Sweet Surrender

by Rebel Wild

  “You sure about this, baby?” Reed asks once more when we walk through the lobby. I ignore the stares, especially from the women who’re wishing they were in my place.

  I see Martha standing there looking beautiful just like she did in high school. All the girls were secretly jealous of her, but not me. I knew how insecure she was and I felt sorry for her. Looking back on it, I think she just used me to make herself look good. The beautiful swan next to what she thought was the ugly duckling. I guess once I lost my hearing it put a damper on her status quo. Hanging out with the disabled girl was just a step too low for her.

  “I’m sure.”

  We walk out, still hand in hand to the car Sampson has waiting for us. Martha spots me and starts waving her arms like crazy. I look over at her and she smiles knowingly at me. She’s disappointed when I look right past her and keep on walking. What did she expect me to do? Stop and talk like the good friends we could have been if she wasn’t such a bitch? Well, forget her. I got Chloe out of the deal so it’s her loss.

  “She’s calling your name and asking if you remember her,” Reed tells me.

  She probably thinks I can hear now since I’m on his arm. No way could I have gotten him otherwise, I’m sure. I take a breath as I slide in the car, looking out of the tinted window at her standing there put out at being ignored. She starts to fix herself and it appears she is yelling at the guy who’s standing next to her. I know she’s trying to save face and I realize that she’s pissed. Oddly, I feel vindicated by snubbing her for all her fans to see.

  “Well take a good look at her because she won’t be that put together the next time you see her,” Reed says, sliding in on the other side of me.

  “Oh, God, you’re going have her take a bunch of shitty assignments, aren’t you? Like how cows are impregnated on dairy farms and the mating rituals of the humpback whales in Siberia?”

  He laughs.

  “Well, America needs to know those things,” he says. “It’s all part of the business.”

  “She’ll just quit.”

  “She won’t. Her family’s livelihood will depend on her doing it. They couldn’t handle the size of the lawsuit I’d bring. Just paying lawyers to fight it would bankrupt them.”

  “You wouldn’t go that far?”

  “I’ve gone farther and I still sleep well at night. Just ask Myra’s little pool party friend.”

  “What did you do to her?”

  “Let’s just say I hope she enjoys greasy spooning it in Ojai.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He smirks at me, flipping my hair off my shoulders.

  “It means nobody fucks with my girl. It’s as simple as that.”

  I pull my skirt down from Reed jumping me in the foyer and instantly relax, glad to finally be back home.

  “I sure can see now why you live here,” I tell him, happy for our beach sanctuary.

  “Seeing Martha again didn’t upset you did it, baby?”

  “Nope. She’s just some girl I knew in high school. Besides, if I’m going to be Mrs. Reed Dixon, I better toughen up a little.”

  “If?”

  “When,” I quickly correct myself. “I am definitely going to be Mrs. Dixon.”

  “How soon is that going to be exactly? I want to give you the wedding of your dreams but I don’t want to do that whole year of planning and waiting in limbo thing.”

  “Me either,” I tell him. “The wedding is important but I just want to start our lives together. I guess it all depends on how fast we can find a venue and I have to talk to my dad about the budget.”

  “I already spoke to your dad and worked out a compromise yesterday. Don’t worry about the budget. We’ve got it covered.”

  “You two are the best,” I tell him, my excitement about the wedding growing.

  “As far as the venue, have I mentioned my parents are on the board of the Enchanted Forest Arboretum in Aliso Viejo?”

  “No,” I say, trying to keep my mouth closed. “You most definitely did not.”

  “Oh, yeah, it has gazebos and waterfalls and wisteria—”

  “Do you think they would let us use it? It sounds perfect for a wedding.”

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” he says, holding down a button on his phone before putting it up to his ear. “Hey, Mom, I was calling to see if you and Dad would join us for dinner tonight.” I laugh as he holds the phone away from his ear with a grimace on his face.

  He nods his head, letting me know she’s agreed.

  “Do I look okay?” I ask Reed while I look myself over.

  We’re waiting for his parents in the living room. Feeling his arms around me, I turn into them.

  “You look good enough to eat and I plan to do just that later.”

  “Reed.” I try to free myself of him but he holds me steady.

  “Why are you nervous?”

  “I don’t know. They’ve never been to our place. I mean they’ve been here before but not when it was our place.”

  “It looks even better now. Just you being in it makes it look a million times better.”

  “Aww,” I say, kissing him.

  Something gets his attention over my shoulder and I turn to see Ginger escorting his parents in.

  Greta comes over to greet me while Carl says hello to Reed.

  “Is this a…” she starts to ask a question about the ring on my hand.

  “Why don’t we sit for dinner,” Reed tells them. “We have a few things to share with you.”

  We eat, making small talk but there is a charge in the air from his parents doing their best not to ask questions. I catch them eyeing the ring on my wedding finger more than once.

  “Mom, Dad,” Reed finally decides to put them out of their misery. “I’ve asked Reagan to be my wife and happily, she’s agreed.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Carl says, while Greta dabs at her eyes with her napkin.

  “We were hoping we could have the ceremony at the arboretum—”

  “Of course,” Greta jumps in to agree before he could finish. “Reagan, you’ll love it. It’s absolutely amazing. Myra and I were just talking about this very thing earlier.”

  “Myra,” Reed says, eyeing me. I try to hide in my wine glass. “Myra told you already?”

  “Oh, well, you know, she may have let a word or two slip,” Carl says, trying to cover for Greta’s slip up. “We sort of guessed it.”

  “You guessed it?”

  They both nod. I laugh when Reed’s face gives way to pure amusement.

  “I don’t know how I thought I could ever keep it from you for this long with both my siblings knowing,” he laughs.

  “We’re just so happy for you two,” Greta says, crying anew.

  We talk well into the night about the wedding and the visit with my family. Greta’s excited to meet my mother and Carl is already thinking about our combined family fishing trip since I told him my dad knows a lot of hotspots that are well hidden and not common knowledge. They’re genuinely happy for us and I almost burst with joy at the feeling of acceptance.

  “Reagan,” Greta says pulling me aside as Reed and I walk her and Carl to the door. “I just want to officially welcome you into our family. I loved you from the moment I met you.” She pauses before she speaks again and I have a feeling it’s something she’s been holding in for a long time. “You know I love all my children, but I’ve always worried about Reed the most because of the loss he suffered. I never thought he would…”

  She starts to cry all over again and I take her in my arms.

  “I’ll take good care of him, Greta,” I speak the words to her with my lips to her ear so only she can hear me.

  She pulls back to look at me, nodding her head unable to speak.

  “Greta, sweetheart, let’s go before you leave a larg
e saline puddle on their Italian marble floor.”

  I bite my lip to keep my laugh in when she rolls her eyes at him. I so see where her son gets his temper from. Reed smirks at them as they bicker while trying to work the lock on the door.

  “Oh,” Greta says, sticking her head back through the door to stop Carl from closing it. “When is the wedding?”

  “In a month,” Reed tells them.

  “We’ll plan the graduation and the wedding.” She claps happily as Carl pulls her back and closes the door.

  “Well, now you see what you’re getting with those two.”

  “I sure do,” I say wrapping my arms around him. “I’m getting everything I ever wanted. My dream is coming true and it’s all because of you.”

  “Oh, no, this is all you, baby. I never believed in any of this before. So many people look at me and they see a guy who looks like he has it all, but I had nothing until you. I never thought I could be content with life, but you have given me that and so much more. You showed me what living truly is and I plan on doing a hell of a lot of living with you. I’m going to show you this world you’ve opened up for me, baby, and it’s ours for the taking. We’ll create a whole new world.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “What is it?”

  “Now I have that song in my head.”

  He laughs.

  “Oh, you laugh now but wait until I start singing it out of the blue and out of key. Keep laughing and I might just sing it at our wedding complete with a princess outfit.”

  He raises an eyebrow at that and I realize I should have left off that last part as kinky as he is.

  “I can’t wait, baby.”

  “I was joking.”

  “No backing out now, Mrs. Dixon. I expect to see a cartoon princess singing at our wedding.”

  “Okay, we can hire someone. Make it a theme.”

  “No imitation will do. Not when I have the real deal. You are every sweet princess with a little bit of feistiness all rolled up into one.”

  “This is some kinky fetish for you, isn’t it?”

  He’s getting way too excited about the cartoon princess idea.

  “Ever since I was ten years old.”

  Oh, my God.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Six Months Later

  I drag myself through the front door just before midnight. I’ve spent more time than I ever want to again at work trying to sort through the proposals I needed to approve and putting out a few fires that sprouted up while we were honeymooning in Europe. I guess when the cat’s out of the country, the mice feel it’s safe to come out and play.

  I reset the alarm and make my way through the house. The lights on the back patio are still on illuminating the pool. The pitch-black ocean is only revealed by the white waves crashing to shore. The sight always calms me. I head to bed only to be greeted by Charlie, the shaggy little dog we found near starving and eating chips someone dropped on the sidewalk in London. I bend down to pet him. We had to jump through hoops to get him here but he’s worth it.

  He follows me through the house. I stop in the hall leading to our bedroom like I often do to look at the wedding gift Reagan gave me. It’s a painting of us at the piano in the living room. Charlie and I enter our bedroom with her still wide awake.

  “Baby, what are you still doing up?”

  “I’m worried about tomorrow. What if this whole thing’s for nothing?”

  She has an appointment with Dr. Bixel in the morning and we’re finally going to know if the VSB/TICI she had implanted three months ago was successful.

  I take her cheek in my hands and kiss her forehead.

  “It wasn’t for nothing, baby. At least now you won’t have to wonder.” She nods as I brush her hair from her shoulder and kiss it before lifting my head to speak to her again. “It doesn’t stop you from being nervous, does it?” She shakes her head and I smile at her not talking to me.

  “Make love to me,” she says. “I need my husband.”

  I moan at her needing me. The Dom in me is less than pleased at the way I melt for her. But fuck it, yeah, I’ll melt like ice for her every damn time she says those words to me.

  Despite being orgasmed into a coma last night, I wake with the sun. It doesn’t help that a very wet nose is nudging my face. As soon as my eyes are open, he goes for his leash.

  “You’re lucky you’re cute,” I tell Charlie, getting up out of my warm bed and leaving my hot husband to go brave the chill of the morning. I take him along the edge of the grounds and we walk along the path down by the water that connects our property to Hillary and Alex’s right next door.

  She fell in love with the house and she mentioned it to Alex. Evidently that’s all it took for the bug to bite him and they’re now planning their wedding.

  It’s beautiful this time of year, but you’d never know it was fall. I miss the deciduous trees that line our street back in Cottage Grove. I know they’re still shedding their autumn leaves making a beautiful fall patterned path for everyone to walk on and play in.

  My family is in town, including my brother in from Yale. They’re staying with us so they can join me at my appointment later this morning. I didn’t even try to stop them from coming. If I do get my hearing back today, there’s no way they would miss it.

  I thought long and hard about the two procedures, which one would work for me, what if neither of them worked. In the end, I decided to at least try. I was part of the hearing world for fifteen years. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t want to return to it given a chance. I know I would spend the rest of my life wondering what if. I’m used to living without hearing and I can go right on living without it so there really isn’t anything I have to lose. At least that’s what I tell myself most days and I’m able to convince myself it’s true. Other times when doubt gets in, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it.

  I shared a lot of my fears with Chloe. She’s someone that understands what I’m going through and what a life-changing decision it is to make. She gave me a new pair of eyes to see things through. Up until our conversations I was seeing it all negatively. Like I was choosing one life over the other which was painful for me because I truly love both.

  “It’s not like once you get your hearing back, we’ll revoke your Deaf Only membership card,” she signed to me.

  I rolled my eyes at my smart ass of a friend. Only she could put it in perspective for me that way.

  Thank God, my life with Reed was never part of the decision. I’ve never been so completely accepted by a man. I still teach him sign. I love demonstrating all the naughty words to him.

  The past six months has been a dream come true for me. I never knew I could love someone so much. I never knew I could feel love from another person so deeply. We’ll be fine either way and he makes sure I know that every day.

  Our life hasn’t been all fluffy clouds. I have to deal with a lot of scrutiny from social media. Being Mrs. Reed Dixon is a coveted title and a lot of women don’t think I’m up to par. We recently made the decision to disconnect from all those social sites, not that I really give a damn about what those women think of me. I’m still rocking my who gives a shit attitude and like Chloe, Myra, and Hillary always tell me, let those jealous haters do their jobs and more power to them.

  I suppose they have every right to be jealous. My man is a catch and I make damn sure he knows it. I’m also quick to let those bitches know that he’s already been caught and I have no plans on throwing him back in the water for someone else to get their hooks in him. He’s mine.

  I’m in an empty bed and I hate it. Waking up without my wife is the worst damn feeling in the world. Charlie’s leash is gone so I figure he must have gotten her to take him out for a walk. If anyone can get my wife out of bed early it’s that shaggy dog she fell in love with at first sight.

 
“Morning, Ginger,” I greet her, taking a seat at the island in the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Mr. Dixon. Reagan requested pancakes this morning. Shall I make you some as well?”

  “Sounds good to me. How long has she been gone?”

  “About forty minutes or so,” she tells me before busying herself with breakfast.

  I smile when I hear the familiar sound of paws running through the house and all-out laugh when Charlie misses his turn, overcompensates, and lands on his rump trying to get to his food dish for the breakfast Ginger just sat down for him.

  “How does he stay so skinny when he eats us out of house and home?” Reagan signs.

  “I wish I knew, baby.” I kiss her good morning and pull her into my arms to warm her up when I feel how cold she is. “You two enjoy your walk?” She nods before burying her head in my chest, snuggling into me.

  We eat in companionable silence. I can see her mind going a mile a minute the closer we get to her appointment time.

  “My family will meet us there,” she tells me out of the blue, reinforcing what I knew she was thinking about. “I’m going to go get ready.”

  She gives me a quick kiss and I grab her arm, pulling her between my legs when she walks past me.

  “I know it’s useless for me to tell you not to worry so much,” I tell her. “So, I won’t. Just know that we all love you.”

  “It means the world to me that you all do.”

  Chloe, Reagan’s parents, and her brother are all in the waiting room of Dr. Bixel’s office. Ultimately Reagan decided to let it be just the two of us in here when the VSB/TICI is activated.