baby and you’ve married me for nothing?” I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I had to. I had to remind him that this might not turn out perfectly, especially if I was already having complications. They’d have to find out why I was anemic and what problems it could cause the baby.
“I won’t have married you for nothing, Celia.” He came into the living room to sit beside me. “I’ll have married you for the best reason. For you, Celia. I don’t want to marry you out of obligation, baby. I want to marry you, so I have the right to call you my wife. So that I know you’re taken care of if anything happens to me. So you feel secure, as you deserve.”
“But so soon, Colin?” I knew he was the sensible one and that he’d thought it through, but I had to be sure.
“What're a few more months going to matter Celia? I’m not going to change and my feelings won’t change.”
“You don’t know that,” I challenged him, my eyebrows lifted. “Everything could be different.”
“Then you can divorce me and take half of what I own. But I doubt anything like that will happen. We’re all too perfect together.” He leaned over and kissed me then and the feel of his lips again mine reminded me of exactly how right he was.
“Fine. But when I say I do; I mean it forever. Just so you know.”
“Good. Now let me order tickets.” He kissed my nose and I could only shake my head and smile. They were determined I’d have nothing to worry about. Darn them, making life easy and shit.
***
A week later, we were in a small chapel in Las Vegas, where the boys had flown my entire family, and I was walking down an aisle. I had on a knee-length lace dress with a broad skirt and flat heels that somehow looked demure but suitable to my rock star haircut. I had a small veil attached to a pillbox hat, and light makeup on. Colin stood at the front of the aisle, waiting on me with his brothers by his side.
My mom was the only one that knew the truth right now but as the vows were spoken, I looked at each brother in turn before I repeated my own. We might not be able to marry legally, but I could marry them all in spirit. We were going to stay at the hotel for the night and in the morning, we were jetting off to Bali to have our honeymoon. Mom was coming with us because we’d all decided she needed a vacation.
Rather than being upset with me, she accepted the fate I’d ended up with, and embraced the brothers as my chosen mates. I’m sure the fact they were wealthy didn’t hurt. Maybe that was cynical, but I was logical and that made me feel better. Mom wasn’t greedy after all. She just knew it was sensible and when she saw how happy they all made me; she didn’t care. She wanted my happiness above anything else.
As for the family, none of them could tell the brothers apart, so if I kissed one in front of the family, I just made sure to call him Colin. I don’t know if they suspected anything, but I really didn’t care when it came down to it. They made me too happy to care.
The ceremony finished and we made our way out of the small chapel to the reception area they had. It was only my family. The boys didn’t have anyone they cared about enough to invite, so it was a small gathering.
I danced with Colin, then Grant, then Keith. They all promised to give me a night to remember. I reminded them I was pregnant, not exactly healthy, and we were flying early in the morning. They just smiled and kept dancing.