by Anthology
“Feenie…” my dad uses my mother’s nickname for Josephine stopping her protests. “They’re young. In love.”
“I know. When did this all happen?”
“A week ago.”
“Six months ago.” Clearly our simultaneous answers don’t match making them frown.
“Silly me. I meant six months ago.” Mom narrows her eyes and Milo saves me filling in the details.
“I met her at the hospital over Christmas. Things only now escalated and when a man knows what he wants… well I can’t wait. I’m sorry.” Milo is appropriately apologetic. My dad seems fine, my mother does not.
“Don’t worry Scott family. I’m watching him like a hawk.” Jax chimes in with a smile walloping Milo on the back for show and Johanna winks.
“This is so rushed.” My mother bemoans. This is the same woman who tried setting me up on blind dates and has bought a trunk full of baby clothes with little Native American moccasins from their travels. My mother is weird like that.
“I feel better already Jax.” My dad says knowing my childhood and completely platonic best friend would have to approve of Milo to stick up for him. He just doesn’t know how fresh this is or that they just met tonight. Thank god for Jax.
My mother is tapping dad on the shoulder and he waves her away like a buzzing bee. “Honey don’t you think we should go home?”
“Nonsense dear.”
“You don’t think…” I hear my mother whispering through the phone. Of course, she would jump to the obvious conclusion.
“No mom, I’m not pregnant.” My face burns with embarrassment.
“Well of course not sweetheart. We’re saving babies for when the gym stabilizes and you can take more time off.” Milo smiles hugging me under his arm. I swear his accent thickened and he grins through the kick I give him under the table. Amazing man that he is. He would probably pat my stomach in some romantic gesture if I let him. I don’t.
Jax and Johanna ignore us drinking their wine.
Deserters.
The whole thing seems quickly forgotten. Mom and Dad plan to stay in Arizona and promise to bring back plenty of Navajo and Pueblo artifacts for our home as honeymoon presents.
Awesome.
Who doesn’t need more pottery and animal skins in their life?
“Well as soon as we get back we are having a family dinner. And another wedding ceremony. We can meet Milo’s parents.” Insistent my mother is chatting away and mentions teal dresses which is close enough to turquoise making us laugh except me. I’m wondering how the heck we’re going to get through two family ceremonies on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Milo seems nonplussed about the whole thing which makes me freak out even more.
“I agree Mr. and Mrs. Scott.” Milo is charming, perfect, and without a doubt winning my parents over. I hate lying to them and wonder how they’ll feel a year or two from now when this all falls apart.
Milo drives us home leaving me on the doorstep with a kiss that leaves me breathless and Johanna my nosy sister staring from the porch window like she’s watching a video on Tumblr. Jax texts me to say we’ll talk at work. I feel like a train ran me over and it’s only going to intensify from here on out.
CHAPTER SIX
Milo
I adjust the cuffs of my sleeves and straighten my suit jacket inside the parish office. I’m early. I can’t help but wonder if Piper, my wife to be will be late. I have no idea if she’s an early riser or a girl who sleeps in. I do know she can organize the hell out of my desk papers. Our impromptu date the other night consisted of Visa documents… she found them and after I filled them out she made triplicate copies and sent them off with a notarized letter. The marriage certificate would be next.
“You sure about this?” Turning I glance at my friend Beckett Nichols. He’s been nothing but upfront and honest with me about this whole marriage thing. He doesn’t like it because I’m not signing a prenup, but he doesn’t know Piper. She’s not after my money. At least I don’t think she is considering she’s never seen my bank statement. If she wanted my house in return for this I’d happily give it to her. She wants me to save her goddaughter and that’s a different kind of incentive.
“Are we really ever sure?” I brush lint off my sleeve. Besides, the who’s who of doctors hasn’t come out yet and I don’t think she subscribes to their publication to know I’ve won an award from them each year for my research. It would feel weird and boastful to tell her because I keep my awards in the closet and not on the mantle in my house.
“Milo, I told you I could look into this immigration issue further, but you didn’t give me a lot of time to work with.” He paces running his hands through his unruly hair and scruff.
“Beck you’re a glorified accountant, not a lawyer and besides we had friends of Piper’s check into everything.”
Beck snorts.
“I’m a fucking actuary asshole.” We fake punch each other and he knows I’m kidding. Beck has always been far too serious.
I adjust my suit again.
“You might have heard of them. Rex and Naomi Whitehall from Whitehall and Rook Associates.” I look over my shoulder and Beck’s eyebrows raise a fraction.
“So, you had some fancy pants lawyers review everything, is that supposed to make me feel marginally better?” Beck flicks lint off my sleeve. I can tell he’s not going to let this drop until he gets used to the idea, well too bad. It wasn’t like I had more time to waste doing nothing.
“I’ve accepted that this is what it is.” I have to file something by Monday or buy a plane ticket to go home. Home. A place I hadn’t considered in well over a decade and wouldn’t go back to kicking and screaming if I had any say in the matter.
“Don’t blame me when she turns around suing you for alimony and all kinds of ridiculous support when I warned you about this.”
I put my hands on his shoulder shaking him gently, “Beck, relax.”
“I don’t know how you’re so calm about this. I feel like I should be telling you to relax.” Beck takes out a stack of documents from his leather portfolio we’ll both have to sign so he can submit them to the immigration officer on my behalf since I’m taking my bride on a short honeymoon this weekend. A little surprise I cooked up hoping to get to know more than just her lips better.
“I’m fine. You’re the one worked up over this.” I chortle.
“Please, any excuse to get out of my office. We’ll have to get together for dinner once the ink dries on this certificate.” Beck grumbles.
Thinking about her is a distraction and I almost miss the click of the office door and Father Lassiter entering.
“You ready, son?” Father Lassiter and I found ourselves together on many a long night watching patients take their final breaths. I suppose we were bonded that way. Me being the doctor and he being the final administrator of God’s will. I like that he’ll be the one guiding me into the next chapter of my life here.
“I am.”
“No need for council then?” He grips my hands squeezing gently.
My other hand clasps his confidently. “I know where to find you if I do.”
He smiles letting go. “You’re a good man Milo.”
I hope I can be a good husband.
We enter the chapel through the side standing close to the altar. The pews are empty except for small bouquets of flowers lining the aisle. Music plays and the doors open to Diana carrying Maisy who is dumping pink rose petals over the center aisle. The girls went shopping for dresses and for the first time in months little Maisy is wearing something besides a hospital gown. Her dress looks like something a fairy would wear. A headband with a big pink bow covers her bald little head. The bright pink lock didn’t make it through this round of chemo, but I vow she will.
Maisy speaks, “Are you going to be my uncle-doctor now?” My heart pangs and I grin. Nothing could have been cuter.
“Shh. Maisy Elizabeth.”
Beck grunts and Father Lassiter grins. This little
girl is so precious and innocent when I answer her. “Only if you want me to be.”
“Oh, I do, I do.” She pumps her arms until Diana hands her over to me for a hug. Some doctors might shy away from personal contact with patients, heck as interns we’re told to do so, but something about working with kids changes that. I want to scoop them all up in my arms and keep them safe from the cancers and illnesses that don’t discriminate and ravage their little bodies robbing the best years of their life.
“Of course, I’ll be your uncle, doctor, and best friend as long as your mother says it’s okay.” I give her a wink and Diana mouths, thank you, to me taking her daughter back to sit her down in the front pew to watch.
I watch the doorway for my bride. Jax fills in for Piper’s dad to give her away and stands next to her shoulder to shoulder. Damn she looks pretty and my excitement grows with each step she takes closer to me, to our future whatever that maybe. We’re both flying blind into this but we’re flying together.
The music changes and instinctively we’re all turning toward the aisle looking at my wife. Piper wears a flowing sundress that stops at her knees. We didn’t talk about what we would wear for the short ceremony. We only planned on having it at the hospital chapel so we could have Diana and Maisy present to witness. I felt bad that Piper isn’t getting a big to-do, but she assured me that something small is perfectly fine. It wasn’t what I envisioned for myself either, but my parents couldn’t get a flight out of London in time and here we are marching to a recording of Pachelbel's Canon. Piper’s dark hair is pulled to the side with a diamond clip brushing her shoulders. The straps of her dress are thin and the fabric looks like it’s barely holding on. For a fake marriage on paper I’m pretty excited to start our life together.
The original plan was to take her out for lunch, just the two of us so we could spend more time together, but Piper insisted she needed to hit the gym, meet with clients and suggested I make rounds. I felt confident most married couples took at least a little time off. She wanted to spend the weekend moving into my place before we went back to work on Monday saying we could make use of the time organizing our household. I had a few ideas on how to make this look as official as possible, part of that would be living together, but I also wanted something just for us. I only planned on getting married once despite Piper’s offer to make this a time sensitive deal. I just didn’t plan on spending the time filing papers and organizing sock drawers all day Saturday. I needed to convince her to stay, hence my honeymoon getaway. My patients were covered and I enlisted Diana’s help with Jax so Piper’s clients at the gym were covered.
“Is there any reason why these two should not be joined in marriage, speak now or forever–” A bang of doors behind us made us all turn toward the back of the chapel.
My heart nearly stops and I swallow the panic that someone is actually stopping this.
“Wait, I’m here!” Johanna rushes the alter carrying flowers jogging breathlessly toward us.
“Oh god.” Piper groans, her cheeks turning pink.
I squeeze her hands drawing her attention back to me.
“Piper?”
Whispering she leans in to explain. “Sorry, it’s Johanna. I didn’t think she was coming. She had to work and well, never mind. Her boss is a jerk and she must have skipped out during her lunch.”
The explanation briefly puts my mind at ease. At least it wasn’t the immigration officer, right? I glance at Beck who looks pissed for some reason and then back at Johanna who is staring at the floor picking at her bouquet. They’ve never met before but this is weird even for them and I make a note to ask Beck about it later. Father Lassiter continues with our vows enlightening us about the joys of holy matrimony.
“Do you Piper Jane Scott, take thee Milo Aleksander Dimas Lazare to be your wedded husband.” Ah, so that was her full name. She certainly pulled off Jane nicely.
“I do.”
I slide a matching platinum band onto her finger. The band is thinner and has small diamonds inlaid flush giving it a sparkle. Her hand is cool and the metal warm from being in my pocket. Her eyes soften and Father Lassiter tells me to kiss my bride.
It feels as if everything stops for a split second and I cup Piper’s face in my hands gently. She leans her neck forward and I meet her halfway. Our lips touch, soft puffs of skin, hers slick from the pink gloss. I start with her bottom lip pulling it slowly into my mouth and when she gasps I go for her top lip kissing them, coaxing them until she sighs and surrenders. It’s a sweet kiss meant to convey just the beginning of how I feel about her. She’s tentative resting her hands against my suit lapels pulling me closer. When I’m done tasting my shy wife in front of witnesses her cheeks are heated and flushing. I run the pads of my thumbs over her cheeks forcing her eyes to meet mine.
My forehead meets her and I say softly, “Thank you Piper. Thank you for being my wife, it means more than you’ll ever know.”
Her silent smile and the happy crinkle at the corners of her eyes make my chest expand. In that moment, I feel like the strongest man in the world.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Piper
“Ready to go wife?” The timber of his dark voice has me turning from my conversation with Jax and Diana. I look over my shoulder at Milo. His white dress shirt is crisply pressed under his navy suit and pink tie. It’s unexpected and stylish. My husband is without a doubt a handsome man, one whose dark eyes like my own haven’t stopped staring at me. I have to force myself to stop ogling at him lest my cheeks set on fire.
“Go?” I find myself stuttering in the new status of our relationship. I can’t explain why I feel so unsettled. Sure, it’s only on paper and barely twenty minutes old but what else is there to do after conversing with our meager wedding party? I need to call my sister and find out what crawled up her ass that had her acting so weird during the ceremony and had her rushing to leave. She at least owes me an explanation. Johanna left immediately after the “I dos” and the kiss that still has my toes curling inside my sandals.
“Yes, I uh arranged a little something.” A nervous Milo isn’t something I ever thought to see. His cheeks darken under his tan skin and his hand runs through his hair while he diverts his eyes from mine. Impishly I wonder if he’s thinking about later when we’re alone. We’ve been alone before but somehow this is fundamentally different.
“You should go. Have fun.” Diana winks at me while my goddaughter is draped over her shoulder snoring loudly, tummy full from cake. She will sleep soundly tonight and maybe Diana will rest a little easier.
The plan was to finish up the work week and jump into married life with me moving in organizing utensil drawers and my boxes in a spare room. However, it seems my new husband took it upon himself to make other plans. Kind of like the extravagant ring weighing my hand down like a ten-pound dumbbell weight.
“I’ve got the gym covered, love.” Jax busses me on the cheek taking his leave and leaving me speechless.
“The gym?”
“No worries, Will is flying up. He’s going to help me and run a 10k race while he’s here.” Jax waves his hand practically skipping out on me.
“Wait, Will is town?” I feel Milo’s arm come around me.
“Piper, go enjoy your weekend off.” Jax says it like an order and beckons Diana to follow him. Huh, so I would miss seeing the older Holden brother. No fair.
“Pip, I love you and thank you. Both of you.” Milo steps back to let Diana and I hug with Maisy’s warm almost healthy body between us. My jaw clenches and I hold back tears. Milo’s hand touches my back softly, sweetly as we separate.
“Have fun.” Diana’s eyes twinkle as she leaves. Now I’m alone with Milo. All alone. I shift from leg to leg and chew my bottom lip turning to look at him. All six feet of the handsome swimmer’s body on my husband. My mouth dries and I swallow it down like sawdust.
“What is this something? I thought I was moving in?”
“Oh, you are, in fact I think the movers are righ
t on time dropping things off at my place right now.” He goes from looking anxious to smug and I feel like the important people in my life just threw me under a bus.
“What did you do?”
“I organized them packing up your stuff from your parents’ house. Johanna helped.”
My eyes strain with the roll I give him, of course my sister helped. Traitor. I take that back. I wanted to marry Milo, and in fact did so, but this still felt all new and weird no matter how much I wrapped my head around it.
“I heard that part, but what are we doing now?” My eyes dart around as Milo guides me toward the parking lot.
“We my lovely bride are going to a little beach bed and breakfast about two hours from here.” His hand squeezes my shoulder gently.
“But.” My head whips around and he keeps me moving in the same direction despite any protests I attempt.
“No buts, except for the one getting into my car with her overnight bag.” He swats my ass tapping me softly and I yelp trying to sidestep him and his large butt seeking hand.
I face him using my hands to cover my rear. Both sets of my cheeks feel heat from top to bottom. “I didn’t pack anything.”
He leans in so close he overshadows the sun and I have to hold my breath or get taken in by his masculine scent. “I know. Diana helped me.”
I swore my friends switched teams after this stunt. I could keep fighting or give in gracefully because what’s done is done.
“Okay, husband. Lead the way.” Milo grabs my hand eagerly and I follow him to the car. I know so little about my husband that I’m surprised to see the brand new, stickers still on the window and plate decal for a hybrid SUV.
“What’s this?” I point to the vehicle wondering where his sporty looking car went.
“I figured we needed a new vehicle.” He opens my door and ushers me inside. This whole farce may have started as a plan to keep Milo here, but he really took this to the next level whereas I had growing reservations.
