Here Comes The Bride

by Sadie Grubor

  "This is my closet, here, and that’s yours," I pointed to her closet, walked over and opened the door.

  "I think this is the size of my first dorm room." She entered the walk in closet and looked around. Her expression turned serious. "Whatever you do, don’t talk about or show Phoebe the size of this closet! Okay?"

  "Huh?"

  "She’ll want to go shopping to fill up the closet, so just don’t," she laughed.

  "As long as that means you’re not going to fight me about sleeping in the same room, it’s a deal." I smirked.

  "That’s sneaky, Iverson." She playfully narrowed her eyes at me.

  I shrugged. "Hey, I do what I have to do."

  "Uh-huh…sure."

  "Over on this side is the sitting area."

  "A sitting area in the bedroom?" She scoffed.

  "Hey, I didn’t design the room."

  "True," she agreed. "So, please tell me we’re done. I’m already confused." She sat down in a chair.

  "That’s about it." I sat down next to her.

  "Master Iverson?" Looking toward the door, Jay stood there stoically.

  "Come in, Jay." I stood. "Lilli, this is Jay. Jay, this is my wife, Lilli." I couldn’t help it. I liked calling her my wife.

  "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Iverson," Jay bowed his head to her.

  "Oh God, don’t bow! And, please, call me Lilli." She laughed and stuck her hand out to him. Jay smiled and shook her hand.

  "Master Iverson, your luggage has arrived. Do you want it brought up to your room?"

  "Yes, please." Jay turned to walk out. "Thanks."

  "Of course, Master Iverson" He pushed the double doors open widely.

  "Master Iverson?"

  "Yes, Mrs. Iverson?" She rolled her eyes and smacked my arm.

  "Why don’t you tell him to call you Aidan?" She wrinkled her brow.

  I shrugged.

  "He’s always called me something like that. Since I was young, it’s been Master Iverson and my grandfather was Mr. Iverson. It’s just a tradition, I guess."

  "Oh-Kay." Just then the luggage was brought in. Lilli, of course, tried to help.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Lilli

  "Lilli, quit before you get hurt. Let them bring the luggage in." Aidan lectured.

  "I’m not used to people doing everything for me." I argued as I watched the men carry the trunks and bags in.

  "Well get used to it." He was so close, his breath fanned over my neck. I shivered.

  Moving to one of the trunks, I started pulling out the dirty clothes.

  "Put all your dirty items over here." Spinning around, a plump, gray haired woman stood looking at me.

  "Mrs. White," Aidan exclaimed and rushed to hug her, planting a large kiss on her cheek.

  "Oh! Aidan, my boy!" She hugged him tightly. "You’re finally here to stay." She pulled back smiling, clearly thrilled he was here. "So…" Aidan looked at her funny. She smacked him in the head.

  I’m so gonna love her.

  "Introduce me, boy!" She motioned to me and Aidan laughed.

  "Mrs. White, this is my wife, Lilli. Lilli, this is Mrs. White." I smiled brightly as she pulled me into a large hug.

  "Oh, my dear, welcome!" I hugged her back. She pulled away. "If you need anything at all, you just let me know."

  "Can you smack him again? That was great," I laughed.

  "Hey," Aidan grumbled playfully.

  "Oh Aidan, my boy, you’ve got yourself a feisty one." She laughed and turned back to look at him. "I love her already."

  "Well, as long as she has your approval, I suppose I’ll stay married to her." He laughed.

  "What?" I exclaimed. "I have to stay married to you?" I stuck my finger down my throat, making fake gagging noises.

  "You know what…" Aidan grabbed me by the waist and tossed me over his shoulder. "I can easily carry you to the pool!"

  "Don’t you dare," I smacked his back.

  "I definitely see the life coming back into this old house." Aidan turned and looked at Mrs. White’s thrilled face. I had to twist to see her expression. She truly was happy, almost joyous.

  Aidan smacked my ass before putting me down. I screamed and, once on my feet again, smacked his head before hiding behind Mrs. White.

  Leaning to the side of Mrs. White’s head, I whispered in her ear. "Tell him to behave."

  "She won’t team up with you, she’s on my side." Aidan exclaimed.

  "Phhhttt!" I snorted, "We women stick together."

  "Oh, you two…" she shook her head, "Aidan, behave! Go through your luggage."

  "Traitor," he chuckled at Mrs. White.

  "I knew I loved you." Kissing her on the cheek, I giggled and went back to my luggage.

  Using the ruse of sorting my clothes, I tried to process the marriage, the house, the same bedroom. It was all so much. This bedroom alone was about the size of the apartment Dixon and I had lived in. It was ridiculous.

  Our first night back, our presence was demanded at Viola and Liam’s house for dinner. She wanted to hear about the island and if I enjoyed it. I think there was a small glimmer of hope in her eye that Aidan and I would’ve ‘connected’. However, I’m pretty sure I saw the glimmer die when Aidan and I acted just as before – married friends. Arriving back at the house the tension started to build.

  Once in the bedroom, I went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. After slipping into a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, I emerged. Aidan wasn’t here, so I climbed into bed – alone.

  Tossing and turning for over an hour, I finally climbed out of bed and decided to walk around the house. My first venture was to the library. There were so many books, wall to wall books. Grabbing one, I sat down on a large lounge chair. ‘Little Women’ had always one of my favorite stories and I quickly got lost in the pages.

  My eyes fluttered open and I stretched out, feeling warm and cozy. A firm, warm body was pressed against me. Twisting my head, I came face to face with Aidan.

  "Good morning," he croaked. Looking around, I realized we were in the bedroom. How in the world did I get into bed? "You fell asleep in the library. I carried you here last night."

  Had I asked out loud?

  "You could’ve left me there. I would’ve –"

  "Slept there all night?" His voice strained as he stretched, rolling his eyes.

  "You didn’t have to carry me up here."

  "It’s fine." He sat on the edge of the bed. My eyes scanned his bare back. He stretched again, arms over his head, his muscles flexed and lengthened. I almost moaned at the sight.

  "Well, thank you."

  He nodded and rubbed the back of his head, making his way to the bathroom. Watching him cross the room, my body tingled.

  Once he was out of sight, I rubbed my face. Snap out of it!

  After only a few minutes, he emerged freshly showered and walked into his closet. I quickly made my way to the bathroom and showered. When I came out of the bathroom, Aidan was standing at his large, door length mirror tying his tie around his neck.

  "Do you have plans for today?" He looked at me in the mirror.

  "Um…I need to get my college stuff taken care of and finalized." I shrugged. "That’s about it."

  "I probably won’t be home till around eight." He finished the knot on his tie. "I have a lot to catch up on."

  I nodded and headed to my own closet. I closed the door and pulled on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater. When I walked out, Aidan was standing there. I stopped short.

  Leaning forward, he kissed the top of my head. "See you tonight." He spoke quickly and walked out the door.

  The routine was the same for almost two weeks. I would explore the house, swim, work out, and some days I volunteered with Viola. Aidan usually didn’t get home until seven at the earliest, which was on a good night. Typically, when he got home he would go to his office and work the rest of the evening. I’d frequently fallen asleep in the library, though I always seemed to wake up in bed
next to him.

  It was nine at night and Aidan was out with clients, so I was aimlessly wandering the house. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Celia was working and Phoebe was with Oscar.

  One minute I was walking down long empty hallways, the next I was standing in familiar, warm, chlorinated air. The pool looked so inviting compared to the wandering. With a quick scan of the changing room, I found only men’s swim shorts. The water looked so nice though.

  Ideas began to turn in my head. Mrs. White and Jay were done for the evening. Rachel was visiting family for the night. I was alone.

  "Oh, to hell with it." My words echoed against the empty walls.

  Stripping down to my bra and underwear, I jumped into the water. On my fourth lap, I stopped to catch my breath.

  "Well, well." My head snapped over. Aidan was standing on the side of the pool with a mischievous grin on his face. I sunk down into to the water, hiding my body.

  "Why is it that you only take your clothes off when I’m gone?" He walked around the edge of the pool as I continued wading further away. "What do I have to do to get you to do this when I’m around?" He laughed, picking up my jeans and flashing a very toothy smile.

  "Shut up," I laughed as my cheeks warmed with embarrassment. Crossing my arms over my chest, I put on my serious face. "Get out of here so I can get out."

  "Hell no," he responded chuckling. "I wouldn’t miss this for the world."

  "Aidan, it’s not funny anymore. Get out or turn around." I tried to be mad, but it was such a funny situation. He was always catching me in my underwear.

  He smirked and took off his tie. Then unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. Before I could fully process what he was doing, he was removing his pants.

  "What are you –?" He stood in just boxers for a moment before doing a cannonball into the water.

  He came up from under the water next to me and pulled me under with him. No longer concerned about underwear, we played around in the pool.

  "What time is it?" Looking to the large wall clock, it was almost midnight. "You should be in bed." I taunted.

  "I would much rather watch you get out of the pool." He laughed.

  "Loser," I teased, swimming to the edge of the pool. I looked over the edge of the pool wall and saw that his white shirt was close enough for me to grab. Standing waist deep, I leaned out, just a little, and grabbed the shirt.

  "Hey, that’s cheating!" The splash of fast swimming got closer.

  I jumped out with the shirt wrapped around me.

  "Ha ha!" I performed a victory dance. "I’m so much smarter than you." Lost in my own victory, it took me a moment to notice him staring at me. I stopped. "What?"

  "Nothing," he smiled wide and climbed out of the pool.

  Okay, so Aidan with a bare chest was amazing. Aidan wet and in swim trunks was phenomenal. However, wet Aidan in boxer shorts clinging to his muscular body, resting low on his hips, was just torture. The urge to lick beads of chlorinated water from his stomach and continue my way down was strong – very strong.

  Furrowing my brow, I started to pick up my clothes. His arms wrapped around my waist and, with a sudden movement, he tossed me back into the pool.

  "Ha ha," he chuckled "I’m so much smarter than you!" he imitated my victory dance.

  My mind already swirling with revenge, I climbed out of the pool.

  "Paybacks are a bitch, Iverson."

  I pulled off the white shirt. His laughter immediately stopped and his eyes widened. I tossed the wet shirt at him; it landed in his face with a smack. Grabbing my clothes, once again, I walked out of the pool room in my very wet and revealing bra and underwear. Thank God they were blue and not white.

  My feeling of victory lasted until I was out of his sight. I took off running, knowing he would try to get me back. Plus, with the amount of sexually charged tension between us, it would only end in a huge complicated mess.

  Standing under the hot water I could hear Aidan moving around the bedroom. I got out and pulled my pajamas on. Surely he was waiting to get in the shower. I walked out of the bathroom and almost fainted.

  With his back to me, he stood in nothing at all. He was halfway in his closet with the dim light cascading over his shoulders and ass. Oh, that amazing ass. Biting my lip and internally moaning, I walked back into the bathroom.

  After splashing cold water on my face – repeatedly, I was still worked up. Reaching in my cosmetics bag, I pulled out my tweezers, quickly plucking some stray eyebrow hairs. Hah! That brought me down a little.

  Walking back into the bedroom, I made sure to keep my gaze straight ahead. Okay, so I peeked a little, but he was no longer there. Stopping in the middle of the room, I looked around, he wasn’t anywhere. Probably back in his study. With a heavy sigh, I climbed into bed.

  It was about twenty minutes later when there was movement next to me. Keeping my eyes closed, the warmth of his body caressed mine. My skin absorbed it like I was in hypothermal shock. His closeness heated my center and dampened my underwear. As I tried to resituate myself, his arm came around my waist. He wasn’t sleeping, he'd just gotten into bed, and I didn’t know if he knew I was awake. After he snuggled against my back, I quickly fell asleep.

  Aidan was gone the next morning when I woke. Viola arrived at nine in the morning; we were going to tour through the children’s home.

  There were so many kids in the home and it hurt to know that they were physically or mentally handicap. To top it off, they were either abandoned by their parents or had lost them. My heart ached. Nothing made me happier than visiting them.

  I’d sat down in the middle of a room where some of the kids were watching TV. A girl with Down's Syndrome turned to me.

  "Are you Mrs. Viola’s daughter?" I shook my head. "Oh." She looked confused. "Do you work here now?" I shook my head and smiled at her. "I like when you visit." She smiled brightly.

  "I like visiting with you." She wrapped her arms around me and hugged tightly.

  "Do you like things?" She asked without looking up.

  "What kind of things?"

  "I like peanut butter and jelly." She sat up looking at me.

  "I love peanut butter and jelly." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I also like lemonade, a lot."

  She shook her head. "Lemonade makes my tummy hurt, but I like cherry drink." I couldn’t stop smiling at her.

  "I like to read books."

  "Me too," she exclaimed and then got up, running away from me. "She likes to read too," she yelled to no one.

  I was talking to a boy when she returned with a book in her hand, Romeo and Juliet. I smiled broadly.

  "I love Romeo. I’m going to marry him."

  "Are you Juliet?"

  "No. I’m Amanda." She giggled.

  "Why don’t you read to me, Amanda?" I leaned into the couch we’d been sitting on.

  She shook her head. Embarrassment colored her cheeks bright red.

  "How about I read first and then you can take over?" Putting my hand out for the book, she handed it over with a big grin.

  I started reading the story. Soon the TV was silenced and the kids gathered around Amanda and me. I continued with the story, trying to change my voice with each character. My poor acting skills made a few kids laugh, but I didn’t care. Their giggles gave me warm fuzzies.

  "Okay, Amanda, your turn," I held the book out to her. Her eyes widened.

  "I-I can’t." Her eyes dropped to her lap.

  "Sure you can, I want to hear you read it to me." She shook her head. "You read a couple of pages for me and then I’ll read some more, deal?" She nodded and took the book.

  As Amanda was reading, I looked around at the kids, catching a glimpse of Viola in the doorway. I smiled at her, which she returned warmly, and turned my attention back to the kids.

  "You okay?" Viola asked with concern on her face.

  "How do you do it?" She looked at me confused. "Leave them?" I answered her silent question.

  She smiled
.

  "I know I’ll be back." Viola started hugging a few people. Amanda ran up to me and hugged me tightly.

  "Will you be back?" Her eyes were pleading with me.

  "Of course," I exclaimed and pulled her to me. Looking over at Viola, she winked, smiled, and then spoke.

  "That’s how I do it."

  Viola insisted that we go to dinner before heading back to the house. It was nice being out with her and, in all honesty, I wasn’t looking forward to being in the empty mansion by myself.

  "Lilli, I want you to consider becoming more involved with the foundation." Viola sat with a serious look on her face.

  "I would love to help you more. Going to visit the –"

  "No, I mean I want you to become a part of the foundation." She took a sip from her wine glass. "I would like for you to work with me."

  My mouth opened twice and closed before I knew what to say.

  "I know that you’re finishing up college, which is wonderful, and you should, but I want you to consider working with me at the foundation."

  "Um…I’ll…I’ll think about it." I instantly started to go through the pros and cons. "Thank you, Viola."

  "Oh, don’t thank me. You’re amazing with the children and I can see how much you care. It’s written all over your face the moment we make plans to visit." I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the kids.

  "See," she motioned to my face, "just thinking about them gives you that look. That’s how I knew I wanted you to work with me."

  We continued to discuss the foundation along with what she was offering me. Viola wanted me to make an informed decision. I hadn’t realized exactly how much went into Viola’s daily work. It was a great deal. She saw my concerned expression and assured me we would work side by side so I could become familiar with everything.

  Again, my thoughts returned to the pros and cons. The pros were a given; the kids, having a rewarding job, and working with great people, like Viola. The cons were more complicated. I was only an Iverson because of an agreement. Said agreement was only for four years. Staying with the foundation after the four years, and my marriage to Aidan, was over sounded like a huge complication. I don’t think Viola was thinking that far in advance.

  Viola and I were in the middle of another conversation when my phone beeped. I grabbed it knowing what it was and silenced it quickly.