“Every time I think about…about it…” I paused and collected myself. My fingers tensed over her belly for a moment before I spoke again. “I see you…and blood. I can’t make it stop.”
Her fingers traced the edge of my jaw.
“I’m fine, Liam. Everything is going to be just fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I believe it.”
“Not the same.” I looked away from her and buried my face in her shoulder.
She used her hand to tilt my head back to look at her.
“What can I do?” she asked. “What can I do to make this better for you?”
I shrugged. If I had any idea, I’d definitely tell her.
She blew a breath out her nose and scrunched her eyebrows together as her fingers tickled my cheek.
“Should we get married now?” she suddenly asked.
“Now?” I repeated.
“I mean today,” she said. “Then I could go to the doctor on your insurance. Do you think that might make you feel better? Then we could have an ultrasound, and you could see that everything was okay.”
I stared at her long enough to determine she wasn’t joking.
“It might,” I admitted.
“Well, let’s do it, then.”
*****
Twelve minutes.
That’s how long it took between the time we walked into the judge’s office and the time he handed us a signed certificate of marriage to take down to the clerk’s office for filing.
“Smile!” Chelsea’s camera flashed in my eyes.
“Come on!” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Will you cut it out?”
“It’s your wedding day,” she said. “There have to be a few pictures.”
“I’m in jeans, for Christ’s sake.”
“Well, Tria looks lovely, even if you need a haircut,” Chelsea said as she reached up and rubbed my head.
“You do need a haircut,” Tria agreed.
She smiled at me, and for a brief moment, everything was absolutely perfect.
Tria did look beautiful, just as Chelsea said. She was all decked out in a deep blue blouse and faded jeans that she claimed were getting too tight, and she couldn’t have been lovelier even if she had been in white satin or whatever. Even through the near shock of realizing what we had just done, I couldn’t stop looking at her.
People always say when a woman is pregnant, it makes her glow, and in the summer sunshine, Tria did just that. When she turned her smile on me, I felt like the light radiated from her and enveloped me in its warmth.
I reached out and wrapped an arm around her to pull her close. Still focusing on that smile, I kissed her softly, there on the courthouse steps, and Chelsea continued to snap pictures.
“Shall we go to dinner and celebrate?” Michael asked.