“Yeah, so I have another person in this room giving me grief? No thanks.”
“Mom,” I scold her.
“Fine, call Maggie. But I swear, if you make it out to be a bigger deal than it is, I’ll throw a fit.”
Lincoln gives her a salute and leaves the room to call his mother.
“Now, how was Vegas?” my mother says with a smile.
A part of me wants to blurt everything out and tell her how truly amazing the trip was because I came back a marriedwoman. But now is far from the time to tell her that. I can picture it now, telling her I married Lincoln and her heart monitor flaring up as I give my mother a real fucking heart attack.
I rub my forehead, knowing it’s going to take some time and planning on when to tell them and not fear I might send her into cardiac arrest.
“I loved it. I haven’t had a chance to speak with Krystal yet, but I think I’ve got the job.”
“As you should, she’d be an idiot not to hire you,” she says and I shake my head. “What? You’ve been fantastic at planning events since you were a small child? You wouldn’t even let me plan your birthday parties. You wanted to do it yourself so they would be perfect. I think you found your niche, Penny. I told you things were starting to look up.”
My eyes well with tears and my mom tsks at me.
“None of that. Come, give me a hug.”
I wrap my arms around her, avoiding all the cords attached to her.
“I’m so proud of you, sweetie,” she whispers in my ear and I swear my heart sinks in my gut. I wonder if that’s the last time she’ll ever say that to me.
It’s beenmultiple weeks of keeping our marriage a secret and everything seems to be getting in the way of us being fully out to our family. Meanwhile, everything in our little bubble is going fantastic. I left Kemper’s and I’m now working for Krystal full time. I’m driving again. Lincoln helped me pick out a cute Volkswagen that I love. And our marriage is going better than I could have ever expected.
We’re in complete newlywed bliss. We eat dinner together, sleep together, and wake up and do it all over again. I don’t think there’s a spot in this apartment where we haven’t fucked, but I’m willing to make sure we haven’t missed a spot.
My mother has been healing from her heart attack, milking every second of it. I can only imagine how much money she’s spent online gambling, but she’s truly doing better.
Tonight’s the night.
We’re going to walk into Lincoln’s parents’ house and tell them everything—well, minus the details of how this all started. There’s no reason to traumatize our families to that extent.
I take a deep breath as Lincoln opens the door and when we do, there’s groaning from our family and my heart stills, did they find out?
“It’s not them,” Maggie says. “Well, shut the front door before you ruin the surprise,” she says and I look around at the balloons and the massive congratulation sign next to two wedding rings.
I furrow my brow and look at Lincoln.
“Get out of the way, they should be here any second now,” Maggie says, moving us to the side as Aiden and Jessa walk through the door, and our family gives out rounds of congratulations.
I look over to Lincoln, who looks up at the ceiling for strength. I dust off this feeling of resentment as my best friend and cousin walk into the room beaming.
“Why didn’t anyone tell us about the surprise?” Lincoln says in an irritated tone to his brother, Gavin.
“Probably because they didn’t want Penny spilling the beans before it happened. Not everyone knows how good she is at keeping a secret.” Gavin winks and walks away. Lincoln looks like he’s considering throttling his younger brother as Aiden and Jessa approach us.
She holds out a hand, showcasing the ring, which I automatically recognize as Lincoln’s grandmother’s ring.
“Congratulations, Jessa,” I say honestly, wrapping my arms around her in a serious hug.
“Thank you. I seriously had no clue,” she gushes. Aiden’s smile is wide as he looks down at his fiancé.
The smile that takes over my face is genuine. What’s another week or two?
As soon asthe appropriate amount of time passes after Jessa and Aiden’s engagement, we agree that we can’t wait any longer.
