Page 70 of Redeemed in Crimson
“Wake up, Angel,” I hear as I open my eyes.
Squinting, I look up into the beautiful eyes of myhusband.“Mmm, good morning again.”
“It’s two in the afternoon.” Ledger chuckles, brushing my wild hair out of my face before placing a chaste kiss on my forehead. “We have to leave for rehearsal in an hour, or I wouldn’t have woken you.”
Ugh. Practice is early today since most of us are students, and we’re officially out for Christmas break. I make a scene of stretching and sigh before I notice the new additions to my ring finger.I wonder when I’ll ever get used to wearing this beauty.“You’re the one who kept me up until six in the morning.” I try to add some sass to that, but another glance at the extraordinary man I’m now legally tethered to has me smiling from ear to ear.I wonder when I will ever get used to that as well.
“Come on, love. Let’s get you dressed before I say fuck it and keep you in this bed instead.”
My body is still sore from the way Ledger ravaged me after his fight, but the way he made love to me last night, gentle and slow, worshipping every inch he decimated only hours before, has me wetter than I’d like to admit.
“Okay, I vote we stay,” I say as I fall back down onto the bed.
He picks me up and walks me to my vanity. “Sloane Sinclair, if we don’t show up for the last rehearsal, we willbothreap the wrath of my mother.”
Oh right. Blanche. My now mother-in-law, who has no idea we are married and who will be finding out in roughly an hour and a half. “Are you sure we should tell her tonight? Don’t you think we should get through the play and tell her on Christmas Eve when we tell my parents?” I half yell at Ledger as he walks into the closet.
He walks back out holding a matching set of tacky Christmas sweaters. “My love, you have absolutelynothingto be worried about.Trust mewhen I tell you, she’s going to be thrilled.” With that, he hands me one of the sweaters as well as some leggings and leaves me to get ready.
“Okay, you’re sure you want me to keep the rings on?” I ask Ledger as we walk up to the building.
Ledger opens the door with one hand, the other resting on the small of my back as he guides me through the church. “Yes,just act as normal as possible. As soon as she sees it, she’s going to freak out, and then I’ll tell her she’s got another daughter. It’s perfect, trust me.”
“Do you want to take bets on what she’ll notice first? The ring or these freaking marks you left all over my neck,” I say, recalling how much concealer I used to try to cover my bruises, to no avail.
Ledger only smirks and gives my still sore butt a little love tap.
To no one’s surprise, the hickeys and bite marks are the first thing my mother-in-law notices.
“Ledger Sinclair,what have you done?” Her smile quickly turns to a scowl as we approach. “I don’t typically judge one’s bedroom activities, butreally,son?Our play is intwo days!”
I look at Ledger beaming with pride, a complete contrast to my absolute mortification. The moment of awkward silence is only broken by Blanche's squeals when I bring my hands up to cover my beet-red face.
Her mouth drops open in surprise as she yanks my hand to her face. “You mean to tell me…wait a minute,tworings.” Her eyes go wide as she looks down at Ledger’s left hand to see a matching wedding band adorning his ring finger.
Ledger holds up his hand in question. “Yes, ma’am, we are very much married. I’d like to introduce you to your new daughter, Sloane Olivia Sinclair.”
Blanch looks between Ledger and me for a moment before nearly tackling me in a hug so aggressive I almost topple over. When she finally pulls back, tears are welling up in her eyes. “Oh, my darling, I’m so, so happy for you.” She stops to pull her son in for a three-way hug. “I’m so happy for you both.”She pulls back a second time, still holding on to an arm each. “Welcome to the family, dear. Oh, and I take it all back. It wouldn't be a good wedding night if you were any less marked up than you are,” she finishes with a wink.
I give her a shy smile, blushing at her insinuation. “Thank you so much, Blanche.”
“You are very welcome,” she says, glancing down at her watch. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait until after this rehearsal to hear all the details.” The sadness in her eyes morphs into delight as she exclaims. “Oh, I know! Come over to my house after we’re done here! I’ll fix a nice dinner, and you can tell me everything.”
“Well, actually…” I pause to look up at Ledger. “We’re going to be decorating the house for Christmas.”
Blanche slaps her son on the arm, pulling a groan from him. “You haven’t decorated for Christmas?”
“Ow! No,Mother. Sloane and I were going to do it together, but her parents came into town, so we weren’t able to.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, I’ll come over tonight with Margot, and we can have a little decorating party to fix everything up.” With that, she gives us one last hug and beginsour final rehearsal.
We’ve only been home long enough to change into some matching Christmas pajamas and pull out the ungodly amount of brand-new decorations Ledger ordered for us when Blanche comes trudging through our side door. She’s followed by Margot and Jack, all loaded down with food andmore decorations.
“Jack! This is three nights in a row you’ve wound up at our house. Not that I don’t miss the days of us living together, but I like to keep Sloane with as little clothing on as possible, and I’m afraid I’d have to kill you if you saw her naked,” Ledger says, giving Jack a hug.
My already blushing cheeks redden as Blanche responds, “Oh, Jack was at the house when I got home to pick up Margot, and I recruited him to help with the heavy lifting. No worries, dear, you’ll have your new bride to yourself before too long.” With that, she wraps her arm around my shoulders and squeezes. “Plus, the more this lovely lady is scantily clad, the more likely I am to have a grandbaby.”
“Jesus, Mother, she’s not a cow,” Ledger says, pulling me from her grip into his warm, strong arms before leaning down to whisper into my ear. “But she’s not wrong, you know I can’t wait to fuck a baby into you.”
