Wishing on a Star

by M. Stratton

  “At lease we agree on that point.”

  “I’m sorry, Royce. I wish I could explain it to you.” She raised her hand to reach out to him, but let it drop. “Everything was too much for me. You and me that bitch, Amanda, Marc, Lissa and Will. Everything has changed so much so quickly, and somehow I felt like I was losing it, losing me. Where’s my direction? Yes, we’re married, but what happens now? I can’t work with Lissa like I used to, and I need something to do. There is no way I could be a housewife. I’d go crazy. Where’s me in this equation? You can continue on, you’ll always be Royce Rivers, I’ll be . . . nobody.”

  “Don’t you understand? You can do whatever you want. You have the means and the time to figure it out. We can buy a home near Will and Lissa and the two of you can still work together. Or you could decide to do something completely different. Whatever you want. Yes, I’d love for you to travel with me all the time, but that may not be possible. We’re going to need a home base, and that can be wherever. No matter what, I’ll always come home to you.”

  “Yeah, I kind of figured that out.” She looked down at her feet in the sand. “All I thought about after we argued was needing some time alone. When it was only Lissa and I, we lived at opposite ends of the house, and then when she gets lost in her story, I could go days without seeing her. I always had my alone time. I haven’t had anything like that in months. There’s always someone around. So I packed a bag and figured I’d go to a hotel for the night. But then I started driving, and driving and driving. I was thinking about my home in Tucson, and I missed it so badly. But you want to know what the funny thing is?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “As soon as I got there, all I could think about was coming back home to you. You’re my home now. It doesn’t matter where we are. As long as we’re together, then I’m home. I’m safe.”

  “Are you saying this was a one-time thing?”

  “Well, I can’t guarantee that, but I can promise you, if things get to be too much for me, I’ll talk to you, and if I need alone time, I’ll only go as far as the closest hotel.”

  He stepped closer to her. “Remember, ‘for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward until death do us part.’ A love like ours death couldn’t separate.” He tapped her chest over her heart. “I’m always with you.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.” He pulled her into his arms and they stood together in silence, except for the sound of the waves and watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

  As usual, Hannah was up early and over at the other house wanting to catch up on what she’d missed for the last couple of days. She was surprised when Will came in and sat down on one of the stools and started fidgeting. “What’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be on-set? Royce left a half hour ago.” While Will was always full of energy, he also had a calm about him and wouldn’t waste it on frivolous fidgeting.

  “They don’t need me for another hour or so.” He picked up a napkin and started folding it, over and over again, making it as small as possible. “I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I fear something is amiss with Lissa.”

  Instantly, Hannah stopped what she was doing and gave Will her full attention. “Tell me.”

  “Well, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, she’s been crying all the time. She tries to hide it from me, but I know better. I know she’s sensitive, but she always tried to keep that hidden away like it will somehow make her stronger if she doesn’t give in to it.”

  “You know, we never really thought all these wonderful, exciting things would ever happen to us. Sure, we dreamed, everyone does, but to have all of your dreams come true? Maybe it’s just her way of adjusting to everything, being so happy.”

  “I may agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact of how much she’s sleeping. Now before you start, yes, we all know, Lissa loves to sleep, but this is different. She normally at least will wake up when I’m getting ready, say a few sleepy sentences as I get dressed, but lately, nothing. She barely even moves when I kiss her goodbye.”

  “Hmm . . . that is strange. Part of the reason we always had rooms on the opposite ends of the house is because she’s such a light sleeper. You know, I think I’ll set up a doctor’s appointment. Maybe we can even get in today. It could be how hard she pushes herself to get everything done as quickly as possible. She was run pretty ragged before we started traveling with you.”

  “Yes, however, since then I’ve made sure she’s been eating right and getting plenty of sleep. Of course if a story has hold of her, then there’s nothing I can do to pull her away from her laptop. But I always make sure she’s taken care of when she’s finished.”

  An alarm went off on his phone. “Damn. I have to go.” He stood up. “Please let me know what you find out. We should be back around dinner. Don’t hold it for us.”

  Hannah walked over to him, putting her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about her. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” He left and climbed into the SUV that had pulled up in front of the house.

  Hannah walked up the stairs to the room Lissa and Will shared and went in. There was Lissa, sleeping so soundly she was actually snoring. Getting down on her knees next to the bed, she slowly reached one hand out and poked Lissa in the arm, quickly ducking down, afraid of getting caught. After a moment with no movement from her friend, she raised herself and tried poking her again. This time, she didn’t hide, but frowned when Lissa still didn’t move. Cocking her head to the side, she poked her again, still nothing. The next time she poked harder and finally Lissa moaned and rolled away from her. Hannah hit the floor lying flat and wondered if she should stay still or try to slide under the bed to hide. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the crap out of Lissa. With her luck, she’d end up punched in the face.

  When Lissa didn’t move again, Hannah slowly stood, with a frown on her face. There was no way Lissa would sleep through one poke, let alone a half dozen. There was something wrong. She went downstairs and started looking for a doctor that would be able to see them. Now she just had to get Lissa up and to the doctor, and everything would be wonderful.

  Hannah looked out the window, thankful she’d had the forethought to hire a driver to take them to the appointment. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to drive, and there was no way Lissa was getting behind the wheel. She hadn’t stopped crying since they had talked to the doctor.

  It was shocking how things could change so quickly. With just a few words, their whole world was altered. Everything was going to be different from this point on.

  “Everything’s going to be okay.” Hannah squeezed Lissa’s hand. “We’ve got this.”

  Lissa didn’t say anything; she only looked out her own window.

  Her mind raced with the plans they had for the next year and everything that was going to need to be changed, cancelled, or kept the same. Her plans with Royce may need to be put on hold. There was no way she was going to leave Lissa now.

  Hannah knew she was going to have a hard enough time getting the words out to Royce, but she wondered how Lissa was going to tell Will, and what his reaction was going to be.

  One thing was for sure, they were going to need more tissues.

  “Wait? What?” Will’s face went slack and he sat down heavily on the chair.

  “Pregnant.” Lissa smiled at him, walked over and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him. “We’re going to have a baby.”

  “Wow. Really?” His arms tightened around her.

  “Yes, really. The two of us created a little life.”

  He placed his hand across her stomach. “When?”

  “October twenty ninth.”

  “You’re hoping for a Halloween baby, aren’t you?”

  She smiled. “Well, yeah!”

  “You Americans and your Halloween.”

  “Hey, this little one is half-American.”

  His fingers gently dug
into her belly. “Yeah, he is.”

  “It could be a she.”

  “A little you, I could handle that.”

  “Ha.” She paused for a moment, trying to get her swirling emotions under control so she could speak without bursting into tears. “We’re going to have a baby.”

  “I know, darling. Isn’t it wonderful? I’m going to be a daddy.”

  Lissa burst in tears. Her heart was overflowing with love for this man and the precious little life they had created. They sat together for a bit as she calmed down enough to stop the tears.

  Will stood, keeping her in his arms, and started out of the bedroom. “Come on, let’s celebrate! Let’s tell everyone.”

  “I can walk you know. In fact, it’s good for me.”

  “But why walk when I can carry you? Do you remember the first time? I knew then my heart was never going to let you go.”

  She laid her head against his chest. “You’re going to make me cry again.”

  “Tears of joy are never a bad thing, darling.”

  “I’ve been crying tears of joy all afternoon.”

  When they walked into the kitchen, Beau, Hannah and Royce looked up at them. Lissa’s eyes locked with Hannah’s. She hadn’t leave her side all afternoon while they waited for the guys to get home. There had been some distance between them since Chicago and it was good to have her back, even if it meant it was only for a little longer before she left.

  “Oh, come on, man. You can’t just pick her up and carry her around all the time,” Royce groaned. “As it is, you give men an impossible image to live up to with your damn Shakespearean charm.”

  Will laughed. “What can I say? It’ll be good for you to elevate your game.”

  “I’ll have you know my game is just fine.” Royce put his arm around Hannah and pulled her close.

  “Ha! There’s always room for improvement.” Hannah slapped her hand on his chest.

  “Ow,” He nuzzled Hannah’s ear and whispered, “I’ll get you for that later, my hard-hearted Hannah.”

  Hannah grinned at him. “Promises.”

  “Hey, hey, hey . . . enough now,” Beau said. “All of you can just stop. Only single person in the room.”

  Will set Lissa down on the stool and stood behind her. “We . . .” He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. “We’re going to have a baby!”

  There was a moment of silence before the men rushed over and slapped Will on the back. Hannah followed slower and took Lissa’s hands, pulling her off the stool and out of the way of overeager men praising Will.

  “As if he’s the one who’s going to be doing all the work,” Hannah said dryly.

  “I heard that,” Will said.

  “You were meant to,” Hannah replied.

  “I knew there was a reason I bought this.” Beau walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “

  “This is so amazing,” Hannah said. “You are going to make such a wonderful mom.”

  “Well, we know I’m going to be better than my mom whose only purpose was to cater to my father until it finally killed her. No, this little one is going to have a mommy who is there for them.”

  “This is so amazing. You have a little itty-bitty baby in there.” Hannah pointed to Lissa’s belly. “I can’t wait to see all the changes. Oh, and feel the baby move. This is going to be so cool.”

  “Well, you’re going to miss some of it.”

  “What do you mean? I’m not missing anything.”

  “Oh, yes you are. Remember, as soon as this movie is done, you and Royce are going on vacation for three months?”

  “Oh, that,” Hannah waved her off. “We’re not going now. You’ll need me.”

  “No, you’re going. Remember, you’re bringing Hope in to help so you can spend some alone time with the love of your life.”

  “Well, see now there’s going to be two of you, and there will be two of us. One for each, still plenty of work to do.”

  “Oh, no you don’t. I’m going to see if I can set up for Royce to kidnap you and take you on an adventure to a tropical island. I’ll still be pregnant when you get back. You’ll probably just miss me throwing up all the time.”

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Will held out a glass of champagne to each of them. “Just a few sips for you, darling. Now, a toast. To my beautiful, wonderful, darling Melissa. My life changed the moment I walked through that restaurant door and saw you sitting there, unbeknownst to you, waiting for me. I have thanked the Heavens above every day for your love, and now you’re giving me the most precious gift of all, a child. Darling, may our love be one that will be remembered for all time.”

  Lissa’s hand shook as she took a small sip. She was trying her best not to break out in tears, again. She didn’t think there was anything else she could ever want in her life that she didn’t already have, or was on its way.

  Wondering what was going on, Hannah rushed next door after receiving a text telling her to get her ass in gear because Lissa needed her.

  “Finally,” Lissa said as Hannah walked through the door. “We’ve got a ton of shit to do and not a lot of time.”

  “Okay, why don’t you fill me in on what we’re doing first?”

  “Planning a wedding.”

  “A little more detail please.”

  “Who do you think? Will and I are going to get married as soon as possible. There is no way I’m waiting any longer. We tentatively set something up for later in the year when Will had a break. We were going to get married over in England, but now, neither one of us wants to wait and quite frankly, there is no way I want to get married with a huge belly between us and I’m not waiting until after the little one is born. It has to be now.”

  “What about his family?”

  “See, we’ve also been thinking. We already feel like we’re married; this really is just a legality. And the fact that a marriage is between a man and a woman, sure our families come into play, but when it comes down to it, it will end up being the two of us in it together. We can always do a reception or something over there later. But for now, we want those vows.”

  Hannah knew exactly what Lissa meant. It had been the same way between her and Royce. That was why it felt so right when Royce talked to Wilson about marrying them on the banks of the Mississippi River.

  “We should get Angelica here. She has so many contacts; she’ll know what to do. Oh, and we should call Christine.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Christine.”

  “Yeah.”

  They looked at each other for a moment. “You’re right. We need to get Angelica here. She’ll be a huge help. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to have a huge wedding, but there are still some traditional elements I want represented in the ceremony.”

  “And Christine? Someone is going to let something slip at some point, and you know there is going to be hell to pay if we don’t tell her ahead of time.” She gave Lissa a stern look. “Look at it this way. You tell her this one and you may get a free pass in the future.”

  “Do I have to tell her I’m pregnant too?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Shit.”

  “Better you than me.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Hannah thought of the fact that she and Royce were keeping their marriage a secret. Once Christine found out about that, she’d be in trouble. They promised her there would be no more secrets. She was going to have her ass chewed by the person Lissa had hired for any PR work that needed to be done for her since Hannah was dating a movie star. She could hear it now. How in the hell am I supposed to plan and help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on? Hannah knew she had to tell Christine sooner rather than later.

  As the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, Will and Lissa stood together in front of Royce, Hannah, Beau and Angelica, and exchanged vows in the family room of the house they had rented. Royce didn’t think he’d ever been to a more perfect wedding, except his own to Hannah.

  Once the ceremony was over, h
e took some pictures with his phone of the happy couple and then scrolled back through until he came to his wedding. The joy both of them felt came across through in the huge smiles they wore and their arms wrapped around each other. He wanted to tell everyone she was his, but still, she hadn’t told Lissa. She said it was because of finding out about the baby and then the wedding plans. She didn’t want to take away from Lissa’s happiness.

  Hannah came over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so happy for them,” she sighed.

  “I’m happy for us too. When do you think we’ll be able to tell them?”

  “Soon.”

  “Do you think we could put a date on it, so I can at least pencil it in?”

  She pulled away from him. “I’m sorry.”

  “Are you ashamed to be married to me?”

  “No! God no. Why would you even think that?”

  “Because, you won’t let me tell anyone. We should be able to share this with the people we love instead of hiding it away like some dirty little secret no one is supposed to know about.”

  “I just want Lissa to be able to get through this time, and then I will tell her. I promise.”

  “What is it with you women? First Lissa didn’t want to tell Will about her nightmares until the time was right, and now you. Don’t you understand that really there never is a right time? Besides, this is good news, not something terrible.”

  “She deserves to have her moment in happiness.”

  “So do you. So do I.”

  “They deserve their own moment of happiness. This is theirs. We’ll have ours soon.”

  “Promise.”

  “Yes, husband mine, as soon as they get back from their weekend trip, I’ll tell her.”

  “I love you, wife.”

  Lissa lay in bed with her hand on her belly, watching as her husband leaned against the doorframe looking out toward the ocean from the suite at Hotel del Coronado, on Coronado Island in San Diego, California. Her husband, she couldn’t believe Will Martinsson was her husband and she was going to have his baby.