Page 97 of The Wedding Hoax

“I’m happy you two are getting so close.”

“Yeah, well, he pretty much saved our wedding. Hard to not get close to him after that.”

I laughed a little at the memory. After we got engaged, Harry and I decided to do everything over again, including our wedding and honeymoon. This time around, we’d chosen to get married on the beach, right at sunset, so we’d be able to capture the beauty of it in all of our wedding photos.

The only problem? The photographer was running late. She was running so late that we almost missed our preapproved wedding window, which would’ve meant either getting married in the dark or having to schedule it on a different day altogether.

But that’s where Sean saved the day. It turned out that one of his best friends was a talented photographer. A photographer who happened to be attending the wedding.

It was obvious when we saw the photos after the wedding, each one expertly framed. Sean also took over the photography for the reception, too, choosing to snap photos of the party instead of drinking and dancing the night away. It was the sort of selflessness that Harry had never seen from his brother before, and it’d seemed to stay with him. Ever since then, Harry and Sean had grown so much closer.

Then again, Harry had seemed to grow closer with all of his family over the past few months. I couldn’t put into words how glad it made me to see all of them coming together, with Harry finally finding his place among them.

“I think I need to go to the bathroom.” I frowned as I started to shift out of bed.

But before I had a chance to even put my feet on the floor, I felt Harry reaching for my waist.

“Harry? What are you doing?”

“You said you needed to go to the bathroom.”

“Right.”

“I was just going to carry you so it’s easier,” he replied. “That way, you don’t have to put too much strain on yourself.”

“It’s not putting too much strain on myself to walk to the bathroom.” I lightly chuckled. “I think you’re being a little paranoid right now.”

“Just let me?” Harry grinned, like he knew he was overreacting, too. “Come on. It’ll be fun for both of us.”

“Fun?”

“Interesting. Stress-free. Whichever word you think works best,” he said as he reached for me again. I leaned into him as he started to pick me up.

But almost as soon as he did, I felt something wet running down my leg.

“Put me down! Put me down!” I pressed against Harry’s chest until he set me back down on my feet.

“Simone? Baby? Are you okay?”

“Uh, I think my water just broke?” I stared down at the floor. “I think I’m—I think we’re about to have a baby?”

I didn’t know why every sentence was coming out like a question, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Harry panicked before he reached for his phone. “We’ve got to get you to the hospital. I’m calling the car right now!”

* * *

The drive to the hospital was a complete blur.

The only thing I was able to focus on were the contractions, the pain shooting through my body each time one rolled through me. I’d had a few contractions before, but nothing like this.

Nothing that felt like it was going to rip me apart.

The next thing I knew, I was being rolled into a hospital room. I could tell that my surroundings were nice, the room seeming to be extra spacious. There were even flowers in the windows, but I didn’t know if those were always there or if Harry had somehow arranged for those beforehand.

“Simone? How are you doing?” Harry asked, his face suddenly appearing in front of mine.

“I’m having a baby.”

---