Page 23 of Love's Patient Journey
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They spent the rest of the afternoon just like that: making love, holding each other, and talking about what they wanted from their future together. Jenna always dreamt of staying at home with Zac but never gave it too much thought. As a single mom, she didn’t have too many opportunities to think about what she wanted. It finally felt like she had a partner with Ryan. She was no longer scared that he would leave her or find something better to do. She knew that Ryan loved her and Zac. She could tell how excited he was about this new baby. He couldn’t even pass her in the hallway without putting his hands on her belly. She loved having someone to share all the stages of pregnancy with. While she was still in her first trimester, she suffered daily from morning sickness. Ryan was there with her, every step of the way, holding her hair, rubbing her back, and taking care of Zac when she couldn’t.
The truth was, she would love to stay home with Zac and this baby, but she was afraid of letting her dad down. And her parents’ opinion of her was holding her back from saying yes to Ryan. He asked her every day, while they lived in the cabin, to marry him. She knew that if he had his way, he’d tie her up, throw her in his truck, and drag her off to a justice of the peace. Honestly, that sounded pretty good to her, too. She had a big wedding planned with Jake, and it ended in a shambles. Jake had gotten drunk and beat her sister. If Drew hadn’t stopped Jake, he probably would have raped Karlie. The thought still made her physically ill. Jenna was still stupid enough to believe Jake’s lies and marry him at the courthouse the next day. Shewas so desperate to make her relationship work, for her baby’s sake, that she looked past how evil Jake was. Ryan saved her. He didn’t judge her for her stupidity. He saved her and Zac from the monster that Jake had become. He saved her heart from becoming completely closed off to the possibility of love again. He was her everything, and she was still allowing her fear of letting her family down to keep her from giving Ryan what he desperately wanted--a family. The truth was, they already were a family.
Jenna stopped folding the laundry that she was working on, packing to go home. It was time to make her life with Ryan a possibility. She was going to give him everything that he had given her. He would have his family; she would make sure of it. Jenna’s first call was to Tom, her lawyer. Her second would be to her parents and Karlie. If she were going to make Ryan’s dreams a reality, she would need to enlist all their help. It was time to stop hiding. She needed to stand up to the bullies who threatened to take Zac from her and make her life what she had always dreamed.
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Ryan knew Jenna was in a hurry to get home, but she was excited to be there. About a mile from her house, her phone rang. She sent it to voicemail, glancing sideways at Ryan.
“Unknown caller,” she smiled.
“Uh-huh,” Ryan knew she was up to something, and sneaky Jenna scared the crap out of him. “You sure you don’t have anything to tell me, princess?”
“Nope,” she giggled like a giddy teenager. Yeah, she was up to something, and no good was going to come from it.
As they rounded the corner to her little house and Ryan noticed unfamiliar cars. He was worried that they were walking into a trap, and he couldn’t allow that.
“We are going to head over to Drew and Karlie’s.” Ryan started to turn around when he noticed Drew standing on Jenna’s front porch. “What the hell is he doing here?” Ryan was starting to worry that something was up. Had someone tried to break in again?
“It’s okay, Ryan. I asked him to be here.” Jenna jumped out of his truck as soon as he parked in her driveway. Ryan got Zac out of his car seat and followed Jenna into the house to find about twenty of his and Jenna’s family members standing in her family room.
“Do we shout surprise in a case like this?” Drew asked, looking at Karlie. He was holding Jem, who immediately squirmed to get to Zac. The toddlers ran over to Zac’s train table and picked up playing like they had just seen each other yesterday. Drew and Karlie hugged Jenna and acknowledged her growing bump. Family members started hugging them both, and Ryan still couldn’t make out what the hell was going on.
“Can someone please tell me why you all are here? Not that I mind seeing our family, but what the hell is going on?”
“Mommy,” Jemma shouted, “Uncle Ryan needs the swear jar.” Zac nodded and plowed his train into Jemma, making her squeal with delight. All the adults just laughed, but Ryan was feeling more pissed off by the minute.
“Ry,” Jenna grabbed his hand, “I arranged all of this. I think it’s about time that we get hitched.” Jenna was smiling up at him, glowing. He was still having trouble catching up.
“Hitched?” he asked, trying to get his brain to work.
“Yeah, well- I figured you asked me every single day, for the past three months, to marry you. I think it’s about time I said yes. So, I arranged for everyone to be here. My mom called Pastor Donavan, and he agreed to marry us. I called Tom to arrange our marriage license and to also have him draw up adoption papers for Zac.” Ryan froze, now understanding that Jenna was saying yes—to everything.
“Baby, you mean—we are going to be a real family?” Ryan’s voice was gruff with emotion. “I’m going to be your husband and Zac’s dad?” Ryan looked over to find the toddler smiling at him, nodding his little blond head. “Yeah, you my daddy, Ry.” Zac seemed to be on board with Jenna’s plan. Again, all the adults laughed, and Ryan couldn’t help himself; he laughed too.
“Well, then I guess we’re getting hitched!” Ryan lifted Jenna and swung her around. “So, we’re doing this now, right?”
Jenna giggled, “Yep, right now. So, if you’ll put me down, we have some vows to exchange.”
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The ceremony was beautiful, everything Jenna could imagine. Karlie was able to get a caterer to take care of the food. With less than 24 hours’ notice, Jenna was thrilled that one of the little barbecue places was willing to provide food. Ryan seemed pretty happy with Karlie’s choice; he loved barbecue. Karlie also made Jenna a bouquet of lilies, her favorite. She even managedto get a cake from their town’s little bakery. Of course, she had to take what they had in stock. Luckily, someone named Donna never picked up her birthday cake. The wedding cake was a sheet cake with white and pink flowers, with “Happy Birthday Donna” written in the middle. And Jenna thought it was perfect.
Jenna’s parents were so wonderful about everything. She was able to talk to her dad, privately, for a few minutes. He told her how happy he and her mom were that she was married to Ryan and having a new grandbaby for them. She told him that she wanted to stay home with Zac and this baby, and he was in total agreement. He wanted her to do what was best for her and her family. She got choked up when he told her how proud he was of her and how strong he thought she was, being a single mom to Zac for the past two years.
Jenna’s parents took Zac home with them for a few nights. Jenna didn’t have time to plan a honeymoon, but she was thankful for the alone time with her new husband.
“Well, Mrs. Jackson,” Ryan walked behind Jenna and wrapped his arms around her belly. He froze when he felt the soft push. “Did the baby just kick?”
Jenna nodded, covering Ryan’s hands with her own. “Yeah, she’s been doing that all day. I think she likes that her mommy and daddy are married now.”
The baby kicked Ryan’s hand again, causing him to laugh, “Yeah, I think he likes us married.”
“He?” Jenna shook her head. “She is definitely a girl.”
“How about we go tomorrow to get a sonogram? Will the doctor be able to tell yet?” Jenna shrugged. I’m not sure, but I would love to see how our little peanut is doing.”
