Chapter 8

Roman pulled down the long drive to his parents house and parked behind a car they didn't recognize. "Who's rental car is that?" Lexi asked as she stepped out of the vehicle.

Roman shrugged. "Maybe that has something to do with the surprise he was talking about."

They didn't have to wait long for the answer as the front door squeaked open, drawing their attention. Lexi looked over and froze for only a moment before she took off at a flat run. "Dad!" she took the front steps two at a time and all but threw herself into her father's waiting arms.

He wrapped her in a hug, held her. "I missed you too, baby girl."

She pulled back and grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"After that little message on Tuesday I decided to fly down and surprise you. Only when I went by your place, nobody was home." He looked over at Sika. "So I decided to stop by and seen a old friend while I waited for you."

Weighted down with bags, Roman stepped up onto the porch, set the bag down and extended a hand. "It's good to see you, Dad."

"You too, son," Bret replied as he shook Roman's hand.

Lexi turned her attention to Roman's dad. "Papa Sika."

He opened his arms and Lexi moved in for a hug. "How's my girl?"

"I'm doing great," she replied.

"What's with the bags," Roman's sister Alyssa asked from the doorway, then began to frown as she read the print on the side of the bags. "Hey, you guys went shopping for baby stuff already?" A full on pout appeared as she folded her arms. "I'm dying to take you shopping for baby stuff and you went without me?"

Lexi giggled as she pulled out of Sika's hug. "Don't worry. There is a ton more shopping to do besides what we have here. This is only what we decided I needed right now."

Roman chuckled. "Yeah, needed."

"Come." Sika motioned. "Let's get something cool to drink and retire to the lanai while we wait for your mother to finish dinner.

Bret nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Besides. I have something I want to talk to you both about."

Once Lexi settled down into a chair with her lemonade she turned to her dad. Damn it was good to see him. "What do you want to talk to us about?"

"A couple of things, actually," Bret leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "First tell me what the doctor said."

Lexi spent the next ten minutes filling the men in on the events from her appointment.

"So you're gonna stay on the road and work?" Bret asked.

Lexi nodded. "That's the plan. Obviously I can't wrestle, but I can still cut promos, do signings and interact with the fans."

"You know as soon as you start to show you're not gonna want to be cramped up in a car for hours on end. Besides it being uncomfortable, it's not good for you."

She'd been preparing for this battle, but had expected it to come from Roman, Seth, or Dean, not her father. "Dad. The doctor says I'm healthy and that there's no reason why I can't travel."

"Fine," Bret leaned back. "I'm not saying you can't travel. I'm just saying you need to be comfortable as possible while you do it."

"We'll do what we can to make her as comfortable as possible," Roman offered.

"That's good," Bret agreed. "But I think I can help in this situation."

Lexi frowned. "How?"

Bret grinned. "I want you to have my tour bus."

Lexi nearly spilled her lemonade. "What?" She jerked her attention to her father and found him grinning back at her.

"You heard me, baby girl. I bought the bus the year before I ended up having to retire. It's just been sitting idle ever since. So why don't you and Roman take it? It's still in excellent condition and it will sleep six comfortably, so there's enough room for Seth and Dean and even Amber and Zoe to travel with you also."

"This is where I come in," Sika rumbled from where he sat next to Roman. "Since your father is giving you the bus, I'm going to pay to have it updated and retrofitted so there will be room for all of you, including the new pepe when it arrives."

Lexi felt as if she were caught up in some amazing dream as she stared absently at her future father-in-law. "I don't know what to say."

"Well," Bret leaned over and took Lexi by the hand. "Don't say anything yet, because this sweet little deal does come with one catch."

"Which is?" Lexi narrowed her eyes. She couldn't begin to think of what he could possibly want from her.

"Set a wedding date and make this arrangement of yours official," Bret ordered.

She jerked back, pulling her hand free. That certainly wasn't what she'd expected him to say. "You're joking?" Lexi asked.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Bret leveled one of his I'm-your-dad-and-you'll-listen-to-what-I-say looks on her. "Honestly, I don't know why you're putting it off. Roman proposed six months ago and I know for a fact that he's been asking about a date as recently as just a few weeks ago."

Memories of her parents divorce raced through her head, mixing with little blips from her past relationship to send a shiver of fear up her spine. "Dad."

Bret shook his head. "Don't Dad me. Do you love this boy?" he pointed to Roman.

"Of course I do," Lexi shot back.

"Then marry him, Alexandra." Bret ordered. "After all, don't you think it's time to finally put the past behind you and move on?"

Feeling the pressure, Lexi glanced between the two men she loved the most in her life. There really wasn't any legitimate reason for her to keep putting off a date. Now that the baby was on the way, it made even more sense to make it official.

"If you're worried about planning everything," Sika began. "Don't. Roman's mother and sister are dying to plan the wedding. And if you'd rather not do anything real big you can have it right here. You can get married on the beach and have the reception right here in the garden."

She had to admit the idea had merit. "Well, I will say that part of why I've been putting it off was all the planning stuff." She motioned to Roman. "We both have large families, which means no matter how small I want to make it, the wedding is going to be fairly big. If I want to have our friends near, we're going to be looking at a minimum of at least one hundred and fifty people."

"So let us handle everything," Sika offered. "You'll make your future mother-in-law and sister-in-law so happy if you let them plan this wedding."

Lexi pursed her lips as she considered the men's arguments. She slid a sideways glance at Roman who had remained uncomfortably silent up to this point. "What do you think?" She asked.

He smirked and shook his head. "I think that I'm fine with whatever you want, sweetheart."

She sighed and arched a brow at him. "Now what kind of answer is that?"

"It's one that keeps me out of hot water," he argued, then turned to face her directly. "Look. If I'd had my way I would have hauled your ass off to Vegas the week after I proposed, but I knew you wouldn't want that." He took her by the hand, pulled her onto his lap.

"Honestly, I don't care what color the flowers are or what flavor the cake is, or whether we have fish or chicken to eat." He lifted a hand and brushed the hair from her face. "All I care about is declaring my love for your in front of our friends and family and putting my ring on your finger so you'll finally be mine."

She gave him a soft smile as she lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "I'm already yours, Roman."

"Then lets make it all official," he whispered.

Her smile widened and she turned to look at the men. "How does the first weekend of May sound for a wedding?"