"Finals, finished," I sigh, as Lydia and I walk out of the exam room, "now Ben and I can start planning our wedding."
"I still can't believe you got engaged this weekend!"
"Me neither, but I'm so excited. I can't wait to be married to him. I just love him so much."
"Well sweetie, that's obvious. You're absolutely glowing."
"Glowing? You think so?"
"Totally," Lydia grins.
"Maybe it's because I'm pregnant," I shrug.
She pulls on my arm to stop me from walking any further, "No freakin' way," she clutches her chest in surprise mouth hanging wide open, "you're pregnant?!"
"I am, with twins! We've known for almost a month and were shocked, to say the least, but Ben and I are both super thrilled!"
"Well, then I'm thrilled for you too."
"Thank you! I have to get going. Ben is taking me out for lunch to celebrate finals being over." I pull her into a hug, "Thank you for getting me through this semester. I don't know what I would have done without you. I'll call you soon, okay." I release her from the hug and step back.
"I'll hold you to it. See ya later Ciara."
I walk the two blocks it takes to get to the café and search for Ben. The outdoor tables are crowded so it takes a beat to find him, but once my eyes focus on his dark, shortly cropped hair and his broad shoulders, my heart leaps. I walk up behind him and lower my lips to within an inch of his ear, "Did you miss me?" I whisper.
"Always," he answers, then turns his head to place a kiss upon my lips.
I take a seat next to him and he reaches out to take my hand in his, "So how did your final go?"
"I think I aced it!" I grin.
"That's my girl!" and he gives my hand a squeeze.
"So that means we can officially start planning our wedding, and I'll soon be Mrs. Ben Weston."
He looks at me a bit confused, "You want to take my last name?"
"Of course, I want to take your name. Once we are married I want everyone to know that I belong to you, and I want everyone to know that you Ben Weston," I bring our clasped hands to my mouth and kiss his knuckles, "belong to me."
"But Ci, my last name doesn't have the greatest reputation behind it. I've done a lot of bad things. I've murdered people."
"And you were sick. But you're better now. You're a good person Ben, or I wouldn't have fallen in love with you. So, you may as well throw in the towel now, I'm taking your name, end of discussion."
"Alright, Ciara Weston it is."
"So, when do you want the wedding to be. I don't want to wait too long or I'll really be starting to show, I'll look like a beached whale, and I'll never find a dress that will fit me."
"Well for starters, you're not going to look like a beached whale. Now, how long do you need to get things ready 2, 3 months?" he shrugs.
"Nah, I told you before maybe a month and I've thought it over and made some calls and St. Luke's is available on Saturday, September 12th. That's about 4 weeks from now. What do you think?"
"This isn't going to put too much stress on you and the babies?"
"You're no longer in jail, finals are finished, so that gets rid of the two biggest stressors in my life. So, no this is not going to put too much stress on me or the babies."
"Then, I get to call you my wife in about 4 weeks," he takes my hand and squeezes it.
I grab him by the chin and bring his lips to mine, "Yay, I can't wait!"
"So, when are we going dress shopping?"
I cackle with amusement, "We are not going dress shopping. I am going dress shopping with my mom, and hopefully my Aunt Kayla, maybe Sarah can come too. Anyway, it's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding, and even though I think we've managed to make it through our allotment of bad luck for our lifetime together, I'm not risking it with you seeing me in my wedding dress before I'm walking down the aisle toward you."
"Right. We're not going to invite any more bad luck to come our way."
A waiter comes to take our order, just as I'm about to ask where they are. I'm starving, to the point I feel like my belly button is touching my backbone.
"What can I get for the two of you this afternoon?"
"Oh, she hasn't gotten a chance to look at the menu, can you come back?" Ben tells the waiter.
I put up my hand to pause him, "Umm…I don't need to look I already know what I want."
"Alright miss, go ahead," the waiter stands waiting with his pen at the ready to take down what I want.
"I would like an arugula salad with ranch dressing on the side, please. A double bacon cheeseburger along with an order of fries, a glass of milk, and I would like one of your warm dark fudge brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top for dessert."
Ben's eyes bug out, I'm guessing by the amount of food that I have ordered, but I can't help it I'm so hungry.
"I'll have what she's having minus the salad, the milk, and the dessert, and I'll have a sweet tea to drink instead. Thanks."
The waiter collects our menus and smiles, "I'll get this in for you right away," and darts off back inside to take our order to the kitchen.
Ben looks back at me, utter amazement on his face, "Ciara Alice where the hell are you going to put all that food?"
"Ahh, Benny Boo, if you haven't been made aware yet, I'm eating for three," I respond rubbing the small bump that is our babies, "and your children are making me very hungry."
"My children?"
"Yes, your children," I smirk at him.
"Well, if I recall correctly, which I'm certain I am by the way, that you were a very willing participant in the creation of our children."
"Well, they must have inherited the hungry genes from you because I never used to eat this much."
"I'll admit I'm hungry all the time so you're probably right those babies, probably inherited my appetite, but I bet you won't be able to finish everything you ordered. That's why I didn't order dessert. I figured I would end up having to eat yours," he folds his arms across his chest.
The veins in his biceps are more visible and suddenly I'm hungry for something else along with the food we ordered, but that will have to wait until later.
"Well, then I guess you're not going to be eating any dessert because I will be finishing everything I order."
He lets escape a confident laugh, "Yeah, sure babe."
"Wanna bet, baby?" I raise my eyebrow at him.
"Sure, it's already in the bag, so, what do you want to wager?"
"Ha, loser has to give the other a massage tonight!" I stick out my hand to shake on it.
He smirks at me arrogantly stretching his hand to take mine, "Deal."
"Deal."
The waiter brings us a carafe of water and pours some water into a glass for each of us. We clink our glasses and we each take a sip.
"I wouldn't fill up on water if I were you, or you're going to be giving me a massage, beautiful."
"Oh, don't worry about me Benjamin, you should know by now that in the end I always get what I want."
The waiter came back to our table asking if we were ready for our check when I have 2 bites of my dessert left. I know that I'll be able to finish it.
"Yeah, you can bring the check, and you can pack up another one of these," I point to what is left of my dessert, "to go, please. The boy thought I wouldn't be able to finish everything and didn't order any for himself, so, we'll take it to go, thank you," I smirk taking another bite of brownie into my mouth.
Our waiter walks away, and I finish the last of my dessert, "This was so good, Ben. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours too when you have it," I rub my tummy and look down at my baby bump, "just like Momma is going to enjoy her massage tonight."
He looks annoyed, but I know it's only because he was wrong and lost the bet. He loves giving me massages and if I have my way, he'll be just as happy as me at the end of the night.
"Thank you for lunch, Ben."
"Congrats on acing your finals," he leans over and places a kiss upon my lips, "So," he says, cupping my chin and stroking my cheek with his thumb, "what's your plan for the rest of the day?"
"I'm heading to see my mom from here. I have something I want to show her," I beam.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" he scrunches his brow.
"I want to tell her the most wonderful man in the world asked me to marry him, and how after I told him yes, he gave me this gorgeous diamond ring," I'm sure I look like an idiot to everyone around here because the smile on my face is so darn huge.
"Ohh, is that so? Well tell her I said hello."
I stand up from my seat and lean down to give him a kiss before I leave, "I love you Ben. I love you so damn much."
"And I love you, more than you could ever know, Ciara."
I stand up tall and start to slowly walk backward. I wave goodbye to him with my fingers, "I'm looking forward to my massage tonight, Mr. Weston."
He smiles at me and shakes his head, even though I know he's looking forward to it too.
I call out for my mom after I open the door to my childhood home, "Momma, where are you?"
"In the kitchen, baby girl."
I find her finishing up the dishes she must have used for lunch. She dries her hands on a towel and turns around to greet me, "Hi honey, what brings you by?" she kisses my cheek and brings me into her arms.
"I wanted to come and talk to you about something, and about how you were right."
"Ohh, I like it when you tell me I'm right. Sit down," she points to one of the chairs at the small kitchen table, "Do you want something to drink? I could make you some tea or I have apple juice."
"Apple juice actually sounds really good right now. Thanks, mom."
She goes to the cupboard to grab me a glass and pours me some to drink. My mom sets the glass in front of me and then sits down next to me.
"So, what did you want to talk about Ciara?"
I take a sip of my juice, "I wanted to thank you for helping me get through what was and will probably be the toughest point in my life so that I could get to where I am right now. After the rape. I was so broken, just completely shattered," I sigh deeply before I ask, "Do you remember that night we spent at the Salem Inn just watching movies and eating ice cream?" her eyes start watering.
"Yeah, I remember honey."
"I was certain that I would never be happy again. That night I told you that I had never been in love and I was convinced that I would never be able to feel that way about anyone and I thought for sure no one would want me, let alone love me after what had happened."
"Oh Ciara, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I wish I could have helped you through your pain better."
"I know Momma, and you did. That night you told me that someday my prince would come and that we would build a beautiful life together," I wipe a tear that escapes my eye, "and you were right Momma, you were so right," I lift my left hand from my lap and show her my ring, "Momma, I found my prince, and we are going to have that beautiful life together. He saved me and I saved him right back."
"Oh Ciara Alice, I'm so happy for you. I get it now, I really do. I know that Ben loves you and will do everything he can to make you happy and keep you safe," she takes me in her arms and gives me a giant squeeze.
I pull back from her, "He does love me Momma, and he makes me so so happy, and I love him," I wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks, "what do you think of the ring he picked? Isn't it just beautiful?"
"It is honey. Just like you. You are just glowing my beautiful daughter."
"I can't help it. I'm just so happy, Momma."
"And that makes me happy baby. So, have you talked about dates?"
"Yeah, we are thinking next month on the twelfth. Which brings me to another reason I stopped by. Will you help me find a dress? I was hoping to go and look on Friday. Would you be free to come with me?"
"Friday would be perfect. I won't be reinstated as police commission until Monday so whenever you want to go will be fine," she grabs and squeezes both of my hands.
"Yay," I'm so excited, "Momma I can't wait to marry Ben."
"I felt the same way about your father, baby," she smiles.
"I wish he were here Momma. I miss him so much," I wipe at another tear.
"Me too honey. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him or miss him, and I know in my heart that he would be happy for you too. I want to apologize to you too for being angry with you for comparing what you have with Ben to what your father and I had. I understand what you were saying now. You weren't saying that Ben was like your dad. You were saying that the love that you share is like what your father and I had."
"I get it. You were being protective. You didn't want to see me hurt again, and you still thought that Ben had tried to kill me in that first fire," I yawn. While it's early in the afternoon after testing and with all these emotions, I'm ready for my afternoon nap. "Momma, I'm sorry. I guess I'm ready for my nap. Ben insists that I don't overdo things."
"You're welcome to take one here honey if you'd like."
"No, I want to go back to the gatehouse. I miss our bed and want to be there when Ben gets finished with work."
"Okay, well call me when you get there okay."
"Sure, Momma," I stand up from my chair as does my mom.
We hug and she walks me to the front door, "So, Friday my baby girl and I are going to go looking for her wedding dress. I can't believe this moment is here. I love you, honey."
"I love you too, Momma. I'll call you when I get home."
