The Pairing

“I love you so much, too.” She then slid the band on his hand. Once it was done, applause went out over the ballroom, and Pesh pulled her to him for a kiss.

“Now what do we do?” she asked.

He smiled at her. “We dance.”

After exhaling the breath she had been holding, Megan took Pesh’s hand and let him lead her to the dance floor. A song she had never heard before in her life began to play from the DJ.

“So what were you thinking when it came to the wedding?” Pesh asked.

“Something small.”

His brows rose in surprise. “Really? I was thinking you would want to go all out.”

She shook her head. “I just want something simple with our closest friends and family. I don’t have to have something showy to make me happy.”

He grinned. “You know that anything ‘simple’ is not going to set well with my parents.”

Megan laughed. “Well, they’re just going to have to accept it.”

“We could just run off and get married in a cave in Hawaii,” he suggested.

“That idea has potential, but I think as my parents’ only daughter, they would kill me if they didn’t get to plan something.”

His expression grew serious. “I don’t want us to have to wait much longer.”

“I agree. I want to get married in the next couple of months.”

He smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

As Megan glanced over to see her grandfather dancing with his lady friend, an idea popped into her head. “What if we got married in Papa’s rose garden?”

“It sounds like a beautiful place, but is there enough room?”

“Only our closest friends and family, remember?” she insisted.

“It could work.”

“So you like the idea?”

“I do.” With a wink, he said, “It makes sense considering you proposed to me at Patrick’s house.”

Megan grinned. “That’s right. It does.”

“Think we can put it all together in two months?”

“I don’t see why not.”

He brought his warm lips to hers, and Megan shivered in spite of the heat on the dance floor. “I can’t wait to make you my wife,” he murmured against her lips.

“I’m ready to make an honest man out of you, too.”

Pesh threw his head back and chuckled. “Only you would say something like that.”

“Hey, the truth is the truth.”

The song ended, and Pesh escorted her back to their table. After they finished with the blessings from Pesh’s family, dinner was served. Megan couldn’t believe all the food that was paraded by her. She lost count on how many plates of delicious Indian food she sampled. By the time the desserts came out, she was thoroughly stuffed and couldn’t eat any. “Let’s go mingle,” she suggested when Pesh also turned down any dessert.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, before getting out of his chair.

They made their way through the maze of tables, talking to family and friends. Megan was introduced to so many of Pesh’s relatives that she was sure she would never be able to remember them all. When they finally got to the Fitzgerald tables filled with her parents and aunts and uncles, she was thrilled when Pesh took a seat across from Aidan and Emma.

After they had been talking for a while, Emma turned Aidan. “Do you think Noah’s okay?”

Aidan smiled. “I’m sure he’s fine, babe. The sitter looked very qualified.”

Although Emma nodded her head, Megan could tell that she wasn’t convinced. Both Mason and Noah were upstairs in the hotel with babysitters outside of their family for the first time in their young lives. Megan shared a bit of Emma’s apprehension, but when she had dropped Mason off in the suite, he seemed to get along with the woman they had hired.

“I might just go peek in on him. You know, make sure she got him to sleep,” Emma said, rising out of her chair.

Aidan shook his head and stood up. “You need to be off your feet. You said yourself you weren’t feeling too well before we left.”

Emma shot him a murderous look. “Thanks for saying that in front of Pesh and Megan.”

Aidan gave them a sheepish grin. “Sorry guys. I hope it doesn’t ruin your fabulous party knowing that Emma, at nine months pregnant and some change, wasn’t feeling wonderful.”

Megan laughed while Pesh shook his head. “Emma, if you want to go on upstairs and lie down, we won’t be hurt. I remember how awful it feels being overdue,” Megan said.

“No, I’m fine. I want to stay,” Emma replied. When Aidan motioned for her to have a seat, she shook her head. “I need to go to the restroom.”

“You want me to go check on Noah?”

Emma sighed. “I’m sure he’s fine or the sitter would have texted me. I’m just being overprotective.”

Aidan gave her a quick kiss. “Love you, sweetheart.”

She smiled at him. “I love you, too.”

After she headed through the crowd to the bathroom, Aidan began telling Pesh some wild story from work that had Pesh doubled over with laughter. When Emma returned, she didn’t sit back down. Instead, she swayed back and forth on her feet next to her chair.

“Aidan,” she said in a strained voice. Megan couldn’t help noticing how Emma had paled considerably since her trip to the bathroom just a few minutes before.

He held up his finger. “One second, babe. I gotta finish telling Pesh this story.”

“But my water broke.”

Without taking his eyes off Pesh, Aidan slid his glass of water over to her. “Here take mine.”

If the situation hadn’t been dire, Megan would have laughed at how oblivious Aidan was. Pesh leaned forward in his seat. “Um, Aidan, I think—”

He didn’t get a chance to finish. Instead, water splashed against the side of Aidan’s face. He shot out of his chair before whirling around to Emma. “What the hell, Em?”

“My. Water. Broke,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“Oh shit,” he replied. After tossing his napkin back on the table, he held up a hand. “Okay, it’s fine. No need to panic. We’re not that far from the hospital—”

“Like twenty minutes,” Emma argued.

Aidan’s hands came to her shoulders. “It’ll be fine, babe. I promise.”

Emma huffed out a few frustrated breaths as she weighed his words. Then her grim expression softened. “Okay.”