Page 41 of The Virgin's Chosen Dragon

“My mother is going to use the I gave birth to you speech, it’s one of her favorites,” he said. “And my father will stare at me with a disappointed look on his face but won’t say a word.”

“We’re married now,” she said, then looked over at him and ginned. “And there isn’t a dammed thing they can do about it.”

Theo laughed, “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you cuss,” he said. “You’re just full of surprises lately.”

“My mother just makes me so mad,” she said. “I’ll never treat our daughter that way. She’s going to be able to make her own decisions, her own mistakes.”

He reached over and pulled her into his arms. “You’re going to be the best mother in the world, sweetheart,” he said. “I can’t wait to see you with my baby in your arms.”

Eden went completely still, then her face turned pale. “Eden, what’s wrong?” he asked. “Do you feel sick?”

She shook her head, then looked over at him. “Theo, we haven’t I mean…I wasn’t planning… I’m not on birth control or anything,” she stammered. “I should have thought about it before now, we could already…”

He put his hand over her stomach. “That’s fine with me. The sooner, the better,” he said. “I hope the first one is a girl, and she looks just like you. Then I want a little boy. After that, it doesn’t matter; girl or boy, either is fine with me.”

“Hold on,” she said, laughing. “Let’s take this one kid at a time, and I didn’t say I was……I just said I might be.”

“And I love you either way,” he said, sitting up. “I think we’d better think about heading back. We’ve got a two-hour hike, and I’d think we both should shower before dinner.”

“I’d rather stay here and hide from everyone,” she said, but let him help her to her feet. “I’m not looking forward to this, but I know we have to do it to move ahead.”

“I’ll be right there with you,” Theo said. “Remember, we’re a team.”

Later that day, Eden showered and dressed carefully for the meeting with their parents, her stomach a jangle of nerves as she slipped on one of her new dresses. The next chapter of her life was going to begin that night. The island had changed her in so many ways, all of them good, and she hoped that her mother could make peace with her new life. Her childhood hadn’t all been bad, there had been some good parts, and she hoped that her mother would remember that for once, and find a way to look beyond her obsession with family tradition and see her for who she was.

Theo walked up behind her. “You look perfect,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “Are you ready to do this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “Just promise me you won’t leave my side.”

CHAPTER 24

***THEO***

Max met them at the front door. “Thanks for letting us use your cabin for this,” he said. “I thought one public screaming match was enough, and I’m sure there will be some screaming.”

“Dr. Bishop has recovered from her health incident, as she’s calling it. I believe her lungs are in good shape,” Max said, shaking his head. “And your mother has been dropping names of lawyers who might be willing to represent her when she sues me, although I haven’t quite figured out what she’s suing me for.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t even know,” he said. “Ignore her threats, they don’t mean a thing.”

“That was my plan,” he said. “Come on, they’re all out on the deck, staring daggers at each other. I thought there was going to be a fight at one point.”

When they stepped out of the cabin, his mother saw him first and jumped to her feet. “Oh, Theo, thank God,” she said. “We’re getting out of here right this instant.”

“Sit down Mother, you’re not going anywhere, at least not until you’ve listened to what we have to say,” he said, thenlooked around the table. “For the next few minutes, no one is going to say a word. You’re going to keep completely silent, or this meeting will be over.”

He waited until they all nodded their heads, then put his arm around Eden, making her mother let out a hiss, and he stared at her until she looked away. “Eden and I are both grown adults, and as such, perfectly capable of making our own choices,” he said. “And we’ve chosen each other. We were married yesterday in a very small, very private ceremony.”

Max emerged from the shadows and placed their marriage certificate on the table. He reached over and slid it across to his mother. “As you can see, it’s all nice and legal,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it now, so it’s time for you to make a choice.”

“You can either support us or fight us, but the one thing you won’t do is break us up,” she said. “We want you all to be a part of our lives but only on our terms. This is the life we’ve chosen to live, and we hope you can be happy for us.”

There was a long silence, then his mother got to her feet. “I will not be happy for you. You’ve married below yourself, Theo, and I’m ashamed,” she said. “I’ll never be able to show my face at the club when this gets around. I gave birth to you. How could you do this to me? I’ll never forgive you for this. Come along, Steve; I’m not going to listen to any more of this. Our youngest son has turned his back on our family. I can’t bear to be around him a second longer.”

He couldn’t help but be disappointed, but Eden looked up at him and squeezed his hand. Then, to his surprise, his father got up and walked over to him. “I’m happy for you, son,” he said. “I heard you might be giving spearfishing lessons. I don’t suppose there’s room for one more?”

“You bet,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. “I’d love to have you there, Dad.”

***Eden***

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