Getting Ready for the Wedding

Turns out, Forest had a tracking chip embedded in his back, courtesy of his time at the castle. We'd removed it and traced it back to his uncle, who confessed to using it to monitor our movements before we caught him.

Forest, understandably, lost his cool and beat the crap out of him. His uncle apologized profusely, and eventually, Forest cooled down enough to forgive him for his betrayal.

Meanwhile, Shay was busy planning our wedding with my mom back home. She was now six months pregnant. We'd gone for a checkup a few weeks back, and the doctor assured us the baby was doing well.

We made sure to share pictures of our growing baby with everyone. My family was known for having boys, so there wasn't much doubt about what we were expecting.

I was so thrilled about everything that sleep often eluded me. We decided to put Conner and Noah in charge of setting up the nursery while Shay picked out the things she liked.

When she fell asleep, I'd order everything she'd shown interest in. Her wedding dress had already been altered four times, thanks to our son's rapid growth.

I headed to the office to confirm that her parents were on my dad’s plane. They were en route to Italy for this special occasion.

“Noah,” I greeted as he rounded the corner from his wing of the house. “I think we’ll have everything ready once you’re packed. Your mom has everything else handled over there. She’s pretty excited.”

“And her parents?” I asked, glancing at him.

“They boarded the plane about an hour ago. Your folks are going to get them settled before we arrive and give them a tour of the countryside for a couple of hours.”

Nodding, I opened the door to my office. Conner was already there, sitting in a chair, one leg over the other, bouncing to a slow beat. “About time you two slowpokes showed up. I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes.”

Closing the door with a soft click, we took our seats. “Have the guys in the warehouse been briefed on what needs to be handled in the next few weeks?” I asked.

“Absolutely! They’re getting used to us being gone, so they’re almost on autopilot when it comes to the list I give them now.” Conner’s leg continued to bounce.

I shuffled through a pile of papers, looking at a few that needed my attention. “What about this order here?” I handed him the paper.

“Oh, that one. We have it set aside, ready for shipment as soon as the payment clears. It will be loaded and delivered to the client when I text them the green light.” He handed me the paper back.

I glanced at the closet, where our wedding suits were hanging.

Noah tapped his finger on the desk. “Boss, don’t worry about anything. It’s all been handled while your mind was elsewhere. Are you getting nervous about this weekend?”

I turned to him slowly.

“I mean, this is going to be the best weekend of my life. Getting married and then becoming a father soon after—who could ask for more? Shay is an amazing woman. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky.”

Connor and Noah both laughed.

“Uh, you claimed her, then refused to let her leave,” said Noah. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It worked out for you in the end, so we’re both really happy for you.

“Shay is a woman that most men wouldn’t find in four lifetimes, even if they were looking. We both have grown to love her like a sister, so we’ll always do whatever you or she needs.”

“Are your girlfriends coming with us?” I asked.

Conner was still with Angela. They were doing really well together.

Noah had found another girl at the club, Brooke, about a week after his disastrous date. They had hit it off, and he moved her in here with us. Kind of like what I had done with Shay, but less forcefully, I suppose.

Connor snorted. “You know both of them are in the bridal party, right?”

I dropped my aching head into my hands.

“Sorry, my mind has been racing lately. It’s hard to tell which way is up and which way is down. I’m trying to get all the baby shopping done so everything will be set up when we get back.”

Both of them leaned forward. Conner spoke. “Have you been getting any sleep, Boss? Your eyes tell me you haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a while.”

“You know there’s nothing to worry about with the warehouses,” Noah tried to reassure me. “We have that handled, plus the interior decorator will have the nursery finished by the time you return from your honeymoon.

“Is that what you’re stressing about, or is there something else we need to know?” Noah’s elbows were on the desk, his head in one of his hands.

“I guess with everything going on with the wedding, sneaking around behind her back trying to order everything she wanted was getting hard. We’re still sticking to the story that you two did all of it with my suggestions, right?”

They both burst into laughter, then wiped the tears from their eyes. “He’s definitely got his panties in a twist,” Conner managed to say.

“Boss, you know that we have everything under control,” Noah said. “You need to go and get some sleep. I don’t think showing up at the altar with those bags under your eyes will look good in photos.” He pointed at my eyes.

“I guess I’m just hoping everything goes as smoothly as we want it to,” I said, rubbing my face.

“Here.” Conner handed me a large white pill. “This will help you relax and slow down your mind. Get some good sleep for a change tonight. What time is the plane leaving?”

“Eight in the morning. Why?” I looked at the pill in my hand.

“That will give you at least ten hours of solid sleep. Since we just ate, go ahead and take it. It’ll kick in within an hour, so you’ll be in bed by eight. I got it from the doctor when I told him what was going on with you.”

Connor reached behind him, pulling a bottle of water from the mini fridge.

I swallowed the pill, chasing it down with the water.

“If Shay isn’t ready for bed when I am, let the girls stay up a bit longer. I think it’s time for me to shower and pack up my things for the night. I want to be ready to hit the sack.

“Just take it easy tonight, keep an eye on the girls, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

We all rose from our seats, heading our separate ways. Connor and Noah made their way to the cinema where the girls were engrossed in a movie. I headed upstairs to the bedroom, following through with my plan.

By the time I crawled into bed, my body had surrendered to relaxation. And then, I was out cold for the night.