Page 20 of It All Began at Dixieland

Mom flushes the toilet. Touche.

Foster 18.

“You’re just gonna move in with her?” Maria asks skeptically.

“Yup.” Not a doubt in my mind this is right. Seeing her again after months without her. She was never once not on my mind in all that time. She consumed me from the beginning, and I’ve been given a second chance. Not wasting a fucking second.

“Don’t you think the mother of your child should also be your wife?”

“MOM!” Efa squawks, but I hold her tight to my side on the couch and look her mother in the eye.

“Absolutely.” There is a prolonged moment of tense silence before Conner grins, slaps his knee, stands up with his phone to his ear, and Efa punches me in the thigh as hard as she can.

“Seriously?” Her voice is so high a dog somewhere in her complex starts barking. She holds her finger up before I can respond, “What is dad doing?”

“Letting the monsignor know everything’s a go.”

“MONSIGNOR!”

“Efa, please. A reasonable tone, you’re scaring the neighboring pets,” Maria replies nonplussed. Efa pinches the bridge of her nose, a flush darkening her skin. I would like to comfort her, but my fucking thigh. “Next Saturday, the two of you will be married in a lovely, albeit rushed, ceremony at the basilica. Foster, I’ve spoken to your parents and sister. They will be arriving on the Friday before the wedding. Con and I will stay here tonight, and then tomorrow, we will all drive back to Marietta and begin preparations.”

I’m…stunned. Flabbergasted. Shocked. Surprised. And really happy. Efa…less so.

“No.” Maria and I stare at her like someone speaking in tongues. Then we look at each other and shrug.

“Thank you, Maria, for doing all of this.”

“NO! Don’t thank her. Don’t encourage her. This is…this is…ludicrous!”

She does not find my laughter funny. “I thought you were going to say ‘Sparta’.”

“Do not be cute and make movie references right now when my mom is being overbearing!”

“Excuse me.” Maria says casually. “I am bearing the right amount. I saw you two the day you met. I saw you when you came back to our hotel room after you two…were well acquainted. I saw the disappointment. I heard the sadness in your voice for months during your separation. I heard the stress you tried to hide when you told us you were pregnant. And I heard the pure radiant joy in your voice when you called to tell us you found him again. I am your mother, Efa Josefina Blevins. I know you. Don’t tell me this isn’t exactly what you want, what you have prayed and wished and hoped for. Don’t tell me ‘no’ because you think that’s what you are supposed to do. Do what feels right. Do what your heart tells you.”

I love Maria and Conner already. They raised a helluva woman and I am the lucky son of a bitch that is going to spend the rest of his life by her side.

“Efa?” I place my hands on her jaw, turning her to face me. Her beautiful eyes are shiny with tears, but she offers me a tentative smile. She searches my eyes, her hands cupping my cheeks softly, sweetly. She must find whatever confirmation she needs, because her smile grows confident until it’s blinding and fucking glorious.

“We’re getting married?” I nod. “Next week?”

“Yeah, baby. We are.” I seal my mouth over hers, tracing the seam of her pillowy lips with my tongue. She opens slightly, her tongue peeking out to tangle with my own. “I love you so much.”

“I can’t believe this is happening.” She shakes her head, her eyes flitting between mine. “I love you.”

Our moment is broken when Conner comes back into the living room, a broad grin on his slightly weathered face. “All set for Saturday next at the basilica.”

Maria claps her hands once. “Wedding is settled. Now, let us discuss baby names.”

“We don’t know the sex of the baby yet, mom.”

I sit up on the edge of the couch, leaning my elbows on my spread thighs and give Maria my best model smile. “If it is a girl, I was thinking Jacqueline Maria.”

“Dammit.”

“Shit.”

I ignore Conner and Efa’s exclamations and maintain eye contact with my future mother-in-law, while I fight not to laugh at my joke. She uses the arm of the couch to assist her to stand, then walks with measured steps into the kitchen. Efa yelps and chases after her.

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