by Autumn, Kyle
Blake looks genuinely shocked about this as he stares with wide eyes at Chaz. But then he snaps out of it, smiles, and gives the crowd a little wave in acknowledgement. Hmm. Maybe Chaz didn’t tell him everything. I make a mental note to ask him about that later.
Chaz gazes over the rest of the crowd. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything all of you have done over the years. You all have my utmost respect, and if I can ever be of any help from this day forward, don’t hesitate to reach out. I wish you all the best, but if you’ll excuse me now…” His voice trails off, and then he peers at me and clears this throat. “I’d like to have my first dance with my wife.”
I melt when he kisses me in front of the whole room, and everyone claps and whistles. Then music starts playing and we amble to the middle of the dance floor, where he whisks me into a proper dancing stance and sways with me.
Everything that’s ever been missing from my life shines back at me from his eyes. Happiness, love, and generosity blaze in his gaze, and I soak up every ounce of it. I never thought I could have my simple life and be this incredibly happy, but I am. All thanks to a man who’s willing to go the extra mile for a life with me. A life we’ll both love and be proud of. I can’t wait to start it right now.
***
Chaz
I’ve quit my job and given up the life I know, but my wife—I’ll never get over using those words—is in my arms. There’s no way I could be happier than I am right now, in this moment, with her as we dance in front of our party guests. Well, I’m sure I’ll be happier as we live more life together, but right now, this is the best feeling ever. And I can see she feels the same way when I look into her gorgeous eyes. Eyes I’ll never get tired of gazing into. Because they belong to my wife. My wife.
I never thought I’d use those words. Or give up my company. But, when you’ve found something better, something you want more than the something you already have, you go after it. That’s what I did. I won the girl over, and she didn’t ask me to give my business up, but she deserves more of me than I’d be able to give while running the company. Plus, Blake is more than capable of handling it. I trust no one more to take it over. So it was time.
“I love you,” I tell Shiree when the song ends, pressing my nose to hers.
“I love you too,” she repeats as another song starts. But then she looks serious. “Are we crazy? We might be crazy.”
“We’re crazy about each other,” I say, smiling. I kiss her. “That’s all that matters.”
She grins back. “Well,” she says slowly, “you are definitely crazy. I’m not the one who publicly quit my job. Or quit my job at all.”
After a long exhale, I raise an eyebrow. “We went over this. You know I have more money than we’ll be able to spend in our lifetime, thanks to your inexpensive way of life. And I have no desire for the comforts money can buy when I have you by my side.”
“I know.” She gazes at the floor. “But it’s weird. I didn’t marry you for your money, so—”
“I know,” I tell her. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the fact that we have a lot of it. I want you to think of it as your own. And I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Your job will only get in the way of that.” I wink at her.
She huffs out a breath. “Fine.” Then she rushes out with, “But it’s only because you said so. Not because it was my plan all along.”
“Or was it?” I question, playfully squinting at her.
Now, she winks at me. “I guess you’ll never know.”
Before we can banter any further, her three friends approach us. Shiree introduces me to Patti and Zo, who politely shake my hand and smile. But their smiles drop and it goes south fast.
“We haven’t heard much about you,” Zo says.
“And the little we have heard,” Patti continues for her, “hasn’t been all that good.”
“Relax,” Shiree tells me. “You guys know me. I wouldn’t have made this decision lightly, and I can’t wait for you all to get to know each other.”
Lyra says, “For you, Shiree, we’ll keep an open mind.”
That makes me smile.
“But don’t think for a second,” she says to me, “that I won’t cut your balls off if you hurt her.”
I raise my hands in surrender. “Ladies, I don’t think it’s her heart you have to worry about. She has all the power in this relationship, I promise you.”
“Trust me.” Lyra flits her gaze over my shoulder. “I’m not worried about yours.”
I turn to see what caught her attention and find Blake sauntering up behind me. When he reaches us, she’s staring at the floor.
“Ladies,” he says as in a greeting, tipping his head. Then he extends a hand to me. “Chaz, you didn’t have to do that.” He appears grateful though. “I’ll take good care of your baby.”
I take his hand and shake it as the women go get drinks. “I wouldn’t have picked you if I’d thought otherwise. Sorry to surprise you with that though. It was all very…spur of the moment.”
“So I gathered,” he says. “But it looks like you’re happy, and that’s all that matters.”
“That’s exactly what I told her moments ago.” I beam a smile. I can’t help myself anymore.
“I’m glad, man. I’m really glad.”
I’m still looking at him, but his gaze is following the women. If he’s checking my wife out, I’ll lose it on him. I already almost did during the phone call earlier when I found out what happened. That he warned Shiree away from me. Blake insisted that he was just trying to protect me, and he apologized profusely. Which I believe. He’s a stand-up guy, but he has his overprotective moments. Just like I have my caveman ones. We understand each other, and it all worked out in the end.
“The fuck are you looking at?” I finally ask him, unable to suppress the caveman moment.
But he just shakes his head. “Nothing.” Then he looks at me, a sadness I’ve never seen before in his eyes. “Not a thing.”
I raise an eyebrow at him but decide that it’s my wedding night, so I should let it go. I’ll ask him about it later. Right now, I just want to be with my wife. My wife.
“All right,” I say. “We’ll go over the particulars later. I’m gonna go see if I can have another dance with my wife.”
We shake hands again, and then I’m off. When I reach her, I slip my hands around her waist from behind. She squeezes me to her.
In her ear, I whisper, “Wanna get out of here?”
“Already?” she quietly replies. “We just got here.”
“Yes, but I don’t work for them anymore,” I tell her, spinning her around to face me. “So it’s not like I need to be here anyway.” I wink at her.
She gasps slowly. “Well, okay, then, Mr. Masters.”
I offer a bent arm her way. “Mrs. Masters.”
She accepts, waving goodbye to her friends, who wave back. Patti and Zo are smiling, but Lyra looks like she’s forcing her lips to curve. I make a mental note to have Shiree check in on her later.
For now, though, I’m ready to make the most of the rest of my wedding night. With my wife.
Epilogue
Chaz
Mrs. Charles Masters and I have had three blissful months of marriage. But, as I walk down the aisle of the closest drug store, part of me feels like the blissful bit is about to come crashing to a halt. No one who goes looking for a pregnancy test at midnight is feeling all that blissful.
Well, that’s not totally true. The idea of my baby being inside her has me ready to fly through the roof from joy. I fucking did that. We made a baby. At least, she thinks so. She’s vomited enough for no better reason for the last two weeks. I asked her quite a few times to go see the doctor, but she kept saying that she’d be fine. So I finally demanded she go to the doctor to see what’s wrong.
That’s when it clicked for her though. It was like a light bulb had gone on in her head. Her eyes lit up as they went wide, and her eyebr
ows rose to her hairline. And her smile—damn, that smile. Melts me every time. Naturally, however, it’s now the earliest hour on a Saturday morning and her doctor’s office won’t reopen to schedule appointments until Monday morning. And my wife couldn’t wait that long to find out.
So here I am, perusing the family planning section. Really, I’m shell-shocked, staring at all the boxes like I’ve never seen the inside of a drug store before. Though I suppose I haven’t seen much of them throughout the last few years. What could I have possibly needed that I couldn’t have sent Jay out for? I almost asked Shiree if I could call him to go get a test for us, even though he retired. But, when she knew what I was about to say, she gave me that look. The one that says, Don’t even think about it, you giant idiot. I’m getting used to that look. I won’t tell her, but I kinda love it.
Though I’m also staring because taking this box home means my life is about to change. Whether she’s pregnant or not, things won’t be the same anymore. Either we’ll be ecstatic that we’re having a baby or we’ll be upset that we’re not having a baby. And then the aftermath will ensue.
God, a baby. We’ve talked about having them. We both definitely want them. We weren’t kidding when we talked about our plans over three months ago. Though I don’t think either of us really thought it would happen so soon. Especially considering that we’ve only made love without a condom a handful of times—all on or before our wedding night. So we won’t even have that long before the baby gets here.
Holy shit. A baby.
Hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself here. She might not be pregnant, but if she isn’t, then what the fuck else is wrong with my wife? I don’t even want to entertain the idea, so let’s just go with her being pregnant. I’d much rather have a wife and baby than… Stop. Done.
Pregnancy tests. Focus, Chaz.
But I can’t. There are so many damn boxes. They all say different things. She didn’t tell me what to look for, though I assume she hasn’t had much experience down this aisle, either. 99% accurate! Results in two minutes! Results 5 days before your missed period! Geez. Did she miss her period? I guess I don’t even know. We’ve spent the last three months in a haze of making love whenever she’s not at work. So she must have.
“Can I help you, sir?” an older woman in the drug store’s uniform asks. “You look a little lost.” Her lips tip up in a small smile.
I shake myself out of my stupor. “Umm, yeah. My wife…” Then I trail off and just point to the boxes on the shelf.
“Ahh.” She grins knowingly before taking a few boxes off the shelf and handing them to me. “Any of these should work. Congratulations,” she says and winks at me.
“Yeah…” is all I can say. But then I realize what just happened. “Thank you,” I call after her before shaking my head again. I’m going to be a dad.
A thrilling tingle races through my veins. I no longer need an heir for my company, as I stuck with my resignation and Blake’s done a fine job in my old shoes—even if he’s been a fucking grump lately. But I still want a family. I still want to have and raise well-behaved children with my strong-willed wife. So, if she’s not pregnant this time, I’ll make sure she is the next time. Though it’s scary, it feels so right to think that she’s going to have our child.
My wife is going to have our child. Things I never thought I’d say—but I’m fucking elated that I have.
As I go to leave the aisle, I almost knock a person over in my haste. When I put my hands out to steady her, the boxes in my arms clatter to the floor. Then I realize that Lyra, Shiree’s best friend, is the one I ran into. We’ve seen her a few times over the last few months, and I have to say I really like her. She’s always there for my wife when she needs her, and she did kind of have my back at the beginning. Then she didn’t, but then she did. And she was the only witness at our wedding, so I’ll be forever grateful to her.
Right now, though, she looks disheveled. Her baggy sweatshirt hangs off her frame, and her hair is in a messy ponytail. And she’s in the same family planning aisle I’m in…
When she’s recognized me, she says, “Hey, Chaz,” and then averts her gaze. But it lands on all of the pregnancy tests on the floor, so her eyes go wide and her jaw drops. Then she looks at me again. “For Shiree?”
I nod and grin as I bend to pick all of the boxes up. “But shh. We’re not sure yet, and I’m sure she’ll tell you when we know for sure.”
Slowly, she nods back at me as she helps me on the floor. She also looks a million miles away, her gaze glazing over a little.
“You okay, Lyra?” I ask, squinting and tilting my head.
“What? Yeah,” she replies distractedly. “I’ll see you later.” Then she hands the boxes to me and darts around me.
Once she’s passed me, I glance over my shoulder to make sure she really is okay. She seems a little lost, but that’s how I felt when I got here at midnight too. When she skips over the pregnancy tests, she too glances over her own shoulder and keeps going when she sees that I’m still standing here.
Whatever’s going on is her business, and I think she knows she can talk to me if she wants or needs to, so I head to the cashier to pay for everything.
When I’m back in Shiree’s—our—car, driving back home to my wife—and, hopefully, our unborn child—that thrilling tingle turns into full-on excitement. I don’t even care that it’s after midnight and I should be asleep next to Shiree after a long and thorough fucking. I’ll drive to the damn drug store every single night at midnight for whatever she wants if she’s pregnant. Well, to be honest, I’d do that even if she weren’t pregnant. Nothing about how much I love my wife has changed since we met—except that I love her more and more every day. I’d go to the ends of the Earth for her if she asked me to.
The best part about it is that I know she feels the same way.
***
Shiree
I’d go to the ends of the Earth for my husband. But, if he knocked me up already… Well, I’d be happy. So happy. But it’ll mean he is the cause of what’s likely been morning sickness. I know he’ll do and get whatever I need though. He’s already proving that by going to the drug store for a pregnancy test at midnight, so I’m not worried. At least, not about him.
When he gets back, I hop off my couch and rush over to the door. He has two bags full of pregnancy tests.
“Did you buy the whole store?” I ask. I want to laugh, but I’m too nervous.
“Anything for you, my dear,” he says wistfully. He kisses my cheek and then opens one of the bags. “Take your pick. The woman at the store helped me pick them out.”
I release a deep breath and choose a box at random. Then I look at my husband before spinning to go to the bathroom. But he stops me.
“Hey. Want me to go with you?” he asks.
I shake my head. “You don’t have to be in there when I’m peeing, but thanks.” I smile at him, but I don’t think it reaches my eyes. I’m worried about the outcome.
I can see it in his eyes now. He wants this. When I asked him to get the tests, he looked dazed. Maybe a little concerned. But there’s a sparkle of hope in his gaze now, and I don’t want to disappoint him. I don’t want to be disappointed, either.
“I’ll come out when I’m done,” I tell him and then go the rest of the way to the bathroom down the hall.
My bathroom. Our bathroom. Whatever.
He moved into my house the day after our engagement-slash-wedding party and sold his own shortly after. This had become his home, so this is where he wanted to stay. Which worked perfectly for me. I had no interest in living in a giant mansion—though, as long as I’m with Chaz, I don’t really care where we are. But the money he got from selling it will certainly come in handy if we’re about to have a baby.
Sure, we have more than enough for us, but you can never have enough money when you have children. Because, if Chaz has his way, we’ll have at least one more. And who knows if we’ll stop there. For right now, I have to focus
on the one who might be growing in my belly. So that’s what I do.
I pee on the stick to find out. And then set it on the sink and rush out of the bathroom to get my husband.
“That was fast,” he says, standing up from the couch. He looks at me earnestly. “So?”
“We can check together,” I tell him, holding my hand out. “But it’ll be a minute or two, okay?”
“Sure.” He takes my hand, and we walk together to the bathroom.
But I don’t go in yet. “Hey,” I say, tugging on his hand. “Either way, we’re okay, right?”
He gathers me in his arms and presses my face against my chest. “We’re always going to be okay.” He rubs his hand up and down my back in a comforting gesture. Then he pulls away. “Oh, you know what? I saw Lyra at the store just now. You might want to call her.”
“Huh. I hope she’s okay.” I try to think if anything has been wrong with her lately. Nothing sticks out except that I haven’t heard from her in a week or so. “I’ll talk to her in the morning.” Then I put my hands on his chest. “Right now, I just want to check on our future.”
So we do. Together, we enter the bathroom. We look at each other one last time before we find out that we’ll be the two of us for only a little while longer. At the same time, we both bring a hand to my stomach. Tears fill my eyes as his white smile glitters at me. They are tears of joy though, and I’m sure I’m mirroring his smile. Then he kisses me, and when it deepens, it reminds me of how we created this situation. How we made this baby and why we’re so good together.
I’m so blessed and happy. I honestly didn’t think I could be this happy in this life. And I never thought in a million years that I’d be happy with Chaz back when he was just Charles Masters to me. Now, though, I’m Mrs. Masters. He’s living in my small house, out of the spotlight, and we’re making our own life together. One we’ll share with a little one soon.
