“Haven’t you got anyone else?” Ben asked.
I shook my head. “I have the kids and I have the Smith’s, they love and accept me most of the time. It’s enough.”
“What about aunts, uncles and siblings?”
“No. I was the product of a one-night stand. Mum had a photo of my Dad but when we moved over here to the states, I thought why not? We could go and meet him and see what he’s like and stuff.” Why the fuck am I telling him this? Am I that emotionally fucked that I can’t shut my mouth?
“Did you find him?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I was three days too late. He died. I did go to the funeral. I stood back from the crowd because I didn’t really belong there but I did go. He had a son, so I have a have a half-brother.”
“Did you try and contact him?”
“Yeah, he wanted nothing to do with me. Probably figured I was after money or something or that I just wasn’t worth the time.” I shrugged and sat on the bed, running my hands through my hair. “I just wanted to check to see if he was ok after losing his Dad. When he responded he didn’t want to meet, I respected it. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and that is ok.” Where the fuck was this leading? We hadn’t really spoken other than to talk shit, now we are talking family? I changed the subject, “When am I supposed to be getting ready?”
“Well, now. The girls should be here very soon.” He stepped forward and sat on the bed beside me. “What is your brother’s name?”
“Doesn’t matter. If he’s anything like me, once his mind is made up then he won’t change it.”
“I’m trying to have a moment with you.” He grinned.
I looked confused, I know I did. “I’m not going to screw you no matter how much you are dying.” I held up my hands shaking my head.
Ben laughed. “No, not like that.”
“I’m not kissing you either.” I got up and moved away from him.
He doubled over laughing. “I won’t be doing that either.”
“I like you man, but you are friend zoned just like Richard.” I Shuddered. “Eww!”
“Brother zone me and I will feel safer.”
“Billy, and Gerrard are in that zone. Friend zone is appropriate.”
“Kate, I am your brother. So please, Brother zone me.”
I blinked as I looked up at him. I was right? I mean I did think he looked like him but then I’d only seen him once and from a distance. I went to talk and nothing came out. I was gobsmacked. All I could think of was… I’d been given head with in a meter of him! OMG!
My vision started going dark and for the second time in a few days, I fainted to Ben’s swiftly moving arms and embrace.
Charlie
I’d talked to Ian and he was in a much better frame of mind about getting remarried. Then I stopped in to see our parents and they just shook their heads and accepted it, neither was happy but weren’t going to stop it. When I stopped in and checked on Kate’s family who were all in her father in law’s room having like a family meeting, I was greeted like a brother. They were all dressed for the wedding and looked great.
“You all wrecked her yesterday,” I stated. “As if I didn’t wreck her enough. Please, I am asking you to be supportive. Ian is in a good frame of mind and so is Kate.”
“You wouldn’t know what is going on in her head,” Harry said softly. “You haven’t got a clue. She is about to make what I think to be a very big mistake.”
“So, you yell at her?” I asked. “You all ganged up on her. All of you. There wasn’t one person in her corner.”
“Yeah, well Ben seemed to be in her corner. Is she fucking him too?” Billy muttered.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “He’s her brother. Ben Henderson. Yesterday, he was the only one who was in her corner.”
“Look, I know that you and Ian have been tag teaming my daughter and I’m not happy about it. I am sorry you are ill Son…”
“I’m dying. I was given a month over two weeks ago,” I stated flatly. “I love your daughter. I promise you she will be well looked after when I go, to make everything worth it.”
“She will never accept it.” Nelly shook her head.
“She has already. She thinks it was part of the prenup,” I explained. “I hope to be nothing but a happy memory for her. To go out as I am, with me being me. Not some sick and decrepit man she felt sorry enough to fall in love with.”
“She doesn’t feel sorry for you,” Brian said.
I looked over at him.
“She loves you. She loves that idiot brother of yours too.” He was being sincere.
“He’s going to hurt her,” Gerrard muttered.
I shook my head. “He has had a massive attraction to her. Very chemical. He saw her and… I have only ever seen him do it once. The second she laid eyes on him, it was the same for her. Give him time to get his head around it. He lost his wife and was in a really bad way after.”
I spent five more minutes making sure that they weren’t going to cause trouble and be supportive before I went to Kate’s room.
The day before, I had so much fun with Ryan and Ella. They were great kids and I couldn’t wait to see them all dressed up. I was all suited up and ready to walk my Kate down the aisle. I knocked on her door.
Emma greeted me with a big smile dressed as a bridesmaid and looking beautiful in the dark blue. “Did you really pick the dress?” I don’t think she could look much happier.
Good, back to supporting Kate, right where you should be, I thought. I nodded walking in. “Does she like it?”
“Come look for yourself, I believe that she’s your daughter for the day?”
I grinned. “Yes, she is.”
Ella came over to me and did a spin
“Well now, you just look like a princess. You look beautiful.”
She blushed sweetly. “Thank you Daddy.”
My heart melted and Ryan walked in with his suit. “Now, there is a smooth, good-looking man.”
“It does look good.” He looked impressed.
See, little man, suits do look good.
I gave both kids a hug and then went to the bedroom and found Kate looking at herself nervously in the mirror. I could nearly picture my daughter standing there, I teared up and smiled. I wasn’t used to warm and fuzzy feelings and this—but this was what I would feel, if it was my daughter. Technically, I was walking my daughter down the aisle, she was inside Kate, I hoped.
The Aline gown that was full of lace and jewels. It had a cathedral length train on it. The bodice was tied up perfectly. She looked like an angel.
“You were beautiful when I married you, but as my daughter for the day, you look absolutely stunning,” I said softly going to her.
She looked at me in the mirror. “Ben is my brother.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I know.” I took some earrings out of my pocket and put them in her ears.
“I fainted when he told me.”
“I know that too.” I chuckled and put a necklace on her. I stroked her neck. “Are you ready? Ian is as nervous as the first time.”
“So am I,” she admitted.
I held out my hand. “Come on, paperwork is signed, let’s go get you married.” She took it and for the first time I realized she was trembling. I lifted her chin, looked deep into her eyes, and asked her the same question I would ask my daughter if she was like this. I didn’t want her to do something she didn’t want to do. Last night, she’d felt dirty and not in a good way. “Is he who you want? Is he who you love? Kate, you need to take me out of the equation. If you don’t want this, then please don’t go through with it because I have a fairytale in my head.” I was serious. I would pull the pin now if this wasn’t what she wanted.
“Yes Dad. He is,” she said softly, as her eyes welled. “But I love you too…”
I nodded and hugged her. “I know. Today though, love me like my daughter.” I touched her tummy. “And lay off the drinking. My babies are inside you.”
She smiled. “I
hope so.” She touched her belly.
We got to the roof where I had thrown my cash around and decked it out with white roses and fairy lights. It looked perfect.
Kate gasped and gazed up at me.
I smiled and squeezed her hand.
All the kids walked down first and then the girls.
With Kate on my arm shaking like a leaf, her veil down, she was ready. She and I walked towards Ian. I watched the look on his face and it was absolutely what I wanted to see.
Wonder, excitement, nerves and a little love. That chemistry kicking in that I’d been telling her family about. In that moment, I don’t think I’d ever felt so proud. I looked at Kate and she was right with Ian. I don’t think I could have wiped the smile off my face if I tried.
I gave her away, kissing her mouth one last time softly, like her dad would have before putting the veil back in place. I gave her hand to Ian. I shot him the look I would give to any man I deemed worthy of marrying my daughter and he nodded in understanding. I sat down next to Mom and Dad to watch.
A few times, I thought they would both faint. They said their vows and exchanged rings. Their hands shook, I smiled. I knew how that felt now. Only if I was to admit it, my hands had shaken because she was promising forever. I was only ever promising a night.
When it was time for them to kiss and they were now husband and wife in the eyes of God, Ian lifted her veil, his hand still shaking. When they kissed, it was perfect but they held onto each other as though they were holding on to life. Ian lifted his head and smiled at her and when she smiled—wow.
“I thought you were going to faint,” Ian said.
“I thought you were too.” She smiled.
“It is my privilege to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Ian and Kaitlyn Morrissey,” the Minister announced.
Kate
Oh, my goodness you should have seen it. How the hell did Charlie pull this off! I didn’t have a clue.
I was a grunt. I didn’t know fancy. I rarely wore dresses and he had me looking like a princess walking down the aisle to Prince Charming in a wedding gown so beautiful, I could never have dreamed it. We had photos before going downstairs to the reception.
If I thought upstairs was beautiful, it had nothing on the reception. It was a fairy-tale come true. The flowers and the tables.
The rings on my finger! I felt so overwhelmed. I was so grateful that my sham marriage felt and looked like my dream wedding.
The kids were on their best behavior during dinner and managed to sit still through the speeches, which were thankfully short after the last couple days. But not once, was anything said about all of this being Charlie’s idea or that he was sick. I got up, cut the cake with Ian and danced with him for our first dance.
He grinned at me on the dance floor. “He overdid it.
I smiled shyly. “It was more than I could have ever dreamed.”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Are you?”
I watched him as he answered, yes. He meant it but Charlie was weighing on his mind this was for him not for us. We stopped talking and just enjoyed our dance.
Charlie got the next dance for the Daddy Daughter dance. He looked tired. Pulling off a wedding like this and fucking my brains out last night, I couldn’t blame him.
Man, I really was a slut. “How are you holding up?” I asked him.
“I am the happiest man alive. How about you? Is it the wedding of your dreams?”
“It went beyond.” I smiled up at him. “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”
“I did. Our wedding though fun, was a travesty. I should have done this for you.”
“I just needed you,” I replied feeling my heart break. “It is just as memorable as this one.”
He kissed my forehead.
Charlie
“You have to be the most beautiful bride in history.” I smiled at her. I felt so proud of her right now. She’d carried herself flawlessly. Lady to the first degree. And not a drop of champagne.
Kate smiled and shook her head. “Only in your eyes.”
“You really are the fucking jackpot Kate.” I grinned at her.
She smiled at me with a blush on her cheek and tear in her eye.
I danced with Ella and Ava after Kate. The look on their faces as I made them feel like princesses made me feel like a million bucks. Little girls who were unjaded and innocent were just the most precious things in the world. Their smiles were enough for me to get wrapped around their little fingers.
The boys though, just liked to rock out and dance. They were just as precious as the girls with their innocence, but they both had and feisty side that I loved. This was while Harry danced with Kate before Brian pulled her into his arms talking to her. He had her laughing. It was good to see her relaxed.
I looked over at Emma who was dancing with Billy. She watched Kate with her husband and there wasn’t an ounce of jealousy. She adored her friend.
Kate had wonderful in laws who loved her dearly even though they fought like cats and dogs. Made me think and know her first husband was a very good man who didn’t hold back when he spoke his mind. I wondered what he would have thought of the last five days and what Ian and I had done to his little wife.
If it was me and she hadn’t moved on and he had got his hands on her and talked her into what we had, I would be cheering. She was a sexual being. And so damn flexible. I think he would have been cheering. We’d been good to her and made sure she was satisfied long before we were.
I never really liked weddings and didn’t really understand why. Probably because monogamy was boring and not for me. Now it was. I still had a few girls at the club I’d promised to whip the next time I went in but she was the only woman I would touch with my cock till the day I died.
I danced with Mom, Susan and Tammy. Then Carrie and Emma wanted to dance too. They were all so damn sassy. I was having a ball. I even got Nelly up to dance. Then I went and had a few drinks with the men. I decided, weddings were so much fun. The promise of forever. Both had been hurt terribly. I hoped this would be their happily forever after. Well, for two years at least.
The night was perfect. We drank and I managed to talk to everyone who mattered. This was my farewell to a lot of people.
When the night ended, the kids begged for a sleep over in my room. I had rarely babysat, so this was a novel treat.
Kate and Ian smiled as I went upstairs with all four children. I helped them get undressed and pulled the pins out of the girl’s hair. They chatted happily and told me a heap of their secrets…Kids are so weird; their secrets are so tiny but to them so huge.
They thought it was hilarious when I gave them all a shirt of mine to sleep in. They did look funny since they were little and my shirts were so huge. I lay in the middle of the bed and the girls snuggled into me as they boys lay beside them.
I watched them as they went to sleep and never had I seen anything so beautiful. Their innocence was just so rare to see in this day in age. All of them had lost a parent and all of them felt peace when they slept. Not like their surviving parents who never seemed to look at peace.
I lay there watching them. Thinking about my life. I’d done well for myself. I had built a company that I was very proud of. I had managed two degrees. I’d built my empire and I had the pleasure of bedding many women. I had a great family who had supported me.
Then I thought of my cancer diagnosis.
I went to four different doctors who told me there was nothing to be done but to make arrangements. I had to be certain before I showed my test results to Mom and Dad. They are both in the medical field. Both had just sat there looking it over again and again before I took it from them.
I will never forget the looks on their faces. Utter devastation. Completely different to the one when they told me they would adopt me when I was ten. But it showed the level of love that they did have for me. I’d never really doubted it but this proved that I was their son.
Tell
ing my siblings though, it had turned into a fucking 7 stages of grief party.
Ian put his fist through a wall and Richard, he kicked a solid coffee table and hurt his foot. He’d sworn so loud it echoed though Mom and Dad’s house. I had laughed so hard as the pain registered on his face before he hopped around on one foot swearing, he fell over the coffee table to which I had laughed even harder, I almost fell off my chair.
Tammy though, before Richard had his tantrum had sat on my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck and cried. But even she could see the funny side of Richard’s self-inflicted pain.
Finally, Richard had stared up at the roof and started to laugh.
Ian though, he sat against the wall looking like he’d been gut punched. Then we had gotten drunk, cried, laughed and hopefully accepted my fate.
I thought about it and it made me smile and cry. I had to ask myself, could I have done more? Settled and had a family. Was this success? I pondered that for a while and found I was actually happy with giving 70,000 people a job for them to earn a decent wage. I was happy with the charities I’d started and the work they did with veterans and the homeless and underprivileged children.
If I could go back and do it again, I would have had kids. They were just so cool. But maybe I had done it. Maybe Kate was pregnant. That thought made me smile. They would be good kids. I made a note to write a letter for a boy and a girl. Lessons from the grave…from their father.
I thought of Kate, I was so glad I’d met her and had the pleasure of having her. I fell asleep feeling uncomfortable amongst the little bed hogs but happy.
Kate
The next morning, I woke up to the phone going off. I found my phone and sleepily answered it. “Hello?”
The Vegas Random Page 18
