Page 16 of Uncovering Love: The Wedding

THE DAYS FLY BY INa blur of work, rushed dinners, and last minute preparations for our big day. Last night I came home to Evie’s family and a temporarily constructed assembly line of tulle, chocolate, cards, and ribbon in our kitchen. I offered to help, but when they realized my bow tying skills were severely lacking I got put on kid duty. Fine by me. It’s no punishment to play with Miss Claire in the other room. After we built a castle using blocks and played way too many rounds of peekaboo, she snuggled in my lap while we watched one of her favorite shows on television until we both fell asleep. Evie woke me after nine, another wedding project checked off her list, and I loaded Claire into her sister’s car.

I know this stuff matters to Evie, at least I hope it does since it’s consuming every free moment, but I am counting down the days until it’s behind us and we can spend our evenings the way we used to: preparing a meal together, watching a show, and then making love until we fall asleep. Happy. Together. My wife. Yeah, it’ll all be worth it in another week. Getting there is the challenge.

Today’s pre-wedding agenda isn’t so bad, though. Bachelor and bachelorette party plans for both of us on this gorgeous April day. Mine starts before the sun breaks over the mountain peaks to the east. My phone buzzes atop the bathroom counter while I’m brushing my teeth—my ride—and I pocket it on my way out. Along the way, I steal a kiss from a very sleepy Evie.

“Be safe. Have fun,” she says, her eyes still closed.

“You, too. No strip clubs,” I say as a joke. Mostly.

Her voice, thick with sleep, comes out in a chuckle and she curls back into the covers. “Can you imagine? With my preggo sis and Kate? I think I’m safe.”

“With them, you’re never safe.” I chuckle and kiss her forehead, breathing her in, the scent of her shampoo as sweet as she is. “Love you.”

“Love you,” she answers. I hustle to the truck waiting in my drive and hop into the passenger front.

“Mornin’” Jon says with a nod of his baseball cap.

“Hey, man.” I smile and buckle up. “How’s it going?”

He gives in to a smile as he navigates toward my sister’s house. “Long week, but nothing that blowing up shit can’t fix. It’s been too long.”

“Hear you there. With all the extra hours I’ve been putting in at the gym, and then Evie being so distracted with the wedding, I’ve barely spent any time with her.”

Jon grunts, his gaze trained on the road.

“Seriously, you’ve known Evie forever. Have you ever seen her so wound up? I know it’s normal, but I guess I didn’t expect her to be like this. I’ll be so glad when I make her my wife and we can move past this.”

“At least she wants to marry you. I’ve been asking Kate for months and I’m about ready to give up.” He blows out a deep breath. I can understand his frustration. Kate’s feisty and stubborn, but her love for Jon is clear to everyone. Hell, she’s carrying their child with nothing but pride. But she’s also got it in her head to refuse his endless proposals for marriage.

“But will you?”

“Never.” He grins wide and swings the truck into my sister’s driveway. It doesn’t take more than a second before the front door flies open and Ezra and Elijah race out. Derek follows seconds later with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Good morning!” Derek pulls open the back door and my nephews cheer, their smiles much too bright for the early hour.

“You two little dudes ready to help your uncle celebrate his last day of freedom?” Derek says as he helps them climb into the back seat of the cab. They answer in a chorus of excited shouts and Derek shuts the door. “Buckle your seatbelts.”

This is why I want a non-traditional bachelor party. Evie would easily tolerate me taking a drunken trip to the strip club with a bunch of my co-workers, but I don’t want any of that. There’s only one woman I want naked on my lap. Add in that two of the best humans on this Earth, my nephews, are still under the age of ten, and the result is a party suited for a more youthful audience.

“You boys ready to go shooting again?” Jon tips his chin and checks their response in the rear view mirror before pulling out of my sister’s driveway.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Jon. We’ve been practicing.”

“Practicing how, exactly? You’re not to touch guns without a safe adult to supervise.”

“Not real guns, Mr. Jon!” Eli laughs.

“There’ve been some epic Nerf wars going down this week while mama was working. Right, little man?” I twist in my seat to catch Derek shuffle Eli’s hair into a crazy mess. I’m so thankful for Derek, a feeling I never anticipated toward my sister’s boyfriend.

After the hell Carly’s ex-husband put them through, I stepped up to help take care of them until she got back on her feet. She deserves all the best, and Derek treats her and the boys with so much love. He’s also around to take care of the kids while she’s working her twelve-hour shifts at the hospital. The injury that caused him to give up traveling with his band was a bad break for him, but his newfound career as a songwriter has its perks.

“That’s right.” Ezra glances up at me, his eyes almost a mirror of my own, but his smile fades with concern. “Is this really your last day of freedom, Uncle Tate?”

Jon and Derek let loose a few laughs, but I smile and shake my head. “Nah, Ez, I’ve been waiting my whole life to marry, Evie.”

“But Grandma said you just met her last year.”

“Sure, but she and I were meant for each other.”

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