Page 373 of The Christmas Wife

"Nice of you to take my wishes into consideration." His tone has a biting edge which cuts through me.

"You’re welcome," G-Pa says in a mild voice. "Mira, I arranged for your friend to get your wedding dress made."

"My wedding dress?" I ask faintly.What is happening? Are we getting married, right now?Given I recognize the people in the room who’re all dressed up in their finest and who’re looking at us with big smiles on their faces, I’d say my question is rhetorical.But I’m not ready.I wasn't ready for getting married in a week. And I'm absolutely not ready to get hitched within the hour. I tighten my hold on Edward’s arm. He must feel the pressure of my grasp, must sense the nervousness that, no doubt, vibrates off of me like I’m an off-balance washing machine on the spin cycle, for he places his big warm hand over mine, and it's at this point, I notice my fingers are freezing.

He lowers his head to mine, and under the pretense of pressing a kiss to my temple, whispers, "Breathe."

I try to comply, but my lungs burn. I shake my head. This must be a dream. We’re getting married.Right now. Right. Now.My guts churn. A bead of sweat slides down my back. My muscles seize up.

"Take a breath for me." His hard voice cuts through the chaos in my head.

I suck in air, and this time, oxygen rushes to my head, and I sway.

He tightens his hold on my hand. "You will not faint."

His voice is harsh and emotionless, and exactly what I need right now.

"Keep breathing," he orders.

I do as he says. Focus on my breathing. In-out-in.

"Good girl." The words are spoken in a low voice only I can hear. My toes curl, and heat courses through my belly. I blink and manage to focus on the faces of the people in the room. Summer and Sinclair, Penny and Knight, Abby and Cade, Gioand Rick—the eight of them stand clustered in a corner. The women wear expressions that range from happiness to concern.

On the other side of the room are five men I don’t recognize. Four of them wear dark suits; three of them with ties. The fifth wears jeans with a leather jacket and has his hair slicked back. All of them are broad-shouldered. The tallest of them has a scarred face which adds to the menacing air about him. He’s glaring at us, as are his brothers—they're definitely brothers. Which means, these are the half-brothers Edward mentioned. He wasn’t kidding about them hating him. The air around them might as well be painted black, thanks to the contemptuous vibes emanating from them.

A little distance from them is a very pregnant Karma with her husband Michael’s arm about her. When she catches my eyes, she walks forward. "I have your dress ready for you. I hope you don’t mind, I estimated your measurements, but I think you’ll be happy with the results." She turns to Edward. "I’d like to take her away so she can get ready. No woman likes to be caught unawares on her big day." She shoots an admonishing look at G-Pa. "You’re lucky to be getting away with this."

"Oh, pffft!" G-Pa waves his hand in the air, and the gesture is so authoritative, so much like Edward’s, I have a snapshot from the future when Eddie’s as old as him, and every bit as stern and forbidding, and only allows himself to unbend for our granddaughter.

Our granddaughter?Holy shit, we’re not yet married, and by all accounts, I’m not going to be able to bear him a child unless I go the IVF route—which, I have to admit, I’m not completely comfortable with. But I may not have much choice if I wanted a baby of my own—and my mind is totally future-casting here by imagining a future where we have grandkids.

I must make a noise because all three of them turn to me.

G-Pa surveys my features and furrows his brow. "Are you okay my dear? I hope this wasn’t too much of a surprise. I thought, since you two were getting married in a few days?—"

"In a full six days," Edward growls.

"—in less than a week, we could short-cut the process and have the ceremony today."

"Why would we want to short-cut something like this? You could have asked," Edward says in a hard voice.

"Would you have agreed?" his grandfather turns to him.

“That’s not the point.” Edward scowls, “Maybe Mira had a dream wedding planned, and you’re cheating her out of it. Besides, it’s only six days away, I don’t understand the reason for the hurry?”

G-Pa’s face falls. “I’m so inconsiderate. I only thought of myself and how much I did not want to wait a day longer. At my age, every day is the equivalent of a year, and who knows if I’m going to be around when the two of you tie the knot. I wanted to be present for my oldest grandson’s wedding.”

“You’re not in danger of dying anytime soon,” Edward says drily.

I jab my elbow in his side. “That’s not very nice.”

“I’m sorry, truly. I hadn’t thought of the fact it would deprive you of your dream wedding.” G-Pa turns to me, “We can stick to the original plan and?—”

“No, it’s okay,” I say around the ball of emotion in my throat. “It’s not like I had a vision of what I wanted my wedding to be.”

“You didn’t?” Eddie blinks.

“I didn’t.” I tip up my chin. Knowing I was going to have an arranged marriage, I was too stressed worrying about who I’d end up marrying to plan the perfect wedding ceremony in my head. Not that I’m going to say that aloud in front of G-Pa.

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