Forever Lucy (The Lucy & Harris Novella Series Book 5)

by Terri Anne Browning

  “Mom, I don’t need anything from this section. I’m not on my period.”

  “Really? And just when was your last period?” she asked in an oddly calm voice as she passed the rows of tampons and kept walking.

  I shrugged even though she wasn’t looking at me. “I had it…” I paused, unable to finish the sentence because I realized I couldn’t honestly remember the last time I’d been graced with a visit from the keeper of period hell. My heart stopped as I started doing math, tried to figure out the last date.

  “January,” I breathed and nearly threw up right then and there. “I haven’t had a period since January.”

  Mom nodded as she grabbed a box off the shelf she’d stopped in front of. Turning, she handed over the box, and I saw it was a pregnancy test. “Let’s figure this out.”

  All I could do was nod weakly. She had to guide me to the front of the store where she bought the test, and then we walked back to the hotel. We went up to the room I was sharing with Kin. My friend didn’t even budge as we both walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

  Mom stood at the mirror, keeping her eyes anywhere but on me as I peed on the digital test. “This is the brand I used when I thought I was pregnant with the twins. It will tell you in plain words if you’re pregnant or not, so there aren’t any misunderstandings.”

  My hands shook as I replaced the cap over the tip I had just peed all over and set it on the back of the toilet before I washed my hands. I didn’t understand how she could be so calm when I was suddenly so scared it was hard to fucking breathe.

  Pregnant? Could I really be pregnant?

  No. It wasn’t possible. I was on the pill, damn it. I took it religiously because I wasn’t ready to be a mother yet. I still had school, and Harper was constantly on me to take over for Gordon now that he was talking about retiring. She’d been impressed with the work I did during his absence, and I had to admit I’d enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would. All my life I’d thought I would end up as an author, but after working as an editor for just two weeks, I’d realized maybe I wanted a different career.

  How could I juggle school, a full-time job, and a baby? When would I sleep? When would I have time for Harris?

  “Time’s up,” Mom murmured a few minutes later, pulling me out of my inner misery. I met her gaze in the mirror and realized she had been watching me the entire time I had been stuck in my head. “Lucy…it will be okay. I promise you. Just don’t worry, baby. I’ll be right here to help you through whatever happens.”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I tried to nod, but I wasn’t sure I did or not. My fingers trembled so badly I nearly dropped the test. Tightening my hold on it, I lifted it.

  Pregnant.

  My heart stopped beating, and I suddenly felt dizzy. But it was with relief instead of disappointment. The stick fell to the floor, and I covered my stomach protectively with both hands as I looked up at Mom again. Happy tears filled my eyes because all my worries held zero power in the face of reality. I was pregnant. A part of Harris had come alive inside me and was growing stronger with every breath I inhaled.

  “I’m pregnant,” I whispered and laughed at how perfect those two words sounded.

  “Really?” Mom whispered with wonder in her voice. “Really?”

  I nodded, tears running down my face. “I’m going to have a baby. I’m going to be a mom!”

  “I’m going to be a grandmother.” She laughed at the idea, then started giggling uncontrollably. “You realize what this means?”

  “What?” I couldn’t figure out what she was finding so amusing about all of this.

  “Nat’s going to be a grandmother too. And she’s barely thirty.”

  Rolling my eyes, I bent to pick up the pregnancy test and held it against my chest. “Please don’t tell her yet. I want to tell Harris before I tell anyone else.” Oh, crap… I was going to have to tell Dad. My eyes widened as I began to freak out a little. “Don’t tell Daddy. Please, just keep this between the two of us for now.”

  “You mean the three of us,” she said and touched a hand to my still flat stomach.

  “The three of us,” I agreed in total awe as it hit me all over again that I was carrying life deep inside me.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I won’t blow this for you. My lips are sealed. You can tell your dad when you’re ready.”

  --

  I tried to push the early morning’s events out of my head so I could focus on everything else. I was spending the rest of the morning with all the females in my life at the hotel’s spa. They had a really kick-ass makeup artist who was going to do all of our makeup, and the salon was closed to anyone who wasn’t there for the wedding so they could do everyone’s hair.

  After lunch, I gave out the gift bags Harris and I had chosen together to everyone in our bridal party. For my nieces and Trinity, we’d had necklaces made with little puzzle pieces as the charms. Each girl got a single puzzle piece, and when they were all put together, they made a silver heart. For Mia and Violet, I’d chosen little pearl bracelets.

  The boys had been harder to find gift ideas for. My brothers and Jagger were the ushers, and Mason was the ring bearer. I was praying the twins didn’t cause too much of a commotion. Hoping to distract the boys from wanting to cause trouble, we had gotten them white headsets so they could look like actual security—and their mothers had the connecting headpieces so they could keep an ear open for what the twins and Jagger were doing at all times. Mason was the easiest to please, with a teddy bear and children’s book that explained how important being a ring bearer really was.

  I gave Kin and Jenna silk robes with #TeamLucy stitched across the left breast, and Harris was supposed to be giving Jace a bottle of his favorite whiskey that they’d had at the whiskey tasting for the bachelor party.

  But even the distraction of giving gifts that put smiles on everyone’s faces didn’t keep me from thinking about the baby for long.

  Soon it was time for me to get ready. I was happy to sit in a chair for the hour it took to have my hair fixed and makeup applied. It meant I didn’t have to pay attention to anything or anyone else around me, and I could actually think about how I was going to tell Harris we were having a baby.

  A hundred different ideas went through my head, but none of them felt right. I hated keeping this news to myself. Hated that I knew something spectacular was happening even at that moment and I wasn’t sharing it with him. I wanted Harris to know now, not later.

  “If she has to apply that lipstick again, she might stab you in the eye with the lip liner,” Kin muttered dryly as she sat in the chair beside me getting the finishing touches of her own makeup done. “She’s already fixed your lips twice.”

  I instantly released my lip and let out a resigned sigh. There was no way I could tell Harris yet. The wedding was in half an hour, and he was already at the church. This wasn’t exactly something that could be texted or said in a two-minute phone call. I wanted to look at his face when I told him he was going to be a father.

  “Ugh, I’ll figure it out.”

  “What?” Kin frowned at me.

  “Nothing,” I said with a grin. “Just sorting a few things out.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “You’re so weird today. Now sit still so this chick can fix you up again and we can leave. I can hear your mom trying to calm your dad down because it’s taking so damn long.”

  Laughing, I let the makeup artist retouch my lipstick. Once my face was perfect, I was dragged out of the salon and straight into the back of a waiting limo with the rest of the girls in my bridal party. They were all in their dresses, even Kin, but I was in a pair of purple sweat pants and a button-down shirt so my dress wouldn’t get wrinkled before the wedding.

  At the church, with only ten minutes to go before I was supposed to walk down the aisle, I stepped into my dress and Mom clipped the veil into place. Santana, who had been snapping pictures in the background all morning, stopped right behind me as I looked myself
over in the mirror.

  “I’ve taken hundreds of bridal photos, Lucy. And I can honestly tell you that you are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. You have this glow about you that seems to radiate outward to everyone around you. Your beauty is making everyone who sees you stop and catch their breath.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that, and Dad, always seeming to know the exact right time to interrupt, opened the door to the huge room I’d been using to change. As he stepped into the room, his gaze went around the room, taking in everyone all at once.

  Then his eyes fell on me, and he went completely still. I stood there, unable to move as I watched him swallow hard repeatedly and blink back the tears that filled his changeable brown eyes. “Lu…” He tried to clear his throat, but his voice was just as choked up. “You… You are so beautiful.”

  Pleasure filled me. I wanted to hug him, but even as I took a step to do so, Jenna and Kin stepped in my way. “Nope,” Kin told me with a scowl on her beautiful face. “As your maid of honor, I can’t allow you to muss yourself up even to hug your dad.”

  “But—”

  “She’s right, Lucy,” Jenna seconded. “It took two hours to get you just right. Save the hugs for the reception.”

  “But—”

  Dad chuckled and stepped around the two girls. “You can’t hug me, but I can at least kiss you.” He touched his lips to my cheek before shooting a glare at them. “Got a problem with that?”

  Kin sighed. “No, Mr. Thornton.”

  “It’s time!” Aunt Emmie called. “Everyone is in place, so let’s go out there and get this girl married.”

  “Let’s not,” Dad muttered under his breath, but I still heard him.

  While everyone around us was bustling to get out the door, I just stood there looking up at him. Vaguely, I remembered how emotional he’d been the day Aunt Emmie married Nik. She had been his first baby. The little girl he had dedicated his life to watching over and protecting. Making sure she was happy and loved. I was only eight at the time, but I could still remember how emotional he’d been throughout that entire day.

  I’d been so caught up in making sure everyone else was ready and then getting myself just right that I hadn’t gotten to spend much time with him all day. I wished I had taken the time to have a moment with him like I had with Mom earlier that morning. To reassure him that I was still his little girl. That I loved him and nothing was going to change even though I was getting married.

  “Jess,” Aunt Emmie called from the door. “It’s time.”

  He clenched his jaw and nodded, but before he could follow after her, I grasped his hand, forcing him to stop. “Daddy, wait.” His head jerked around, his eyes narrowing. “C-can we have a minute?”

  “Of course, Lu. Whatever you want.” He waved Aunt Emmie away, and she closed the door so we could have some privacy. “Is something wrong, baby? Are you having second thoughts? If so, you don’t have to do this. We can leave right now. No questions asked. I can—”

  I shook my head hurriedly. “No! No, that’s not it. I’m ready to marry Harris. I just…” I took both his hands and gave them a firm squeeze. “I just wanted a moment with you and me.”

  “Oh.” He swallowed hard again. “But if you change your mind at any time, just let me know. I’ll get you out of here.”

  I smiled gently up at him. “No, Daddy. Really. I’ve been dreaming of this day for a very long time.”

  “Right. Okay.” He lowered his lashes, hiding his tears from me. “This is so much harder than I thought it was going to be.”

  A tear spilled over his lashes, and I wiped it away. “Daddy, I want to tell you something.”

  His lashes lifted, but he remained quiet, giving me the time I needed to speak.

  “I thought, when Layla became Lana’s and my guardian, that it was the best day of my life. But I was wrong. The best day of my life was when I met you and the Demons.” His chin trembled, and I had trouble keeping my tears at bay. “I never knew what it was like to have a dad until you came into my life. You accepted me as yours like it was as normal as breathing. There was never any question in my heart of whether you were my dad. Not once. You raised me, loved me unconditionally, and I don’t think I have ever thanked you for that.”

  “Don’t,” he choked out. “Don’t you ever thank me for that, Lu. I don’t want it.”

  My lips trembled as I smiled. “No worries. I wasn’t going to,” I assured him. “What I wanted to say was, I love you. My heart is full of love for everyone, but you and Harris have the biggest pieces of it. It belongs to the both of you.”

  A few more tears fell from his eyes, and I was helpless to win the battle with my own as they began to fall freely. “But you love me a little bit more than him, right?”

  The hopeful note in his voice made me laugh. “Yes, Daddy. Of course I love you more.”

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” He scrubbed at his eyes. “Now, are you ready for me to walk you down the aisle?”

  “Definitely.”

  Chapter 14

  Harris

  The minute the music started, my hands began to sweat. All day I’d been totally calm. Dad and his bandmates kept me company in the hotel suite we’d gotten the night before at a hotel all the way across town because Lucy had been too worried about us accidentally running into each other before the wedding.

  Spending another night away from her hadn’t held any appeal, but because it was important to her, I’d given in and let Dad and Jace haul my ass away. They hadn’t gotten me drunk, but the buzz from the killer whiskey they kept pouring into my glass had been nice and helped me fall asleep even though I’d been aching to hold Lucy.

  With breakfast, the other members of OtherWorld had shown up, and the band had started doling out marital advice.

  “Happy wife, happy life,” was all Axton could offer on repeat. Over and over again. I figured it was true, especially for him. After he and Dallas had gotten married, I’d rarely seen Dallas not happy. Which meant I’d rarely seen Axton unhappy.

  “Never go to bed angry,” Dad offered as he’d lifted a full glass of his favorite bourbon with a cocky grin. “But if you do, make sure you have makeup sex before dawn.”

  I grimaced, not wanting to picture my dad and Nat having makeup sex—or sex in general. Nat might have been less than a decade older than me, but that didn’t mean I could stomach picturing her naked.

  The others all gave me their own advice, but it was Liam who said something that was always going to stick with me. “As soon as you give her your last name, the two of you become a team. There’s no more ‘you,’ but ‘us.’ It’s ‘us’ against the rest of the world, and you tell the damn world to go fuck itself. Because it’s gonna want to crush you both, but when you have her beside you, that bullshit isn’t going to matter.”

  And it was with those words ringing in my ears that I’d gotten ready, and we’d all climbed into the back of the limo to go to the church. When we got there, people were already arriving. Nik, Drake, and Shane were already helping the twins and Jagger usher people to their seats.

  Nat, looking beautiful in her simple purple dress that ended at mid-calf, appeared from out of nowhere and told us it was time. I calmly walked down the aisle with Jace to stand with the minister. A happy, uplifting song was being played by the organist, and then Jagger was walking Nat down the aisle, followed by both twins with Layla. Nat took her place beside Dad, who kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in weeks instead of just the few hours since we’d all eaten dinner together the night before.

  The bridesmaids made their entrance, and I felt Jace go completely still beside me when he saw Kin. Somehow, they were still together, but the thread that was holding them was growing thinner with each passing day. He was going to lose her, and he had no one else to blame but himself.

  Not wanting to think about that today of all days, I focused on the two flower girls and ring bearer who was stuck between Bliss and Heavenleigh as t
hey walked down the aisle behind my baby sister. Mason was carrying the book-shaped box that held the rings inside like it was a bomb about to explode in his face, while the little girls seemed content just to be able to throw flower petals on the floor—and at random wedding guests.

  “Heavenleigh,” Lana hissed at her third oldest daughter when the girl tossed a handful of rose petals at Liam’s son Asher as she passed him, making the kid stick his tongue out at her.

  “Hi, Mommy,” she called loudly then blew her father a kiss without a single hesitation.

  “That girl,” Lana groaned, making everyone around her chuckle and Asher snicker.

  Then the music faded, and Gabriella stood and took her place beside the piano with her violin in hand. The first notes of “Tale as Old as Time” filled the room, Lucy’s favorite song from Beauty and the Beast.

  That was the moment my hands became clammy. I waited impatiently for Lucy and her dad to appear at the back of the church, my heart racing as I begged her to hurry up so I could set eyes on her again. I wasn’t ever spending another night away from her. My body couldn’t take it. Neither could my heart. She belonged with me. We were supposed to be beside each other every night, and I’d be damned if that wasn’t what happened from here on out.

  I wasn’t prepared for it when they took their places at the end of the aisle. I knew she would look beautiful—she was beautiful every day of the week without even trying. But in her wedding dress, with half her hair up while the other half fell over her left shoulder in soft ringlets that must have taken her hairstylist forever to perfect, her eyes sparkling with tears, and that perfect smile trembling on her lips, she took my breath away.

  My knees went weak, and she began to blur before my eyes as they filled with tears. A strong hand clasped my shoulder, and I was thankful for Jace grounding me because I’d been seconds away from going to meet her. I locked my knees and held my breath as she slowly made her way toward me on the arm of her dad.

  With each step she took, my hands shook a little more, the tears flowing faster. She gave up the hold she had on her own, and she let them flow like twin rivers down her beautiful face.