Book Three: Chapter Forty-Seven: "All is Well"
Throughout my life, I'd heard stories of runaway brides, those who get cold feet and bolt, and brides, or even grooms for that matter who get stood up at the altar.
I had no worry anything like that was going to happen. Ben and I had been inseparable the past month and he had been working so hard. Not at his job, actually, but at cutting through all the legal nonsense and paperwork required for adopting Isaac. Even with Sabrina's approval, it had proven quite difficult. But finally, just two days before the wedding, it happened.
The chosen name had been Ben's idea during our first week together with the infant. It was one of those nights the young one wouldn't go to sleep and was irritable and fussy. I was exhausted and running out of ideas to help him, and Ben came home from work in the nick of time to offer me some relief.
Instead of running out on him and going back to bed, I sat there and studied him interacting with our son. It took a few minutes, but gradually the baby focused on Ben's eyes. I knew how he felt. I, too, was often mesmerized by their shifting myriad of shades. This early in the morning with the whites as bloodshot as they were, his pupils appeared to be gray. Other times, they were blue-green. His driver's license actually listed them as being blue hazel, although that was an inadequate description. In the sunlight reflecting against the snow, they were green with brown flecks and a dark outline.
It wasn't his only endearing quality. His voice, though not deep or raspy as some women seemed to prefer, was melodic and animated. Isaac loved to listen to his father speak and would often coo and blabber, as he was doing right now. I felt more than blessed to sit and bask in the warm feelings such a display brought to my heart.
After several minutes, while my tired head leaned against my hand for support, I watched in amazement as the baby gave into Ben's coaxing, relaxed in his arms, and fell sound asleep.
"I don't know how you do that," I would whisper to him to not wake the baby.
"Perhaps someday I'll teach you a few of my tricks," he would say before putting me under his spell with not only his eyes but his lips. Oh, those lips of his always carried me far away from any problem or difficulty I was facing. And even at this time of day, after he'd been working all night, I didn't even mind the stubble. Where his mouth had been, he had left a trail of red-hot skin that would remind me of his kisses long afterward, and I would often blush even hotter during the remembrance.
Ben was such a big help during these days, and although his work schedule often made it difficult, we ended up getting assistance from the unlikeliest of places.
Ani's mother, Sharon Walker, had moved to town. She had been delighted with the people and look of Protection and had decided to make her home here.
When she'd visited a few months ago and apologized for her anger and bitterness following her only son's death, I had a lot of doubts had been raised concerning her sincerity. And then one day she appeared at the cabin carrying a plate of homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, (knowing they were my favorite) and informed me she had just purchased a small house in town.
She had never married and had always seemed happy to be single, but ever since Ani's death, she had felt lonely and wanted a family. She was willing to embrace mine. When she found out about not only my impending marriage to Ben but the fact we were also adopting Ben's nephew, she volunteered to help out whenever she could. With the business of planning for a wedding as well as completing my online course, I could use the help and I took advantage of her offer.
She was great with Isaac and there were moments I had experienced a fleeting sense of guilt of having not been able to offer her a grandchild of her own. Ani and I had spoken about it early on, but he wanted to wait. Like Sabrina, he wanted to have all the fun he could while he was still young.
I couldn't blame him for that because I realized I wasn't like most other women my age. My own mother and sister had once told me I had been born old. When I was little, I distinctly remember playing house too intensely for Sloan, and would ramble on and on about household management and organization, naming all my children elaborate and creative names, while making sure they were preparing themselves for the best education. It all seemed so ridiculous now.
Sloan had taken a job as a waitress at the Pine Tree Diner downtown and was currently renting a room at Mrs. Delaney's. However, she wasn't fond of children. She never was and had decided early on in her life to not have any of her own. At the time, she had been too focused on living her lavish lifestyle and managing the numerous charities she was involved in.
I had invited her to Christmas dinner a couple of weeks ago at the cabin and watched her carefully whenever she paid attention to Isaac. She was pleased and happy for me, she'd told me, but showed no interest in spending more time with him.
You see, she'd met a man in town; the president of the Protection Bank and Trust. His name was William Tarkington and he'd been married and divorced four different times. He was at least ten years older than Sloan, but he lived in the largest and nicest home in Protection. Even after everything Sloan had been through when it came to money, she still seemed determined to have plenty of it, and I wondered if she would ever be truly happy.
"You are my sunshine...," I heard Sharon singing to Isaac as she rocked him near the fireplace one evening. The baby had been fussing and refusing to sleep and I had a paper due in two days. I had called her for help and she had immediately come over, bringing another batch of oatmeal cookies with her.
"Ami?" she asked me once the infant had settled down. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I'm wondering why you chose that name for him. I think it suits him, but I was wondering if it was a family name."
"Not exactly," I told her, saving what I'd already written before turning around in my chair. "Ben's parents adopted him when he was thirteen. They were a lovely Asian couple by the name of Seiji and Tuyen Kenobi. Ben actually suggested the name Isaac because it means joyful."
"I see," Sharon noted while standing to carry the boy to his bassinet behind the sofa and closer to my desk.
The older woman then took a moment to lovingly gaze at him before turning her attention to me.
"It pleases me to see you so happy Ami, and I'm thankful you've allowed me to be a part of your family. You deserve everything this life has to offer and more."
My smile expressed my thanks and even though Sharon's words had a feeling of farewell to them, she returned time to time to visit with Isaac, me, and even Ben. She had indeed become part of our family as strange as it seems, and Ben didn't appear to be bothered by it.
We would sometimes speak about the strange happenings in our lives recently and how everything had come together for the good of everyone involved. Our home was overflowing with love and happiness, contentment and…
"I'll get him," Ben told me. Isaac was upset and letting every know about it. Before rising from the bed, he kissed my forehead and then left the room.
I watched him go and giggled as I noticed his sleep pants had drifted down low on his hips to reveal the crevice between his buttocks.
"Stop staring," he quipped over his shoulder.
"You know you like it nearly as much as I do," I informed him playfully.
At this particular moment, I was staring at his front as I walked toward him. Ben's smile was proud as he waited there for me on the granite surface of the mountainside. We had enjoyed a picnic here once during a break in the weather and had both agreed it would be the perfect place for our wedding – with the surrounding birch and spruce trees and the stony peak rising behind us.
It had taken some effort to get everything that we needed up here, although not very many decorations were required. The forest and mountain were enough. In my hand, I carried a simple bouquet of pine branches, cones, and lilac orchids. Walking just ahead of me was Sabrina with a similar, though smaller arrangement. The weather was crisp and cold and the surroundings had been covered with several inches of snow. We had dressed accordingly in snow boots beneath our dresses and suits.
Standing happily next to Ben, Quinn was looking rather fantastic in his black leather jacket over his suit and tie, but it was Ben I kept my eyes on and his seemed equally transfixed on me.
The gown I wore had been handmade by a seamstress in town who had become quick friends with my sister. In other words, she hadn't charged me all that much. The color I'd chosen for the dress was dark purple with a white fox fur wrap over my shoulders, and a wreath of pine, cones, and purple flowers around my head.
The sky was a clear blue above and the snow crunched beneath my fur-lined boots, but I was oblivious to everything except Ben. His eyes seemed to be glowing, his smile brighter than the sunlit snow covering the mountain.
It seemed to take forever to reach him and right before he took my hand, he mouthed the words 'I love you,'. It all seemed like a dream. A perfectly romantic dream, that was suddenly accompanied by a giggling baby sitting with his godmother in the front row.
Isaac, wrapped in a wool blanket and wearing dark blue bunting was pleased as well, almost as if he realized what was happening, and that this was the beginning of a wonderful life for him.
As it was for us all.
~ End ~