Page 107 of Deliverance
"Love you too."
Zell and I drank coffee and ordered room service for breakfast before the women and the two kids in ourfamilyarrived to do my hair and makeup. We weren't having a big wedding. It would just be the ones closest to us plus my parents. I'd always thought I would have a big wedding with dozens of friends, family, and whoever else I wanted to invite, but that had changed. I just wanted it to be small and intimate, with only the people in my life now, the people who made me happy and who I knew would be in our lives forever.
* * *
The first time I'd come to Vegas, we had watched the fountain show at the Bellagio. It had been spellbinding. When Ric and I discussed where and when we wanted to get married, I thought about the show. With research, I learned that we could get married with it as our backdrop, and I knew that was what I wanted and booked it.
Zell was my maid of honor. She and Frankie weren't married yet. They were waiting until their children were a little older, so Russell (named after her biological father) could be their ring bearer, and Rae (named after what Jackie and Russell were going to name Zell) could be their flower girl. They were currently thirteen months old.
Jackie and Quinn took the children to where Ric and I were going to say, "I do," to let him know I was on my way. I wasn't wearing a traditional wedding dress, but our life wasn't conventional. The dress I was able to find on such short notice was an ivory A-line dress with a V-neck, an asymmetrical lace bodice, and a champagne satin sash wrapped around my waist to give the look some color. My mom, Vicky, and Zell walked with me to where my father was waiting at the doors to walk me down the white tiled floor.
"Are you sure about this, pumpkin?" Dad questioned as I hooked my arm with his.
"One million percent." I smiled up at him.
"Ready?" the coordinator asked. I nodded. "The show will be starting any minute, so let's have you start walking."
The doors opened, and my gaze went straight to the man I'd dared to approach outside of a nightclub so many years ago. I hadn’t known then how that moment would change everything. If I had stayed in line, never meeting him, he wouldn't have had the need to protect me, meaning we would have never had the connection we’d had in the penthouse. There, of course, could have been the chance we would have developed everything over the ten years I was locked up in the sky, but I didn't think I would have trusted him the way I had.
When our gazes met, Ric's smile spread across his face, matching mine. He was even more handsome in his black and white tux than the day before when I'd last seen him. The fountains and music from the show started as I got closer, and just as I got to Ric, my father kissed my forehead and shook Ric's hand. Ric took my hand, and we turned toward each other.
Then, with the water dancing behind us, I became Mrs. Ricardo Montoya.
* * *
The next morning, I woke and had that split second of fear run through me until I opened my eyes and saw the man lying next to me. I went to kiss him awake but stopped when a wave of nausea coursed through me. It wasn't enough that I needed to run to the bathroom and puke my guts out, but it did make me pause.
I grabbed my phone, checked an app I used to track my monthly visitor, and saw that I was a week late. "Oh shit," I whispered.
Ric stirred. "What's wrong?"
I turned my phone to show him the app, not able to say anything.
He reached over and turned on the light on his side of the bed. "Are you saying you're …?"
I nodded as he trailed off. "I think so."
He got out of bed and stepped into a pair of shorts. "I'll go see if I can find a pregnancy test."
The entire time he was gone, I paced. It wasn't because I was nervous that we might be pregnant, but I was hopeful. After about ten minutes, he was back.
"The shop doesn't sell pregnancy tests. I'm going to go to the CVS, okay?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
He came to me and wrapped me in his arms. "Are you okay?"
I smiled up at him. "I think I'm more than okay."
"Good." He kissed me before going for the door again. "I'll be back."
While he was gone, I stared out the window at the fountains. We still lived in a two-bedroom apartment because we had yet to find a house we liked. I didn't care that we lived in an apartment because I'd been studying for my teaching license. If I was pregnant, I would think we'd need to find a house with another bedroom. I knew Vicky wasn't going to move out on her own, and I chuckled to myself as I thought about how we would have a live-in babysitter. Maybe I could homeschool the child too since I'd had ten years of experience with it.
Ric came back about thirty minutes later. He handed me the test, and I went into the bathroom and peed on all three sticks that came in the box.
"Well?" he questioned.
"We have to wait five minutes."
