Unsurprisingly Complicated

by Claudia Burgoa

  “Perfect, let’s have breakfast. Later, we’re heading to the shelter,” Nine announces. “We’re adopting a dog. Oh, by the way, Daddy said that I can spend your entire fortune on the wedding, as long as I agree to a ridiculous white dress and letting you walk me down the aisle.”

  “For you, whatever you want, but not the entire fortune.” Chris ushers us inside. “Babe, hurry. We have a new business transaction to look into. You’re going to love me even more after I tell you the new plans. Maybe it was good idea that we didn’t kill the boy, after all. Not ideal, but we can work with it.”

  Nine’s brown eyebrows raise as she stares at me suspiciously. I walk toward her and use my thumb to smooth the creases forming on her forehead and give her a chaste kiss. If they buy the house, she’s going to love it.

  I zip the weekender bag and look around the room, wondering if I’m forgetting anything. Staring at the ring on my finger, I wonder where Mason is. Instead of waiting for him to appear, I walk around the house searching for him.

  He’s in the backyard, tossing the ball for Wade, our new furry child.

  “He’ll be fine,” I assure him. “Kowalski and Karen are our friends and will take good care of him.”

  This weekend we are all going to Albany to visit the family. Gabe and Chris want to introduce Mase to the family at the same time we extend the invitation to our wedding.

  I’m getting married!

  This entire year has been complicated, hectic, pleasant, and full of surprises. The best surprise was falling in love with my best friend, and now planning the beginning of the rest of our lives—together. To think that one crazy and impulsive decision to hop on that plane began to reconstruct my life a couple of years ago. From family-less, heartless bitch, I’m now surrounded by so much love. My fathers are the best parents in the world, and we have the best relationship a daughter can ask for. My brothers are insanely annoying, and I wouldn’t have them any other way. We live close by and support each other like never before. The crazy trip to Santa Barbara not only saved my life, it helped me find myself and the way to build a life that I love.

  I decided we should get married in Santa Barbara the weekend before Thanksgiving. The same exact house where my parents fell in love, where Mase’s and my story began, and where my parents promised to love each other and decided to start a family.

  “I love you,” Mase whispers in my ear, dragging me out of the happy haze. I squeeze his hand and he squeezes back. My heart swells because he’s not afraid to love anymore. “Marry me. I can get a marriage license and make you my wife today.”

  “Ha, they’ll kill you.” I point toward my parents’ home. “I’m thankful they agreed with my wedding plans. When Gabe proposed to pay for the wedding, he offered millions of dollars—he’s ridiculous.” He just wanted the best for his baby girl. I told him that the best for me would be to have an intimate ceremony. Santa Barbara is perfect, meaningful. My parents are the epitome of a ridiculous couple who want to do everything for their children. They are selling the house next door because next week I’m moving out. No reason to keep it; their daughter is no longer living close by. They think they’re fooling me. I know the silly men bought the house next door to our new home—stalkers. MJ can’t keep a secret when it doesn’t pertain to him.

  “Ready to head east?” I ask Mason. “My grandparents are going to adore you.”

  “As much as Milli loved you, or less?” We came back yesterday from a short trip to Vancouver where I met part of his family. “Because she adored you, Nine.”

  Milli, his grandmother, gushed over me the entire time. She taught me how to cook a traditional Japanese dinner. Then taught me a few words in Japanese and gave me a list of Japanese names for when we decide to have babies. Part of Mase’s family will fly down to Santa Barbara for the wedding. My parents have rented a small hotel to room our guests.

  The doorbell rings. Neither one of us move. My parents and brothers said they’d come by when they were done packing and ready to go.

  “Good, we’re not interrupting the morning coital session,” MJ’s thick grumpy voice makes me turn around.

  “They woke you up, babe?” He nods. I open my arms and he walks into them. “You can sleep on the plane. Want coffee?”

  “That’s a cool dog.” JC’s in the kitchen fighting with my coffee maker while Wade stares at him. “He looks like a Max, not a Wade.”

  That’s a funny statement. In fact, that’s his old name. Max. Ana, his previous owner, named him after some kind of teenage crap she didn’t want to explain. Last week, when we arrived at the shelter, she stood in the parking lot talking to her dog. Her black hair covered her entire face, though it barely touched her shoulders. She apologized to Max for what she was about to do, hoping he’d forgive her. The sobbing and sad words broke my heart.

  “He’s yours?” I asked the obvious. She nodded. “How is it, having a dog? I’ve never had one in my entire life. I have a kitty, but my fiancé and I want to adopt a dog.”

  From there, she calmed down and we began to discuss Max. She ended up telling me about her situation. Kind of homeless, jobless, and penniless. In order to have a roof over her head, she had to give him up—Max.

  We not only adopted a new furry child, but we also found a friend. Ana reminded me of lonely, bitter AJ. Maybe I’m wrong, but I can always use a friend.

  “His name used to be Maximus,” I tell JC. “His owner had to let him go, but I have a new friend and a puppy.”

  “New friend?” JC prepares a second cup of coffee. “Hot new friend?”

  Mason enters the room frowning at me.

  “Is Ana hot, Mase?” I ask my fiancé, putting him in a very uncomfortable situation. “Remember, big, dark eyes that shine, long black hair and that beautiful, olive colored skin?”

  “She’s not bad looking.” Mason shakes his head. “Not your type Decker, she’s no skinny, starving artificial model. Too normal for you. MJ might be able to work his magic.”

  JC’s jaw clenches and he gives Mase a glare, but doesn’t say a word.

  “Dude, sorry, I just don’t think your sister will appreciate if you use Ana for one of your nights.”

  “What happened?” MJ snatches the mug JC holds, staring at him with worrisome eyes. “Who stole your puppy, Jacob?”

  JC shakes his head, but my chest is hurting.

  “Everything okay, Jacky?” I ask him as I hug him tight, trying to take the pain away.

  “No, nothing will ever be okay, Ainsy. But I promised, right?” I nod, trying to smooth the big knot in my throat and the tears that threaten to come out. “As long as I have you and Mattie, I’ll always try my best.”

  “Hire a contractor, boy,” Christian, my father-in-law, told me.

  I chose to ignore him, and now I have to pay double to have the renovations of the house done before the entire family arrives. Those are the consequences of procrastinating, plus having to deal with the most impatient person in the world while she’s being attacked by hormones and the need to redecorate. Implanting a bug on the servers of YouTube has crossed my mind as my wife is a fan of watching DIY videos and renovating the house based on them.

  The corner of my eye perceives some slight movement, and looking up, I find my adorable wife wobbling into my office as she holds her iPad—I must find a way to hide it. She lifts her gaze from the tablet, and her shiny green eyes make me forget why I ranted. For her, I’ll pay to have the house demolished and rebuilt within the next twenty-four hours. That curly hair is tied into a bun, and she’s wearing a pair of leggings that show her shapely legs, which sprout beneath her adorable round belly, pregnant with my baby.

  “Mina emailed me her itinerary.” She grins.

  Great, my mother now has a traveling plan. That’s worse than my wife wanting to have the nursery done as soon as possible and renovate the guest bathroom, too. I finished the nursery in a day, but I’m still dealing with the bathroom.

  “How do I tell her that she’ll
stay next door?”

  “Shoot me now,” I mumble. “Why next door? We have plenty of room here.” Gabe and Chris Decker decided to make next door their permanent residence. It happened slowly; at first they visited once a month. Then twice, staying longer each time, and ever since we announced that Nine’s pregnant, they haven’t left the state. They want to keep an eye on their own baby—my wife.

  “Mina arrives on Saturday.” I don’t see the problem as she gives me a date. “That’s five days from today.”

  Nine narrows her eyes as if I said the wrong thing.

  “Your father and his new wife are arriving tomorrow.” I wait for her to continue after my first reaction to her news. “I can’t send them next door to my parents, just like that. First come, first serve.”

  “A ten room home.” I show her ten fingers.

  “Yes, but since Arthur married, Mina can’t stand him,” she grumbles. “Once a year for a couple of days is bearable. I doubt we want to deal with the baby shower, the families, and their new feud.”

  Like me, Mom lived with the delusion that my father loved her. Once he retired and found a nice lady to spend his time with, Mom snapped. She divorced husband seven. Married husband number eight when Dad married Genevieve. Having my parents in the same room isn’t too pleasant, but they both swore to behave for the sake of their grandchild. I threatened them that if they want to see their grandchildren, they better compose themselves.

  I send the email to the contractor, accepting his irrational quote, then rise from my seat and walk to Ainse to give her a quick peck on the lips. I lean down to kiss her belly and say to the baby, “As a favor to you, I’ll never divorce this woman.” I feel a kick, which fills my heart with joy. It never fails; each time my baby hears my voice there’s movement. At least one kick.

  “A favor to our baby?” Ainse huffs placing a hand on her back. “Worse, she’s already siding with you.”

  “Never a favor. I’d never make the same mistake twice—leaving you. I. Love. You. I’d die without you.” I kiss her lips, lifting her chin as I stare in her green mirrors. There’s a little moisture accumulating inside. Those crazy hormones make her cry each time I melt her heart—that’s what she says. “Are you okay?”

  “Some of those Braxton Hicks contractions I had a week ago, nothing to worry about. We are at the thirty-two week mark, five to six more to go.”

  Last week we made seven trips to the hospital for those contractions. Unless she has stronger ones less than five minutes apart, we shouldn’t worry much. Yet we worry for other reasons. Ainse’s diabetes makes her pregnancy high-risk. Years ago we lived through the loss of James. I shake away the thoughts because if I had known back then everything she was going through, I would’ve taken her with me. Maybe James would still be with us.

  “We don’t know if it’s a he or a she,” I remind her. I bend down and kiss our peanut. “I love you, baby.” I then straighten to continue my conversation. “Wade wants a baby brother. Where is he?”

  After we rescued Wade two years ago—well, him and his owner Ana, Ainse’s best friend—he has become an important part of our family. Even Toby took well to sharing the family with him.

  “Papi came for him.” She smiles, loving that Gabe and Chris care for Wade and Toby as if they were their grandchildren. “My parents went hiking to Green Lake and invited him to go along. I’m sure our furry children have no preference on what sibling they get, as long as the baby loves them as much as we do. About your parents?”

  “I’ll fix it.” I cup her chin, kiss her nose, and then her mouth. “Now, tell me the truth, how are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine, Ten, though I could use some cuddling.” Her bright eyes plead along with her words to be pampered, and I can’t refuse her request. “Ana arrives tonight, my grandparents tomorrow morning, your dad’s in Vancouver picking up Milli and should arrive tomorrow, too. Mae might come by to surprise Ana. Please, I need you and me time before this house becomes a zoo, Mr. Decker-Bradley.”

  I groan. After all this time I can’t get used to that last name. We agreed she’d take my last name if took one of hers. This woman has me wrapped around her little finger. If someone had told me as a kid that I’d fall for Ainsley Decker, I wouldn’t have believed it. Nevertheless, there’s a letter that confirms I’ve loved her forever and gave her my heart at the age of eight. Days, like today, weigh on me that I almost lost the best thing that has happened to me—her. My fear of the unknown. I’d like to kick my own ass for hurting her, mostly because the last couple of years have been the best of my life, so far.

  “No.” Ainse touches my jaw as if she knows what I’m thinking about. We’re synced that way. “Please don’t think about the past.”

  I take her hand as we head toward the staircase. “Let’s go and pamper you, woman. We can discuss names. Elle Even is perfect. Get it? Eleven.”

  “No, no, and no.” She turns down any name I correlate with numbers.

  “What about Alexis? That is x-i-s at the end. Six backwards?” Ainse huffs. “Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Oliver, Tony… ?”

  “Mathematical names, numbers, or equations will not be part of our baby’s name. I love you, but no. Also, no superhero or alter-ego names.”

  “I love you too, Nine, with all my heart.” I kiss her like I do every time, as if it’s the first and the last time we’ll do so.

  Making our way to the master bedroom my phone rings. A number I don’t recognize appears on the screen, and I decide to take the call.

  “Bradley speaking.”

  “Bradley, I need you to bail me out,” I hear from the other side of the phone. My brother-in-law, JC.

  “I do that too often,” I mumble, trying to keep that between us as my wife doesn’t know much about her brother’s episodes.

  “This time I’m using my phone call before they shove me in the holding cell at the police station. Downtown Seattle, get me out of here.”

  A huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard to help me bring this story to live. Paulina and Andie, they listened to my first thoughts about the plot—for months. They are a couple of troopers.

  A big thank you to Jordan Rosenfeld, who helped me through the creative part. Chasity who guided me to find the best way to tell the story and puts up with my crazy moments of madness—love you for that and more.

  Thank you to my friend, editor and everything: Carol Allen, she makes sense of my doodles and polishes them until they shine. I love you girl.

  Huggeronies to my beta readers, Gloria Herrera, Wendy Metz, Christina McPherson-Mock, Deb Devita, Stephanie Neighbor and Paulina. The time you gave my story means the world to me. Thank you!

  Thank you to Hang Le for producing the perfect cover, I couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to wrap this story than what you created. Dr. Christopher Thomas, a great friend and also the one who answers my medical questions so my books are as accurate as possible. If I missed something is all on me, not him.

  All the bloggers that have so far supported my books. My readers for following me, writing reviews and to those who write me those amazing notes telling me that my stories touched them. My fellow writers, thank you for your support.

  Let’s not forget my family. The husband, children and dogs who not only support me, but keep me grounded even with all the nonsense that flows in my household. My friends, for listening to my ideas and putting up with my book venting while we’re out having fun. Thank you for still taking me out of the house from time to time.

  Born on the mystical day of October 30th in the not so mystical lands of Mexico City, Claudia grew up with a childhood that resembled a caffeine-injected soap opera. Seventeen years ago she ventured to the lands of her techie husband—a.k.a. the U.S.—with their offspring to start a new adventure.

  She now lives in Colorado working as a CFO for a small IT company, managing her household filled with three confused dogs, said nerd husband, two daughters wrought with fandoms and a son who thinks he’s the boss
of the house. To survive she works continually to find purpose for the voices flitting through her head, plus she consumes high quantities of chocolate to keep the last threads of sanity intact.

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  Unexpected Series

  Unlike Any Other

  Life Series

  Where Life Takes You

  Next To You

  A Knight's Tale

  Getting By

  Standing By