Page 139 of My Best Bet

I just laughed. Piper had been giving Lucy ice dance lessons and I predicted Lucy would be prioritizing ice dance over freestyle sometime soon.

The three of us headed out into the breezy June day and the crystal blue water came into view. This place became our peaceful oasis this year, and I loved it. We still mainly lived closer to the city during hockey season, but Colt purchased this lake house as a getaway for us. The log-cabin A-frame build resembled a ski lodge, and the exposed wood on the inside gave the whole house a cozy feel. I loved that we had enough rooms for all our friends to stay, and it honestly looked a lot like the house we saw when pond skating as teens, but this one had a bigger porch.

The fact that we were using our own house as our wedding venue made the whole thing feel more special. We hired a company to come out and place chairs and cocktail tables and a huge tent out on the property. It was perfect.

Lucy, Piper, and I hid behind a corner of the porch and waited for Ellie, our wedding coordinator, to motion for Piper to start walking. Lucy was practically bouncing with excitement.

“You ready?” I grasped her hand in mine.

Her lips twisted to contain her smile and she gave a nod.

Ellie gave her the okay and Lucy bounded down the stairs. I swear, the whole crowd let out a collective “aww” and Colt beamed with pride at his little girl.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled to myself. I couldn't believe I almost forgot. Flashing a one second sign to Ellie, I quickly stumbled back inside to dig through my purse. Before walking back outside, I caught sight of myself in the mirror and stilled. Because of figure skating, I’d worn a lot of dresses in my life, but this one was my favorite by far. I’d chosen a simple white gownwith a small bow at the back. My hair was pulled into a low bun with some face framing pieces hanging loose, and I completed the look with light makeup.

For so many years, I thought I missed my chance at this. I thought if I did ever get married, there’s no way it’d be a time of celebration, but a day of doom, because there’s no way I’d ever love another person the way I loved Colt. The fact that we made it back to each other and to this day felt like a miracle. Standing there, my eyes filled with tears– which I quickly sniffled up because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup.

Grabbing up my bouquet of white flowers and greenery, I took a steadying breath, did a little shimmy to fix my dress, then marched outside.

As soon as my eyes found Colt, everyone else faded away. He stood at the front in his black tux with his hair neatly pushed back. As he watched me walk, his jaw clenched, then his chin quivered, then his eyes turned glassy.

And that’s when my own eyes filled with tears. I let out a little laugh to control my emotions, but I was just so happy. It took all I had in me not to run at him.

When I finally made it to him, I plucked the hundred dollar bill out of my bouquet with shaky fingers and tucked it into his front pocket. When Colt registered what it was, he wiped his eyes and his face split into a huge grin. Pretty sure the whole crowd started simultaneously laughing and crying.

“Best bet of my life,” he said gruffly while dipping down to pick me up. My hands went around his neck and I kissed him deeply, making him groan.

“Woah, woah, not yet,” the priest said behind us, making everyone laugh more.

Colt didn’t even take his shiny eyes from mine when he grinned and said, “Sorry, my wife is just so beautiful.”

________

As soon as the ceremony ended, Colt and I posed for a few pictures, but then I had to excuse myself because I was about to pee myself.

I ran up the stairs and burst into the master suite bathroom as quickly as I could with Piper following on my heels.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she called, ripping out a small package. “Here.” She thrust the small test into my hands.

“I’m probably not,” I said, trying to dull my own hopes.

She rolled her lips together and nodded thoughtfully as she sat on the edge of the tub.

My heart sank. “You think I’m not?”

“No,” she said quickly with wide eyes. “I’m trying to be neutral. If you are, then it’ll be an even happier day. If you’re not, then we can do shots together on the dance floor. Win-win, really.”

“Yeah, win-win,” I repeated, completely distracted while I peed on the stick.

“Either way, it doesn’t matter. Today is about you and Colt. You two have a whole beautiful future ahead of yourselves. You’ll have plenty of time to take care of this particular subject, okay?”

I nodded. I never would’ve even thought to take this test, but when I tried on my dress last night, I complained to Piper that my boobs hurt and I was bloating and cramping like on my period, but it wasn’t coming for some reason.

She paused. “Mer…”

“What?” I adjusted my dress, hissing because my boobs were so sensitive.

“You’re missing your period?”

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