Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Alissa took a step back and checked her reflection in the mirror. She frowned and then smiled, deciding that she liked the subtle streaks of blush that she'd applied to her cheeks. Behind her glasses, her lashes had been accentuated by a dark mascara. She didn't usually bother with makeup, but today was a very special occasion. She and Dane were getting ready to go to Josie's wedding.

"Honey, where are my black socks?" Dane called from the bedroom, where he was getting dressed into his suit.

"Aren't they in your sock drawer?" she called back.

"No, they're—oh yes, you're right. Here they are."

She chuckled to herself as she started to carefully comb her hair, making sure to not disrupt her natural curls. She was wearing a tasteful navy dress with long sleeves, since a winter wedding was sure to be on the chillier side, even indoors. It was a new maternity dress, with a fluttery skirt, and she felt excited to get out of the house and onto the dance floor. She wouldn't be able to dance a great deal, considering how pregnant she was, but she wanted to get out on the floor and sway near her dancing friends at least. She chuckled to herself as she thought of it. She was looking forward to not being pregnant anymore—mainly because she couldn't wait to have their bundle of joy out in the world.

Dane came out of the bedroom, tying on a navy tie that matched Alissa's dress. "Okay, I'll be ready in just a few—wow." He stopped when he saw her, grinning. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

"Why thank you. You look very handsome yourself." She grinned at him and gave him a kiss. "You know I love you in a suit."

He took her by the hand and spun her around. "Are you sure you can dance in those shoes?"

"Oh, definitely. My ankles are well supported."

"Hmm, I think we'd better do a test run, just to be safe." He waltzed with her for a few steps, and then dipped her back a little.

"Yup, all good," she said, laughing as he set her back on her feet.

"Are you almost ready?" he asked, standing next to her in front of the mirror as he began to tie his tie.

"Very nearly," she said. "I'm just going to pin some of my hair back with this pin." She gestured to an antique hair pin that she owned. It was made of gold and looked very becoming with her brown hair.

"Perfect, me too." He finished tying his tie and then started back toward their bedroom. "I just need to put on my suit jacket and my shoes."

A couple of seconds elapsed, and then from inside their bedroom, he called, "What about Jack?"

"Veto!"

"Why?"

"It makes me think of The Titanic ."

She heard Dane exhale loudly from the bedroom, and she chuckled. "How about Andrew?" she called.

"Veto."

"Well, what about Thomas?"

"Veto. What about George?"

"You already asked me that one. Veto."

There was a pause, and then she had an idea. "How about Oscar?" she called, and at the same time she heard Dane call, "What about Oscar?"

Her jaw dropped. She ran out into the hallway, staring at Dane. He blinked at her, his eyes wide.

"Did you just say Oscar?" he asked.

She nodded, starting to laugh. "Yes!"

He hurried forward and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Alissa!" he cried. "That's it!"

"You really like it?" she asked. "I thought at first you were just teasing me because you heard me say it first, but—"

He shook his head. "No, I was actually suggesting it at the same time you were." He grinned at her, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "We've found it, sweetheart! The name for our baby. Oscar."

"Oscar," she said, the name rolling off her tongue easily. It felt right. She placed her hands on her stomach and looked down. "What do you say to that, Oscar? You like your name?"

Oscar declined to answer, but Dane chuckled and kissed Alissa again. "It feels perfect. Oh boy, what a relief."

"I'll say." She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Our baby has a name! We've finally picked it." She let out a laugh, remembering all the long and silly conversations they'd had.

"Oscar," he said again, squeezing her. "Oscar."

"Let's not tell anyone just yet," she suggested.

He nodded. "We'll keep it to ourselves for now."

"But we know." She felt like she was floating with happiness. "We know what our baby's name is."

A strange feeling came over her—it was a wonderful feeling, full of excitement and nostalgia and tenderness. She'd never experienced anything like it before. In the next moment, she realized that she was feeling that way because until then, their baby had felt like someone who would arrive in the future. Now she felt as though he was a little personality waiting there inside her, ready to come out into the world. She felt almost as if he'd already arrived.

"It all feels so much more real now," she whispered, feeling a rush of joy.

"It does," Dane agreed with her softly. "Our baby—"

"Oscar," she corrected playfully.

He grinned. "Oscar will be here soon."

The young parents held each other close, and Alissa felt that she couldn't wait to meet their little son.

Caitlin hurried out of her bedroom, startled by the sound of something breaking.

"Oh no!" Pearl cried from the bathroom.

"What happened, honey?" Caitlin called, hurrying forward in concern.

She found Pearl standing against the wall in the bathroom, staring at the pieces of glass that were strewn all over the bathroom floor.

"I—I broke it," Pearl said, starting to cry.

Caitlin looked down at the pieces of glass, trying to figure out what it was that her daughter had broken. It wasn't something she recognized, and then she made the connection when she recognized the smell that was in the air.

"Was that Michael's cologne, honey?"

Pearl nodded, tears dripping down her face. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice wobbling. "My elbow bumped it."

"It's okay," Caitlin assured her. "I'm not mad. It was a mistake."

"What happened?" Michael asked, hurrying toward the bathroom. He froze when he saw the shattered glass on the floor. Caitlin watched him carefully, wondering how he was going to respond, and her heart warmed when she saw how calmly he reacted to the situation.

"Don't worry about it, Pearl," he said, making eye contact with the little girl. "You didn't do it on purpose."

"I bumped it," Pearl said, sniffling.

Michael started to hurry forward to comfort the little girl, but Caitlin grabbed the sleeve of his suit jacket.

"Hang on a minute," she told him. "We've got to get this glass cleaned up first."

"I'll help you," he said.

"Stay there, Pearl," Caitlin told her daughter, whose tears were subsiding already. The little girl was barefoot, and Caitlin wanted to ensure that she didn't step in any of the broken glass. "We'll be right back."

"Okay," Pearl said.

"Good thing we started to get ready early," Caitlin said, sighing as she and Michael hurried toward the cleaning supplies closet. "Otherwise this would have made us late for the wedding."

"You're smart like that," he said, grinning at her.

She paused in the hallway. "You're amazing," she told him. "I'm so impressed that you're not upset right now."

He shrugged. "It's old cologne—nothing very expensive, and the bottle was more than half empty anyway. Besides, Pearl didn't break it on purpose. I shouldn't have left it resting right on the edge of the counter like that. It's my fault."

She kissed his cheek, still amazed by him. "I'm so lucky I get to marry you," she whispered.

"Likewise," he whispered back.

Then they both seemed to remember at the same time that Pearl was waiting for them. They hurried to the closet and grabbed rags and a small broom and dustpan. Caitlin also grabbed the paper towel roll.

Back at the bathroom, Michael worked on sweeping and wiping the floor clean while Caitlin carefully checked Pearl's feet, wiping them with damp paper towels to make sure there were no broken glass shards on them.

"Are we going to be late?" Pearl asked, her bottom lip quivering again.

"Not a bit," Caitlin told her cheerfully. "And besides, look! We're all just about ready to go."

"You're wearing your pajamas," Pearl pointed out doubtfully.

Caitlin chuckled. "True, but my hair and makeup are done. All I've got to do is pop on my dress and my heels and I'm all ready to go."

"And I'm ready," Michael said, smiling as he finished wiping up the floor. "And you look beautiful, Pearl. You're ready, right?"

Pearl smiled. Caitlin had carefully braided her hair into two French braids that were tied with ribbons halfway down, letting the little girl's curls bounce around underneath them like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz . She was wearing a pink dress, which she'd picked out for the wedding herself. "Yeah, I'm ready. I've just got to put on my shoes."

"Go ahead and put your shoes on, Pearl," Michael told her. "I've got the floor all cleaned up."

Pearl scampered out of the bathroom, her spirits restored, and Michael and Caitlin shared a smile.

"You sure you want more of this?" she asked as they collected the dirty rags and threw away the shards of glass. "Kids are a lot sometimes, even when they're not misbehaving."

"You mean do I want another kid with you?" he asked, getting a tender look in his eyes.

"Yeah," she said. She'd only been half-joking. She wanted to make sure that having kids was something that he really wanted and he was telling her how he truly felt. "Kids are a big deal. I want to make sure you're not just saying yes to me to make me happy, you know?"

He shook his head. "I'm absolutely positive. I very much want to have another kid with you." He pulled her close to him for a kiss. "I can't wait to be married to you and expand our family."

She gazed into his eyes, feeling a rush of happiness in her core. Then she noticed the time on the clock hanging on the wall behind him.

"Oh my goodness, it's almost time to go!" she squeaked. "Could you—"

"I've got you," he said, smiling and taking the rest of the rags from her.

"Thank you!" she called, privately vowing to do something nice for him as she raced back into her room. She wiggled into her dress—a dark purple dress with a matching blazer—and strapped on her heels. She grabbed her purse and hurried toward the front door.

"Is everyone ready?" she called as she started to put on her coat.

"I am," Michael said, appearing around a corner. She went still as she caught sight of him, pausing for a moment to take in how handsome he looked in his suit.

"What?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"I'm just looking forward to our wedding," she said softly, and a slow smile replaced the confusion on his face. They shared a quick kiss, and then Pearl hurried toward them.

"I can't find my other shoe!"

Caitlin sighed. "You see, Pearl, this is why having a clean closet is important."

"But I checked my closet. It's not there."

Caitlin glanced at the clock. They weren't running late—not yet anyway. "Let's go look in your closet again," she said.

"I'll grab the gift and put it in the car while you look," Michael suggested.

"Oh!" Caitlin whirled. "Could you sign the card, sweetheart? It's on the kitchen table."

"I have to sign it too!" Pearl exclaimed. "I forgot to do it before."

"Okay, you two sign the card, and I'll go find this shoe," Caitlin said, internally vowing that she would help Pearl organize her closet on her next day off.

She hurried into Pearl's room, which was tidy for the most part. The closet, on the other hand, was a different story. She crouched down and began to rummage around on the floor of the closet, which was a tangle of clothes and shoes. She rapidly began to organize it, throwing shirts into one pile, pants into another, dresses into another, and shoes into another.

"Ah ha!" she cried in triumph when she found the missing shoe. She stood up, almost reluctant to leave her task—she loved organizing things. "I found it!" she called as she hurried back out into the hallway.

"Perfect, we're all ready to go," Michael said, grinning at her. He was holding the gift bag she'd wrapped earlier in one hand, and she could see the card peeking out of the top of it.

Pearl tugged on her other shoe and the three of them trooped out the door. Caitlin sighed in satisfaction when they were all tucked inside the car and she saw on the clock that they would arrive to the church in plenty of time.

"This is going to be so much fun," Pearl announced from the back seat, wiggling a little in excitement as they drove.

Caitlin nodded, a lump of emotion forming in her throat. "It is. And I just know I'm going to cry." She sighed happily. "I always love weddings, and Josie and Wesley are such a wonderful couple. I know it's going to be really beautiful."

Beside her, Michael gave her a sweet smile. She knew he was thinking about their upcoming wedding, and she reached over and squeezed his hand. It was the same thing that was on her mind.