Page 109 of Sweet on You
“You’re here.” He handed Olivia to me and rushed over to his grandmother to give her a hug. She cupped his face gently before hugging him back.
“You really do look great,” his sister said, hugging him. “You don’t even look like the same guy who left England.”
Lex turned to me, tears still filling his eyes. “How did you manage this?”
I shrugged, not about to reveal the fact that it had taken a lot of convincing and all of the airline miles I had saved to get them here. “I know how much they mean to you. And I can’t believe they’ve yet to see the amazing life you’ve built here.”
“Veronica,” his grandmother said as I approached, still holding a squirming Olivia in my arms. “Thank you for getting us here. I can’t believe we almost missed this day.”
I smiled at her and turned Olivia toward her. “This is your great-granddaughter.” Lex took Liv from me and held her close to her great-grandmother.
“Grandma, meet Olivia.”
Though his grandmother didn’t hug me, his sister did. Barreling at me, she crushed me in her embrace. “I always wanted a sister,” she whispered, pulling back. “And now I have one… and a niece!”
Lex rested his hand on my belly. “And another niece and nephew on the way,” he added.
“Are any of these little ones named after me?” his sister joked. “I mean, I did name my little boy, Alex, afteryou.” She poked Lex in the shoulder and they both chuckled.
Lex looked to me, waiting on my approval, to which I nodded. “Tell them,” I whispered.
“Actually, we’re going to name our boy Hugh Michael… after both of his late grandfathers. And our daughter is going to be named Calliope Ruth… after you and Ronnie’s sister.”
His grandmother gave another sharp inhale as glossy tears filled her dark blue eyes. She nodded. “You’re a good man, Alexander.”
“I am now. Thanks to you.” He held his grandmother’s eye contact a moment before switching to look at his sister. “And no thanks to you, of course,” he added with a wink. The playful banter reminded me so much of my own relationship with my siblings.
She laughed and covered her mouth. “You have no idea how hard it was to keep this a secret when we talked on the phone. I’ve known we were coming for weeks and I just had to act like I was regretful that we couldn’t make it.”
Lex pointed at me. “For a girl who claims to not be good at lying, you did a damn good job.”
I shrugged. “I had help. Lots of help.”
Lex bent, kissing me gently and whispering, “Best wedding gift, ever.”
I backed away, slowly releasing his hand. “Spend some time with them. I’m going to go finish getting ready.”
He glanced back and forth between me and his family. “Are you… are you sure?”
I nodded. “More than sure. We’ve got a lifetime together, Lex.”
He grinned and tugged me back into him for another kiss. “I’ll meet you at the altar.”
