The Commitment (25 page)

“Wow,” she whispers. “It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this.”

“I have,” I admit.

“I think you already know what you want,” she says quietly.

“You’re right, I do,” I confess, gently brushing a stray piece of her chocolate colored hair away from her brow as I release a sigh. “And I already promised her I wouldn’t make her move to Florida.”

“Drake,” she says, resting her cheek into my palm and closing her eyes. When she opens them, they’re laced with tears. “I don’t think I can handle two years away from you.”

“None of that, Baby. Everything’s going to be just fine. Yes, it might mean some sacrifices, delaying some of our plans,” I say in a soft voice, wiping her cheeks clean and pulling her to my chest. “But if it means your happiness, we’ll figure out a way to make this work.”

“How am I supposed to be happy if I never see you?” she asks. “I know you have to do this. I understand that, but you’re my happiness, Drake.”

“You’re mine, too,” I whisper, leaning to gently press my lips to hers. As I cradle her in my arms, I swallow her quiet whimper and watch her thick eyelashes flutter open as I pull away. “What do you want to do, Baby? Tell me right now what you want and I’ll do it.”

Holding my gaze, she studies my features for a moment before she breaks the silence.

“Anything?” she asks, her voice low.

“If I can, of course,” I tell her. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Analise.”

“I’ll move to Florida with you,” she says, her words shocking me.

“Really?”

“Yes,” she starts, nodding slightly. “But I have terms.”

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s hear them.”

“We have to wait until Sophie has the baby, my brother comes with us if he wants and we come back to visit at least four times a year.”

“Of course,” I agree immediately. “Done.”

“There’s one more thing.”

“Okay, well what is it?” I ask.

“If we move to Florida, we don’t put anything off anymore,” she starts, holding my eyes. “Drake, if I come with you, I want to have a baby.”

Ana

“Hey! We’re here!” Sophie calls from the door as I stare back at Drake’s unreadable expression.

The look in his eyes is stoic as he silently considers my terms of going with him to Florida, particularly the last one. I stand staring back at him, holding my breath as he searches my eyes and wonder if I’ve just made a monumental mistake.

“Are you guys decent?” Chase calls. “We have JT with us.”

“Yeah,” Drake calls back, still staring into me. “Come on in, we’re in the kitchen.”

Begging silently for anything from him, I’m about to speak when his deep voice beats me to it.

“Can you agree to wait until we’ve been married for six months?” he asks, his voice still low as we hear the house filling with his family.

“Short engagement?” I counter, my voice shaking with nerves.

“If that’s what you want,” he says with a terse nod.

“That’s what I want,” I whisper.

“Okay,” he agrees quietly. “Done.”

“Are you serious?” I manage.

“Of course,” he says quietly. “I told you, Analise. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you happy.”

I’m struggling to swallow the lump in my throat as he bends to take my mouth. As he pulls away, his blue eyes hold mine captive for a moment before voices interrupt my thoughts.

“Hey,” Sophie says with a smile in her voice as she enters the kitchen.

“Oh, hey,” I smile, quickly swiping my tears away as I twist to face her.

“You okay?” she asks quietly as she sees my still teary expression and immediately, I nod.

“Yes,” I tell her. “I’m very okay.”

His grip still tight on my waist, Drake pulls me to him and presses his lips to my neck.

“I love you,” he says softly against my skin, causing me to whip my head around to face him.

“I love you, too,” I tell him, placing my hands on either side of his face and pulling his lips to mine, giving him a deep kiss. When I pull away, my forcefulness causes his eyes to dance with amusement. “Sorry,” I blush slightly, remembering myself.

“Don’t be,” he laughs, discreetly smacking me on the ass before freeing me from his grip. “We’ll talk more later, okay?”

“Okay,” I tell him, meeting his final chaste kiss before he leaves to dress and I turn to face Sophie.

“Hey best friend,” she smiles, pulling me as closely as her belly will allow.

“You’re so pregnant,” I chuckle, taking a step back and smiling down at her. “How are you? Are you getting nervous yet?”

“No,” she says with a small smile. “I can’t believe it, but the only thing I’m nervous about is that my dress won’t fit.”

“You’ll be fine,” I laugh. “If not, I’ve got a white bikini you can borrow.”

“Woohoo!” Chase says as he walks in behind her, causing her cheeks to flush. “Where is everyone?”

“Drake’s getting dressed, Jack’s on a run and everyone else is still at the hotel,” I tell him.

“Ana!” JT shouts as he comes barreling in. “Ana! I caught a lizard at our house and scared my Aunt Sophie with it and it was so funny!”

“Yes, it was hilarious,” Sophie says sarcastically. “Aunt Sophie almost went into labor.”

“It
was
pretty funny, Baby,” Chase chuckles as he leans over to kiss her hair. “I’m gonna put our bags up and head outside. Can y’all send Drake out?”

“Yeah,” I laugh, mussing JT’s hair as he follows Chase outside and turning to face my best friend. “You ready to get started?”

“Yes!” she smiles, following me to the guest room that holds the bulk of what we got for the wedding. As I push the door open and she sees the mountain of tulle and lace waiting for us, she audibly gasps. “What have you done?”

“What?” I ask innocently, turning to face her accusatory gaze. “Okay, so I may or may not have gone back to the bridal store a time or two.” When she arches her eyebrow, I can’t hide the guilty grin that spreads over my face. “Fine, I went back every day for two weeks.”

“This is pure insanity,” she says, shaking her head. “You have a problem.”

“I know, but look how pretty, Soph,” I smile, picking up her elaborate sheer veil adorned with crystals, admiring the intricate detail before facing her. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It is very pretty,” she admits. “No idea what it is, but it’s pretty.”

“It’s your veil, dork,” I tell her, laughing.

“Oh, well it’s beautiful,” she grins before turning to face the task in front of us. “Okay, do we have a radio?”

“Yep,” I smile, plugging my phone into the dock for the sound system.

“You’re using your phone?” she asks, her voice nervous.

Sophie’s never been a huge fan of the upbeat pop music I typically prefer. In fact, she and Jack teased me relentlessly when they found my mp3 player filled with boy bands shortly after she moved in. I can’t help it though, I love it and after my talk with Drake this morning, I’m in a great mood.

“Don’t be a music snob, Soph,” I chuckle. “You’ll survive.”

“I’m not a snob, it’s just very early,” she smiles.

“Well, wake up! We have lots to do!” I tell her, switching on ‘I’m Ready’ by AJR, shouting the opening lyrics and turning to laugh at her deadpanned expression. “Get happy, brat! You’re getting married tomorrow!”

Chase

After spending hours at it, we get everything ready for the rehearsal tonight. When I go in to check on Sophie, she’s dozing off in front of the TV beside JT.

“Baby,” I whisper, rubbing my palm over her arm to wake her. “Why don’t you go lie down and take a nap?”

“I
was
taking a nap,” she yawns.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her with a small chuckle. “Everyone’s going to start coming in about thirty minutes. Why don’t you go lie in the bed so you can have some quiet.”

“Because in order to do that, I have to actually walk all the way in there, which is a deal breaker” she admits. “I love you. Please go away.”

“I love you, too, Baby,” I smile, leaning down to lift her into my arms. “Come on.”

She offers gentle protest as she hooks her arms around my neck and lets me carry her to our usual room. By the time I lay her on the bed, though, she’s content and already drifting off again. Kissing her gently on the forehead, I pull the blanket over her legs and quietly shut the door on my way out.

“Uncle Chase?” JT says from the couch, breaking my peaceful thoughts.

“What’s up, man?”

“I’m hungry,” he says, scooting from the couch.

“Okay, dude,” I tell him, gesturing for him to follow me into the kitchen. “Come on.”

Once I help him get on the tall stool on the other side of the bar, I set out making each of us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As I’m slicing an apple for him, I glance up to see him looking outside. It’s not until he breaks the silence that I realize he’s looking at the archway Drake and I had set up for tomorrow.

“Uncle Chase, what’s that thing for?” he asks, pointing before turning to face me.

“That’s called an arch,” I start. “And we put it out there because that’s where your Aunt Sophie and I are having our wedding tomorrow. She thought it would look pretty out there like that.”

“What’s that?”

“What’s what, Buddy?” I ask as I set his plate in front of him. “A wedding?”

“Yeah.”

“A wedding is what you have when you want to get married,” I tell him, handing him his juice cup and sitting next to him. “Do you know what that is?”

“Nope,” he says, shaking his head and looking up at me in curiosity.

“Well, when you’re a kid, everyone knows you love your family. When you get older though, sometimes you meet someone who you love just as much, but in a little different way. Sometimes when you love someone so much, you want them to be the only someone you ever love like that,” I start. “So you get married so that you can show them and everyone else how much you love them. You promise God that you’ll love them forever and do your best to make them happy every day, make sure they’re okay. That’s what married means, choosing someone to love more than all the other someone’s you meet. So much that you want everyone to know that you found your someone. Since that’s a pretty big deal, you have a party and invite the other people you love and have cake. That’s what a wedding is.”

“I get cake?” he says, all the other words spoken lost instantly and making a smile cross my lips.

“Yep,” I tell him, unable to stop the laugh that leaves me when I see the excitement on his face.

“Yesss!” he says with a miniature fist pump. “Is it chocolate?”

“I have no idea,” I tell him with a chuckle. “The other part of married is not asking too many questions.”

“Aww,” I hear my mom giggle from behind us. “I’ve done it. I’ve raised a smart man.”

“Happy wife, happy life, right?” I smile as I pop the last of my sandwich into my mouth.

“A-freaking-men!” Emily says as she enters the kitchen. “Someone needs to give that speech to my husband before I punch him in his fucking face.”

I’m struggling around a mouthful of peanut butter to remind her of JT’s presence when my mom beats me to it.

“Emily Suzanne! Language!”

“I’m sorry,” she groans before facing JT. “It’s not nice to hit people.”

“Oh sweet Lord,” my mom says, rolling her eyes before she covers Emily’s mouth and looks at JT. “Don’t ever listen to anything that comes out of this mouth, Handsome, okay?”

“Okay,” JT shrugs, laughing at the fish face my mom puts on my sisters face.

After a few minutes of talking with my mom and sister, our family and friends start to arrive. Within the hour, Drake’s house is starting to fill, something I’ve rarely seen.

“Where’s Soph?” Jack asks as he moves past me to the fridge for a beer.

“She’s sleeping,” I tell him, declining when he offers me one. “I’m actually about to go wake her up. Can you hang with JT for a few minutes?”

“Of course,” he says, giving him a smile and leading him out to the back porch.

When I push the door open, my heart warms when I see that she’s sleeping peacefully with her headphones positioned around her stomach. Ever since we found out the baby could hear us, she’s been playing music, reading and singing to her belly regularly. The playlist we’d put together was eclectic, so there was no telling what our baby’s listening to right now. It could be anything from ‘The Reason’ by Hoobastank to ‘At Last’ by Etta James to Scott D. Davis’ piano cover of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.

Being very careful to not disturb her, I stretch out next to her and gently lift the mp3 player to read the screen. As ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ by Adele slowly scrolls across, I can’t stop the smile that dances across my lips.

Softly resting my hand on her stomach, I bend to kiss her neck and inhale her familiar coconut scent. When she begins to stir, I watch as her thick eyelashes begin to flutter just before she opens her emerald eyes, making my heart skip a beat.

“Hey Baby,” I whisper, kissing her hair.

“Hi,” she yawns.

“Did you sleep good?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Is everyone here?”

“Yes, they’re all outside on the back porch,” I tell her. “We can start whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay,” she whispers. “I just need about twenty minutes and I’ll be ready.”

“Take your time,” I say, bending to press my lips to hers.

After she joins us, she spends the next hour saying hello to everyone as Ana helps get everyone up to speed. As I watch my cousin’s fiancé flitting from one group to the next, I look to my left and laugh at the exhausted expression crossing Drake’s face.

“She’s planning your wedding next, dude.”

“Yep,” he smirks, taking a long draw from his beer. “Super excited about it.”

“Emily, you have to count, Honey,” Ana says. “If you don’t, you’re going to look ridiculous!”

“Ana, you’ve got us wearing
stilettos
in
sand
,” Heather argues, sweeping her pink bangs away from her eyes. “We’re going to look ridiculous anyway.”

“I agree,” Charlotte interjects. “It’s a beach wedding, can’t we just go barefoot?”

“Okay, I’m going to pretend like you didn’t just say that to me,” Ana says dramatically, causing my sister to roll her eyes.

“Oh my God, I hate you right now!” Emily groans.

“Oh my God, I don’t care,” Ana replies, making us laugh from our corner. “Now please pull your heads out of your asses and listen.”

“Ana, you’ve said the same thing ten times!” Heather groans.

“And I’m going to keep saying it until it’s perfect! Now move it, Pinky!” she says, clapping. “Okay, you’re not counting!”

“She’s like a really hot drill sergeant,” Drake laughs, shaking his head in amusement as he watches her delegate tasks to each bridesmaid.

“Sophie,” I call, gesturing for her to come over to me with a chuckle. “Babe, they might need an intervention.”