At least, I thought I did. Preparing yourself in front of a mirror and actually being face to face with it are two separate things entirely. I squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth, willing myself to be calm and control my emotions. To understand that he’s not ready to be a father. That’s okay. I can do it on my own.
I don’t know what that means for us, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, I guess. I honestly don’t think we can be a couple if he doesn’t want to be a part of his child’s life. I think the constant reminder would be too painful for me, and too confusing for the baby.
When I feel sufficiently composed again, I pull my hands away from my face and see Carter sitting there in the carriage, his body turned to me, holding a small, black box in his hand. It has a big red and green Christmas bow on it.
When he has my attention, he pulls the bow off and puts it in my hair, eliciting a nervous giggle from me. He opens it up, and I draw in a sharp breath when I see what's inside – a breathtaking diamond ring.
I have to shake my head as I look at it. A couple of times. Everything suddenly feels so surreal and strange. And I have no idea what in the hell is going on. I have no idea what to make of any of this.
“Wh – what is this, Carter?” I ask.
He slips off the seat and gets down on one knee, the smile on his face so bright, he might be able to power all of New York City. The carriage sways and shimmies as we wind our way through the park, and the carolers suddenly sound sweet again. It's amazing how quickly your perception can change with your mood.
“You know, I’ve dreamed about being with you and starting a family for a long time,” he says. “I always knew you were the one. Still believe it to this day.”
I shake my head, still not understanding. “I – what –”
“Darby, you make me the happiest man in the world. There’s nobody on this planet I’d rather spend my life with than you. There is no one else I want to raise a family with,” he says. “Would you do me the honor of being my wife? I mean, since you’re now my baby mama, I think we should make it official, don’t you?”
He smiles at me, holding the ring up. Tears well in my eyes, making my vision even blurrier. I wipe them away quickly, my confusion slowly drifting away on the breeze.
“Yes,” I blurt out. “God, yes.”
His smile is impossibly wide as he slips the ring on my finger and kisses me deeply. He reaches down and gently places his hand on my belly, a look of absolute awe on his face.
“We’re going to have a kid,” he says softly.
I nod. “We are.”
“When I picked you up tonight, I didn’t think I could be any happier than I already was,” he says. “I was wrong.”
I lean forward and kiss him again, pressing my body to his, letting him envelop me in a tight embrace. I know what he means. I never thought I would be as happy as I am right now.
We ride along, our foreheads pressed together, staring into one another's eyes.
“Thank you, Darby,” he says.
I cock my head at him. “What are you thanking me for?”
He chuckles “Well, for one thing, for making me actually like Christmas,” he says. “I never thought it was possible, but you are the most amazing Christmas present I could have ever gotten. Well, you and now, our baby. Talk about a holiday miracle.”
“I'm so happy to hear you say that, Carter.”
The carriage driver coughs to get our attention. We look up and see that he has a sprig of mistletoe tied to the end of a stick, hanging over our heads. We both laugh, and look at each other again, falling into a kiss filled with fire, passion, and best of all – hope.
“I love you, Darby.”
“I love you too.”
“You’re mine,” he says. “And I’m yours.”
“Forever.”
The carriage pulls off into the cool, winter night, and into the charm and beauty of Central Park during the Christmas season. Everything around us seems beyond perfect. I never expected to feel this happy at any point in my life. But, now that I have it, I never want to let it go – neither the feeling, nor the man.
“Merry Christmas, Darby,” Carter says.
“Merry Christmas, my love,” I reply.
THE END
Unexpected Gift (Sample)
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My brother’s best friend, AKA my sworn enemy.
He’s the cocky doctor with a mission to drive me insane.
And I had to walk down the aisle with him.
“It’s my brother’s wedding day,” I told myself…
Caden's a neurosurgeon.
Devastatingly handsome, and a total Casanova.
Arrogant, egotistical, and a complete a$%hole.
The enemy disguised as Prince Charming.
We fought at every encounter.
Then tragedy struck.
And I was forced to live with the man that I hate.
We were left in charge of my niece, Posie.
He bought us a beautiful home.
Watching him with Posie…
How he took care of her.
How he took care of us.
I let my guard down. I let him in.
I can’t believe I gave him my virginity.
A one-night stand was all it should have been.
Now I’m knocked up…
No way he could ever change his ways, right?
Chapter One
Molly
Five years ago…
You love your brother. You love your brother. You love your brother. Because that is the only way I would ever agree to wear this dress. The mirror mocks me. I love my brother, Brandon, and his fiancée, Amelia. They are the couple everyone envies. From middle school all the way through college, they stayed together. The love they share is the stuff people hope for their entire lives. It is beautiful.
This dress though? This dress is not.
“Oh my god, you look so beautiful!” Amelia squeals, throwing her hands over her mouth. Her face starts to wrinkle and a loud whine rips through the air. “So beautiful,” She sobs. Her shoulders shake, causing the hair rollers to bounce on her head.
Crap.
“Don’t cry, Amelia. This is a happy day!” I plaster on a smile, trying to accept the fact that I’ll be in a baby pink dress that shows way too much boob for my liking. Not only that, but I'll have to be in it for more than eight hours, too.
Good thing she doesn’t have any makeup on or else we would have to redo it. She waves a hand at me, dismissing her tears. “I’m fine. You just look so pretty,” she says, and in comes the high-pitched emotional voice.
Doubtful.
“I’ve waited for this day for so long. I love your brother so much, and I’ve always imagined you in baby pink at our wedding. You wear every other color except that one.” She dabs her tears with a tissue.
Because I hate the color pink…in every shade.
I pull up the strapless part of the dress as it starts to slide down. I don’t know how this is going to work. Considering how it falls, I could be walking down the aisle, and bam! My boobs are on display for the entire world to see.
But I’ll put up with it because I love my brother and Amelia. I spin on my heels, careful to grab the sides so I don’t step on the delicate fabric. We have a few hours until the wedding and everyone is starting to lose their minds with all sorts of last minute details. And it wouldn’t be a wedding without at least one catastrophe. The cake has been delayed and Amelia starts entering the ‘what if the wedding isn’t perfect?’ phase.
This is why she has a maid of honor. “Hey,” I calmly say as I grab her hand in mine and smile, pushing past the stupid baby pink dress and my visible cleavage. “The wedding is going to be perfect. You’re going to look so beautiful. Brandon won’t even know what hit him when he sees you walking down that aisle. He is lucky. We are lucky to finally have you as an official part of our
family.”
“That isn’t helping.” She cries harder and uglier. Her bottom lip trembles, and her face turns red.
No one said I’d be a good bridesmaid. Maybe a tougher approach?
I spot a bottle of champagne that the maid of honor brought for us to celebrate before Amelia takes her first step out of the dressing room doors and into the church to marry the love of her life.
“I know just what you need," I say. She needs to relax. “I’ll be right back.”
The bottle is leaning against the side of the metal bucket and chilling in ice. A few plastic flutes sit next to it, begging me to use them. Grabbing the neck of the bottle with my hand, I pour two flutes of the bubbly. It pops and fizzes as the bubbles rise to the surface.
By the time I make it back to Amelia, the top of my dress has already slid down to my nipples. I wish I had more boobs so this wouldn’t be a problem in my everyday life, but implants are too expensive. A few weeks ago, the dress fit, but I lost some weight running around like a chicken with her head cut off, and I lost the weight in my boobs. Of course, I did. The weight can’t come from my butt or my stomach. Nope, it just had to leave from the body parts that barely exist in the first place.
“Here you go.” I hand her a flute of the delicious champagne.
She takes it from me hurriedly, and the expensive liquid spills over the rim, trickling onto her hand. But that still doesn’t stop her from chugging the bubbly.
“Okay, woah. Take it easy. You have to walk down the aisle, remember?” I grab the flute from her and set it on the desk where all of our makeup is. From the looks of the clock on the wall, all five bridesmaids and the bride-to-be need to get going, or else Amelia will be late.
And my brother will kill me.
Amelia wipes her mouth on her arm and takes a deep breath.
I have never seen her this frazzled before. I yank the top of my dress up again and sit down in the chair beside her. “Talk to me. Why are you so nervous, Amelia?”
Her big, brown, doe-like eyes stare at me with fear as they start filling with water. “I’m scared.”
I pinch my brows together and take her hand in mine. “Why? You and Brandon have been together forever.”
“That’s the problem. What if he realizes he needs more? What if I’m not enough? We were each other’s first. What if only being with one woman forever isn’t what he wants?”
Oh. I see. Yeah, that would make me nervous, too. But it's Brandon so I’m not worried at all. “You know, never once has Brandon ever told me he has second thoughts. In middle school, high school, and college, you were all there ever was. He never brought up another girl, and every time he said your name, his eyes lit up. You’re his favorite person in the entire world. Now, I’m not saying there won’t be hard times−there will be−but he has loved you since the moment he saw you in the seventh grade with your piggy tales. Ever since the day you wore those red overalls with little sunflowers all over, he was hooked.”
“He remembers that?” she asks with a small grin stretching across her face.
“Are you kidding? He talks about you all the time, Amelia. I know everything within limits. I didn’t want to hear about…. Well, you know…” I wiggle my brows to emphasize what I mean. “Because that's gross. He is my brother, after all.” I shiver from the thought.
She cracks a smile through her watery gaze. “Yeah? Really?”
“He loves you so much. Remember, he is probably thinking the same things and wondering if he will be enough for you.”
“He will always be enough for me.”
“Then that is what you have to think about. Today is going to be a great day.” I pat her hand before letting go and standing up. “We need to get ready and dry those tears because we have two hours before walking down that aisle and no one has their makeup on yet. I also need tape.”
“Two hours! That’s impossible. Oh my god, I am nowhere near ready.” She spins around on the built-in stool that is connected to the vanity and fumbles with her makeup.
“I told you to hire a makeup artist,” I mumble, averting my eyes and sipping my drink. I don’t want to see the look she's probably giving me in response to my comment.
“That is ridiculous. They are too expensive. Plus, I know how to do my own makeup.”
I lift my hands in surrender. “Alright. Alright. But I need tape or else I’m not walking down the aisle in this dress.”
“I’m sure Caden would love that,” she snorts. She stands up and begins strolling to the bathroom. Her long robe floats behind her like a cape, looking oh-so-debonair.
“Wait... What did you just say?”
She dries her face, which I assume is an attempt to wash the tears away. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and she glances away, wiping her hands on the towel. “Did Brandon not tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“You guys are walking down the aisle together.”
There is no way I heard that right. “Why? Jessica is the Maid of Honor. It only makes sense for the Best Man to walk with her.”
“I know, but you guys look better together. You know, it's for the pictures and stuff.”
I bang my head against the door, despising everyone involved for all of two minutes. “Why would you do that to me? You know how I feel about him. He is so arrogant.”
“And hot.”
I curl my upper lip in disgust. “He is far from hot. He is gross. I can’t believe you’re making me lock arms with a walking, talking, venereal disease.”
Caden Jackson went to medical school with my brother. The two ended up being as thick as thieves, and the stories Brandon would tell me about his friend made my skin itch. Is he good-looking? Absolutely. Smart? Yes. Arrogant? Yep—he knows he is hot. Will he screw anyone with a vagina? For sure. Can he charm the panties off any girl? You bet.
Any girl except for me. I can’t stand him, and I honestly have no idea what my brother sees in the guy. Luckily, I don’t have to see him all the time, so I’ll just hold my breath and hope he doesn’t have any airborne diseases.
“Oh, come on, Molls. He isn’t that bad. If you’d give him a chance, you’d see that.”
Amelia starts putting on her makeup and tosses tape at me for the sake of keeping my boobs covered. As I place the sticky side to my skin, I wonder if she is right. Maybe I’m not giving him a fair chance. Maybe I’m just jealous that some guy Brandon has known for all of four years has replaced me.
A knock at the door makes everyone squeal and hide, as if they are the bride or something. I roll my eyes, and when I open the door, my best friend is standing there with a twelve-pack in her hand. She is wearing a black dress as though she is about to attend a funeral. Well, in her eyes, I guess she does view a wedding as a funeral.
She lifts the case. “Who wants to shotgun a beer?”
I smile and set aside all of my negative emotions about Caden. The show must go on, right?
* * *
The reception has everything Amelia has always wanted. Lights are strung in the weeping willows, the bright bulbs hanging down against the long arms of the trees. Amelia has always dreamed of an enchanted forest as part of her wedding reception and Brandon made sure she got everything she has hoped for, and then some. He is a doctor, after all, so he can afford it.
They are dancing to their first song and staring at each other like they are the only ones in the world. Time doesn’t exist outside of their little bubble. They are as clueless to the outside world as more than one hundred people watch them fall even more in love with each other.
When the dancing between the parents ends, everyone takes a seat in their assigned chairs, and for some reason, the couple agrees to skip the speeches. Even so, Caden taps his glass, gaining everyone’s attention. Of course, he does, I think. He can never go a night without everyone’s eyes on him at least once. I chug my drink as I get ready to hear the crap that is about to come out of his mouth.
He stands up, towering over everyone with h
is six-five frame. His hair adds another few inches, too. It's brown, like the color of milk chocolate. His hair is incredibly wavy, too—kind of like the hair of Derek Shepherd from Grey’s Anatomy. Yeah, that’s who he reminds me of! I finally figured it out. Caden is also a neurosurgeon. His arrogance comes across as this need to be better than everyone around him, and this attitude is really what got him where he wanted to be—at the very top.
He raises his glass. “Hi, everyone.”
The noise of the crowd immediately dies down at the sound of Caden's deep and masculine voice. Goosebumps rise along my arms, but I blame that on the cool summer breeze. I look around at all the women staring at him like he hung the damn moon. My eyes roll back once again, and I sip on my new drink.
“I know we agreed not to do speeches, but I had to.” He turns to Brandon and Amelia. “You guys have been the greatest friends I could ever ask for. I’m so honored to be here and to finally witness you guys get married. It’s been a long time coming. The first day I met Brandon, he really put me in my place. We were quick friends, but I was a partier and I wanted to go to the bar to meet chicks, to which he said, 'I have a girlfriend. I don’t do bars. I have something better than that.' I really didn’t know what he meant until I met Amelia and I saw them together. I can only hope to have a love like theirs one day. I haven’t been so lucky in love, but I hope to have something as timeless as yours. I love you both. To Brandon and Amelia!”
Damn, that was actually really sweet, I say to myself in my head.
I hate him even more now.
Everyone holds up their glasses and chugs, celebrating the speech. The willow branches sway behind the newly married couple as they sit at their all-white table, chattering away. Brandon is the next to stand up, rubbing the lapels of his suit. He clears his throat and shoves his hands deep into his pockets. He does that whenever he is nervous.
“Thank you, everyone, for being here tonight, and for celebrating this amazing journey of our love. We want to do something a little different than usual. We think it is only right for our Best Man and Maid of Honor to choose someone from the opposing party with whom they want to dance.”
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