“You asked me to marry you with a key,” she says in awe.
Man she’s so perfect for me. I wasn’t sure if she’d get the symbolism or not. But of course, she knows how my mind works.
Several hours later, we’re grabbing our rental car from the counter and she’s navigating us to the resort I booked for us.
After walking around the resort, we order some room service and settle in. Tomorrow is a huge day and I have more surprises for her and sleep is necessary. She’s six months pregnant and she hasn’t been comfortable at night. Her back hurts and the baby is resting on her bladder so even when she finally does fall asleep, she usually has to wake up a couple times in the night to use the restroom.
“Can I look in the suitcase now?”
“Yeah, no more surprises. For that, anyway.”
She digs around and sees a lot of beach clothes but not a whole lot of anything for a wedding. I’m lying in bed, arms behind my head, comfortable and enjoying the show. She’s wearing some tiny shorts that hug her ass that’s gotten a little bigger from the pregnancy. Her tank top is small, the bottom of her stomach poking out. She thinks she looks ridiculous. I think she’s mouth-watering.
“Rex?”
“Hmm?” I mute the TV and drop the remote next to me.
“What am I wearing to get married to you?”
“Let me worry about it.”
“Rex!”
“Gorgeous, do you think I’d let you walk down the aisle looking like a troll? Trust me, okay?”
“I’m nervous. I can’t help it. This whole letting go of all the control thing isn’t easy for me.”
“I got that, but try, okay? Let me take care of the wedding. You were getting stressed about it and I didn’t like seeing it.”
I see her relax, when it hits her that I won’t let our wedding day be a bad experience. She has no idea, though. I’ll blow her expectations out of the water. Because that’s what I do. And because I found her wedding board on Pinterest and studied the shit out of it like any good fiancé would. “Okay, babe. I trust you.”
“I love you.”
“So much.”
* * *
“Miss Garcia?”
“That’s me.”
Chloe stands from our place in the waiting area off of the resort’s spa. I arranged for a day of pampering complete with making sure her hair and makeup is done for the wedding later this afternoon. By the time she walks down the aisle, she’ll be relaxed and hopefully the tension and stress of the last few months will have washed away.
Right after I proposed, we had a bit of a scare with the baby.
She started spotting and since this was our first, we both panicked. The doctor assured us it was totally normal, but then her blood pressure started dipping. She’d be at work doing a client’s hair and suddenly feel light headed with no warning.
After the second time it happened, I made her see the doctor who put her on a limited work schedule, to put it simply. It wasn’t bed rest, but for Chloe who loved her job, it might as well have been.
She was cranky and irritable but soon started seeing the benefit of being home part-time and putting in fewer hours at the salon. Still, it brought stress on her and to add a wedding on top of it, wasn’t good. I offered to wait until after the baby is born, but she insisted that she didn’t want to wait.
“I’ll see you soon.” I kiss her and help her stand.
“Okay,” she says quietly, a bit nervous. “Love you.”
“Love you, gorgeous.”
As soon as she’s out of sight, my phone is to my ear.
