I stop crying and start laughing.
“You’re silly. I love you.”
He kisses me one more time as the waffle machine dings. “I love you too. Let’s eat.”
We help ourselves to the food.
I quickly demolish mine and go back for seconds.
“Is it almost as good as Inga’s?”
“Yes, it tastes amazing. So, I have a board meeting first thing this morning, then my doctor’s appointment, then I’m having lunch with the girls, and then we film late tonight. It’s going to be another long day.”
“Don't forget, I’m taking your grandparents up to the vineyard after the board meeting. You’re still meeting me this weekend, right?”
“As long as we get the scenes done. We’re on a tight schedule.”
“Are you sure I shouldn’t go to the doctor with you?”
“Yeah, they said they’ll just double check that I’m pregnant, give me prenatal vitamins, and answer any questions.”
“When do we get to see it?”
“The first ultrasound is usually around twelve weeks. That’s when we’ll hear the heartbeat, hopefully.”
“And how far along are you now?”
“I did one of those calculators online. Yesterday would have been six weeks. Speaking of that, when you asked me to marry you, when did you expect to get married?”
He stops his fork mid-stride. “How about we cancel everything and do it today? I can’t wait for you to be Mrs. Arrington.”
“I’m thinking Keatyn Arrington sounds like a movie star name.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’m changing my name as soon as we’re married. No maiden name. No hyphen. I can’t wait to be your wife. Also, I don’t want to get married with a huge baby bump. And I don’t want to wait until after we have her to get married.”
“Her?”
“Or him.”
He places his hand gently on my belly and speaks directly to it. “So, little miss, if Mommy and Daddy get married soon, do you promise to cooperate and not make Mommy faint or throw up?”
He smiles, kisses my stomach, and says, “She says yes. And wants to know how soon we’re talking.”
“Three weeks. We have a ten day break in the schedule while the crew goes to set up the location. We could get married and even sneak in a honeymoon.”
“So we just go away and get married?”
“Does the vineyard count as going away?”
“That’s where you want to get married?”
“I can’t think of a better place. And I was thinking of asking Ariela if she could coordinate it with the vineyard’s event planner.”
“Maggie will be thrilled. They were always so close.”
“I know. I’m going to call Maggie today and make sure she’s cool with it.”
“No more surprising like last night?”
“Last night was a bit of a disaster.”
“Yeah, no more matchmaking for you.”
“Exactly. So, I asked Maggie about the vineyard’s schedule yesterday and she said they’re booked with weddings and events all of October. So everything we do, or most of it, will have to be at our place.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. We have plenty of land. I even had your party barn built this spring.”
“And we’ve yet to throw a party there. I feel bad,” I say, covering my mouth to stifle a yawn.
He grabs my hand. “Let’s finish this discussion in bed.”
“But we need to clean up.”
“I’ll do it later,” he says sweetly, pulling me toward the bedroom.
Once we’re snuggled up, he says, “I get the feeling you’ve already been scripting out this wedding.”
“A little. Mostly just trying to figure it out logistically. It’s not going to be easy to plan our dream wedding in three weeks. Have you thought about it?”
“Of course, obviously, the dance floor needs to be covered in twinkle lights. And I love the idea of saying our vows in the same spot where you brought the dirt.”
“Me too,” I say, yawning again.
I lay my head on his shoulder and am almost asleep when Aiden says, “You know Riley and Ariela kissed last night, right?”
My eyes shoot back open. “What? When? Where?”
“When you told her to go talk to him.”
“They kissed then?”
“Yeah, it was crazy passionate. Her leg was wrapped around him. I thought they were gonna do it up against our bar.”
“Then why was he such a dick to her?”
“I think maybe when they kissed, he told her it didn’t mean anything. Because they got interrupted by Marvel and when she pulled away, she said she knew it didn’t mean anything. He was pretty rattled.”
I smile. “He still loves her.”
“She still affects him. That’s different than love. It’s been a long time.”
“But he hasn’t fallen for anyone else. And god knows it’s not from lack of dating.”
Aiden chuckles. “No matchmaking. He’s our friend. She hasn’t been our friend for ten years. And that was her choice. I’m not sure asking her to help with the wedding is such a good idea, honestly. We don’t know if we can trust her.”
“Hmm. You’re right. Maybe I’ll get a second opinion.”