“I can’t wait until they’re here!”
Charlotte had flown Vanessa and her father down for their engagement party in Charleston. She hadn’t planned on having one-she preferred to elope somewhere tropical if she was being honest-but Allyn Legare had insisted.
“It’ll be the event of the holiday season!” Allyn had crooned into the phone. “I mean a DeGraff wedding? Are you kidding? You’ll be all over the society section. It’s like… Kate Middleton marrying the damn Prince. Except Declan is much better looking. But it’s the whole Cinderella, commoner thing…”
“Jesus, Allyn,” Charlotte said. “Did you seriously use the word ‘commoner’ to describe me?”
“I mean it in a good way!” Allyn replied. “It’s a fairy tale! You’re proof that love can prevail over all things.”
“Even Charleston social status,” Charlotte said sarcastically. “Oh, Allyn. You’re too much.”
“You know you love me and that I love you,” Allyn said. “It’s why you made me a bridesmaid.”
Charlotte laughed, “Who knew that Allyn Legare would ever be one of my bridesmaids? Life is so weird.”
“It is,” Allyn agreed. “And I’m so grateful for that.”
********
Charlotte was nervous about her family coming to Charleston. Not so much about Vanessa, who she knew could handle it, but her father. He had sworn to her that he would never step foot into the state of South Carolina ever again. Especially not Charleston.
But a couple of months ago, Charlotte and Declan had flown up to Nashville so Declan could officially ask her father’s permission to marry his daughter. Declan had insisted on it, even though Charlotte thought it was a silly tradition.
“I have a feeling your father is the type that would appreciate it,” Declan had said. “And I was raised to do it. Women look forward to the ring. But men look forward to things too, you know. And he’s the only living grandparent of our future children. I want to show how much respect I have for him.”
So Declan had asked her father on a fishing trip they’d taken together on the Cumberland River. Her father had been a little surprised, he didn’t know much about Declan, but he’d been quick to say yes. On one condition.
“Make her laugh a lot,” he’d say. “Even when life is hard. It’s what I miss the most about my wife. She had a really good laugh.”
Declan nodded, “The first thing I loved about your daughter was her laugh. It’s my favorite sound in the world.”
Mr. Sanders had looked at Declan then, his eyes welling up for a moment, “Yep. It’s a good one. Sounds so much like her mother’s sometimes that my heart almost stops. It’s like having a piece of her back again.”
So when Charlotte invited Vanessa to the engagement party on her last day in Nashville, and as an afterthought mentioned the festivities to her father, she was pleasantly shocked when he immediately announced his plans to attend.
“Dad, we’d love to have you there. I’m sorry I didn’t come right out and invite you, I just know how you feel about Charleston and I didn’t want to put you in the awkward position of declining.” Charlotte explained.
“It’s time,” he’d said.
That was all.
Charlotte didn’t know what to think.
Now she was anxious. She wanted her sister and father to have a great time, especially since she and Declan had decided to make Charleston their permanent home. If they could get through this trip there was hoped they’d be back. Something Charlotte desperately wanted.
********
The party had been held in a ballroom at the new Gaillard Center downtown. Charlotte didn’t know most of the people in the room, but they certainly knew her. She’d had a fine time, but she’d been worried the whole thing would overwhelm her father, who was a simple man with simple tastes. He didn’t like large crowds or attention. He preferred to go fishing by himself and staying in with his free time. But every time she’d looked over at him he’d looked happy.
The stress and anxiety had caused her to be a little nauseated. The nausea had hit her randomly for the last couple of weeks but the night of the party it was especially overwhelming. She’d mentioned it to Vanessa after dinner as they sipped champagne next to an ice sculpture that Allyn had commissioned for the party. (Only Allyn Legare would do something like commission an ice sculpture for an engagement party.)
“You say this has been happening for a couple weeks?” Vanessa said, looking at her sister. “Charlotte. You’re a damn OB GYN. I would think you’d know the early signs of pregnancy.”
Charlotte shook her head, “No way. Impossible…”
But the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She had been terrible about taking her pill at the same time every day, something she really should have known better about in her line of work.
“We need to get a test!” Charlotte said. “Let’s run to CVS.”