Page 12 of Infatuate Me

“This is absurd,” Ted scoffs, and I have to refrain from rolling my eyes. “You can’t possibly be… whatever the hell you are saying,” he splutters.

“I don’t expect you to understand, I simply came here to do you the courtesy of telling you face to face,” Carrie continues, and Ted balks at her.

“I don’t think so, young lady,” he barks, his tone changing from shock to one much firmer. “You’ll sit down and talk to me about what the bloody hell you think you’re doing.”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” I interrupt, because he’s not going to talk down to her, not while I’m around. “Don’t speak to her like that.”

“Dominic, what the fuck are you doing?” Ted says, turning his head towards me. “I mean, she’s my daughter, for fuck’s sake. Tell me this is a joke. Tell me you two thought this would be really funny and I’m just not getting it.”

“It’s not a fucking joke, and there is nothing to get other than the fact that we are together,” I retort, highly pissed off that he thinks it’s some sort of prank.

“Over my dead fucking body,” he shouts.

“That can be arranged,” I mutter, but I know Carrie hears me as she struggles to contain her smile.

“Now you listen here, you bastard,” Ted continues, and this time, I do roll my eyes. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”

“Yes, Ted, I did, because whilst you’re being overdramatic and not even attempting to try and speak to us rationally, you’re standing next to your wife who just so happens to be twenty-five years old,” I say to him, but I know it falls on deaf ears, because Ted has never been one to try and see reason. He’s always been about himself, and I hate that Carrie has been side-lined by him for so long. “You can think what you like, because regardless of what you think, I fucking love your daughter, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do or say to change that."

"What?" I hear her gasp beside me, and my eyes go wide. Oh bugger.

“This is preposterous,” I hear Ted moaning away in the background, but his voice seems to fade out as I look at Carrie, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she looks at me.

“You love me?” she whispers.

“I do, and I know I could have said this at a much more appropriate time instead of announcing it here, but yeah, I do love you, Carrie,” I say, and her hand grips mine a little tighter as she smiles.

“I love you too,” she whispers, before she adds, “Can we get out of here right fucking now? Because I kinda need to kiss you.”

“Your wish is my command,” I tell her, before I quickly turn to Ted and cut off his rant by saying, “Sorry to cut this short but we have to be going. If you need to talk with us any further, then you can phone me at oh-eight-hundred-give-a-rat’s-arse-dot-com.” And with my parting words, I lead Carrie from the house and to the car, driving her back to our place at top speed, so I can make love to her, the woman of my dreams, and the woman who one day will become my wife.

Chapter Fifteen

CARRIE

It’s funny. I never thought I’d meet my husband in a strip club. I guess we never know where we’re going to find our heart, our soul, our reason for breathing.

As I watch Dominic hold his hand out for me to take our first dance as husband and wife, I know that age doesn’t matter if you truly are meant to be with someone.

Dominic is my person, and with him by my side, I feel like I can do anything. I’ve set up my own charity to help those less fortunate, I’ve made a difference to lives when they thought there was no way up, and I’ve learned that love can smack you in the face and devour you whole.

I no longer speak to my dad, him choosing to not be a part of my life. It hurt to begin with, but really, I wasn’t losing a dad, I was just losing an attachment to a stranger that never loved me the way a father should have.

My mother still lives on our grounds, but she doesn’t get under our feet or interfere in our relationship. She’s there for me, just like a parent should be.

And as for what the future holds… after we’ve consummated our marriage, I’m going to tell Dominic that I’m carrying our child. A surprise, and one that we’ll both welcome and cherish.

Expect the unexpected, and when the unexpected happens, grab it with both hands and don’t let go, because for me, the unexpected journey has been the ride of my life, and it just keeps on giving.

THE END

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