25. Sarra

25

Sarra

At first, I was nervous when we arrived at the house where Reaper had grown up. It was beautiful and felt so homey. Everyone welcomed us with open arms. Shane already knew some of the men and fit right in with them.

Allison looked at Glory and declared she was the sweetest, most beautiful baby, even though her face was still bruised. Glory's uncles took turns holding her and showering her with love.

Steel introduced himself and his wife, Charlie. "I heard you have a large family," I said, smiling.

"I consider all of the Bellmonts my family, so when you get married, you'll also have a huge family."

"Reaper didn't tell me that. I would love to have all of you as my family. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome," he replied. Charlie took my arm, and we walked over to where Benni was feeding a toddler lunch.

"Hi, Sarra. I tried to speed up this little guy, but he eats as much as his daddy. Welcome to the family. Have you decided what day you're getting married?"

"That's why I took her away from Steel," Charlie smiled at me. "He would have been telling you what day and planning the entire wedding. Steel thinks he knows best how to do everything."

"That's because I do know best, sweetheart," Steel said, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. I giggled.

"I've been thinking we should have the wedding in the town square so everyone can attend. We need at least three days' notice so the food has time to cook. Everyone will want to bring food. Have you seen the town square?" Steel asked.

"No, I haven't seen the town square. It sounds like a lovely place to get married," I said, feeling nervous. I looked around for Reaper, and he was watching me. He winked before carrying Glory over to me.

"Glory needs her mommy to feed her," he said, taking my arm and leading me away from Steel.

"Sometimes, you need to let Steel know he can't always have his way. What did he want?" Reaper asked.

"I think he had a great idea," I said, turning around and returning to where they were. "After I feed Glory, I would love to discuss that plan further. It sounds like the perfect place for our wedding."

Steel smiled at his wife. "I'll tell the right people and the entire town will know about it. All you have to do is be ready and don't leave Reaper at the altar, no matter how tempting that might be," he said, chuckling as Reaper groaned.

We walked to the bedroom, and I sat in the chair Reaper brought for me while I fed Glory. If we decide to move here, the room connected to ours would be Glory's. I would never let her be even a room away from me. I was always scared someone would hurt her.

"This is a lovely room. Has it always been yours?"

"Yes, always. You can change anything you want here. We can paint it and get new furniture. Whatever you want to do, we'll make it happen."

"Everything is fine here. I love this room. I can't wait for us to get married. Steel said it would be a few days because we should give everyone time to prepare the food. He also said I would be related to all of his family, so I would have a large family."

"That would be up to you. Everyone on this mountain is very close. If you want Steel's family to be your family, that will happen. I've always felt like I'm related to Steel and his family because I grew up with him since I was born."

"Well, I think I'll meet all of them first before I decide. I'm sure they're all wonderful people."

"Yes, they are. Bailey is married to Viper. She's Steel's cousin and will be making our wedding cake. Bailey is a chef and always in the middle of any get-together."

"Allie is also his cousin. She and Bailey are very close. They didn't know they were sisters and related to the Petersons until a few years ago."

"It sounds like this mountain might be a little like Peyton Place," I said, chuckling.

Reaper chuckled. "Yeah, sometimes it is like living in Peyton Place. There's never a dull moment," he said, smiling.

"Matthew said he enjoys being here; he wants me to move here, but I love my home. I know you'll have to go back to work soon. I'm torn about what we should do. Do you want us to live here?"

"I would love for us to live here. Not just because it's where I grew up but because Glory would have all these cousins to grow up with. And I would know someone is always with you when I'm gone. But I will live anywhere you want to live."

"Can I think about it for a few nights?"

"Take all the time you need."

"Have you noticed I haven't had a bad dream since Amanda died?"

"I have noticed, but I didn't want to remind you of those dreams by mentioning it."

"I'm just glad they're all gone. I'm going to tell myself that I never knew those people. I never want Glory to know about them. If she asks, I'll tell her that an aunt raised me, and she has passed, and then I went to live with my cousins."

"That's perfect, and it's the truth, so it's not a lie. I love you, sweetheart. What do you think of Alpo?"

"I love Alpo. He climbed on my lap when I was sitting outside, just like a dog. I scratched his ears and talked to him like he was a dog so his feelings wouldn't get hurt. Bub growled a couple of times, and I had to shut him up."

"He was jealous," Reaper said, chuckling.

"I know. Evie said Alpo is jealous of her ferret Snookum. I must admit, I almost freaked out when Snookum ran over my foot and up my leg. He looks like a rat."

"We all know exactly what you mean, but Evie loves her Snookum," Reaper said.

"Spartan swears Snookum laughs at him every time he sees him. We all thought he was a rat when we first saw him. He's a good pet. It doesn't bother me if Alpo climbs on my lap as long as he's had a bath. I guess we are all animal lovers."

"I'm glad because Bub is a big animal, and I love him. I would never give him up," I said, putting Glory in the baby bed Reaper brought down from the attic.

"No one would ever ask you to give him up. I slept in this same bed when I was little. Grandpa saved everything. He said it was for our children, and I guess he was right. Here's my baby girl sleeping in my baby bed."

"I know she's safe, but I'm scared to leave her in here," I said, not wanting to leave Glory alone.

"Did you notice the bed has wheels? We can push her into the family room so she won't be alone. She'll sleep through the noise if she's anything like her cousins. Plus, if they see a baby sleeping, their voices go down a few octaves."