Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Chapter 19
Cheyenne decided that we should move the wedding date up, and we had it the weekend following her accident. Her mother, Daina, was home for another week, and my mother flew in with her husband Jonathan. My mother, Daina, Ember and Cheyenne spent the next week planning the wedding down to the very last detail.
The night before the wedding she slept over at Blaine and Elliott’s house. Blaine, Ember, and Cheyenne spent the entire night gorging on junk food and caffeine while Elliott stayed out of the way, trying not to pull his hair out.
I was told to arrive at Whispering Lodge at Eighteen hundred hours, and to not forget my nice boots. The previous venue was booked, so the women found the next best thing, or so they said. Personally I would have been happy with a Justice of the Peace and a meal at Ihop, but that would not do for Cheyenne.
I arrived at the Lodge twenty minutes ahead of time in the new Suburban that I had purchased just that morning. Luckily business was doing well, so I didn’t have to wait for the insurance to issue a check. I parked towards the corner of the lot so we could have easy access to the exit when we were ready to leave. I got out, and walked into the building keeping an eye out to my surroundings just in case.
Gabriel had the privilege of hanging with the women this morning, and I am sure he was having a super time. I received texts hourly on how awful it was, but everyone else was busy with other things. Plus he had a thing for Ember, and probably wouldn’t trust anyone else to take care of her. James had stopped by with the girls, but it was easier to get things done when they weren’t there to undo everything. James was actually supposed to be here any minute.
I walked into the Lodge and smiled when I saw my mom running busily to and from this and that giving orders. I missed the hell out of her, and I was lucky that she was able to get here on such short notice.
I called her the day after finding out about the twins. The conversation was still fresh on my mind since it had surprised me so much. She had answered the phone warily, since the last time I had called her was to tell her that I had spoken with my father.
“Hello?” My mom said.
“Hey, Ma. How are you doing?” I asked her.
“I’m doing okay. How are you?” she asked back, going along with the nice conversational tone I had set.
“I’m going to be a father.” I just came right out and said it.
The phone fell and landed on the floor with a crash, and I could hear my mother screaming and yelling, and Jon in the background asking what the fuck she was carrying on about. I just smiled and waited for her to get it together. It had taken quite a while, and Jon picked up the phone to ask me if I knew what the fuck was going on.
“I told her I was going to be a father.” I said.
“Well I’ll be damned. Is it that chick that you met at the bar?” he asked.
“Yea, it’s that chick.” I said laughingly.
Jon laughed too.
Jon knew that she was mine. We had spoken at least four times since I had met her, and I had told them all about her. I’m sure they were surprised to hear that I was going to have a baby though.
“Tell her its twins.” I said happily.
“Oh, fuck. Leslie, calm the fuck down!” Jon said to my mom.
My mom quieted down, but started right back up again when he told her that it was twins. Apparently thirty two years old was too long to wait to have kids, and she was happy that I was finally giving her grandchildren, or at least that is what I got from the screaming and shrieking she was doing.
I smiled at the memory now. I loved having my mom around and seeing her so happy. There was a time when I was younger that her smiles were rare and fleeting. I had seen her smile more in this last week than I have since I was a young boy.
I walked up to my mom and enveloped her in a big bear hug, and she hugged me right back. We stayed like that for a long while, and she pulled back and looked at me, then reached forward and straightened the bars on my chest, even though they were perfect.
“You look very handsome!” she said.
I smiled and said “Yeah yeah, you can thank Cheyenne for this. This is itchy. I do not miss this part of the military. These uniforms make me hot and sweaty.”
Cheyenne begged me to wear my uniform. She also begged the other guys as well. So we were all decked out in our dress uniforms, medals, bars and all. We had worn them for Dougie’s funeral, and Cheyenne said we looked handsome, so here we were.
My mom led me to a room off the side of the hall, told me I had about an hour, and left. I raised my eyebrows as she closed the door, and left me in here alone. Well, she never used to act like this. Jon was good for her.
Elliott, Jack, and Jon arrived within minutes of each other all of them decked out in uniforms. James came to check in, but turned right around and left so he could be with Cheyenne. Gabriel came in and went to the bathroom with a zippered bag that held his uniform and returned about five minutes later dressed except for his shoes.
“You have got some balls marrying that woman.” Gabe said. “They are fucking nuts. There wasn’t a minute today that they weren’t joking around, or playing pranks, or teasing each other. Are you sure you want to do this for the rest of your life?”