Star Bright (39 page)

“
Red hot with
steam coming out of her ears.” Carol laughed, “Dave you have to let
me be the one to tell her.”

“
Why not.”
Dave noticed Maria’s hesitance and a small panic filled his
stomach, “What’s wrong?”

“
Something
tells me to read them, but.” she paused and stared at him looking
for a hint of mischief. She’d been with Dave long enough to be
suspicious of everything he did, there was always an underlying
motive, “I trust you, I just hope this won’t come back and nip me
in the ass.” she spoke as she signed.

When she was done, Dave
excitedly took the papers from her and handed them to Todd, he
signed, then passed them on to Carol who did the same, “Remember
when I told you lawyers were liars?”

“
Hmm.” she
said absently, all her attention taken by Izzy.

“
They are also
very tricky SOB’s.” Todd and Carol laughed.

“
Wait, what?”
Maria asked. She didn’t understand the joke, if there was
one.

Dave whispered in
Michael’s ear. His face brightened up and he began jumping up and
down on the bed. When Izzy saw that, she too got up and began
jumping up and down, her shrilly laughter filling the
room.

“
Guys stop
that, what’s going on?” Maria asked even more confused, “Dave what
did you tell him?”

Carol stepped forward
with two small boxes and handed them to Dave, “Congratulations!”
she shrilled, keyed up.

The silly smiles they all
had and the kids’ loud shrills and bouncing was beginning to give
her a head ache, “Would someone please tell me what’s going
on?”

“
Congratulations!” Todd yelled.

“
For what?
Dave?” she was getting agitated by the mystery and the
congratulations. Dave opened the boxes and took out two rings, one
was completely covered with diamonds all round and the other had
small diamonds in a single line in the center around the platinum
band, then took Maria’s left hand.

She pulled it away fast
as she blankly shifted her gaze from the shiny crispy clear
crystals he was holding, to his face, “What are you doing? Didn’t I
just say no?” Even as she said no, she felt her throat constrict,
how she could turn down such beautiful clear cut diamonds that must
have cost a bundle was beyond her comprehension, and Dave, he was
worth more than both the diamonds.

She must have been hit on
the head a few too many times, that could be the only
explanation.

“
You can’t say
no anymore.” he took her hand and slid them on her finger then
picked another from the box and handed it to her, “Your
turn.”

She held her hand up and
looked at her shimmering finger, “Could someone please tell me
what’s going on?” her voice sounded scratchy as it came out of her
dry throat.

“
Well, they
are congratulating us on our marriage of course,” he smiled,
“congratulations Mrs. Greer.”

“
Wait, what?”
her throat drying out even more.

“
Always read
before you sign.” he took her blinged out hand and placed a ring in
it. It was similar to her ring, with the single diamond line at the
center of it, and then held out his finger.

“
You tricked
me.” her pitch was high, echoing her shock, “I should have known
something was up, how could I not suspect you would pull something
like this on me.” she slapped his shoulder, “you cheat!”

Dave winced and grabbed
at his shoulder, “Ouch Maria, I got shot!”

“
That will be
nothing once I bury you alive!”

“
Mama would
you just put it on!” Michael screeched impatiently.

“
Maria.” Dave
began signaling for Todd and Carol to take the kids. They picked
them up then stood at the edge of the bed, “I love you, you love me
and we love each other’s kids so why exactly don’t you want to
marry me?”

“
Dave, it’s
too soon.” she pushed her hair back with her free hand, the other
still frozen with Dave’s ring in it.

“
It’s been
months since we met, Amy and Ricky are no longer in our lives and
there is nothing else stopping us.” his lips pulled to the side in
half a smile, “And considering what was about to happen before we
were interrupted I know that’s not the problem.” his smile faded,
“Maria are you scared of me? Do you think I’ll hurt
you?”

“
No I don’t,
it’s just.” she tried to think of something, all her excuses were
already made inadmissible. Dave was right, there was nothing
stopping her from completely being happy, “Mama isn’t going to be
happy about this.” She took his hand and slid the ring on his
finger, “Congratulations Mr. Greer.” she laughed, happily shocked
by what had just happened, “I can’t believe I just did
that!”

“
We’ll have a
church wedding later on.” Dave hugged her tight and kissed her
deeply, “And yes, you just did.” He hugged her tight, “You just
made me the happiest man on earth.”

Todd and Carol let the
kids loose. They rushed to their parents and joined in the hug,
“Give them a quick hug, then we’ll go out for ice cream.” Carol
said, wiping a tear away before it fell.

“
Ice cream!”
they yelled and rushed back to Todd and Carol.

“
We’ll let you
guys go back to wrestling.” Todd said, closing the door behind
him.

“
Wait, I want
to wrestle.” Michael’s voice came through the door.

“
No, that’s
adult wrestling, but we can play video games later.”

Dave laughed then turned
to Maria. Her eyes and cheeks were wet and she held a hand over her
mouth. His expression changed to worry, he thought something was
wrong. Giving her no option, but to be married to him, may not have
been a very good idea.

“
Maria if you
don’t want to you don’t have to...”

“
No it’s not
that.” she interrupted him. She moved her hand from her lips to his
cheek, revealing a beautiful gentle smile, “For the first time, I’m
crying not because I’m sad or in pain or despair, but because I’m
happy, I’m truly happy.” She pulled him to her and locked him in a
deep kiss, “If this is a dream please don’t wake me up.” she
whispered on his lips.

“
It’s not, I
promise you it’s not.” he laid her down and carefully climbed on
top of her, determined to continue where they left off, “The dark
cloud is gone and it’s clear skies from now on.” he whispered,
planting kisses along her neck and down to her chest.

Maria felt her skin burn
where his lips left. She felt like she was suffocating, like the
pleasure was slowly killing her and she welcomed it. She had never
felt this good, this desired by anyone nor this kind of attraction
for anyone. Having Dave kiss and touch her erased every touch and
kiss Ricky had assaulted and molested her with. He was repairing
all the damage Ricky had caused and she loved it.

Dave stopped when he
heard yelling outside, it sounded like Amy and Carol going at
it.

“
We are never
going to be rid of her are we?” Maria asked exhaustedly, “So much
for clear skies.”

“
I’m not going
to let her ruin our happiness.” he kept kissing her, “And besides
Carol and Todd can handle her.”

“
Are you sure
‘cause I can...” she tried to get up, but he pushed her back
down.

“
No you don’t
I’ve waited too long for this and I’m not going to let her ruin
this for me.” he moved up to kiss her soft lips.

“
We have the
rest of our lives Dave.” she pulled his vest over his head then
lightly stroked his bandage before she rested her hands on his
back.

“
And it starts
right now. Be quiet and kiss me Mrs. Greer.”