Page 15 of Christmas Wedding
“Come then, fiancée. Let’s feed you, and then we can come home and pick up where we left off.” She shivered at the promise of what he planned on doing to her later.
“I can’t wait,” she whispered, as he helped her into her coat. She finally had everything that she ever wanted, and this was shaping up to be the best Christmas ever. Jonathan Sawyer gave her everything she ever wanted—including his heart.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lorna woke on Christmas morning to find an empty bed. After dinner yesterday, they spent the rest of the night and into the early hours of the morning making up for lost time. She stretched and liked the way her body ached from the way Sawyer took her. Lorna found her robe and slid it over her naked body, tying it just above her little bump. Sawyer swore that she had a little tummy now, and he couldn’t seem to get enough of it. He liked to lie his head on her belly and talk to the baby. She told him that she wasn’t sure that he or she even had ears yet, but that didn’t stop him. Lorna walked downstairs following the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She groaned. She could have had one cup a day, but after their night together, she wished she could have the whole pot. She missed her coffee.
“Hey there, sleepyhead,” Sawyer teased. “How did you sleep?” Sawyer pulled her in for a kiss and handed her a mug of coffee, just the way she liked it. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she said. “And what little sleep I got was good. But someone kept me up most of the night.” Lorna just about jumped out of her skin when Piper giggled from behind her. She wasn’t expecting anyone else to be there, especially notTag and Piper. Poor Tag cleared his throat and kissed Lorna’s cheek. Piper pulled her in for a tight hug.
“What are you two doing here so early?” Lorna didn’t miss Piper’s giddy smile as she looked up at Tag.
“Well, we wanted to come by to give you your Christmas gift,” Piper squealed.
“You guys didn’t have to come into town on your first Christmas together. We’re coming up to your cabin later. You could have waited,” Lorna said. Piper took her hand, and Lorna sipped her coffee and let Piper lead her into the family room as the men followed.
“I know, but everyone else will be there later and we wanted you to be the first—well, second—to know.” Piper flashed Sawyer a smile and looked back at Lorna. “We are having a baby. He or she will be here a few weeks after you are due.” Sawyer grabbed Lorna’s coffee from her hand as she swung her arms around Piper, pulling her in for a hug.
“That is truly the best Christmas gift ever, thank you, Pipe.” She kissed Piper’s cheek and stood to hug Tag. Her son or daughter would have a little cousin to grow up with. The thought made her teary-eyed, and Piper was already crying. Both men groaned.
“I don’t think they are going to ever stop with the waterworks,” Tag moaned, causing everyone to laugh. Piper motioned for Lorna to sit back down on the sofa.
“There is more, but this next gift is from Sawyer, so I’ll let him tell you about it.” She was practically buzzing with excitement. Lorna loved how happy her niece was; she deserved every bit of joy that came her way. Sawyer cleared his throat, looking a little unsure of himself.
“Baby, I think we should get married.” Lorna nodded her head, not fully understanding what Sawyer was getting at. Hegave her the ring last night, and she has already agreed to marry him twice now.
“Yes, I already told you that I’d marry you, Jonathan,” Lorna agreed. The three of them stood over her, smiling down at her, and she felt a little nervous about what they planned.
“He’s not asking you to marry him again,” Piper helped. “He means that he wants to get married today.” Sawyer looked down at her, and she could see all the emotions that he couldn’t quite express, plain as day on his face. He shyly nodded, and she stood to wrap her arms around him. “Jonathan, I’d marry you any day of the year, but I’m sure that City Hall is closed today. We would never find someone to perform the ceremony.” Sawyer pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Well,” Piper continued, “we have all helped, and your wedding is all set. You need to take this.” Piper reached behind her to pull down a garment bag. “Sawyer, turn around. It’s bad luck if you see the wedding dress before the ceremony.” Sawyer sighed and did as Piper instructed. Piper unzipped the bag to reveal the most beautiful, simple white gown that Lorna had ever seen. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
“Tell me you like it,” Piper said. She seemed to be holding her breath, waiting for a response.
“Oh, Pipe. It’s gorgeous. Thank you.” She pulled Piper in for another quick hug and zipped up the bag.
“I’m so glad that you approve,” Piper gushed. “Now, you and I are going to stay here and get you ready. Sunny is going to be here soon, and she is going to help with your makeup. She also made the cake and helped with the food. Everything else has been taken care of. Sawyer has thought of every last detail.”
Sawyer pulled her into his arms. “You’re sure this is what you want, honey?” He searched her face as if looking for some sign that she wasn’t ready to become his wife, but he would find none.
“I can’t wait, Jonathan.” He pulled her up and kissed her, and she knew that all her dreams were about to come true today. Lorna couldn’t believe that this was happening so quickly. A Christmas wedding was something that she never dreamed of, but it seemed so perfect now.
Sawyer paced in Tag and Piper’s family room. He was so nervous about things going right today. The one thing that he wasn’t stressed out about was marrying Lorna. She was everything he ever wanted to find in a woman and so much more than he ever thought he deserved. Every time he looked at her, he saw that she felt the same way about him. He wanted to make all her dreams come true, and he hoped that today would be just the first step. They decided to get married at Tag’s cabin, decorating the family room for the occasion. He knew that Lorna wouldn’t want a big, elaborate wedding, so he kept it simple. Piper did most of the behind-the-scenes work while Tag and Torren took care of all the heavy lifting. He was grateful that a local judge agreed to perform their ceremony on Christmas Day. Everything seemed to just fall into place for him to be able to marry the woman of his dreams.
“You nervous, man?” Tag clapped Sawyer’s shoulder, effectively stopping him from pacing. “You’re wearing a hole in my floor.”
Sawyer smiled at Tag, knowing that he was worrying over nothing. “I just want everything to be perfect for Lorna. I hope that she doesn’t feel like I’m rushing her into this.” Tag’s laugh took him by surprise.
“Lorna has been waiting for you her whole life, Sawyer. She just didn’t know it. I’ve never seen her so happy, and we haveyou to thank for that. She gave up so much of her own life to raise Piper. It’s nice to see that she’s getting her happy ending.” Sawyer nodded his thanks, not trusting his own emotions. Honestly, he almost gave up on finding the right woman to settle down with. He was careful not to get too involved with anyone while he was in the military, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to keep any promises. Lorna was the only woman that he could ever see his future with. When he looked into her eyes, he saw everything that he ever wanted, and he couldn’t wait to make her his wife.
Lorna couldn’t believe that Sawyer and Piper pulled off a surprise Christmas wedding. She prided herself on always being nosy enough to know what was going on. How she missed them rushing around the past couple of days trying to get everything in place was a mystery to her. She decided to chalk it up to pregnancy brain fog and just enjoy her big day. Marrying Sawyer was just the icing on her already fantastic life. When Piper was growing up, she never wanted to bring home a boyfriend, so most guys didn’t stick around to become a long-term relationship. She resigned herself to just being the best mother to Piper that she could be. Although she wished that Piper didn’t have to lose her parents, she was so thankful that she was entrusted with raising her niece. In her heart, Piper was her daughter and always would be. This baby wasn’t going to change that for her. But she never thought that she would have a child of her own. She never in a million years thought that she would meet someone as wonderful as Jonathan Sawyer and fall in love. He truly was all her dreams come true, wrapped up in one very sexy package.
“These were my mom’s.” Piper held up a string of pearls and put them around Lorna’s neck. “They will be your something borrowed and something old. I wore them when I married Tag, so they are extra good luck.” Piper winked at Lorna, causing her to laugh.
“Jonathan gave me my engagement ring last night, so that is my something blue and my something new. Well, that and this beautiful dress.” Lorna leaned into Piper to hug her close. Sunny sat on the other side of the room, lying across Lorna’s bed. She looked completely uncomfortable and didn’t stop crying since she got there.
“You guys are killing me with all this sappy stuff. I can’t even put on mascara because I can’t stop crying.” Piper and Lorna looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Sunny, you have been crying for the past four months, since—” Piper froze, realizing her mistake before she even said his name.
