He chuckled against me. “You’re right,” he said, finger snaking around the front of my throat. “I’d rather you stay in this bed all day with me, so I can take you any way and anytime that I want.”
A laugh escaped my lips, and I pushed him away. I had to go to James’s home. Mom was waiting for me there tonight. James had signed her out of the assisted living home earlier this morning, and she had been texting me nonstop about coming over to celebrate with her.
After escaping Michael’s hold, I jumped off the bed and pulled on some clothes. I pressed a kiss on his lips and grabbed my to-go bag. “I have to go, really, Michael.”
“Next time I see you, you’re going to become my wife.” He pulled me into another long, hot kiss. “I’ve been waiting for this for months, Mia. I can’t wait.”
CHAPTER15
MIA
“Good morning, sweetheart!” someone said from my bedside.
I mumbled Michael’s name into my pillow and scooched backward to touch him. All I wanted to feel were his big, strong arms wrapped around my body, him pulling me against him, his breath on my ear, his mouth on my skin, his cock against my—
The lights flickered on and off, and then someone jumped on the bed next to me.
“Wake up!” Serena said. “Your mom and James made breakfast for the bride!”
I blinked my eyes open and saw Mom sitting in her wheelchair at the foot of the bed and Serena basically on top of me in her pajamas.
“It’s my wedding day,” I whispered, sitting up a bit too quickly but caught myself before I could fall back. “I’m getting married today.”
Serena helped me out of the bed, and we headed toward the kitchen with Mom. James’s kitchen table was packed with French toast, pancakes, fruit, and eggs—everything that I used to love as a kid and everything that would make me bloated as hell today.
Sitting down in a chair, I furrowed my brows at Serena. “Where’s Melissa?” I asked.
“With Michael,” she said. “She said she’d be over a bit later.”
Mom and Serena chatted during breakfast as I struggled to eat any food because my stomach was in knots, just thinking about today. I was about to make the commitment of a lifetime to one of my best friends, to the father of my babies, to the man of my damn dreams. It felt surreal. I felt like I was living in some kind of fanfic romance I used to read online when I was younger.
The doorbell rang, and my stomach tightened even more.
“Ooh, makeup and hair are here!” Serena said, hopping up to get the door.
Two women walked in with a bunch of boxes and makeup kits, calling out, “Good morning,” to all of us.
James excused himself, and I helped Mom clean off the kitchen table.
“You know, I’m so excited for you,” she said to me as Serena sat in the chair to get styled first. “I wish I could walk you down the aisle today, and I was going to ask James to do it for you … but you don’t need anyone togive you away. You make your own decisions, and you’ve made good ones to lead you here.”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I begged myself not to cry. My eyes would look all red and puffy today if I did.
Mom grabbed my hands and smiled at me. “You’ve found yourself an amazing man, and I can’t wait for you to love him for the rest of your life. After everything that you’ve been through, you deserve to be happy and smiling every moment of every day. And Michael has been the only one to make you that way.”
“Mom, stop,” I whispered, pressing my lips together as the tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here today. She had helped me become stronger. She had helped me become me. And I would never be able to thank her enough for doing that.
CHAPTER16
MIA
We stood in the center of a white stone bridge at Carolds Farm on the day of our wedding. The bridge overlooked a lake and miles upon miles of flower-decorated land, right outside the city. Michael was a few feet away with his back turned to me for our first look.
“Okay,” our wedding photographer said.
She glanced at me with a huge smile, and I rubbed my sweaty hands together and stared at the back of his head. I’d decided last minute to have a first look before the wedding, feeling as if it would be more intimate to see Michael for the first time in my wedding dress before everyone else saw me.
