CHARLOTTE AND BILLS WEDDING DAY

Jack was at the lake house getting ready with Bill. Bill had chosen him to be his best man and Jack couldn't have been more honored, despite his early objections to their relationship.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Bill."

"I can't get my tie right."

Jack looked at his soon to be step-father. "Nervous?"

"I guess."

"My dad would be grateful, you know. That mom isn't alone anymore and she has someone that makes her happy."

"Don't think he'd be angry?"

"Nope. You knew him. He didn't get angry easily. You are taking care of Mom. Even if you don't believe he would be grateful, just know that I am." He straightened the tie and patted his arms. "All set."

"Bill?" They turned as they heard her voice through the door.

"Char?"

"Mom, you can't come in. Bill can't see you before the wedding." The door opened.

"Oh, nonsense. I don't believe in bad luck, son."

Charlotte stared at her son. "Oh, you want me to leave?"

"Smart boy. Now scoot." She shut the door and turned to look at her groom.

"Char…you are beautiful, sweetheart."

"And you, my dear…" She moved her hands up his lapels, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you," she whispered before kissing him.

"I love you." He held her tight and took a few deep breaths, his doubts just floating away.

"Marry me, Bill."

….

Mike stood next to Julie as she chatted with Tom and his new girlfriend. She had warned him that her ex-boyfriend was Jack's brother a few days before. She didn't want him to be uncomfortable and be blindsided.

He appreciated the thought but he was still uncomfortable. What if she decided after seeing him that she wanted to get back with him? Then Mike would be alone again. He didn't want to be alone.

Mike slipped his hand inside hers and squeezed. She responded, smiling at him. "Its good to see you, Tom. Nice to meet you, Katie."

Julie turned and looked at Mike after the other couple walked away. "Doing ok?"

"Yeah." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. It made him feel better. "After the ceremony, will you take a walk with me?" he asked.

"Sure."

They found their seats on the white chairs in the yard. Mike took her hand and held on, grateful to have her beside him. The day before had taken a lot of strength and emotion to get through. He had donated all of Renee's clothes and packed the few items he wanted to keep into a box for storage.

Jack had been right. Reading the letter had initially hurt terribly but it had helped him reinforce the need he had to move forward with Julie. She would support it and he was ready for the next step.

….

"You may kiss your bride," the minister told Bill.

Bill kissed his bride lovingly, wrapping his arms around her.

Finally, he was married to the beautiful, strong woman he'd loved forever. He held her hand as they accepted congratulations from their guests. He stole a kiss or two when no one seemed to be paying attention. Then he led her slowly down toward the lake for a few moments to enjoy the quiet.

He gently grazed her cheek with his finger. "Think we can tell people they need to leave?"

"Uh, no. We still need to cut the cake and take pictures…"

"Char."

"Bill, one more hour and then I'm all yours." She kissed his lips and then pulled him back to the guests.

On their way back, they passed Julie and Mike.

Mike held Julie close, his arm around her back as they walked. "Got something on your mind?" she asked as they walked.

"Yes, actually."

"What is it?" Once they were out of sight of the others, he stopped walking and faced her. "Jack told me about yesterday. I'm so sorry, Mike."

"It was hard but….it was time." He grabbed both of her hands in his and stepped closer, kissing her forehead. "I'm ready, Julie," he whispered.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure, because…" her words were cut off when his soft, strong lips covered hers. She sighed, stepping closer, drinking in his emotion. It felt like they had waited forever and now, there was no going back. She pulled away slightly a moment later and wrapped her arms around his back. "Holy moly."

"Yeah," he agreed, leaning his forehead against hers. "That was….yeah," he said with a sigh before kissing her again.

She loved this man. He had been stealing her heart piece by piece until today. Now he had all of it. His loving, yet intense, kisses confirmed it. She wanted to tell him but she was afraid it would be too soon. So she would wait.

….

After cake for some and cheesecake for others and more photos than Bill thought necessary, he finally had Charlotte to himself. He had even kicked the wedding planner out, telling her to come back the next day.

"Dear, do you want any tea?"

Charlotte walked out into the kitchen in the knee-length ivory silk robe and lace nightgown she bought just for that night. "Do we have any champagne or wine left?"

Bill looked over at his wife and smiled. "Good grief…"

"Cat got your tongue?" she said with a chuckle.

"Uh…" She walked over and kissed him, her arms around his neck. "So…no tea?" he managed to ask after she stopped kissing him.

"Champagne?"

"Right. I think we have half a bottle left." He looked in the fridge and pulled it out.

"I'll get the glasses," she said, grabbing them and walking over to the couch.

He watched her walk away, her long legs and bare feet distracting him. "Bill? Are you coming?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Bill shook his head at himself. It had been many, many years since he had been with a woman. He had dated others but he never felt for them anything but a mild attraction. Charlotte was the one he had loved though and finally it was ok. Finally he was her husband and allowed to feel everything. He wasn't breaking any rules. Tonight was about them so he had nothing to be nervous about. However, his main fear was disappointing her.

He turned the lights down in the living room so they could watch the unobstructed view of the sunset over the water. It was his favorite thing to do in the evening.

He sat and poured them each a glass. "To us, Mr. and Mrs. Avery," he toasted, clinking their glasses together. They took a sip and set the glasses on the coffee table.

Charlotte moved closer and held his hand. "Are you nervous, Bill?"

"I guess a little."

"What are you nervous about?"

"I don't want to disappoint you. We've waited…well, I've waited eleven years for you and…I just want you to be happy."

She touched his cheek, and smiled. "You shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. I love you, Bill, and you make me very happy. You won't disappoint me."

…

THORNTON ACRES

Elizabeth rolled over and looked at Jack. He was sitting up, staring off into space, fiddling with his father's wedding ring on his finger.

"Babe?"

"Yeah."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"You miss him a lot?"

"The opposite actually. As the years go by, I've started to forget what he looked like. I don't remember his voice or his laugh."

"Oh, sweetie. I'm sorry. Do you have a picture of him?"

"No. Mom does. I know what I want to name the baby if it's a boy."

"What happened to Drake?"

"Maybe we will have two boys and we can name one Drake. I want his to be Joseph Thomas. Joseph was Dad's middle name."

"Joey? That's adorable. Joseph Thomas is perfect."

Elizabeth sat up, wrapped her robe around herself and got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm starving. Just getting a snack."

"I'll come too."

…..

"You don't have to make me a meal, Jack."

"Once I thought about it, I wanted French toast too."

"Mm. And sausage. Hey, do we have any pickles?" Elizabeth slid off the counter to look in the fridge.

Jack laughed. "I bought you a huge jar of them."

"I knew I married you for a reason."

"To buy you pickles?"

"Among other things." She grabbed the jar out of the fridge and hopped back up on the counter. "Mmm so good. Want a bite?" She held the pickle spear up for him to take a bite.

"No thanks, I'm good."

She shrugged. "More for me then."

He put two pieces of French toast on a plate, along with a sausage patty, and handed it to her. "Mm yum. Is the syrup out?" He headed to the fridge to get it. "Oh and butter too please."

"Anything else?"

"Whipped cream?"

…..

A few weeks later…

At the gazebo in downtown Hunter Creek, Elizabeth had organized her second annual clothing and food drive for her Help Me program. The turn out was wonderful and the monetary donations to fund the cards for the children had exceeded the previous year.

She and Julie were organizing the items as they were donated and the local EMT's, including Jack and Mike, were putting the donations into boxes to be taken to the school.

"Babe?"

"One moment, Jack," Elizabeth said as she thanked the fire captain for the station's generous donation of scarves and gloves. When the captain walked away, Elizabeth turned around. "Yes? Oh! Mom? What are you doing here?

Grace smiled at her daughter. "Hi, sweetheart. Look at you!" She placed her hands on Elizabeth's now very obvious belly. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you. Is Daddy here?"

"Yes, he's around here somewhere." Grace hugged Julie too and then jumped right in separating the boxes of cereal and canned items.

Charlotte and Bill walked up then, just returning from their cruise. Jack hugged his mom and shook Bill's hand.

"Elizabeth, this is amazing," Bill told her.

"Thank you, Bill. I'm so grateful for everyone's generosity."

Elizabeth walked over to Jack. "Hey, cowboy."

"Hey, beautiful." He kissed her cheek and went back to boxing up food.

"I was wondering something."

"What's that?"

"Well, I didn't tell my parents about the drive and neither did Julie…so any ideas who may have told them?"

"Hmm. I can't imagine."

"Mmhmm. Thank you, love. It means a lot to me."

He looked at her and smiled. "I am so proud of you and I thought you might be missing them."

"I was."

"Bethie," William said as he walked up.

"Daddy." She hugged him and sighed. "I missed you."

"And I, you. This is wonderful. So many people will be helped by this."

"Sir, where would you like these?" Robinson asked.

"Daddy, you brought Robinson? And what is in all those boxes?" Elizabeth looked at the large truck full of boxes that was backed up to the gazebo.

"He is just helping me out. Those boxes are donations, dear. This is a clothing and food drive, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I challenged my employees at the firm to a drive of our own. We've been collecting since January 1st."

Elizabeth's hormones took over and she burst into tears. "Oh my! Thank you so much." Elizabeth hugged her father again and caught sight of someone over his shoulder. "What is he doing here? Daddy?"

"Now, dear. He wanted to help. I told Charles that I was bringing the donations here and he wanted to see what it was all about."

"You could have told him no."

"What reason could I have given him?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that I wouldn't want to see him." Elizabeth walked over to Jack. "Honey."

"Hi."

"Charles is here."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Jack kissed her temple and slipped his arm around her.

"What are you worried about?"

"He was such a jerk when we saw him at Christmas."

"That was eight months ago. A lot has changed since then." He put his hand on her tummy. "A lot."

Charles walked up the steps of the gazebo and stood in front of them. "Beth."