Chapter 14
The ring was beautiful. He had it custom made in France. It came from a jeweler who lived in Chamonix on the foot hills of Mont Blanc.
The jeweler was a recluse who only made a few pieces of jewelry a year. She was now one of a few lucky recipients of his work.
"It's beautiful, did you design it?" she asked in awe.
"No, that's not how it works. You send him a picture and write him a note...a story of why you love the person you love and he makes the ring"
"What did you write?" she asked curiously
"That …" he kissed her nose "is a secret between Monsieur Caron and Moi"
It wasn't a conventional engagement ring. It had a diamond but not as a centerpiece. The beauty of the ring lay in the gold work. She run her finger over the engravings feeling the bumps and the grooves. It was intricate and gorgeous. The diamond was pushed into the gold as an enhancement not as the centerpiece. It was beautiful, understated…it was perfect for her….
"…But...but, what about the dress baby?" Maya asked Olivia
"I don't really care about that mom, I just want to be with Fitz. Everything else is just icing on the cake" she said earnestly.
Maya turned to Abby in disbelief "How in love do you have to be to not care about the dress?!"
Abby stood stupefied next to her Maya. "You can wait until you have the baby and then you can where anything you like…" Abby said taking sides with Maya.
"No! I want to be married to the man I love. If I have to walk down the aisle wearing a muumuu to cover all this" she pointed at her stomach "then a muumuu it is!"
"Baby I can't plan a wedding with two hundred plus guests in two months!" Oliva turned to look at her mother.
"Two hundred people! Do we even know two hundred people?! Fifty people max mom. Fifty!" Olivia repeated looking her in the eye.
Olivia mother sat down in the nearest chair she could find and gulped down her wine. Fifty people? That didn't even cover her ladies league!
Later that night…
"My mother is driving me crazy!" she told Fitz as she came out of their master bath rubbing lotion on her hands.
He lay on the bed in his pajama bottoms and watched her. She was wearing an old t-shirt of his that was stretched over her growing belly; Fitz found himself instantly distracted.
Watching her fill out these last few months had amazing. He hadn't been able to get enough of her before, but now, seeing her walking around knowing she carried his baby. That brought out the fucking caveman in him. He was insatiable. It was a good thing the pregnancy was also messing with her libido. She wanted to have sex just as much as he did…well, almost as much…
Olivia walked over and climbed on top of him straddling him. All the blood in his body fled down south.
"Can you believe that? Liv asked him. Shit he hadn't been listening.
"Believe what?" he asked as he run his hands over her belly and full hips.
"She wants to invite two hundred people to the wedding! Are you listening to me?" Liv asked irritated.
"Do we know two hundred people?" he asked distractedly "…and no I am not listening to you…your sitting on my lap Liv, you know what that does to me" He lifted his hips and pushed his erection into her.
She smiled down at him and slowly gyrated on him, rubbing against him just the way he liked. He arched his back and groaned
"Hmmm…, I am so going to keep you pregnant woman" he said gruffly. He used his hands on her hips to move her on him
"Oh yeah, why?" she kept moving against him. She loved how hard he felt against her.
"Fuck Liv…. Hmm…because it means you have to be on top and you have to do all the work" he pushed her down and out of the way; pulled himself out of his pajamas and re-positioned her, pulling her panties to the side. He slid in deep with one push and they both groaned at how sublime it felt.
"You don't have to keep me pregnant to make me ride you Fitz" she said as she moved on top of him.
"You just have to ask me really" she moved in a tight circle "…really…. really" she peppered each word with the same tight circle "…nicely"
"Livvie…please…" he begged. She smiled down at him
"That'll do"
Two months Later….
The wedding Rehearsal
Oliva was dreading this moment. She wasn't good at talking to audiences outside of a courtroom. All the eyes in the room were on her after Abby's introduction.
"Love is a funny thing" Olivia said and paused gathering her thoughts.
"For most people your introduced to the concept of love, by your parents…at least the lucky people are. I was lucky there. My mother Maya and my father Eli were the best, I felt loved from the get go…and when my Father died, my mother picked up where he left of and just doubled up on it." she turned and looked at her mother who had tears in her eyes "and I am grateful every day for it"
She raised her glass to her mother and Maya raised it back.
"But as you get older you start to realize that there are different kinds of love. There is the love you feel for friends and other people who come into your life. Then there is the other kind of love. The one most people spend their entire adult life searching for….
Sometimes when you are very eager for that love, you can give your heart to the wrong person, a person who doesn't value it and treats it like its nothing, and you wind up getting hurt.
That kind of hurt, that pain brings you to a crossroads where you have to make decisions …tough decisions…Do I try this again? Do I put myself out there and hope the next person is kinder to my heart or do I retreat because I can't handle that kind of pain and rejection again...I had to face that choice and I chose to be a coward. I chose to retreat and protect what I thought was left of my heart.
I chose to be content in my work and with my friends and with my family. I was content… I was comfortable…It wasn't a bad life, there are many people in this world who have it worse….
But sometimes you get lucky and you meet someone who decides that they are not going to let you retreat into content and comfortable. They are going to bring you out kicking and screaming. They force you to embrace pain and hurt because they know it's worth it…they know on the other end of the pain and the devastating feelings is a life-changing kind of love that you have no right to give up on"
She turned to look at Fitz
"Fitz is that person to me. He dragged me kicking and screaming onto the road I wanted to avoid at all costs and now I stand here shrouded in life-changing extraordinary love. So, I ask you to lift your glass to all the different kinds of love we experience in life, especially to the kind of love I have had …and will have with Fitz"
She raised her glass high
"To difficult devastating life-changing extraordinary love. Salute"
The room raised their glasses "Salute"
Fitz stood up and pulled her into him kissing her passionately. They ignored the catcalls that broke out across the room.
He pulled back his eyes damp.
"Love you Liv"
"Love you too, Fitz"
After the wedding Rehearsal
"I hate that I don't get to spend the night with you"
"It's only one day, mister. You can make it" she said hugging him close. He kissed her on the lips.
"I don't sleep well without you, you know that" he kissed his way down her neck and back up to her lips.
"One night, and then we never have to sleep apart again. We get to spend the rest of our lives together. So, you mister, can make it another…." She looked at her watch "another seven and a half hours without me"
"No, I can't" he said and pulled her in close, grabbing her bottom and pulling her into him.
"You can and you must" Olivia said scolding him softly.
"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, get your hands off that girl and go home. You can wait until tomorrow" they heard Maya say from behind them.
"Yes Ma'am" Fitz said and obediently pulled away. Liv laughed
"I just asked you to do the same thing and you still kept your hands on my ass" she whispered to him, hoping her mother didn't hear.
"Yeah, well…don't tell her but I am very afraid of that woman" Liv laughed and walked off to meet Abby and her mother where they waited.
Fitz walked off to meet his boys who had flown in for the wedding. They teased him about being whipped. He smiled and took it. It was the truth.
He looked down at his watch as they headed to the Hotel where they were spending the night. The girls had the house. Seven and a half hours.
Damn.