Chapter 14

We met Valerie and the gang at the airport. Manny and Tank accompanied us and agreed to be our witnesses. They were the only ones to know Carlos and I were getting married tonight. Valerie was happy to have our brother with us. She thought about inviting Dad, but decided she wanted to do this on her own. After all, Daddy already walked her down the aisle once. Many will have the honour this time. She didn't know Carlos and I were getting married tonight.

Mary Alice noticed the ring on my finger. She remained silent when I placed my index finger against my lips. We didn't want to take the attention away from her mom and Vince. This was their plan, we were along for the ride... and a secret wedding. Once the pilot announced we could move around the cabin, Mary Alice immediately unbuckled herself and sat on Carlos' lap. "Are you marrying Aunt Stephie?" she whispered into his ear.

"Yes I am."

"When?" she curiously asked.

"Tonight," I whispered in her ear. She looked very sad. I instantly knew she wanted to be a part of our ceremony. Carlos squeezed my thigh, silently telling me we should wait until tomorrow. "Let me ask Val," I whispered. He nodded.

I unbuckled myself and walked towards my sister. "Valerie, can we talk in private for a few minutes? There's a bedroom in the back of the plane." She untangled herself from Vince to follow me.

"Is everything alright Steph?" she asked the second I closed the door behind us.

"Kind of. I know you're planning to marry Vince tomorrow. Carlos proposed tonight," I said as I showed her my ring. "We were planning to get married in secret tonight. Only Manny and Tank knows. Mary Alice saw the ring. She's upset we planned to get married without your family." I couldn't ask her to share her special moment with us. I tried to find the words, but they just wouldn't come.

"Stephanie, I love you. I have a confession..." She took a few deep breaths as she attempted to find the right words. "Vince and I were hoping you and Carlos would get married with us. We would love for you guys to share our wedding date. I could see how much you love each other."

"Are you sure? I don't want to take away from your special day." I could see in her eyes she wanted us to have a double wedding.

"You wouldn't be taking anything away from us. It would only make our day more special to share with my sister. We love you. The girls love you. Please get married with me and Vince. Don't get married without us standing by your side." Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded her case. I have to admit, she had me convinced.

"Okay. We can do this together. However, I want to get married tonight. I don't want to wait another day before I become Carlos' wife."

She pulled me into her arms, squeezing me much too tight. "Tonight will work for us too. We'll just need to let everyone else know." She was wearing the 'cat who ate the canary' look. I can't believe we played directly into her hands.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing, "You sneaky little... I can't believe you played me like a fiddle."

"It was completely worth it. Binkie, Ram and Cal all owe me 50 each." I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "They bet I couldn't get you and Ranger to get married this weekend. Double if you agreed to only one ceremony for both of us."

She was still laughing when we left the room. Carlos raised his eyebrow as I approached him. I was not happy my sister manipulated the situation. "She told you about the bet?"

"Yes. I can't believe I fell for it." He started chuckling. In that moment, I knew he was aware of the bet. "You knew."

"I did. Valerie is giving the money to the girls for a shopping trip with Ella. I'm contributing to their shopping funds."

"You're such a bit softy," I whispered. His answering smile was blinding. He is such an amazing and generous man. I could hardly wait to see how he is with our children. Woah... where did that though come from. I never thought I wanted to be a mother, but having a child with Carlos had my biological clock ticking.

As though he could read my mind, he whispered, "Just say the word and we'll have our baby." I was thinking we should start right away. My birth control injection will run out in a few weeks. Carlos still has another 37 months left on his contract. He managed to shorten the time by 22 weeks. So he has to complete another 50 weeks within the next 37 months. We need to really discuss our options before operation 'get Stephanie pregnant' begins.

It would be better for him to knock off more weeks during the first few trimester of my pregnancy. Oh boy... I'm already preparing myself for increasing our family size. If we wait a year, he can work more missions to reduce the time further. I guess we'll need to play it by ear. It's definitely worth considering. "Babe, I can practically hear the gears in your mind. Care to share?"

"I'm just thinking about our options." I didn't need to elaborate. He knew what I was talking about. I looked around the cabin to see if anyone was paying attention to our conversation. Tank had a small smile on his lips. No doubt he heard our quiet conversation. Whatever we decide, Tank will know. He is Carlos' right hand man and always covers his back. I could tell Tank was completely on board with our plan.

Manny was quietly snoring in his seat. He obviously needs his sleep. Bobby worked him hard during his physiotherapy session earlier today. I was surprised he didn't take a nap earlier.

Valerie, Vince and the girls were engaged in a game of poker. Mary Alice was completely smoking them. Angie was always considered to be the highly intelligent daughter, but Mary Alice was too. She just lacked the ability to remain still. I wouldn't be surprised if she has undiagnosed ADHD. Binkie has been working with her, giving her a stress ball to occupy her hands. Her teachers allowed her to hold her stress ball during lessons. It was keeping her engaged in the lessons and helping her retain everything being taught. Binkie was listening to music as he watched the card game.

"We can start trying immediately and I'll work on completing my contract. I have an option for training new recruits. It may extend my current contract, but I'll be closer to home." Carlos rarely spoke so much at a time. He usually used the least amount of words to get his point across. I guess he's different with me.

"Okay. I'll cancel my next injection. If it happens, it happens."

"Babe," he whispered before kissing me so thoroughly, I forgot my name. It's been decided. We'll try for a baby and let come what may. I was both excited and scared. Our lives were going to be forever changed.

My phone buzzed at the same time as Ranger's phone. We removed them from our pockets to read the message. 'Congratulations guys. I can't wait to see a mini boss or mini Little Girl around the office. Tell them about your wedding plans tonight,' Tank reminded us.

"Ummm... guys?" I loudly asked, waking Manny from his nap. "Carlos and I are getting married tonight."

"With us!" Valerie exclaimed. "It's going to be a double wedding. Manny, can you walk us down the aisle?"

"I can, but I'll need to take two trips. The bride must walk down the aisle on my left side."

"Oh," she said screwing up her face. I could tell exactly when she had a brilliant idea. Her face lit up as she quickly amended her request. "Okay. Binkie will you please walk me down the aisle while Manny walks Steph?"

Binkie glanced at Manny, seeing if he approves the adjustment to our plan. After receiving his approval, he answered, "Of course." I was happy she was letting Manny walk me down the aisle. Sure he's her brother too, but he's also one of my platonic soulmates. She was very understanding and knew it was important to have Manny walk me down the aisle towards my groom.

The flight took a total of 5 hours. We disembarked and used the SUVs Tank arranged to take us to the hotel. Carlos and I held hands from the time we left the plane until our suite door closed behind our backs.

He pulled me towards the bedroom to get ready. I excused myself to quickly freshen up in the bathroom. With a towel wrapped around my body, I walked into the bedroom to grab fresh panties from my suitcase. Carlos was already dressed in his black Armani suit. He wore a black shirt and textured black tie to complete the look. I couldn't prevent the drool from running down my chin. My man looks extremely hot and sexy in his business attire. "Your dress is hanging in the closet," he announced before leaving me to dress. We both knew if he stayed to watch, we'd get distracted.

"I have a dress?" I wondered where it came from.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Always," I answered as I unzipped the garment bag. Inside was a gorgeous cream coloured dress with a blue appliqué along the hem of tiny Batman symbols. I had to laugh. It was absolutely perfect. The colour matched my eyes perfectly. A pair of matching blue heels were in the bottom of the bag. I found a note pinned to a smaller bag slung over the hanger. 'Mija, please wrap the item in the bag around your bouquet. It belongs to Carlos' Abuela. She wanted you to have something both old and borrowed for your wedding. Love Ella.'

I had to fight the tears. It wouldn't help if my face was all blotchy and red when I said my vows. After pulling on my bra and panties, I heard a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" Valerie's voice echoed into the room.

"Sure." I quickly opened the door. She was wearing a robe and holding a garment bag matching mine. I watched her remove the gorgeous cream dress. It was the exact same colour as mine, but a completely different style. Ella knew exactly how to capture our personalities when she shopped for us. Where my dress had mini Batman symbols, her dress had tiny blue flowers. Ella was making sure we had everything required to get married. The dresses with the blue patterns were new and blue. I had a handkerchief which was old and borrowed. Ella gave Valerie a beautiful lace ribbon worn by Vince's grandmother when she married.

She passed me the note from Ella. 'Mija, please wrap this around your bouquet. Vince's mother gave it to me when she heard Vince finally met his romantic soulmate. She is loaning you the ribbon, it's both old and borrowed. Love Ella.'

I wrapped my arms around her as she cried. Unlike me, Valerie was one of those women who could cry prettily. After she finally pulled herself together, she removed her robe to dress. We had to help each other zip the dresses. "Vince and Carlos will meet us in the chapel," Valerie stated as she zipped up my dress.

We left my hotel room with our arms linked together. I carried my handkerchief while she carried the ribbon. Knowing Carlos, he would have bouquets ready for us to carry. Binkie and Manny were waiting outside the chapel doors for us to arrive. They said how beautiful we looked as they took turns hugging us. Manny motioned to walk me down the aisle first, but I didn't want to be first. "Valerie is older than me. She should go first," I insisted. Binkie pulled Valerie's arm through his and walked her towards her groom. Manny and I followed a few steps behind, though far enough to allow Tank to capture both of us on camera.

The officiant asked who gives us to our grooms, Tank, Manny, Binkie and the girls answered, "We do." It was almost comical. I was looking into Carlos' eyes, seeing all the love he has for me. He was clearly displaying his emotions for everyone in the room. His usual blank face was completely missing.

Our vows were short and to the point. None of us wanted to waste time reciting the typical vows you hear in a church wedding. After being previously married in the Catholic Church, neither Valerie nor I were able to have a church wedding unless we applied for an annulment. We weren't willing to wait that long. I listened as Valerie, then Vince recited their vows. Carlos and I recited ours once they finished. I was pleased when the officiant had Carlos and Vince place the rings on our fingers simultaneously. He repeated the process for me and Val. It made our ceremony more special. Our vows were complete at exactly the same time. The officiant pronounced us husbands and wives. We kissed our respective husbands to seal the vows.

A pretty, young woman led us to a small room beside the chapel. Someone arranged for a mini reception for us. Two small tiered cakes were on a round table. I laughed when I noticed one had a mini Carlos dressed in a Batman costume, minus the mask, and a mini me dressed in a Wonder Woman costume. Valerie's cake had a mini her and Vince in what was clearly a replica of their wedding clothes. Carlos wrapped his arms around me and whispered, "Ella," as though it explained everything, which I must admit it did. She is such an amazing woman. Ella made our day more special than ever.

Only one thing could improve this day... if Carlos and I create a baby tonight. The chances of that happening were very slim.