Chapter Three

Like It Or Not

Ouch...I got put in a C2 for Mary-Sues! Oh well, right? It makes me appreciate my reviewers all the more.

Thank you to my reviewers!


Kate's heart was pounding, both with exhilaration and fear as she walked into her home. How would she tell her dad that she got engaged, even though he was already aware? Would he embrace her in a big hug and welcome Will to the family? Ha! That would be the day. The more likely response she was expecting was "Now, you have to invite your cousin, Jamie, even if he does smell too strongly of Burberry cologne."

"I'm scared," she whispered to Will while going up the driveway, each hauling their suitcases.

"What are you nervous about?" Will said. "I have to live with my fiancée's family until the wedding."

He had a point. Kate really had no reason to be nervous. Her dad even approved of Will, even though he had never said it to her face. Things couldn't go that bad, could they?

They went inside the house. Kate took off her shoes in the foyer.

"We're home!" she said.

They went up the stairs, holding hands, and made their way to the living room. Kate looked at both parents, who were on the couch looking back at them. There was an awkward silence until Kate said, "And we're engaged!"

Kate's mom nearly jumped off the couch and hugged her, squeezing the life out of her. "Kate! That's so wonderful!"

"Mom, I can't breathe," she choked out.

"Jordana," Kate's dad said. "It's best that you let go of Kate. For the baby's sake."

"Oh, right!" Kate's mom quickly let go. "I hope I didn't hurt the baby."

Baby? What were they talking about?

"So...when's the wedding date?" her father asked.

"September, right before I leave, we think," Kate said hesitantly, looking at Will for an answer about the baby comments that came from her father. He looked equally confused.

"That'll be plenty of time!" her dad said. "You're, what, two months along? You'll be four at your wedding date, so you'll have to shop for empire waists. Katherine, I am so proud of you for getting married at such a young age. And for the baby! What a selfless thing to do."

Her parents thought they she was pregnant? That must be the only reason her dad was letting her marry Will!

"Baby?" Kate questioned. "There is no baby."

"You...you didn't get your, uh..." He started moving his hands, almost as if Kate was going to say it.

She remembered that Jack ate her birth control pills! And, true, she hadn't gotten her period last month, but that was all because of Jack!

"Dad, I'm not pregnant," she said.

Her father's face hardened. She was glad that looks would kill right now, otherwise Richard Sims would be convicted of a double homicide.

"You're...not?" her dad questioned, ice raising in his voice.

"I'm marrying Will because I want to," she said. She took his hand, mainly for support. "I love him."

Her mother looked a bit disappointed, almost as if she wanted a grandchild right that moment. But her father still looked angry.

"William," her dad said, "I permitted you to marry my daughter only because I thought you two were expecting a little bundle of joy!"

"Sir," Will said, his voice trembling just in the slightest. "I would never make love to your daughter outside of marriage. I am a man of honor–"

"Honor, my ass, boy. You lied to me!"

"Mr. Sims, I never said that your daughter was with child. We are simply marrying each other so that we can spend a lifetime together. It's what she and I both want."

The room filled with an icy silence. Her dad exchanged glances from the two of them, then went down the stairs. Kate released Will's hand and followed her dad.

"Tell that boy that this engagement is over," he said.

"Dad, you can't do this!" she said. "I'm marrying him whether you like it or not!"

Both of them went outside to the driveway. At this point, she didn't care who saw them fight.

"You can't count on him! He's, what, a blacksmith at Fort Snelling? He won't be able to support you! And what will he do when his wife has to travel to Paris and pose with male models? What then?"

Kate thought back to when Will forgave her for cheating, something that she was sure no one else would have done, were they in his shoes.

"He's a better man than you give him credit for!"

Kate was sick of sounding like Elizabeth, yet she was given no choice in her situations as of late. She waited for her dad to make a rebuttal.

"Then I wonder what he was doing here while your mother and I were in New York, Kate."

She bit her tongue. Why did her dad have to be so stubborn?!

"And you're too young!" her dad continued. "Eighteen!"

"You and Mom were twenty-one when you got married."

"At least we were adults and knew what we wanted."

"Oh, and I'm not?"

She paused to take a breath.

"Like it or not, Will and I are getting married in two months, with or without your approval. I suppose that if I don't seek your approval, you and I will become estranged. And surely you wouldn't want that from your only child, now would you?"

Her father looked her right in her eyes with a gaze sharper than a butcher's knife. She was getting scared now, but prayed that it wasn't showing.

"Your stubbornness with always be your downfall, Kate."

And with that, her father went back in the house. She sighed and tried not to cry. Why couldn't her dad just approve of Will, the man that she loved?

Visions of just her and a bouquet of flowers she held in her hand while going down the aisle flashed through her mind. Would she really be walking down the aisle by herself? No! Even though she and her dad had their differences, it was a right as a father – and a daughter – to walk down the aisle together.

Whatever her dad liked it or not, she would be getting married to Will, even if it was the last thing she did.


Jack heard the phone ringing that afternoon. Melissa, sitting on the couch next to him, reached for the phone on the coffee table.

"Hello?" she said.

There was a pause.

"Okay, okay!" Melissa said, pressing a button.

"Jack, Melissa, can you hear me?" Kate asked, her voice filling the air. Melissa held the phone between the two of them.

"Speaker phone," Melissa explained to Jack.

It was Kate! And why would Kate be calling at 2:00 in the afternoon?

"Katie!" Jack said. "'Ow's it goin'?"

"I'm here, too," Will said. "Hello, Melissa. Good afternoon, Jack."

"Ah, loosen up, lad!" Jack encouraged.

"What are you guys calling for?" Melissa asked.

He could hear the smile in Kate's voice as she said, "Will and I are engaged!"

"Weddings!" he exclaimed. "I love weddings! Drinks all around!"

"Oh, my gosh!" Melissa said. "That's wonderful, you two! Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Will said. "We're quite happy, as well."

"It's glad to see that someone's happy for us," Kate muttered.

"Of course!" Melissa eyed Jack. "Right, Jack, aren't we happy for them?"

"Eh...course we are! I can get ya some discounted rum fer the weddin'."

Kate laughed. "I'll try and remember that."

"Jack, they won't want rum, not for their wedding," Melissa said. "They'll want champagne."

"'N' we sell champagne, too," Jack said, a little disappointed that there wouldn't be rum at the wedding.

"Melissa, would you be my maid of honor?" Kate asked.

"Of course," she smiled widely.

There were a few beats of silence. Jack started planning out what kind of alcohol he could get discounted. Champagne, since Melissa said so, and maybe sneak in a little rum to the punch bowl to stir things up...

"Jack, I – I can't believe I'm saying this, but, er..." Will stuttered.

"O' course I'll be yer best man, dear William. I'll make the best best man's speech there e'er was!" He cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we are 'ere t'day to join the eunuch and–"

"Jack!" Will said. "You will not make a best man's speech about me being a eunuch!"

"Luckily I have time on my side fer that, mate." He paused. "I will be the best man, right?"

"It's not as if I have much a choice..."

"Ah, don't act so glum, lad. This'll be a fun weddin'!"

"Jack? Could you do me a favor, too?" Kate asked.

"'N' what would that be, love?"

"Please don't ruin my wedding day."