Extra chapter
Jackson Johnson
"What? Next weekend? You’re crazy! You need to give me more time to send out the invitations, get the china, the banquet..." I raised my hand to stop her, and my mother swatted it away. "What’s going on? What happened to the six months for the wedding? And the engagement party? Is there something I don’t know about right now? Tell me or my mind will create stories that make my hair stand on end, Jackson." She fired off question after question, and I placed my hands on her shoulders and sat her down on the couch she had just risen from.
"Calm down, breathe, please." She obeyed, and I sat on the couch next to her, looking at her intently. Her dark eyes stared back at me, waiting for answers. "We want to do it now, why wait? You know if it were up to me, I’d take Lilly to city hall to get married today."
"You’ve only been together for two months, you haven’t enjoyed the courtship as you should. Six months seemed too soon, and now you’re giving me a week to organize the wedding? This makes me nervous, I know something is happening and from your face, I know you won’t tell me."
"You know me pretty well, so... can I count on you to organize the wedding?"
"Of course, I’ll do it without batting an eye, but tell me nothing bad is happening."
"No, don’t worry, Mom. I’m the one who decided to move everything up, I don’t want to wait any longer."
"When you said you wanted to get married today, you said the same thing when you went for your grandmother’s ring."
"And you told me I was crazy, that she deserved the best wedding in the world and not to say 'I do' in a city hall office, that the Johnsons should celebrate the new member properly." She smiled.
"You remember those words." I nodded.
"Yes, they really opened my eyes, and you’re right."
"Alright, give me the exact day."
"Next Friday." She raised her eyebrows.
"Do you know what day that is?"
"Yes, I know, and what better than to add another celebration where your son marries the woman he loves..." She pressed her lips together.
"Alright, then so be it."
Only six days until we said 'I do.' Although Lilly was eager to move up the date, I really thought we shouldn’t wait any longer. With our baby on the way, I didn’t want the wedding to stress her during these months. My mother had left excited to start the wedding preparations.
The engagement dinner would be held three days before the wedding, with only our closest friends and family attending. The more intimate, the better.
Engagement Night
"Fix your tie," Jacob said beside me, reaching out to adjust the knot. He knew my nerves had gotten the best of my fingers. "Breathe, Jackson."
"I am, J.J."
"Are you panicking?" I shook my head.
"I just want the night to end." He frowned, lowering his hands from my tie.
"Why?"
"The less stress or anxiety I cause Lilly, the better."
"But I don’t think she’s stressed. I saw her laughing with Leah and my mom about something. The one who seems stressed and anxious is you." I shot him a glare.
"I’m not."
"You are. My question is, why do you think this will stress her out? It would be normal given the situation." I turned to him in surprise.
"You know?" He shrugged.
"It’s obvious, Jackson."
"Does Leah know?" He frowned.
"They’re sisters, remember?" I let out a sigh of relief. Now Jacob knew why I was like this. I placed my hand on his shoulder and showed a gesture of relief.
"I’m glad you know. I don’t want people to think we’re getting married to hide her pregnancy," I confessed.
"What?!" Jacob exclaimed loudly, causing everyone around us to look. I squeezed his shoulder to make him quiet, smiled fakely at the others, and pulled him away. We left our parents’ house garden for more privacy. "How? How...?" I shushed him to keep quiet. We reached the parking lot, and I let go. He complained about the pain in his shoulder and massaged it, his eyes shining. "Oh my God, she’s pregnant."
"Keep your voice down, no one knows. Well, Leah must know from what you said."
"Jackson, I was referring to the stress of the upcoming wedding. Every woman feels that way when getting married. I mentioned Leah because she’s her sister, and it was obvious she knew how Lilly was feeling." He complained about the pain. "And how do you feel about becoming a father?" My heart pounded.
"Oh my God, inside I’m screaming with joy. I’m scared, but at the same time, so excited. I want to see him already and..." My voice broke, and I couldn’t continue.
"Damn, I envy you," he said, coming closer and hugging me tightly. I hugged him back. "You’ll be the best dad in the world," he said, pulling away. I was still speechless. "And I’ll be the favorite uncle of the Johnson family."
"You’re the only one on that side of the family."
"But the only favorite." He smiled.
"Is everything okay?" Lilly's melodious voice made us look in her direction. She was about to stop my brother's intentions, but he was quick. He hugged Lilly enthusiastically and lifted her up, spinning her around despite her telling him to put her down. He finally did and left a kiss on her forehead, which took her by surprise.
"Congratulations, soon-to-be mother," she opened her eyes wide and signaled him to be quiet with her finger. Jacob mimicked the gesture and nodded.
"Have you told him?" she asked, looking at me.
"There was a slight confusion, and I..."
"I won't say anything. I'm a vault," Jacob said quickly.
"Please, we don't want to tell anyone until after the wedding..."
"But why do you care what others think? A child is a miracle, a blessing..." Jacob said.
"We don't want anyone to know because..." Lilly paused and took a deep breath. "It's customary to announce it after three months of pregnancy, as things can happen..." She stopped when Jacob put his arm around her.
"I get it now, and the stress makes more sense. I hadn't seen it that way," he said, kissing her crown. "So we need to be more careful... I want to see my nephew healthy so I can shower him with love and teach him some mischief." He winked at me, and I shook my head. No way I'm letting that happen!
"Thank you," I said, gently pulling Lilly's arm to hug her myself.
"What are you doing here? The party is in the garden," we looked toward Leah, who was coming to scold us. Jacob hugged her enthusiastically, and they stayed in the embrace longer than usual. Lilly pulled me away to give them some privacy. We saw the surprised look on Leah's face; my brother must be overwhelmed by the news.
Lilly intertwined our hands while lifting her evening dress a bit with her free hand. It was a dark blue lace dress, her hair braided into a bun near her nape, with some strands falling around her ears. The fabric clung to her body like a second skin; she looked stunningly beautiful.
We reached the table where our two chairs were, and I picked up a glass and a fork. I tapped the glass lightly twice to get the attention of the tables in front of us.
"Your attention, please," I said a bit nervously. I hated speaking in front of so many people. Lilly stood by my side with a big smile on her beautiful lips. What more could I ask for? I put an arm around her waist and pulled her close to my side. When I saw that everyone at the tables was paying attention, I spoke: "I want to thank you all for coming to our engagement night. I know it was unexpected given the dates we had planned, but what better than to follow your heart?" I looked at Lilly, who blushed and placed her hand on my stomach. I looked back at the guests, raised my glass, and they all did the same. "To an important step in our lives! Cheers!" Everyone exclaimed "Cheers" and then took a sip, and applause filled the room. I leaned in to kiss Lilly, and afterward, we went around the tables to greet the rest of the guests.
Finally, Lilly lay down on my old bed. I removed my tie as I closed the door behind me. My mother had insisted that her family stay the night so they wouldn't have to drive back to the city, as it was quite late and they had a bit to drink. That included Jacob.
"Are you tired?" Lilly had her back to me, lying on her side facing the window that looked out onto the garden.
"Mmm..." she replied. I walked around the bed to reach her and realized she was falling asleep. I knelt by her side and took her hand that was resting on her belly, as if protecting it unconsciously. That made me smile. I ran my hand through her loose hair, tucking it back to see her face better.
"Did you enjoy the night?" She nodded against the pillow without opening her eyes. She must have been exhausted. The bedside clock showed it was two in the morning. Before getting up completely, I kissed her belly and then her forehead. I checked if she had taken off her shoes; she hadn't, so I focused on removing them, then covered her with the bedspread. I sat in the chair next to the bed, unbuttoned the top two buttons of my dress shirt, crossed one leg over the other, and settled in to watch her for a while. I thought about everything that had happened since I met her. A smile appeared as I remembered the first dinner we didn't have on my mother's blind date, and since then, her face had been etched somewhere in my mind. Now, fate had done its thing and brought us together, making us experience what we had never known in our lives. Now... we would be together forever. "I love you, Lilly," I whispered before closing my eyes completely and losing myself in the arms of Morpheus.