Page 62 of A Second Chance Christmas Kiss

Melody reached me, and Will took her hand and handed it to me. “I don’t know how to do this, but I guess you’re promising to take care of my mom, right? Not that she needs to be taken care of.”

I winked at him. “I got it.”

Melody glowed in her white dress. “Hey.”

“You’re beautiful,” I whispered.

“You look pretty good, too.”

The place was packed with people from town, people I knew from work, and longtime family friends. Everyone melted away as I stared into Melody’s eyes.

Pastor Lee cleared his throat. “We are here today to celebrate the wedding of Charles King and Melody Harris.”

Pastor Lee went through the wedding rites, and when he asked me if I would take her as my wife, I said almost too quickly, “I do.”

One of my brothers, Sebastian, patted my shoulder. “At least you’re the star of this wedding and not busting it up this time.”

Everyone in the audience laughed.

When Pastor Lee asked Melody if she would take me as her husband, she got very quiet, and then tears fell down her face. “I do. I do.”

I found myself crying, and I didn’t care. I would be with this woman for as long as I had breath inside of me.

Chapter Thirty-One

Melody

It was funny the difference three months could have on a person’s life. I stared out at the ocean, standing on the beach next to the lighthouse. The weather was growing warm, but it was windy. I pulled my sweater tighter around me.

I’d never expected this, and part of me was terrified. How would I tell Charles about this? It had happened so quickly.

“Melody,” Charles called out.

I turned and saw him running toward me.

I opened my arms, and we embraced, kissing passionately. Every time we were apart, we greeted each other like this, and I loved it. I wondered if we would’ve taken each other for granted by now if we’d gotten married when we were young.

Out of breath, I leaned back and smiled at him. “How was your trip?” He didn’t travel a lot. I had gone with him to New York a few times, but this time I hadn’t felt well.

He studied my face. “I don’t want to talk about the trip; I want to talk about you. I want to talk about that text you sent me. What do you have to tell me?”

I smiled. “I guess it was ominous, wasn’t it?”

“Are you okay?”

I sucked in a breath, nerves fluttering again. “I have to tell you something.”

He took my hands. “Woman, just tell me. You’re scaring me to death.”

“This may sound ridiculous…” I swallowed hard. “Since we’ve been married, I quit my birth control. I just didn’t think of it. Two days ago, I found out that I’m pregnant.”

“Really?” A huge smile brightened his face. “You’re pregnant? We’re pregnant?”

Tears slipped down my cheeks. “Are you mad because it’s so soon? Or because … I don’t know. I’m freaking out.”

He crushed me against him, and then I found myself flying in the air, clinging to his shoulders as he spun me around. He laughed and then put me down. “How could you think that?”

Relief washed over me. “So you’re happy? What if there are problems? I’m scared.”

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