Chapter 135 – Willow

I had Ogden look me over to make sure there was nothing on my dress. Shockingly it was as good as it was when it came out of the garment bag. I looked in the mirror to make sure my make was still set, and it was gorgeous.

I turned to see that Ogden was watching me, smiling. He of course was already flawless and watched as I was making sure that I still looked good. “What?” I blushed at his attention.

“Just watching my wife getting ready.” He gave me a small shrug. That action reminded me of when he was younger and not a sure of himself. Like he was back in high school.

I snorted at him. “When did you become such a romantic? I thought you were supposed to be this grumpy Gus.” I smirked at him.

“I have always been romantic…when it came to you.”

I smiled at my husband. “We should get back.” I held out my hand and he instantly took it. We made our way back down to our guests. Just like the amazing venue where we had our ceremony, everything was covered in peonies, wisteria, and other foliage. It was all so magical, and I couldn’t believe that it looked so good. It was better than anything that I could have hoped for.

We walked through the room where the cocktail hour was being held. Each person stopped and congratulated us and thanked us for the invitation. I didn’t even know one third of the people. They were mostly all Ogden’s acquaintances.

Ogden pulled me to a group of men who were talking about their stocks and what was making a killing. “Gentleman.” Ogden said as he pulled me against his side and put his arm around me.

“Moore! Congratulations!” One man said as he clapped him on the shoulder.

“I would like to introduce my wife, Willow Moore. Willow, this is Bill Boggs, Spencer Douglas, and Liam Wright. These gentleman were my first investors…and I might mention I made them a lot of money.” Ogden whispered the last part in my ear. I giggled.

“It is nice to meet you.” I smiled at the men.

“It is a pleasure.” The man named Spencer said as he grabbed my hand and brushed a kiss to my knuckles.

I glanced up at Ogden. I wasn’t used to men doing this and it seemed a bit out of place.

Ogden leaned in and whispered. “Spencer is a horrible flirt.” He gave me a smile and then smiled at Spencer.

“Guilty as charged.” The man said as he took a step back. The men started chatting and my mind wandered. My stomach growled.

“I’m going to go find Sophia and…” I bit my lip as the memory of my mom and Doctor Johnson floated to the surface.

“And what?” He looked at me.

I leaned into him and cupped my hand against his ear. “When I was getting ready, I was about to put on my dress and knew that my mom wanted to help. So, I went looking for her and I found her and Doctor Johnson…um…together.” I pulled away and looked at him.

A look of shock consumed his face and then he started to laugh. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.” I clenched my teeth together and gave him a smile. “I’m scarred for life.” I snorted at him.

“At least you are an adult and not a kid.” Ogden said and kissed my forehead. “Go find Sophia and your mom. I’ll be here for a bit.”

I left him and maneuvered through the venue. The lights were twinkling and making everything look magical. Jeremy and Beverly ran up to me, all smiles.

“Congratulations, Willow.” Beverly said as she clutched Jeremy’s arm.

“Thanks, Beverly. Are you having a good time?”

“The best, this place is gorgeous.” Beverly said as she looked around the room.

“We have some news.” Jeremy beamed at me. “We are engaged!”

Beverly hit his arm. “We were going to tell them later; it is their day!”

“I know but I just couldn’t keep it in.” Jeremy said with a pout.

“Oh my god, that is amazing! Congratulations!” I pulled Beverly into a hug and then Jeremy. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Willow.” Beverly looked almost shy.

“I’m starving and want to find my maid of honor.” I smiled at them one last time before breaking off in search of some food.

“Hello, everyone!” My wedding planner yelled from one end of the room before I could find Sophia. “I hope you are having a great time. We are now going to serve dinner. Please make your way into the dining hall. Seat assignments are on the board. You may bring your drinks but please find your seat in an orderly fashion.” She waved at the doors as they opened.

Just like this room, every aspect of the dining hall was covered in beautiful flowers and leaves. I really felt like I was in a fairy tale. I walked to the front table where Sophia, Alan, Gabe and his date were already sitting. Ogden came up behind me and pulled out my chair so I could sit down. My maid of honor and Alan were going to sit next to me, and Gabe and his date sat next to Ogden.

Ogden put his hand on my thigh, the touch sent a thrill up my leg and through my body. He did things to me that I was never going to get used to.

Gabe stood and started to tap his butter knife against his champagne glass. “I would like to say a quick toast.” Everyone quieted and looked at him. “I just wanted to say how happy I am that my best friend has found the love of his life and was able to marry her. Congratulations, to the happy couple. Ogden and Willow!” Everyone repeated our names and took a drink.

Gabe spurred on others to stand and give a toast. It was about fifteen minutes of different people through the room raising a glass. I couldn’t focus on all of them, I looked for the first sign of food to be delivered.

My stomach growled and I leaned into Ogden. “If I don’t get food soon, I’m going to eat the napkins.”

Ogden snorted at me and kissed my cheek. He stood and raised his arms. “We appreciate all of the toasts, but my bride is hungry so let’s postpone any others until after the food has been served.”

Everyone in the room started chatting. He sat down and motioned to the wedding planner to get the servers out here. Within a minute, an army of servers all dressed in black flooded the room, placing plates of steaming food in front of everyone.

The plate in front of me had bacon wrapped scallops with asparagus. When going over the food choices I realize now that some of them seemed like a pregnant person chose everything. I cut into one and it sliced apart like butter.

I shoved the morsel in my mouth, and it melted right away. I leaned back and enjoyed the flavoring.

Ogden leaned over and whispered, “if you continue to moan like that I may need to bring you to a closet and have my way with you.”

Sophia snorted next to me. “You guys are worse than rabbits.”

I looked at Ogden. “I honestly do not care as long as I can continue eating delicious food.”

Ogden beamed at me.

In record time, my food was gone, and it looked like I licked the plate. I was fully tempted to, but refrained because it wasn’t appropriate. The servers went around the room grabbing empty plates.

I leaned over and looked at Gabe. I didn’t get to meet his date. “Gabe, you didn’t introduce us to your date.” Ogden leaned back so I could talk to him.

Gabe gave me a smile. “This is Tabitha, my hired date.”

I furrowed my brows at him and then the realization came. She was an escort. I tried to keep my face stoic, but I knew that it wasn’t. Ogden snorted next to me. “Nice to meet you.” I gave her a smile and then faced forward.

“He does that sometimes when he isn’t dating someone.” Ogden whispered in my ear. “He usually brings very put together women, who know how to act in these situations.”

“These situations meaning our wedding?” I cocked an eyebrow at him.

He contorted his face. “Weddings, banquets, fund raisers, really anything. I’ve seen Tabitha before. She is very…professional.”

I rolled my eyes at him. My stomach was still growling, and I waited impatiently for the next course. Why couldn’t they just bring out food as people finished. I knew I should have packed my purse with snacks so I wouldn’t starve.

“Um…hello.”

The voice pulled me from my thoughts of food and snacks. My eyes widened as I stared at Ogden’s parents. I didn’t know what to do or why they were here. I glanced over at Ogden who had a similar look on his face.

He stood and lowered his voice. “What are you doing here?” He almost growled at them.

His mom gave him a tentative smile. “We wanted to share this special day with our son.” She was looking at him and then glanced at me. “And his new…bride.”

I knew that she didn’t like me and that she thought I was a gold-digging whore. But she was wrong. Before Ogden, I wasn’t with anyone. I was a virgin and sure he offered me his money to help my mom. But that brought us together and we were really in love.

“How did you get in?” Ogden growled again.

“We told the security guards that we are your parents. And they let us right in.” Thor said.

Ogden looked around; I knew he was looking for a security guard to take his parents away. But his mom leaned forward.

“We aren’t here to cause trouble. We just wanted to say congratulations and that we are correcting our ways.”

I knew that his parents had hurt Ogden throughout his life. He was neglected and used as a bartering chip to improve their status. He never really felt loved during his childhood and he almost broke when my mom hugged him and accepted him as her son-in-law.

Ogden furrowed his eyebrows at his parents. I knew that I should be paying attention, but I was looking for the server who had my next course. If I wasn’t mistaken it was going to be lobster bisque. My mouth watered.

When Ogden didn’t say anything to his parents, his dad leaned forward. “I’m in rehab and we sold the house and pretty much everything in it.” He glanced around. “We got an apartment that we can afford in Manhattan.” He said those words as if it should be embarrassing.

Thor’s words brought me back to the conversation and I gave him a smile. That was good that they were attempting to do better.

“That doesn’t make everything better. You tried to sell me to the highest bidder.” Ogden clenched his teeth together. I grabbed his hand to help him calm down. He looked down at me and softened.

“I know.” His mom looked sad and guilty. “I wasn’t a very good mom. But I’m hoping that I can change that.” She gave him a smile. “I want to be part of your life. And get to know your wife. If you’ll let me…let us.” She looked at me again. I knew she was fighting against the look of disgust.

Ogden looked down at me again. It was if he was looking for permission to accept their terms. But this wasn’t my decision. He had years of pain, and I only had a few days. I couldn’t make this decision for him, so I shrugged my shoulders.

Ogden let out a long sigh and pulled his hand through his hair. “Okay.” He took another deep breath. “But if you try to pull anything or cause any problems you will be cut off and will be out of my life. My wife’s life. And the life of your grandchild.”

I was shocked that he divulged that information. We were keeping it under wraps as long as we could, but I knew why he did it. He had a trump card that he played because now the stakes were higher.

Trish and Thor’s eyes both rounded. And the expression on Trish’s face softened. “You’re pregnant?” She pointed at me. “I’m going to be a grandmother?” I could hear the emotion in her voice.

“You’re pregnant?” Gabe said loudly as he leaned over the table to look at us.

The entire room turned to look at the commotion that was happening at our table. I took a deep breath. I didn’t want everyone to know. I didn’t want this wedding to seem like a shotgun wedding. The two things hand nothing to do with each other. I just didn’t want to be showing when I walked down the aisle.

Ogden let out another long sigh and looked at the crowd. “Well, now the cat is out of the bag.” He glared down at his best man. “Yes, Willow is pregnant. And no, we didn’t get married because she is pregnant.” He looked over at the paparazzi that were taking pictures. “And if I see one article that states this is a shot gun wedding or that I was forced to marry her, I will sue.” He clenched his jaw together.

“Willow!” My mom came running through the room. “I’m going to be a grandma?” I hadn’t told her yet. I wanted to tell her in a grand way by getting her a shirt that said best grandma ever. But now that was ruined.

I gave her a strained smile. “Yeah. I was going to tell you next week.” My mom rushed around the table, I stood, and she pulled me into a hug.

“This is amazing.” She started to cry. She released me and pulled Ogden into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. That was the way a grandparent should respond when they find out that their children were having a baby. Ogden’s parents stood awkwardly watching us.

“Congratulations.” Trish leaned forward and tried to give a genuine smile. “I’m very happy for you two.”

“Yes, congrats.” Thor threw in.

I looked at them and wanted to show them some mercy. I knew Ogden was at a loss and it was my job to step in when he needed help. “Why don’t you have a seat and enjoy some amazing food. Enjoy the evening and maybe we can organize another time to talk.” I gave them a smile.

Tris reached out and touched my arm. “Thank you.”

I motioned for the wedding planner and told her to make some room for two more people. She quickly went into action and adjusted the room. Ogden and I sat down and waited for the next course.

The rest of the night went on without a hitch. Everyone enjoyed the rest of the courses. I guess I went overboard because there was seven courses and by the fifth everyone was stuffed. But I was pregnant and got through them all without slowing down.

The DJ started to play music and people danced. We had our first dance, he held me tightly against him and we swayed to the music getting lost in the moment. Everything about the night was magical and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

At the end of the night, we snuck out. But instead of going to our suite, Ogden took me to the roof.

“Why are we up here?” I looked at him as he pushed open the door to the rooftop.

“I just wanted to share a little alone time with my wife.” He pulled me to the center of the roof, and we looked up at the night sky. The storm that was brewing earlier went away and left clear skies. Even though the lights of the city drowned out the light from the stars, they were still beautiful. “Was everything up to par with what you were hoping your dream wedding would be?”

I looked up at him and smiled. “You have given me everything that I could even imagine. I am so happy, and I am excited to spend the rest of our lives together.” I leaned in and kissed him. It was the perfect way to end an amazing, yet chaotic, day.