Always Sometimes Never: Sometimes Brooke Part 23

When she bites her bottom lip I think she might protest. But instead she says, "If you want me pregnant so badly what are you waiting for?"

Epilogue.

Brooke Six Months Later "I feel like a whale," I moan as I look at my very pregnant belly in the mirror.

Leo insisted on picking out my wedding dress. He says it's identical to the one that he always imagined me wearing, short and very tight. If I wasn't six months along it might actually be s.e.xy, but right now I feel like a stuffed sausage in it.

"You look great," Harper a.s.sures me.

I frown. "It's easy for you to say. You're wearing a cla.s.sic gown, not one from the Fredricks of Hollywood collection."

"You look beautiful," she a.s.sures me. "You're glowing."

"I'm scared," I admit. When I turn to face Harper I'm blinking back tears.

"I just don't know if I'll be a good wife. And I'm definitely not sure if I'll be a good mother. It's not like I had the greatest role models for parenting."

She puts her hands on my shoulders. "It'll be a learning experience just like everything else in life. You probably won't be perfect, but nothing in life is. I know Leo worships you and I know the two of you will do the best you can loving each other and loving the baby. That's all anyone can expect."

"You're right," I tell her. "But you're always right. About everything."

She rolls her eyes. "Let's not get carried away."

"You look beautiful, by the way. Like a princess in a fairytale."

"Enough with the mutual admiration society," Raven says as she strolls into the guest house. Harper and I are using it as a temporary dressing area so the guys don't see us before we exchange vows.

"You two are almost making me sick," she adds with her typical Raven cynicism. "And who picked out this bridesmaid's dress?" She stands in front of the mirror with us. "It's hideous. Way too frilly. Not to mention it's puke green."

Raven kind of looks like a cake topper that someone vomited on. Never in a million years would either Harper or I admit that we both made a point to pick out the ugliest bridesmaid's dress we could possibly find for her to wear. Just because we thought it would be funny.

Needless to say we're not disappointed.

"I want you both to know that the only reason I agreed to be your bridesmaid is because I love Rayne and Leo like my brothers."

"We know," Harper replies, trying her best to keep a straight face.

"And because Xander is the best man."

"Of course," I tell her.

"I don't want either of you to think it's because I actually like either one of you. We're not going to suddenly be besties or anything. I'm not going to want to go on your stupid shopping trips or attend your ridiculous ladies lunches."

"We know," Harper agrees before she eyes me.

I give Harper an almost imperceptible nod in return. Then I say off-handedly, "I don't know if you heard, Raven. Harper and I were invited to a tea party at the art museum next weekend. I know it's not really your kind of thing, but we have an extra ticket, if you've got nothing else to do..."

She makes a point of rolling her eyes at me. "A tea party at a museum is like the last place on Earth I'd ever want to go." Then she sneers, before she asks, "What time is it at?"

"Three o'clock next Sat.u.r.day," Harper says. "The guys are playing in a celebrity golf tournament that day."

I laugh. "Rayne and Xander will actually be playing. Leo will probably just be swinging the clubs and hoping he can hit the ball enough times that he doesn't embarra.s.s himself."

"I'll see if there's anything else on my calendar that day," Raven says. "Like watching paint dry."

"We'll leave the extra ticket for you just in case," Harper says and winks at me.

"I really need to get the two of you outside for the ceremony. Before Rayne and Leo come to their senses and decide not to marry you."

"This is it." I turn to face my best friend. "Can you believe we're both getting married?"

"And we're both having babies," she says.

My eyes go wide. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

She laughs. "I said we're both having babies."

"You're pregnant?" I stammer still in shock.

She nods. "We just found out."

"Aren't you just full of surprises?"

When she looks like the cat that ate the canary I know something else is up. "Spill."

"There's another surprise..."

"What is it?"

"A good one. I promise. You'll just have to wait until we get outside to find out."

I glare at her. "I was just calmed down until you started springing all this news on me. Now I'm scared s.h.i.tless again."

Raven grabs us both by the elbows. "I've got to get you two breeders outside. Now."

"Like you and Xander aren't going to have kids," I fire back.

She laughs. "Not anytime soon. I can a.s.sure you of that."

Harper and I give each other a meaningful glance. Knowing how compet.i.tive the members of Always Rayne are it won't take long for a little Raven or Xander to join the ranks.

As the three of us head out to the garden where the guests have all been seated for the ceremony I think about how much has changed and how much we've all grown since that Always Rayne concert in San Diego when Harper and I first met the guys.

It seems like a lifetime ago.

Harper insisted on more traditional music so Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" is playing as we make our way down the aisle. Since we made the decision to have a very intimate wedding with only close friends and immediate family it doesn't add up to a huge crowd.

It only takes a few moments for me to realize that my mom and dad are seated in the front row. When I glance at Harper she just grins at me.

I didn't send them an invitation because I didn't want to go through the pain of having them decline, so Harper must have invited them herself.

Xander, Nic and Leo are lined up in their black tuxedos looking s.e.xy as h.e.l.l, but also scared s.h.i.tless. Nic is as white as a sheet and Leo looks like he could pa.s.s out at any moment.

But when the three of us take our places in the other side of the podium directly across from them they all light up like the Las Vegas strip.

And speaking of Las Vegas...since Nic thought it would attraction too much media attention for the four of us to elope he decided to bring a little bit of Sin City to the Arizona desert. He hired an Elvis impersonator to officiate the ceremony. The guy could easily pa.s.s for Elvis, if Elvis wasn't dead.

Leo and I exchange vows first. He insisted on writing his own and I'm touched when he says he will "love and cherish me forever." And that even when he's dead his "ghost will still love me and cherish me for eternity." It's such a typical Leoism.

I wasn't sure what to write so I tell him that he makes me a better person, because it's true. And that every day I make a choice to be with him because I'm still taking things one day at a time.

When Elvis tells Leo to kiss his bride he doesn't hesitate for a moment. He plants a big wet one on me and everyone in our small audience applauds.

Harper and Nic have much more serious and much better written vows because they're Harper and Nic. They're much smarter and much less lazy than their best friends.

And once the four of us are officially husbands and wives by the powers vested in the Elvis impersonator we all march back down the aisle, this time with our husbands in tow and form a line next to one of the fountains to greet our guests.

Leo's got the tightest grip on my hands ever and when I turn to face him his skin looks green.

"What's wrong," I whisper.

"Your parents are here," he whispers back.

"It looks that way."

"What if they hate me?" he actually sounds pained.

I can't help but laugh. "Join the club."

I can't even remember the last time I saw my dad in a suit. He's almost always wearing a Polo shirt with his smoothie shop logo emblazoned on the chest and khaki pants.

"Congratulations," my dad stammers and then awkwardly kisses my cheek.

I hate myself for already blinking back tears. "Dad, this is my husband, Leo."

It sounds so strange to say the word husband it almost gets caught in my throat.

My dad shakes Leo's hand. "I know you'll take good care of our daughter."

Our daughter. My parents haven't called me their daughter in years. I do my best not to start sobbing.

"I'll do my best, sir," Leo replies. "Or I'll die trying."

"We love you," my mom says as she grabs me and hugs me. I may have been seven or eight years old the last time that happened.

"Mom, this is Leo."

To my surprise she hugs him too.

"We'd like to be a part of our grandchild's life," my mom says. "If you'll let us."

I'm not sure what to say, or if I can even speak. I'm a bundle of raw emotions. So I just nod.

As four sets of eyes naturally gravitate toward my belly we see the baby kick. The baby's foot seems to be even more noticeable in the ultra-tight dress I'm wearing.

"Did you see that?" Leo's eyes are wide.

"I felt it too," I tell him.

"Do it again," he urges.

I laugh. "There's another human being inside of me. He's the one who's doing it. Not me."

"It's a boy?" my mom asks.

"It is."

"Have you picked out a name?"

I nod. "His name is going to be Bradford Donovan."

When I glance at my dad I see him swat at a tear that has escaped down his cheek. After he sniffles a few times I just can't help myself. "Everything okay, Dad?"

"Fine. I think the desert plants are affecting my allergies."

My dad would never admit that he's crying because we're naming the baby after him, but I can see he's smiling. And for my dad, whose face rarely cracks a smile, this is literally worth a thousand words.

A Sneak Peak at Never Raven

Chapter One.

"Stop kicking me, Xander," I mutter still foggy from sleep.

My mouth is as dry as the Arizona desert and my head is throbbing.

Too much tequila. I never drink tequila. Except last night apparently.