I was torn from my dreams by Skeeter's bark and a couple of sounds meant to silence him. Tim sat up on alert as soon as he heard the voices. The morning sun peeked through our blinds.

Tim crawled out of bed to grab a defensive weapon and some pants when our door flew open. Tyra, Julie, Lyla filed in.

I pulled the sheets over my chest while Tim turned away and abruptly pulled his pants up.

"How the hell did you three get in here?" Tim growled once he was decent.

Tyra waved toward me. "Uh, a key. We've gotta get Cat ready for the bachelorette party."

"In the morning? Aren't they supposed to happen at night after the rehearsal dinner?"

"As your Maid of Honor, I've decided we're goin' to make sure everything is set and ready before rehearsal."

"I would prefer not doin' anything until it's necessary." I covered my head with my pillow when I laid back down.

"She'll be up soon," Tim said. "Now, please leave."

"Embarrassed Tim?" Lyla smirked. "It's nothing we haven't seen."

Julie held up her hand. "Uh, I haven't."

I groaned. "Get out!"

"We'll be in the kitchen!" Tyra sang as the three women left.

Tim immediately locked the door and came back to bed in a huff.

I played with his hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't know they'd barge in like that. I didn't even know they were plannin' on doin' stuff before rehearsal."

"I wasn't ready to put on pants." He looked at me. "How do they have a key?"

"I might have told Becky where the spare was. Tyra probably weaseled it out of her."

"We're either movin' it or gettin' rid of it."

Guilt crept into my facial expression seeing Tim aggravated. I kissed his cheek. "I'll take care of it today, okay?"

Tim sighed and gathered me in his arms. "No, don't worry about it. We'll do somethin' about it later." His head fell on my shoulder. "So much for a quiet mornin'. Didn't I build this house so we wouldn't be bothered?"

I chuckled. "We aren't usually. It's just a big occasion, ya know? And we both know this morning wouldn't have stayed quiet for long."

Tim trailed kisses across my shoulders and upper chest. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna make you late gettin' to your bridesmaids."

My hands were already working on getting his pants back off. "Okay. It's their fault they barged in here so early." I straddled Tim's waist and kissed him deeply.

He sat up, lips still on mine, and pulled the sheet away from us. His hands ran up and down my back before settling on my face. Tim pulled away to reach for the bedside table, but I stopped his hand.

"You sure?" His eyes searched mine.

"We're gettin' married tomorrow." I put a bit of his hair behind his ear. "If I get pregnant durin' this one time, it won't change how I look in the mornin'. We don't need to worry about it, Tim." I grinned and kissed him hard. My lips brushed against his as I spoke. "We might as well start tryin' now."

Tim didn't need any more convincing.

Julie and Lyla were giggling to themselves when I skipped out of our room. Tyra's lips were turned up in a smirk.

"Maybe don't barge into our house again, yeah?" I crossed my arms. "I'll make sure to take even longer to get up."

"Somehow I don't think you'll mind it," Tyra replied. "Sounded like you had a good mornin'."

"We lock our door for a reason."

"If you lived with Billy and Mindy, how did you get away with having sex?" Julie asked.

I grabbed a glass of water and smirked. My eyes watched Tim as he came into the kitchen and sauntered into the kitchen. "There wasn't a reason to be quiet this mornin'."

Tim kissed my forehead and stood behind me to hug me. "Too bad you girls couldn't have been there."

I giggled as he kissed the side of my head. Tyra rolled her eyes. Lyla scrunched up her face and was more than happy to decline the idea. Julie covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

Sipping my water, I gazed at the girls. "So what are draggin' me out to do today against my will?"

"We're checkin' on the decorating and we're pickin' up your dress." Tyra ran her hand through her hair. "From there, who knows?"

"And you couldn't let us sleep in?"

"Would you have done much sleepin'?"

I frowned. "Surprisingly, yes."

Tim chuckled, making me scowl at him. "What? We both know that's not completely true, Barton."

"Today is the last day you can call her that," Julie said. "She's going to be a Riggins soon."

He grinned and hugged me tightly.

"Where are you going for the honeymoon?" Lyla smiled and tilted her head a little.

"Up in the mountains. My dad is tryin' to make up for not being around while I was growin' up, so he's lettin' us have their cabin for a little while. I don't think Mom knows or else she'd have a hissy fit about it."

"Is Tim gonna let you leave?" Tyra asked.

Tim's breath fanned over me as he brushed my hair over one shoulder. "You make me sound like a troll or somethin'."

I smiled at my friends. "What we do doesn't matter, okay? You three worry about a wedding and we'll worry about after."

I tried to keep a smile on my face while the girls took me around town. But once it was time for rehearsal, I couldn't bring one onto my face – not a real one. I was struggling to keep my eyes open and to stay social for the sake of friends and family. Tim noticed something was wrong when we ran through the mock wedding. I didn't get a chance to tell him what was wrong.

Once I finished dinner, I snuck out to take a walk alone around the church. Sure, I was ecstatic to see so many people there wanting to support us and our marriage, but it was running me down fast. I prayed the wedding would go by in the blink of an eye for the sake of my mind and poor Tim who'd have to deal with me afterward.

The girls stopped me when I tried making a beeline toward Tim as I strolled back inside. They were adamant to get me out of there and to wherever the party was going to be.

I held my hands up to stop them from speaking and closed my eyes for a second. I released a breath. "Please let me see Tim for a little bit."

"We've gotta go, Cat," Tyra insisted.

"No, I need to be alone with Tim. I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go home and sleep if you don't let me, Tyra. Please."

"Go ahead." Lyla nodded toward him. "We'll meet you outside."

I thanked her as I squeezed past Tyra.

A brilliant smile lit up Tim's face when I neared. It warmed my heart. I took his hand and pulled him behind me to an empty room. The door shut and I buried my face in his chest and inhaled. He smelled so good.

"You okay?"

"I needed to get away from the people for a little bit. I didn't realize I'd get so worn out after today. I wanted some alone time with you." I turned my head to listen to his heart. "I don't want to go to a party."

Tim hugged me. "Tell them you wanna go home, Cat. I think we'd all rather see you happy and rested for tomorrow. If they don't like it, too bad. I'll talk to them if you need me to."

I shook my head. "I'll be okay. Stay here with me for a while."

"You wanna sit?"

I tightened my arms around his middle and kissed his chest. "No. This is perfect." My eyes closed as his hand ran down from my head to my shoulder and restarting again. I chuckled softly. "I love you."

"Why're you laughin', Barton?"

"Cause you're sweet."

"And what does that mean?"

"I mean, you're big, broodin', and kinda intimidatin'." I stood on my toes to kiss his lips. "But you're the nicest guy I've ever met."

"Thanks." He kissed me a couple of times before bringing me into a passionate one.

I pulled him back when he tried ending it, making him smile against my lips. Kissing him felt so good after a whole day without him. I did not want to leave him for the evening.

We finally separated.

"Better?"

I shrugged. "A little. Thanks, Tim."

"I'm here to make my girl happy."

Our hands stayed clasped together when I finally pumped myself up to leave. We kissed once at the door before my bridesmaids took me away for the rest of the night.

I stayed quiet while we all got ready for the wedding. My eyes were closed most of the duration of hair and make-up in hopes to catch a few more moments of rest.

After a night of suffering through Ladies' Night at the Landing Strip – which was horrible because men who weren't Tim kept getting money from Tyra to dance for me – I was beat. I silently prayed for the day to go by fast and to keep me from killing Tyra. I loved her, but the night before wasn't fun for me and I was kept out way too late.

The first time I smiled that day, and I mean really smiled, was when I first saw Tim at the end of the aisle in his suit. His hair was perfectly shaggy and his eyes bright. I nearly ran down to him, but my dad held me firm on his arm.

I still couldn't believe my dad came to my wedding. Even when I asked, I suspected he'd miss out. But he was there, giving me away to a guy who he never liked much. Dad was really doing his best to be better for me. Mom didn't show up with him.

As soon as the words, "You may kiss your bride," reached my ears, my heart thumped loudly against my chest. I grinned up at Tim as he took one step, took my face in his hands, and kissed me like it was the first time. We reluctantly separated and faced our audience.

I gazed up at Tim as the officiant introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Riggins, scrunching my face happily when my new husband looked at me. Neither of us could resist meeting lips again.

We flew out to Colorado immediately after the reception. I wanted to waste little time getting away from the chaos. A hot bath and a cozy bed were all I wanted.

A car was waiting for us – thanks to Dad – and it drove us up to the cabin where snow was already falling. It was gorgeous. The cabin was just as pretty, just how I remembered it the few times I got to stay there. Those visits weren't nearly as exciting.

Running inside, I kicked off my shoes and skipped steps to get to the bedroom. I flew through the air and landed on the bed with a couple of bounces. I sighed and nuzzled the soft comforter.

Tim chuckled and set our suitcases at the foot of the bed. "Didn't you want to take a bath first?"

I flipped over so I could look at him. "Yeah, but I wanted to relax on the bed for a minute. You're welcome to join me." I waved my hand over the empty space.

Tim gladly came over, hovering above me with a cheeky grin. He kissed my mouth. "You sure you want me here right now? I can't promise I'll keep my hands to myself. I do have a new wife to give attention to."

"Oh, really? What does she look like?"

"She's kinda short and has pretty hair I like a lot. There's always a smile on her face, especially when she thinks I'm not lookin' at her. And I love it when she wears my clothes. They're always big on her, but she's perfect."

My face was warm and I was sure a bright red. "She sounds wonderful."

"She is." Tim kissed my cheek before crawling off of me. "And she needs to take that bath she wanted so she can sleep tonight."

"You want me to get sleep? Wow. I'm surprised."

He tugged me off the bed and toward the bathroom once I pointed out where it was. "There's always morning... and every other night until we die. One night of lettin' you sleep won't kill me."

"Such a sweet husband you are." I kissed his cheek. "Since you are the best, I invite you to join me."

"I was already plannin' on it."

Grinning, I pulled him into a kiss as I turned on the bathroom light. We wasted no time.

I leaned back against him in the water, holding his arms when he wrapped them around me. I closed my eyes and relaxed. I felt Tim kiss the side of my head and squeeze me tighter.

If every day ended like that, I'd never complain again.